2 Updates & Rebuttals Read More About : SmartProcure Verified TRUSTED Business | Ripoff Report Verified™ …businesses you can trust. SmartProcure was founded in 2011 by government procurement professionals dedicated to help businesses sell more to the government as well as helping government agencies purchase more effectively. Their executive team has more than 35 years of experience in government procurement. SmartProcure works with tens of thousands of government agency and business clients and is 100% committed to customer satis
REVIEW UPDATE: June 5, 2018: SmartProcure remains committed to increased customer satisfaction and has improved their business practices over the years to better serve their customers. SmartProcure is truly dedicated to making sure their customers are satisfied and that any complaints which do arise are addressed promptly and fairly.
To date, SmartProcure has made good faith efforts to resolve all complaints reported on Ripoff Report. Based on our experience, the member business has proven to be among the top members of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program as a Verified Safe Business™.
Over time and since becoming a member, SmartProcure has remained actively engaged and improving the way they address customer service complaints. As an active and current member of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program we are happy to report that now more than ever SmartProcure remains committed to improving customer satisfaction.
Remember, no company or individual can ever satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. There are no products or services that will always be perfect for everyone and even the best companies will receive complaints from time to time. However, by participating in the Corporate Advocacy Program, the member business has made a commitment to working with its customers to resolve complaints quickly and fairly whenever possible.
Please keep in mind that as a consumer you have some responsibilities as well. Success has many definitions that based on your past experiences, current situation and your perceived expectations. Success with any product or service is always based on the proper application and understanding. The fastest car will not run if you never turn the engine on. Look at how you used the product or service that was provided in relation with the instructions that you received. The Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program will help you get your voice heard but please be prepared with documentation and fair representation of your concern, also have an idea of how the company can fix your concern. Can they offer additional services, extend warranties, offer a fair refund or just get you talking with someone that can help. ..let them know and let us know!
*Any consumer not receiving satisfaction from a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program should email us at [email protected].
Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW
EDitor's UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to SmartProcure for its full commitment to quality customer service.
Ripoff Report's discussions with SmartProcure, Inc. have uncovered an ongoing dedication by the company to total client satisfaction. This means that clients can expect that the company will work towards finding a mutually satisfactory resolution to any concerns. SmartProcure, Inc. listens carefully to client concerns and sees them as an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and become more efficient as a company in the services offered and the support for those services.
SmartProcure, Inc.'s CEO, Jeff Rubenstein, has promised us that SmartProcure's clients' success is the number one priority at the company. SmartProcure believes in a customer focused experience, and achieves this by providing products and services designed by real professionals with background in the industry. In addition to industry professionals, the SmartProcure development team is highly skilled, building software and tools that are user-centric. The Client Services team has only the goal of customer satisfaction as priority. SmartProcure's data team is constantly collecting more and more purchase order data. SmartProcure's commitment to working with ripoffreport is a testament to the importance of customer success and excellence. By working with this site, SmartProcure hopes to work with anyone who's satisfaction expectations have not been met to try and make things right.
One of the things Ripoff Report learned in the course of its review is that typical customer feedback reads, "SmartProcure, Inc. provides both an excellent service and a helpful team of product experts to give customers the best experience possible."
Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..
The information provided in this report below is based on comments made by Jim Finolio during an onsite inspection held by a third party verification company with no biases towards SmartProcure.
SmartProcure collects purchasing data from electronic versions of purchase orders and from thousands of governmental agencies of all sizes throughout the country. They then put that information into one big database, which is researchable with a Google-type search engine on top of it. subscribers can search that database and they can find out what government agencies are buying, the kinds of things they sell, and what prices they pay. Likewise, they can see what kind of business their competitors are doing. Jim Finolio stated the following about his company, "what we add is a huge degree of transparency to the federal marketplace. So our overarching goal is to make government purchasing very effective and efficient for government agencies, and help the businesses who sell to the government expand their markets and be as successful as they can be with this kind of information."
Leads for SmartProcure are obtained through their own database in addition to industry lists who sell to the government. Mr. Finolio went on to explain that SmartProcure's clients are nearly 100% business to business. An interested client call call in or inquire about their services Online. They will be given a video demonstration of their services, and can decide to sign on from there.
CUSTOMER CARE & COMPLAINT RESOLUTION – SMARTPROCURE
During the on-site interview, Mr. Finolio was asked to describe a situation where a client was not satisfied with the level of service they received. Mr. Finolio stated the following, "I ran into a case where I signed a check for a refund recently...the client found that there wasn’t enough information that the client felt was relevant to their industry in the database. And I would say as we add more and more information, that’s exceedingly rare, but historically that’s happened." Clients have expressed great satisfaction with the manner in which SmartProcure deals with complaints.
