Complaint Review: JobWhiz - Riverside Connecticut

I have been unemployed since July 30, 2003. I have been seeking employment in an executive management capacity. I viewed advertisements on the Internet for companies that could help me acquire a suitable position. I saw one company called JobWhiz, located in Riverside, Connecticut. JobWhiz is a one-person company owned by Debra Feldman. Ms. Feldman had posted tips on various job boards for finding employment. I contacted her by email to inquire about her services, and received by return email, her sales pitch and advertising information.

I called Ms. Feldman, and she said that if I were interested in her services, there would be an initial consultation, and that this phase would cost $850. If we continued after this initial consultation, there would be a six-week project option based on a weekly retainer, priced between $8,400 and $11,800, and that the usual amount was $9,800. Ms. Feldman said that to begin the process, I would need to wire her a $10,650 deposit. I cringed at that amount.

I received an email advertisement from her describing the program. I glanced over it, noticing that there was an opt-out clause after the initial $850 consultation where I could cancel her services if I felt I did not wish to continue. There was also a reference that the payment was based on a weekly retainer. I was desperate to get a job, and felt I trusted her, so I wired the money. Upon receipt of the $10,650, Ms. Feldman sent a questionnaire for me to fill out to prepare for the initial consultation. A day after receiving the questionnaire, I had a terrible case of the flu that lasted a week. I could not work on the questionnaire. Ms. Feldman notified me that she would be spending the following week traveling, so we would not be able to have the consultation until an additional week later.

I called Ms. Feldman for the consultation. Prior to the consultation and up through the day after, I realized that I did not want to continue, partially because I was not happy with the process, and partially because I decided to take a different direction, either self-employment or consulting. I called to tell Ms. Feldman that I did not want to continue, and that I would want a refund of the $9,800 six-week project deposit, which we had not begun. She told me that her fees were nonrefundable. I was shocked! She told me to reread the information she had sent.

I checked and found an attachment to an email message Ms. Feldman had sent labeled winmail.dat. This was an advertising marketing piece describing her services. I received it prior to the $10,650 deposit I had wired, and it was something I had just skimmed through. There is a statement about fees being nonrefundable. There also are ambiguous and contradictory statements in this attachment the ones I had used to base my decision to wire the money.

One statement, which is the basis for my refund request, is: A client or Ms. Feldman may determine from the consultation that a joint project is not appropriate and no further collaboration follows. Also within that document is a statement referring to the payment as a weekly retainer. I have called her and sent email messages several times asking for my refund, but she has not responded. The Secretaty of State of Connecticut and Greenwich Town Clerk do not have Ms. Feldman or JobWhiz listed as a DBA or conducting business, which is being operated from a residence.

I never agreed to a nonrefundable payment. I never orally, written, signed, or otherwise, agreed to anything to that effect. Ms. Feldman did not perform a service for the $9,800 deposit I had given her. I need the money returned to take care of my family, or to use as money to start a business, as I am now living off of savings, which is depleting fast. I am worried that I will not get this money back.

Alex

Audubon, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.