Having just recently completed the worst six months of my entire life's career as an Executive Analyst with the George S. May Company I finally feel empowered by the brave position Andrea has taken to join in with others in speaking out against this horrible company. I too lasted far longer than anyone in my class (six months) and can attest to the accuracy of all that has been posted. Rather than rehash the postings that this brave woman has placed here I wish to address one question that I have seen posted with great regularity; why don't more ex-employees come forward?

Let me give you some personal background before I dive into my response. I am probably the typical GSM recruit. I had a degree in business, I had succeeded in reaching the officer level in a fortune 500 company and I had "the look," the white shirt, dark suit, polished shoes, expensive watch and the graying temples that just screamed integrity and knowledge. Oh yeah...and I had been laid off from my $100,000 plus position due to downsizing, and for the first time in my life had been forced to really look for a job (incidentally, GSM is just one of the predators that are out there waiting to talk to displaced executives that happen to be over 40 years old and scared, just search for the Haldane Company on this same site).

After six months of sending out a couple of hundred resumes and getting very few calls of interest from anyone really reputable (see above reference to Haldane) or being told at interview after interview that I was too experienced or wouldn't be happy starting at such a great reduction in salary (truth be told I would have been happy just to work) the George S. May Company called me. The absolute relief at hearing that "one of the oldest and largest consulting firms in the world" was interested in me and was discussing a position where I could make, "as one of their top performers over $175,000." It got even better, my plane fares would be covered and I would receive a per diem to cover my travel expenses, and INSURANCE!!! I was directed, very carefully, to their website to investigate the position further and then set up with an appointment to meet their recruiter.

If you have actually applied to GSM or have been contacted by them in response to your resume being posted on Monster then you have undoubtedly received the same spiel...I know, because on occasion I was the person calling you up to set the appointment! That's right, even the recruiting call is scripted, and in such a way as to sound enticing without giving too much information. In retrospect I heard in your voices the same relief that I know I had in mine when I eagerly accepted the invitation to meet with the recruiter (the psychology that these guys use is truly frightening).

I watched the video on the website and realized that this was truly my calling; I was going to be helping small to mid-size business owners get back their dreams! I would be traveling to wonderful locations and meeting with people who have decided they needed the help of outside experts and since I would undoubtedly be one of the top producers I would be paid at the level that I was used to. What could possibly be the downside, right?

Evidently this initial scam works quite well amongst its target market; the desperate displaced executive. In my class we had M.B.A.s, lawyers, bankers, former business owners, Silicon Valley casualties and a couple of young, aggressive wanna-bees that fell for the pitch too. After the well documented training sessions with the lovely Diane Gill, we were sent out, one at a time/one to a taxi, to travel home before leaving for our first assignment the following week. I probably should have paid a bit more attention to the cab driver that took me to the airport because believe me, he knew more about the company, its turnover rate, and the probability of my failure than I ever did.

I honestly felt, initially, that I was doing good for the business owners that I was calling on. The reality of the small business owner is that very few of them have the business skills to effectively run (by business school standards) their own operations. I met people who had no idea how to read their Profit and Loss statements, didn't know their profit margins, had employees stealing them blind, truly were heading down the path to bankruptcy and had no one to turn to for help. I was the answer...I followed the script because I knew that, even if the methods seemed canned, the ultimate goal was to get these people the help they needed from the experts that would be following me. I was good...I could make them laugh or cry and I was getting closer to attaining that auto pilot attitude where I could mouth whatever "the council" wanted me to say except for one part; how would these people pay for the $40,000 in services that I was telling them they needed?

That's right, I could beat them into submission, get them to admit their faults, recognize that they had to call us in or face certain ruin, I just couldn't buy into the concept that we would take their last bit of cash flow to help them. I had Senexs tell me to get them on a certain credit card website to see if they could qualify for a new card to finance the services (at 18% annual interest). I was told to "roll up my sleeves" and call their overdue accounts to see if we could generate enough cash flow to "just get started." It was suggested that they call their families to see if there was a way to pool finances to get us in the door, to cover just one day (so that the next crew could have an opportunity to locate the money for the rest of the contract). Well, I couldn't do it...oh at first it made sense, after all I was saving their company, but after awhile I realized that if these people actually had the cash flow to finance our services they probably didn't need us and if they had no money how on earth were they going to pay us.