When asked to comment on complaints posted on Ripoff Report's website Mr. Finolio processed through each complaint on the website and found that each was either a false claim, or have been effectively handled by the CEO Jeff Rubenstein. In order to further assure future and current clients SmartProcure has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
SmartProcure is proud to be a part of Ripoff Reports Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program, "we’re hopeful that working with Ripoff Report and providing another relatively transparent avenue for any clients that aren’t happy can further cement our quality of customer service and responsiveness. So we’re very eager. We think we’ve done a lot and we have done a lot, as we’ve grown, to be very responsive and I think this is one more avenue where we can potentially add that extra layer of potential support."
SMARTPROCURE – STATEMENT FROM THE CEO AND FOUNDER – JEFF RUBENSTEIN
" Our mission is to provide the most comprehensive, high-quality government purchasing data; powerful, easy-to-use analytic and reporting tools; and a nationwide information sharing platform to enable easier and more efficient government procurement.
Our Client Services team is available to make sure customers get the most out of database and help our customers find valuable information.
SmartProcure, Inc.'s leadership team provides their employees with the training and tools necessary to be successful. SmartProcure helps grow employees and individuals and professionals. SmartProcure, Inc. takes employee satisfaction seriously as well. Employee feedback and surveys reveal comments such as this, "SmartProcure cares. SmartProcure endeavors to be one of the premier companies in South Florida to work for. We've grown to almost 180 employees in less than 5 years. There's a ton of reasons to work here, but the most important is that the folks at SmartProcure are amazing. They work hard, treat people with respect and everyone works together to achieve a common goal. It's hard to find honest, fun, rewarding, successful companies to work for, and SmartProcure is one of them."
Ripoff Report was pleased to learn that SmartProcure, Inc.'s past and current approach to business is focused on its pledge to total commitment towards client and employee satisfaction.
STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM SMARTPROCURE
SmartProcure, Inc. recognizes that complaints posted on Ripoff Report (whether true or not) are issues that need to be addressed, not ignored. If handled correctly, complaints can be valuable learning opportunities. With the feedback generated by Ripoff Report's review, SmartProcure, Inc. has made organizational changes allowing its clients and employees a more streamlined approach to problem resolution and a commitment to a great client experience.
In summary, after our review, which included discussions with Jeff Rubenstein, Ripoff Report is convinced that SmartProcure, Inc. is committed to quality delivery of services resulting in total client satisfaction.
How does a business get Ripoff Report Verified™
The member business allows Ripoff report to email everyone from the past. Those who respond to Ripoff report with a valid complaint must be take care of.. they have made a commitment that if anyone contacts Ripoff Report in the future, they will make things right within 14 days. The member business must err on the side of their customers. Otherwise the member business is off the program.
Ripoff Report has determined that SmartProcure meets Ripoff Report Verified™ standards which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. Members of the Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction program do pay a fee for our on-site review, 24 hour monitoring and for support with customers to resolve any disagreements.
Ripoff Report sends a 3rd party service to do an onsite inspection of the new member business. The on-site inspection / review does not mean that the products or services offered by the business have been evaluated or endorsed by Ripoff Report, and has not made a determination as to the business' product quality or competency in performing services. We can verify, that Ripoff Report went to the business, verified their business or “work from home business”, there for, if a customer in the future does not get treated correctly, Ripoff Report can get the problem resolved. If not, and the customers is right, the member business will be taken off the Corporate Advocacy Program. Remember, Ripoff Report emailed every customer from the past that filed a complaint to make sure the member business made things right with customers from the past. Again, to err on the side of their customer, those from the past and those in the future.
Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Ripoff Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, it’s a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.
Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program, a program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. This program works.
As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer.
NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED
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ABOUT THE RIPOFF REPORT BELOW:
Ripoff Report would like to let readers know that Ripoff Report emailed this customer so the member business could make things right with them. When a business joins the Corporate Advocacy Program, Ripoff Report emails everyone from the past so the member business can make things right with them. Of course, everything within reason. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer. The author of the Ripoff Report below never responded to our offer to help them.
