Government Contracting Online is a Ripoff – They do not have any association with federal purchasing agents and as far as I can tell – no government procurement agents use their site to purchase goods and services.
I was contacted by Doug Mann (claiming to be a Procurement Specialist) from Government Contracting Online. Doug was a very pleasant and convincing older sounding gentleman who explained in detail what the benefits of listing my company with his online government procurement website would be. I was promised that my company would be exposed to "Thousands of government procurement agents" by placing a listing on the website used by the procurement agents to purchase goods and services. Doug even offered to upgrade my listing from 1/8 page to 1/4 page for the same price if I signed up that day.
Everything looked legit - I sent them artwork and listing information and they sent me a good looking proof to approve. Several days later I was told my listing was available to be viewed on the website. Still everything looked legit! My listing was set to run for 1 full year starting in March 2013.
I could not wait for all the business to start pouring in from this great site that all the government procurement agents used to purchase goods. Total Cost so far - $549.00 - But wait that’s not all!!
Several weeks later I was called by another friendly "Procurement Specialist" from Government Contracting Online with an even better offer because I was such a valued customer (sucker). For an additional $300.00 (American) I could have my listing available NATIONWIDE in all 50 States and bump up the size of the listing to a FULL PAGE. How could I refuse?
Here is where things started to get a bit fishy!! After upgrading my listing to the nationwide full page Ad, I waited a couple of days and checked the site to view my new money maker – there was not listing under most of the states and categories they promised. I called the customer service number – No one answered so I left a message. No return call from customer service so I called again – No one answered so I left a message. This went on from April 1, 2013 – April 12, 2013 I called 12 times in 12 days and finally got a call back from Judy. I told Judy I was unhappy with the service and would like to cancel my account and have my money refunded. She told me there are no refunds – all sales are final.
I started looking into this company at this point (I know – it was a little late to be doing due diligence) I called several government procurement offices in my local area and a local army depot – none of the purchasing department has ever herd of Government Contracting Online. The website they sell listings on is bogus – yes they have a website and yes they create advertisements for companies and place them on their website, but government procurement agents DO NOT USE THIS SITE to purchase goods and services.
I have been contacted by companies all over the country who have also been ripped off by Government Contracting Online. None of them has gotten a single lead from the website or a single contact from any government purchasing agent!
To make matters worse – I realized that I was ripped off by the same people in 2002 – They called themselves Federal Suppliers Guide, Inc. at that time. That one cost me $582.50. The address they used at that time was 6014 U.S. Hwy 19, Suite 201 New Port Richey FL.
If it sounds too good to be true – it most likely is! Total ripoff = $1431.50
Here is the bottom line – DON’T use this company – they will not produce any results for you because they are not linked into any government purchasing systems and do not have access to any government procurement agents. They will take your money and run – I am sure they will change the name shortly after the word gets out on Ripoff Report