I also began to question the quality of the "experts" from Management Services that followed me when I began to notice on my commission statements that very few of my jobs actually ran for the full term. Granted there were a couple that did, and a couple that ran over but by and large the vast majority ended very quickly. What was going on after I left? We were forbidden by the company from contacting our clients after we left their premises so I couldn't call to find out but I did have to do a couple of personal turnovers (where the Analyst turns over the account personally to the Management Services people at the business with the client present). I found out that these weren't the advanced specialists that we were led to believe...they were simply analysts that couldn't cut it in the field and for whatever reason stayed on with GSM for a while longer.
There job was just to print out the boilerplate notebook, eat up billable hours and stay on as long as the client could tolerate them. It sounds harsh I know, but in my mind the one justification for my actions was that I was bringing in experts,....yeah,....right.

I got quite a few go aheads but because I was never able to make it to the elusive "x contract" the money was truly negligible. In the time I was there my commissions never went over $22,000, I did qualify for their insurance, which incidentally is very good...probably because no one ever gets to use it. I realized early on that what I was doing wasn't entirely right but I managed to convince myself that it wasn't entirely wrong either and the company psychology kicks in... the Senex informed me that I was being considered for a management trainee position!! That's right after just a few short months they saw in me the talent necessary to become a Senex! That would mean I wouldn't have to leave my family every Sunday night, I wouldn't have to stay in flea bag motels, I wouldn't have to drive till two or three in the morning to get to the small town where my unsuspecting victim's business was located. I just needed to play the game a little better, and get a little more ruthless at taking peoples money.

Wow, essentially if I gave up all semblance of integrity in just a short time I could be the idiot screaming at bewildered, former professionals reduced to being Executive Analysts! I actually got to shadow these people (Senexs) and believe me they are every bit as intimidated by their higher ups as an analyst is. The difference is that they know they are selling crap...and for that they can not be forgiven. I was almost willing to make this compact with the devil until a client brought the Rip-off Report to my attention (in a not so subtle way, I might add). I was astonished, this had never been discussed in training, and what made it even more disturbing was that everything I read rang true. The Senex I was working with just had the same, lame excuse cited by others, its just disgruntled ex-employees,...even Disney has complaints on this website,...don't worry about it, most people will never even read it.

Well I did, as often as I could, and the more I read the more ashamed I became of what I was doing. Here it was in black and white, the whole horrible "act," and not just for me to see but also my friends, my previous co-workers, and my family. Never had I been ashamed of what I did for employment until I joined the George S. May International Company. It has taken some time to admit to myself that I was duped by this ridiculous operation. It took many nights in many "fleabag" motels, many hours sitting bored out of my mind at airports awaiting my next assignment, many holidays and birthdays away from family, and many months of facing virtual financial ruin to realize just how badly I had been had. I can not say that I ever look forward to meeting any of my former clients again because I simply can't face them knowing the economic hardship I undoubtedly put them through.

In a sense this posting has been cathartic,...if I can convince one person as to the validity of all that is posted here and persuade them not to work for or hire this company then I will feel that I have achieved something positive from my horrendous relationship with GSM.

The financial hardship I have suffered from the loss of real income can be overcome with time but the shame I have from this experience for the scam that I willingly, albeit unknowingly, participated in will be with me for a very long time. If I can be of any assistance to any prospective employee or client I shall be. Let me know how to get in touch with you and I will willingly assist you in any way I can.

Danny Henderson, I have just read your letter. I wanted to say, I'm sorry that you have had the misfortune, to have been hired by the GSMC, like many others I have spoke with.

I would like the opportunity to speak with you, so we can add you to the growing list of people that have been victims of this company. I want to also urge everyone that has been a victim of this company to come forward, tell your story. This company must take responsibility for what they have done to businesses and employees. Please contact me.

You will find my contact information at the end of my letter on Ripoffreport, [DELETED], looking forward to hearing from you.[Place your comments below and be sure to include your FULL contact information so Rip-off Report can contact you.]

I am an ex-employee of the George S May International Company, and I have a few comments of my own I would like to add to the discussion. Please pardon the apparant randomness of my comments, but I am still a bit burned out from my experience with this company:

First of all...I wish that 60 Minutes would some how get the information - the correct information - and expose this company to the entire business world for all to see.

I, too, was an employee of "George", as those of us who have been employed for any length of time refer to the company. What I have read on this website is, with very few exceptions, true. George is like the old commercials for the Roach Motel - He checks in, but he doesn't check out. I would like to believe that I helped my clients to the best of my ability. While I was at each and every one, I gave and did my best to help. The sad part, though, is that no matter how much I was able to do, it just never seemed to be enough. I was also kept busy filling out forms and papers that were useless to the clients, but were integral parts of covering George's backside. Project Directors are a joke - all they do is fill out more papers, waste hours and try to sell "expansions" or "MSP's" or "eLearning" - just to increase commission and decrease the client's bank account.

