Complaint Review: International Profit Associates - IPA - Buffalo Grove Illinois

I want to take a moment to tell everyone that is reading this that the stories that you have read on this site are absolutely true. Thanks to Ed, Founder of Rip Off Report, Members of the Media, Clients, Employees and Former Employees of International Profit Associates can come together to fight for justice against this company. If you have not been to the new International Web Site www.IPAOpinion.com we would ask you to go there now. This site is the effort of many many people throughout the world and Ed is the ONLY person who had the courage to take a stand in the early days against this company, and now we get to take the torch and run with it. All information should be sent to [email protected] Please include your name address, phone, email and a lengthy description of how you were involved at IPA. If you are a current employee, your confidence is assured. Ed, thank you, thank you, thank you, because of you and your dedication to Small Business in America, IPA ( International Profit Associates will be exposed for the true people that they are.) We are not stopping until CRIMINAL CHARGES are brought against John Burgess and his cronies. If you live in the Chicagoland Area, we really need your assistance, We need copies of ALL of the police reports and exhibits filed in the courts in Illinois. We also need a FULL COPY of the police report filed last year when CEO John Burgess "Condorted" with the 16 year old girl. Finally, if you are inside IPA, we need digital photos of every part of the building on the inside and outside. God bless you all, and thanks Ed! Robert Paisola Chief Executive Officer The Western Capital Group of Companies www.MyCollector.com www.RobertPaisola.com www.IPAOpinion.com

Yes, this company is a scam. I was "hired" by IPA and also was suckered into the above advertisement. I was a field sales manager, whereas IPA would lie straight out to the owner of a company regarding their services. The way it operates, is that as an Executive Sales Associate, you have a 10 min, phone interview. You can't flunk it. They then say you are a perfect fit, and you have to buy a ticket to Chicago that they will reimburse. A stretch limo picks you up at the airport, and you get that sinking feeling your stomach that something is not quite right. You have to pay for your hotel room that IPA's travel agency booked for you. IPA arranged all transportation through their service. Promising a reimbursement. You sit through a weeks worth of training, where a total idiot is shown as being the companies top sales guy. This gives you the impression that "hey, if that moron can do it, so can I!" The other students in the room all had a few things in common. A) All unemployed and on unemployment B) All very sharp professional people C) This was basically their last hope of getting back to work. We all compared notes, but the instructor is slick as hell. He's not an instructor, he's a sales guy. The instruction is nothing more than a sales pitch that lasts a week. He is very, very good. If you say anything negative or show doubt, he handles it as a salesman would. By the end of the week you're sold. People ask when they get reimbursed and told, we'll give you the paperwork at the end of the session, and the only way you get reimbursed is if you complete the course. (We all shut up) END OF WEEK! We get the paperwork, which includes our certificate of completion (yay), our employment forms, (standard) and our reimbursement paperwork. THE REIMBURSEMENT HAPPENS AFTER YOUR FIRST "Go ahead"! A "Go ahead" is when the really high pressure guys come into the office and really runs the bill up. After the company pays a bill that runs around $480/hour for 4 days. Then you get paid, and your money reimbursed. You don't get anything if you work your tail off. What's not covered as a salesperson. Your fuel, car expenses. You drive almost 200 miles a day for "appointments" An "appointment" that was set by the sales office is basically, some poor sucker, saying "Would you mind if our representative drops off some literature?" Thats' their sales lead. Cell phone. Cell phone charges were $300 a week. Corporate is on your butt 4 times an hour asking what you're doing, your next stop, how long it will take you, and how the last stop went. No joke. Also: A sales rep, MUST collect twenty business cards a day, and fax them to the corporate office. Failure to do so, would result, in 10% of your commission check being withheld. Here I was, Unemployed, but lost that because I was now EMPLOYED. $600 cell phone. $200 in fuel, $500 plane tickets. $200 dinners at hotel. And got not a single thing from it. Nothing. Oh, they pressured me so hard, I was literally committed to a psycho ward for 5 days, from nervous breakdown. I'm not joking.

International Profit Associates Making Calls to Businesses in Region
Date: January 20, 2006


The Local BBB News Release: International Profit Associates
Making Calls to Area Businesses Regarding Services

Spokane, WA - January 19, 2006 - The LocalBBB would like to bring to your attention that a Business Consulting/Tax Return Preparation company with headquarters in Buffalo Grove, IL, and an additional location in Toronto, Ontario, is making calls to businesses in our region offering its services.

A Kellogg, Idaho business contacted The LocalBBB to inquire about International Profit Associates located at 1250 Barclay Boulevard, Buffalo Grove, IL, 60089, as well as a Canadian location of: 4900-40 King St W, Toronto, ON, M5H 4A2, phone (800) 531-7100. The Kellogg company stated that an IPA Senior Area Manager located in the Spokane area, Gail Kurpgeweit, phone (509) 869-6437 contacted them about IPA's services.

The Better Business Bureau Serving Chicago and Northern Illinois report on this company states that IPA solicits businesses nationwide for the purpose of providing consulting services primarily to small and medium size business. IPA offers an evaluation of the businesses and its financial activities. After the initial evaluation IPA may recommend additional needed services. A contractual agreement is drawn up regarding certain specific services at an agreed upon price. These services include additional charges for each consultant required to complete the tasks along with their travel and lodging expenses.

This company has an unsatisfactory record with the Chicago BBB due to one or more unresolved complaints as well as a pattern of complaints. The majority of complaints allege dissatisfaction with IPA's service and/or high-pressure sales tactics by its telemarketers and/or very aggressive collectors. Although, the company resolves the complaints, it has failed to eliminate the basic cause of customer complaints and/or reduce the volume of complaints filed with the Chicago BBB office.



Posted: November 28, 2005
Shady Donors Funnel Money To Wisconsin Governor Candidates
Convictions, charges, probes dog Illinois power brokers

Madison - The three Republican and Democratic candidates for governor next year have accepted nearly $23,000 since 2003 from Illinois contributors who have been convicted or indicted of extortion, fraud, bribery or other crimes, or who are connected to state and federal criminal investigations, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has found.

John Burgess, of Buffalo Grove, chief executive officer of International Profit Associates, a telemarketer that sells business management consulting services, contributed $5,000 to Doyle in 2005. Burgess lost his law license after an attempted grand larceny conviction in the 1980s. Burgess' company was sued in 1999 by the state attorney general on behalf of former employees who claimed they had not been reimbursed for expenses or paid commissions. The suit was settled and the claims were submitted to arbitration. He contributed $50,000 in 2002 to Democrat Rod Blagojevich's successful run for Illinois governor, but Blagojevich returned the money after reporters questioned Burgess' past.

April 2005 Hot Topics
By: Linda Carmody
President/CEO
Date: 2005-04-19

BBB HOT TOPICS FOR APRIL 2005
This list is current as of March 28, 2005. Readers should take into consideration the importance of the practice in question and the total performance of a company.

Business Alert - International Profit Associates (IPA)/International Tax Advisors/Integrated Business Analysis/Advisory and Intermediary Services are all names used by an Illinois company that is calling small to mid-size Indiana businesses, offering to evaluate the business and its finances. One Camden businessman agreed to pay $28,000. Wish he had contacted the BBB first. 461 complaints have been filed, and the company has the Bureau's lowest rating.