Complaint Review: Voobon Ventures/ Explore Studios/ HostBit/ AccessBit/COIM/VooBiz - Atlanta Georgia

Voobon Ventures solicits companies that have strong client-bases and are in good standing from a business prospective so that they can use the information provided by said companies to make their fund documents look attractive. To break it down so that every one may understand, fund documents are documents which are used to lure potential investors. They include detailed general information about companies that fund-raising efforts should seed. Within the fund documents that go to potential investors, there are buried clauses that gives Voobon Ventures the right to allocate funds raised as they see fit. They only see fit to allocate funds to their own companies which I have listed in the space designated for company name. What the investors do not realize (and unfortunately many of the employees- most under 30) is that these companies are all houses of cards.

HostBit is so unprepared to handle web hosting for customers that as of 4th quarter of 2010, none of the other company websites, owned by Mark Shariar, are hosted by HostBit. Strange right? Still, they market the company on the web.

VooBiz is a company that supposedly offers business administrative and support services. Jessica Hawk markets this company mostly by word of mouth and assigns task to her staff (the same staff of four to five individuals that make up the staff for Voobon Ventures). Task that she assigns include putting together business plans using the business plans (that were submitted to Voobon Ventures by companies in need of funding) as templates. They have methodically collected business plans from various industries in order to have enough stolen research to use for the business plans they hope to charge unsuspecting clients thousands of dollars for.

Explore Studios is the film company they hope will make it big because it requires a lot of seeding. When investors invest their monies in Voobon's portfolio, they are really investing a large amount into this company which is employed by amateurs in their field . They also rent 98 percent of equipment because they don't own their own. They pirated the editing software that they were using until July 2010 when the employee they pirated from deleted the software from their drives. If this is not bad enough, monies raised that don't go to this company are disbursed to handle payroll for the other companies owned and ran through and by Mark Shariar and John Lord. For all of the fund-raising they do, that still doesn't stop the occasional payroll check from bouncing.

Job-Seekers, this part is for you. There is a consistent rotation of employees ;about every six to seven months Many employees are conned to start out as an intern. After about two to three months as an intern, you will be brought onto payroll. When it's time for your thirty day review you will be given some lame excuse as to why you will not receive the pay raise that you were promised when hired. Unfortunately, a pay raise will be the least of your worries because although you don't realize it, when your health benefits kick in, you're on your way out the door because the bottom line is that they do not want to pay eighty percent of your healthcare benefits.

Here's their strategy. They welcome you in with open arms, Jessica (the "boss") works to convince you that she is a great manager and friend. She also reassures you that the warnings of former employees are just disgruntled workers and you have nothing to worry about. She tries to pull personal information from you (in a friendly way) and when it is time for you to go she uses as much of that information against you. Not to mention, they've been keeping tabs on your comings and goings even though she will verbally tell you that as long as you get your tasks completed they don't care when you come and go. Be careful about the information you buy into that is given verbally. Go back to the handbook and go by what it says. When it comes time to apply for unemployment, they will alter the handbook if needed to convince DOL that you did not adhere to policy. Even though they tell you the handbook is not to be taken off the premises, do what you have to so that you will have a copy of your own. Document as much as possible even when you don't feel threatened. I promise that in the end, you will be glad you did.

Here's the thing, Georgia offers tax incentives to employers that hire. The incentives are not totally based on job sustainment so these companies receive more tax incentives for rotating people in and out. Plus, benefits can account for a sizable amount each year and based on how the system is set up, it is more cost-effective for a scheming outfit like this one if they don't have that added expense.Afterall, they still have to create the illusion of ROI (Return on Investment) for their investors.

My best advice to anyone who comes across this company is not to entertain them because they are cunning. I read a complaint board message similar to this one when I first accepted employment with this company. I dismissed it because the job market is sorta take what you can get, but in hindsight, I wish I would have taken head to those warnings.