On more than one occasion, I observed Staff Executives, Senior Staff Executives and Project Directors sit around when the client was not there and play computer games, swap war stories and exchange files to create "the Golden Disk". I confess that I did all of the above as well, and not because I was coerced into it, but because I could and because it was easy to get away with.

Some other thoughts about what I have read here on George - yes, the staff only do get paid about $16.00 or so per hour out of the $168.00 per hour rate charged. I received a "salary" of $155.00 per week, in addition to my commissions. Here is what my commission rate as a Staff Executive was:

1 - 40 hours:

9% of cash collected
41 - 80 hours: 10% of cash collected
81 - 120 hours: 11% of cash collected
121 - 160 hours: 13% of cash collected
161 - on up:

14% of cash collected

Once I completed 3 training courses (unpaid, on my own weekends, of couse), the percentages for each level changed to 9%,11%,13%,15% and 16%, respectively.

Those percentages are reset after each new job you go on, by the way. You do the math. It is virtually impossible to reach the higher level of compensation as a Staff Executive. During my 6 month tenure, my annual compensation was approx. $40,000 - a far cry from the $50K-$70K promised on the the recruitment interview. It was not for an unwillingness on my part to work, but I was "beached", which means I was left either at home or stuck on the road with no job to go to,, and thus no commission to earn. I suspect it has something to do with the minimum wage laws, but I don't know and can't prove it, yet.

If you are stupid enough to take a Project Director spot (and, yes, I was stupid for about 2 weeks!), you get a generous salary of $180.00 per week in addition to the following commission structure:

0 - 24 hours

No Commission!!!
25 - 28 hours

1% of total EE's Hours*
29 - 32 hours

2% of total EE's Hours*
33 - 36 hours

3% of total EE's Hours*
37 hours on up

4% of total EE's Hours*
* - Including all hours below 25 hours.

In addition, you get commissions on the total job hours as follows:

0 - 70 hours

1% of total
71 - 140 hours

2% of total
141 - 210 hours

3% of total
211 - 280 hours

4% of total
281 on up

5% of total

The only way you can make a living wage is to have at least 3 jobs running at a time. Problem is that that almost never happens, and it takes about a month or so to get to that point. You also get all of the "one-day" wonder jobs during your first 3-4 months, so it is, again, virtually impossible to make a living.

So, potential employees and clients, this is where the money goes, as far as the lower levels are concerned. When you get up to Senior Executive (SENEX) levels, it gets even more convoluted. According to what I have been told, SENEX's get paid on the total number of "man day's", which means that when a SENEX sells 10 hours of your time to a client, and tells you to bill only 8, it's no skin off their nose! They get paid the same whether it's 10 or 8.

Potential employees, do yourselves a favor, and learn from my experience. If you thrive in the kind of environment I and the other ex-employees have described, then by all means join up. If you don't, then just keep on paging by their posting on monster.com

Potential clients - let the buyer beware! Do not let them into your business or you will not get them out before you lose a serious amount of cash. If you have them there now, tell them you want them out immediately, and then if they don't leave, call your local law enforcement and get them out. Do not let any other of their representative back in, do not accept any of their calls, and be afraid, be very afraid.

I have much more to say on this issue, and will do so at a later date. Caveat emptor!

I do not want all of the readers of the information on George S May to believe that all consulting companies act in this fashion. Unfortunately, GSM and IPA have made it difficult for reputable companies. Their tactics are harsh, their quality non-existent, and their front door constantly revolving. THIS IS NOT THE STANDARD --- there are consulting companies who perform to the clients expectations and deliver promised results for the betterment of the company. SBP and many others exist who provide a valuable service to the small to medium sized business. There are companies who have not forgotten that they truely have an obligation to provide a valuable service to their clients.

You people are laughable. I've worked for the George S. May company for some time. While I will admit, many of the 'benefits' or 'potentials' in the business were exaggerated, I have experienced NOTHING even similar to what you people are complaining about.

I too was a business owner who closed shop to join George S. May, due to the lure of their medical benefits (my son is very ill). I was frustrated to learn that my medical benefits didn't kick in for 3 months, however I made the decision to continue.

In my time with George S. May, I was NEVER told to lie to the client. Was NEVER told to overinflate or overstate numbers. I was never told to denegrate or cut down the client. I was never told to bleed him of his cash on hand. I was never told to commit larceny. I was never told to utilize ANY of the tactics you people are complaining about.

