- Report: #1250824
Complaint Review: Patrick Helfrick - Internet
Reported By:
disappointedtradeshow -
San Francisco, California, USA
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Patrick Helfrick
Internet, USA
Phone:
917-932-6246
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Patrick Helfrick // [email protected] Tradeshow Charlatan Nationwide
This was the note we wrote to Patrick after a VERY frustrating experience at the NYNOW Tradeshow in Manhattan at the Javitz Center. We had checked all of the references he provided but were not able to find any other information about him online.
Hoping that this serves other potential victims well. He did not ever respond to this e-mail or our requests that he make it right.
<><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><>><><
Hi Patrick,
I wanted to follow up here now that we have settled back after the NY NOW show. Unfortunately as you know, the set up process was very disappointing and stressful for us as you did not deliver the services you promised. I have provided a summary of what occurred below and hope that you will agree to issue us a refund.
This summary contains the following:
1) Background / Scope of Work
2) What Was Delivered / What Occurred
3) Outcome
4) Next Steps
1) Background + Scope of Work (i.e., what we hired you for)
You first contacted us on January 9th with the following service pitch: "We specialize in assisting first time exhibitors at The Javits Center and offer the following products and services: Custom Booth Design & Fabrication Hard Wall Rental Packages Specialty Carpet & Flooring Rental Furniture Graphics + Installation Booth Painting Lighting, Accessories and more!" - all of which we needed help with. We were also a first time exhibitor so having you manage the whole process for us was appealing and one of the reasons we hired you.
We then spoke on the phone to discuss what we needed help with, outlined the scope of work + timeline for the work you were to complete, and asked for references since you did not have a website or any history of your business on the internet. We then followed up with references and they all checked out.
We then hired you for a wall rental and to manage the installation of our trade show booth and paid you more than $2000.
2) What Was Delivered / What Occurred
Wednesday, January 28th - We arrived in NYC early in order to be prepared to set up the following day, well in advance of the start date.
Thursday, January 29th - Walls are supposed to be up by noon. You tell us there will be a delay. Cannot get an answer as to when it will be resolved.
Friday, January 30th - Walls still are not up. We arrive at 10:30 am to put in flooring ourselves. No answer as to when walls will arrive, but assured it will happen "today." Wait at convention center from 1 pm to 6:30 pm before realizing it will not happen that day. As other exhibitors move in, our booth area is unprotected and becomes a walkway, with boxes and pieces of the booth becoming scattered everywhere.
Saturday, January 31st - Walls are promised to be up by 11:30 am. Repeated calls to you get evasive answers and promises to call back with more information "in two minutes" or "in ten minutes" -- you do not ever call back. At 5:30 pm the night before the show opens, we have people in the booth to install the walls.
3) Outcome
Due to your mismanagement of the workers, several things happen incorrectly:
The electrical wire is not placed underneath the wall to allow access, cutting us off from the power supply we paid money for.
The walls are not aligned properly with the flooring, leaving a visible 4" gap of black concrete at the back of our white booth.
The pipe and drape is not removed from behind the walls, meaning that our booth juts into the aisle of the convention center and is bumped by forklifts, maintenance people, etc.
You or your workers who you were to manage moved all of our equipment and boxes into the aisle while walls were going up and did not keep watch over it. A box worth $550 full of our signage for the show (which started in less than 14 hours) was stolen or thrown away by maintenance during this time.
The walls were poorly constructed or poorly assembled, leaving large unsightly gaps between the panels. We had been assured the walls would sit flush. We had to scramble to find painters tape to cover the gaps as the booth was repainted.
We did not see you at our booth to help after 9 pm, despite the fact that the walls were still not ready to go. Then we were informed that you had "cut the crew" and we could not expect any further assistance from you.
We worked onsite until 1 am and returned at 6 am to finish set-up, despite arriving in New York 4 days before the show began (and paying for accommodations + travel for several unnecessary days).
When we reached out to Freeman for emergency assistance, they sprang into action and assembled our booth in less than 90 minutes.
Freeman discovered that the booth was not properly assembled and that several of the brackets responsible for holding it upright had not even been screwed in. (Poor project management + complete lack of oversight from you). It was a very dangerous situation, in addition to the possible expense of destroyed signage and products.
We also had to request that the Freeman crew add a brace across the top of the booth, as the walls you had supplied were tilting forward dangerously after the first morning. This was not aesthetically pleasing and was frustrating after the expense and resources put into designing an open + welcoming booth. However it was necessary for safety, since the walls were of poor quality.
We did not hear from you again at any point to check how the booth had turned out, received no apology for the delays and you did not give us information for break down.