STATEMENT FROM SMARTPROCURE:
The report was incorrect in that the customer signed a written contract for 3 years of service, including 60 days free service after the first month, and then refused to pay any monthly payments after 90 days -- 60 days of which were free! SmartProcure agreed to waive any responsibility for years 2 and 3 as an accommodation. In all fairness, we believe there is no logical way a customer could assume he could pay for 1 month of service on a clearly documented contract with a 3 year term he signed, and receive another 60 days of free service, without any obligation at all for carrying out his part of the contract.
NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED
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SmartProcure is supposed to be a searchable database of government purchase orders to help government vendors boost sales.
After extremely aggressive sales tactics, I agreed to try the service on August 24, 2015. as I was clearly told there is no commitment. Since I was hesitant about any benefits from the service I was not willing to sign up for a long term contract. I tried their system and found that there were no benefits to my company utilizing them.
In early November I called to cancel my agreement. After several attempts of them trying to convince me not to cancel they sent me a copy of my signed contract and said I was obligated to pay three years of payments. On the contract it says one SmartSearch-Annual Subscription 3 yrs for $250.00 monthly. However I was lead to believe this was locking in the rate for the 3 years, not committing to paying three years worth of service. No-where on the agreement does it state I am obligated to pay the full term three years. The only statement on there is regarding renewals, not termination.
I continued to be harassed, trying to convince me why their services were so great and repeatedly sent a copy of my agreement. Nothing had changed on either end. Then on March 7, 2016 I received an email from Dani Carideo that my account was severely over due and I owed $1,000.00. I responded letting him know that I had closed the account several months ago, that I was not using the services and I had no intention of using them again. I also reiterated that I had met my financial responsibilities with them. Again I was sent a copy of my agreement and assurance that they had dedicated client service managers to help us use the service. Again nothing had changed on either end.
I am now being aggressively contacted by a law firm (as of 3/14/2016) trying to collect over $8,000 they claim I owe them. This company has unethical business practices and has crafted a purposely ambiguous contract in order to deceive clients into believing there is no commitment, to later attempt to collect an exorbitant amount of money for a service that is mostly useless.
SmartProcure
Deerfield Beach,#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, March 17, 2016
This is a note from my staff after they called Alex. As you see he understands it's a 3 year agreement but he doesn't think he is liable for payment. Not sure how that seems like a reasonable position. He was also very hostile and rude. Our decision is to keep this with the collections agency as we've done everything we can and it's not fair to subject my people to the inappropriate and rude behavior he exhibits when we talk with him.
SmartProcure
Deerfield Beach,#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, March 15, 2016
My name is Jeff Rubenstein. I'm the President & CEO of SmartProcure. The #1 goal at SmartProcure is to go out of our way to help a potential client be successful with our product. When I read Alex's complaint, I looked into the matter thoroughly and here's what I found.
On Thursday, August 20th, at 1:04pm Eastern time we had our first conversation with Alex. It was a call that one of our staff made to him to introduce the capabilities of SmartProcure. A demo was set up for Monday, August 24th, at which point Alex called SmartProcure to see the product. We logged him into our system through the screensharing application join.me and proceeded to fully demonstrate the capabilities of the product.
This was a call that lasted 26 minutes, and at the conclusion of the call he asked to purchase the product. We sent him a formal agreement via Docusign, at which point he signed the agreement and initialed the terms of service. As Alex indicated in his post, the document clearly stated it was an Annual Subscription. Due to him being a small company we allowed him to pay monthly as a special exception. We typically don't allow that for these reasons.
What Alex did not mention was that he also asked for another 2 months for free, which we granted. He made his first payment on August 24th, 2015, then received another 2 months of service for free, then as he indicated in his post, called to cancel in November after his extra 60 days were up. I'm at a loss to understand why he didn't think this was even an annual agreement at the least, considering it clearly stated it was an annual agreement for a 3 year term.
His position that SmartProcure sent a signed agreement for him to sign that said it was an annual agreement and a 3-year term, so he could lock in the price doesn't make much sense if he also isn't locked in. What company has a client sign an agreement with that language so the client is protected for 3 years against any price increases, yet they could cancel at anytime. And why would a company provide 60 days for free at the beginning of the agreement if there was no obligation to continue.
I consider myself a reasonable and fair person. I understand that there can be miscommunications and sometimes there is not a meeting of the minds. However, when someone takes a position that is so counter to what is reasonable it's difficult to rationalize.
In the interest of being fair and reasonable, I plan on asking my folks to contact Alex and waive any responsibility for years 2 and 3. However, there is no fair basis at which to assume he could pay for 1 month of service on clearly documented annual contract with a 3 year term he signed and receive another 60 days of free service for 1 month's payment without any obligation.