If you want to complain, that's fine. But at least be honest about it. I've been in the consulting business for 15 years. I've worked for and managed very large corporations. There is NO consulting firm in the world that is NOT all about billable hours. Period! In fact, most consulting firms get 2-3 good people into a preliminary engagement, then sign a longer-term engagement and stock the project with recent hires, newly graduated college students, and low-quality personnel. Every consulting firm has selling tactics and theatrics. Every company that sells ANYTHING utilizes tactics. It's called a sales pitch, advertising, whatever.

Everyone within the organization that I have worked for, has been up-front with me, excepting those who initially got me in the door. They have bent over backwards to accommodate my needs, give me the necessary time-off, worked to give me assignments close to my home, and have been all-around good people. I've had 1-2 payroll problems that were identified and fixed IMMEDIATELY.

I have never degraded the client, and my superiors have NEVER belittled my clients for their choosing NOT to go ahead with the project. I was never told to lie, or to demean anybody. I have never had to. I run the survey, teach the client about a better way to do business, and let them decide for themselves. If they can't afford it and want to move forward, we try to get creative in figuring out how to utilize old A/R or existing non-moving inventory that is not currently being utilized. If they can't afford the project, I don't get the go-ahead. I don't push it, neither does my SENEX.

The work I am doing with George is actually quite fun. I've worked with numerous small businesses that were having problems in their operations, and I helped identify and uncover them. Additionally, I have helped families get over communications issues that have plagued their business, and helped individuals get themselves out of financial difficulty.

You people seem to forget a few things. First, MOST small businesses have a very short life expectancy. This is because they are focused on revenues, not profits. They are also extremely inefficient. The George S. May company doesn't step into healthy multi-billion dollar organizations and feed off their table scraps for the next 20 years like most firms do. They work with small businesses who are having profitability problems, and help them recover. Does it cost to recover? YES. If the small business was running smoothly, there would be no cash flow problems. DUH!

Additionally, you, the persons employed by George S. May had NOWHERE else to go. You got taken out of your cushy management job, thrown to the curb, and had NOTHING. George S. May gave you a chance to start over when nobody else would. Don't you think that creates a difficult hiring environment for them? Make you actually work for a change? I know that this is the hardest I've worked for my money in a long time. I was too wealthy at too young an age and I couldn't handle the success and lost it all. THis time around, I'm happy with the work I'm performing, and I am providing a benefit to a VERY tough market. 90% of small businesses fail. This is because they don't have process. We help give them process and business tools that will hopefully help right their ship.

If you people actually had the experience with George that you say you have, then you are talking about a completely different company than I work for. You've completely misled the readers about what I do, that's for sure. You've also misled the readers about what the teams do, as I've met with and worked with much of the Management Services staff and I find them very professional and capable.

I pretty much think you're disgruntled ex employees who have an axe to grind and are fully willing to exaggerate the situation. You talk about ethics. I find your ethics to be more than questionable, as I can't even relate to 90% of what you are complainig about.

Your JOSHING us right? Lets go over your letter shall we and point out a few things to you. I have to re-post his letter and break it down lie by lie for him the rest of you can see how wacko this JOSH is on face value.

"You people are laughable. I've worked for the George S. May company for some time. While I will admit, many of the 'benefits' or 'potentials' in the business were exaggerated, I have experienced NOTHING even similar to what you people are complaining about."

Okay how long have you worked with Uncle George? Are you making the kind of money they advertise survey service people make and would you post your W2 to back it up because NO ONE I ever met at George made anywhere NEAR what they said you will make. Lie #1, lets move on to more of your delusions.

"I too was a business owner who closed shop to join George S. May, due to the lure of their medical benefits (my son is very ill). I was frustrated to learn that my medical benefits didn't kick in for 3 months, however I made the decision to continue."

If you were so successful and not a bag of wind you would have been able to afford your insurance. Be honest you FAILED in your business. LIE #2

"In my time with George S. May, I was NEVER told to lie to the client. Was NEVER told to over inflate or overstate numbers. I was never told to denigrate or cut down the client. I was never told to bleed him of his cash on hand. I was never told to commit larceny. I was never told to utilize ANY of the tactics you people are complaining about."

Then you had training non of us had because the basic formulas used by Uncle George are by court records defined as "not used in accounting" the whole pitch is based on skewing the facts even worse then they really are. Were you not trained to CONDITION the client? DO you not use the ROAD to TRAFFIC? Then your busted in your third lie! Lie #3

"If you want to complain, that's fine. But at least be honest about it. I've been in the consulting business for 15 years. I've worked for and managed very large corporations. There is NO consulting firm in the world that is NOT all about billable hours. Period! In fact, most consulting firms get 2-3 good people into a preliminary engagement, then sign a longer-term engagement and stock the project with recent hires, newly graduated college students, and low-quality personnel. Every consulting firm has selling tactics and theatrics. Every company that sells ANYTHING utilizes tactics. It's called a sales pitch, advertising, whatever."

If you were in consulting for 15 years and MANAGED VERY LARGE CORPORATIONS you would not be lured by only medical insurance and you like the rest of us would have known going in there was a three month delay. Thus your not very credible in your credentials now are you? Exaggeration #1 (I cant bust you on a lie because only you know your failures and how you were duped and how you dupe people).

"Everyone within the organization that I have worked for, has been up-front with me, excepting those who initially got me in the door. They have bent over backwards to accommodate my needs, give me the necessary time-off, worked to give me assignments close to my home, and have been all-around good people. I've had 1-2 payroll problems that were identified and fixed IMMEDIATELY."

So you admit they lied to you to get you in the door. Okay what were the lies they got you in the door with? Lets see they inflated your ego inflated how much you were going to make and how you were going to help people. I can tell you you get assignments close to home because you have no money to go on the road that is the only reason they get you close to home. Thus we have you admitting to Lie #4.


"I have never degraded the client, and my superiors have NEVER belittled my clients for their choosing NOT to go ahead with the project. I was never told to lie, or to demean anybody. I have never had to. I run the survey, teach the client about a better way to do business, and let them decide for themselves. If they can't afford it and want to move forward, we try to get creative in figuring out how to utilize old A/R or existing non-moving inventory that is not currently being utilized. If they can't afford the project, I don't get the go-ahead. I don't push it, neither does my SENEX."

This is so full of lies I am laughing as I type!
a) You HAVE to degrade your client or your NOT doing the PITCH or following the road to traffic! Forget your conditioning calls? LIER!
b) In training your the only one who was not taught to follow the pitch that includes demeaning the client then letting them off the hook? Your pitch book does not contain the opening questions designed to demean the client? LIER!

c) YOU run a survey that TEACHES the client about a better way to run a business? WOW then why would they need to hire consultants! LIER! You TEACH NOTHING BECAUSE YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FIXING THEIR BUSINESS NOW DO YOU? LIER
d) You get creative in finding them ways to pay for the hours thats rich. That is one more thing your TRAINED NOT TO GET INTO because it is EXPRESSLY stated in the contract (form 56) this is not what GEORGE does. If your senex lets you go home if the client simply can't afford it you know DAM WELL your SENEX sends you back in and just get the job started let the project manager work on getting the hours paid for out of the benefits of the project you are so BUSTED LIER! So Lies #5, #6, #7 and #8 and what WHOPPERS they are. Were you drunk or are you just in denial when you posted your lies?

"The work I am doing with George is actually quite fun. I've worked with numerous small businesses that were having problems in their operations, and I helped identify and uncover them. Additionally, I have helped families get over communications issues that have plagued their business, and helped individuals get themselves out of financial difficulty."

And how is your family doing? How is your follow up? LIE #9 because in survey YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED to follow up. SO how the heck do you know what you have done to or for anyone? LIE #9!

"You people seem to forget a few things. First, MOST small businesses have a very short life expectancy. This is because they are focused on revenues, not profits. They are also extremely inefficient. The George S. May company doesn't step into healthy multi-billion dollar organizations and feed off their table scraps for the next 20 years like most firms do. They work with small businesses who are having profitability problems, and help them recover. Does it cost to recover? YES. If the small business was running smoothly, there would be no cash flow problems. DUH!"

Wow you put together a paragraph where you expose the BIG lie. Most small business people are very prideful like you where you told us how rich you were but closed shop for want of a PPO plan for your family that you have to pay for anyway. Your so smart. LOL Now back to the BIG LIE, so true small business go under all the time and the people who run them rarely admit mistakes, thus the BIG LIE with your firm. Driving people to the brink or under with little chance of them finding the money to fight to get the money back waisted on cookie cutter consulting. LIE #10

"Additionally, you, the persons employed by George S. May had NOWHERE else to go. You got taken out of your cushy management job, thrown to the curb, and had NOTHING. George S. May gave you a chance to start over when nobody else would. Don't you think that creates a difficult hiring environment for them? Make you actually work for a change? I know that this is the hardest I've worked for my money in a long time. I was too wealthy at too young an age and I couldn't handle the success and lost it all. This time around, I'm happy with the work I'm performing, and I am providing a benefit to a VERY tough market. 90% of small businesses fail. This is because they don't have process. We help give them process and business tools that will hopefully help right their ship."


YOU did it once more opened a door to your little world. I love your rational and how you expose yourself and your perspective on others. NO ONE BUT GSM would hire you? You thought you were all that and a bag of chips and now you work or a looser company to prop up your shattered life! PATHETIC! LIE #11 exposed

If you people actually had the experience with George that you say you have, then you are talking about a completely different company than I work for. You've completely misled the readers about what I do, that's for sure. You've also misled the readers about what the teams do, as I've met with and worked with much of the Management Services staff and I find them very professional and capable."

AFTER YOU JUST CALLED / EXPOSED EVERYONE WHO GOES TO WORK FOR GSM LOSERS! WOW YOUR A REAL WACKO! "I find them very professional and capable" Or your whole post goes down in flames! LOL @ U LIE #12


"I pretty much think you're disgruntled ex employees who have an axe to grind and are fully willing to exaggerate the situation. You talk about ethics. I find your ethics to be more than questionable, as I can't even relate to 90% of what you are complainig about."

You can't relate because your still doing it because you could not afford to take care of your family but your a rich successful professional who only went to work for GSM because they were the only firm that would hire you and give you insurance that you did not read. YOUR FUNNY! Lie #13 BUSTED!

"Josh - Abilene, Texas
U.S.A."

So sorry for you JOSH and the people you bilk!

This is CHET BUSTING THE LIER JOSH!

So everyone who doesn't agree with your narrow philosophy of the world is a liar. Are all mormons like you? Or are you just particularly self righteous?

I won't get into the misspellings, horrible grammar and run-on sentences that make your post laughable, I'll just say that if you want to call me a "LIER" it's actually spelled "LIAR". I know it's a big word for you, but try to spell it correctly. Never been accused of being a rocket scientist, have you?

Let's refute your arguments one at a time, logically, without the name-calling and fine sense of the dramatic.

Before I get started, I'll say that your willingness to exaggerate the truth regarding George S. May hurts your credibility. I had a few criticisms of GSM in my last post, and you did nothing but use them to attempt to flog me. I'll ask the critical reader to review Chet's posts vs. my posts. I think you will find mine to be more objective and even self-critical than are his. His reek of self agrandizement and personal vendetta.

1. How much do I make? That's frankly none of your business. I suppose I could be making more if I were trying to shove my services down the throats of my clients as you suggest GSM employees are required to do. I make enough to earn a living. Post my W2? Hardly. You willing to post yours?

2. Regarding my own business, and having to leave it for insurance purposes, you apparently don't understand the nature of insurance. My business was very successful. My childs health was not. Insurance for the self employed, unless it is COBRA, is reasonably priced, yet they can terminate your policy at any time for any reason after they pay your current claim. This is NOT like group insurance in which you are protected from getting dropped. So, after my first hefty claim with my child, I was promptly dropped and could not get on insurance no matter WHAT the price, unless I became employed. Perhaps you can understand that. If not, I suppose I am a "LIER". As a side-note. You are an ex-employee of GSM. Does that make YOU a "bag of wind", as you say?

3. I don't know what court records you are referring to, that state that GSM practices are "not used in accounting". Why don't you produce those. I will say, however, that it's irrelevant. An accountant is not trained to analyze financial numbers to benefit the business strategically. An accountant is trained to analyze financial numbers for tax, audit and liability purposes. Saying GSM business analysis does not use an "accounting" methodology would be like saying the airline industry does not utilize the same travel procedures as does the trucking industry. Two transportation markets with vastly different purposes. Tell me, how do you skew 'facts' worse than they are? I was never asked to do that. Businesses are in bad shape, typically. If they're not, there is always room for improvement. Why don't you detail how the analysis skews numbers? Why don't you back your accusation up? It's a very straightforward analysis, in which, if you weren't good or ethical, I suppose you COULD lie to your client. But I always sit down and show the client how I arrived at the analysis numbers. DIDN'T you?? IF you didn't, then who is the "LIER"? Me or you?

Exaggeration #1: You attack my credentials. That's fine. I've not got my resume on display for you. If you ever worked in corporate america, first, you wouldn't be so naive. Every comany is out there to make a buck by hook or by crook. It's the people within the organization that make it ethical or unethical. I have worked with very large corporations, and they're all out to make a buck. It's just different with GSM because small businesses take their money MUCH more personally than does a large corporation. You can say I exaggerate, but I'm not here to prove anything to you. Your small mindedness regarding business, and your cavalier attitude about what business really is, proves to demonstrate your narrow thinking.

4. Yes, I will admit, and I continue to admit that they withheld certain facts regarding my employment until I left my business and joined with them. I was not unhappy about it and I addressed it. At the end of the day, I was on the hook for determining whether or not I was going to stay with GSM as the result of this somewhat 'underhanded' omission. What makes me a "LIER" about that?

5. You switch to "lie #a" in your rebuttal, but for consistency's sake, I think we should stick to numbers...since later on you go back to #9. I'd hate to be your math teacher... At any rate, I've never degraded my client. I don't know where you get this. Where in the manuals, documentation, or training does it tell you, or even infer to degrade your client? This ROAD TO TRAFFIC that you are so prompt to point out, is merely a process by which you operate. Tell me what company doesn't have a ROAD TO TRAFFIC? Car salesmen? Copy Salesmen? Consultants making presentations? Every industry has a process they follow by which they look to expand their relationship and sell products or services. Or don't you understand that? If you don't, I'm a 'LIER' again.

6. Again, same as lie #5.

7. Again, same as lie #5.

8. This simply isn't true. I've NEVER been told to sell to a client who cannot afford services. PERIOD. The fact is, Even IF they want GSM services, it is incumbent upon me to help them find a way to pay for it. The #56 states we don't give loans or help with financing. It doesn't mean helping the client figure out how to afford the services. If they can't...what's the point of working for them? Get real. You act like these are such whopping lies, but common sense dictates otherwise. WHY WORK FOR A CLIENT WHO CANNOT PAY????

9. Actually, you ARE allowed to follow up with previous clients. It's clearly stated in the manual how to contact your client, or how to follow up with them if you are interested. They have a process for doing so. I don't know where you get off on saying I am FORBIDDEN to contact them. Hogwash. But again, I'm "LIER".

10. Doesn't make sense. You call me a "lier" while admitting that small businesses go out of business all the time. The reason is because they run inefficient organizations. How can you agree with me and call me a "LIER" at the same time? Go figure. I can't win for trying.

11. Nobody but GSM would hire me? And you know this because??? Seems you are taking your own personal experience and relating it to everyone within the organization. Sorry nobody would hire you. Sorry you had to work for a 'LOOSER' organization like GSM (correct spelling is LOSER, but we digress...). Not EVERYONE was desperate and lost like you were in deciding to join GSM. That's a reflection on YOU, not me.

12. I never exposed anyone as losers. That was your wording. I think you're getting more confused.

13. Same as 11.

All in all, Chet the genius "spelling bee winner" is simply angry. He won't address the fact that businesses put themselves in a bad spot and are unable to get out of it. He is unable to see that the ENTIRE consulting community is about billable hours. PERIOD. Most consulting agencies have hourly rates at $300 to $1000 per hour and have teams consisting of dozens of consultants. They just work with big businesses that pass that expense on to consumers. Chet's narrow little sense of self righteousness does little to sway anyone but other angry people who want to vent. If you want an objective look at GSM, I hope this has helped. Chet's constant name-calling and 2nd grade Michael Moore mentality is enough to expose him as an angry little man with a vendetta because he cannot succeed elsewhere.

In the two years I worked with George May I met every kind of employee and client you can imagine and took criticisms seriously and researched every plausible complaint. Working in Field Service, I spent little time at headquarters and 90% of my time with former or future clients. My integrity would not allow me to present a rip-off in a clean shiny wrapper, nor am I the type to gulp all the corporate spin at the expense of reality.

I was lured to Consulting because I had gaps in my business training and saw that Management Consultants held the ear of almost every CEO in San Francisco. Price Waterhouse and Andersen were too heavy in Public Companies and Accounting, George May worked with small business, helping them with growth bumps and profitablility. Starting wages at the big firms were too small for a father of three, so I chose George S. May. All these disgruntled employees chose George May for the wrong reasons, asking what's in it for them instead of what can they contribute.

The training was intense, and I saw that there were some trainees that didn't belong there or didn't take their jobs seriously. I knew they would be disgruntled ex-employees one day because they had poor personal integrity, poor work habits and complained about all of their past employers. I was impressed with the George May company for giving some of these flotsam/jetsom types a chance to prove themselves in such a professional environment. Perhaps I looked like them in my interviews?

The George May systems have been perfected over 75 years and they work with poor employees well, and with good employees they shine as a service most every small business needs.

I did very poorly for the first six months and did not see the income promised, but I met many who made the promised incomes and many who did not. The incentive program must have been very daunting for those used to suckling the corporate nipple without giving much in return.

The company gave me training in real world environments with stats gathered from over 400K clients (yes, share your company info, it's kept confidential and is used to grow the knowledge base that improves everyone's business that uses George May). The information is priceless, as well as the training. But what really made the difference was a good mentor. I got the best in Dan St Croix, but I had to prove myself before they used such a valuable resource on me.

After Dan trained me, my success and income took off. I was promoted twice within a year, have W-2s to show over 65k per year. This was less than average for the Bay Area, and involved a lot of unpaid time training, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything and would recommend it to anyone. Whether you succeed or fail or some of both, you learn and grow at double speed. The excellence really pushes you, and all the quiet nights in a hotel room on the road barely give you time to catch your breath.

I personally interviewed hundreds of business owners each MONTH, often with a trainee. These powerful people often surround themselves with yes-men and it's difficult to get them to acknowledge the wasted resources and areas of unprofitablility in their business. Telling them where they are wrong is a stressful negotiation, and there can be chaos, and no business owner or George May employee is going to feel 100% happy about this discourse. But those with the tenacity, faith and integrity to see it through have wonderful successes to report.

Almost every former client takes credit for our work, and their ego tells us they could have made the changes without George May. So why didn't they?

The law of growth is struggle. Most business owners get to a level of "good enough", and need George May to get to the next level. Many businesses would be gone without George May. I could prove it case by case, but I take my confidentiality agreements seriously.

My new company is doing well thanks to what George S. May taught me, and when I am big enough to qualify for service, I look forward to hiring my former employer, because I look forward to my company getting bigger and better than my own ego.
I hope in the future these disgruntled people spend more time looking in the mirror.

There is nothing illegal or immoral going on, you will never see a worthy lawsuit filed or a credible complaint, the customer service is just too good for that.

David,

First off let me congratulate you on your successes, kudos to you.

I have to put my 2 cents in on this company though. I was hired in 2003 to become an analyst for George S. May. I had a strong business background, I grew up in a small business, so I could relate to a lot of their problems. I had a B.A. and an M.B.A., and a successful sales background.

The problem I ran into with the company, now that I look back on it, started with the interview. The person who interviewed me told me of all the great things they do, all the money he makes, etc. He also said they were paid a salary and that all business expenses were paid up front. Silly me, I should have had him put that in writing, but I figured, hey, they're big, it can't be any other way. So I got the usual song and dance, and accepted the position.

Then I find out a few days later that I have to pay for my flight to Chicago, which granted I would be reimbursed for, but don't companies usually pay for their employees to travel for business? I also found out then that I had to purchase the laptop that they required me to have. Once again, business=should pay for required equipment, never conveyed to me until the last second. So I went out and bought a laptop and all the goodies that go with it. I began to have reservations about my choice at that time, but I figured things would get better and I was just nervous.

So off I go to Chicago, ready to conquer the world. First thing I find out is that I have to memorize the canned intro. speech. While I agree with the major points of it, I felt like I was back in elementary school, having to learn this thing verbatim, and I really think I presented it that way because I couldn't improvise. One thing that also stood out for me, was when we were on one of our breaks during class, I was outside with the instructor. We were chit chatting, and I asked the person straight up if this was really consulting or just high pressured sales. I've never seen someone squirm like when I asked that, I just received a brush off, and they rushed back into the classroom. Another hint I should have picked up on.

Ok, so we finish class, and it's time to go out and play. So I get sent to Canada for my first deal. Once again, they failed to mention that you have to pay to do business before you cross the border. So out goes another 100.00 to simply walk across the border. Would have been nice to know that. Then the next day I go to my assignment. The client in my eyes was totally misled, promised one thing, and then when I show up and can't do what he wants, he pays me and tells me to leave. I felt like I had been set up, and my senex just kept telling me to go back in and pressure the guy. I did that for about half a day, and he became agitated and locked the door. So there I am, standing outside in winter, with nothing but my superior telling me to get back in there. Hello, the door is now locked, I got the survey fee, what do you want me to do??????

Needless to say that was a nightmare. So it's off to number 2, which went much better, but realistically only because I pretty much brushed off what my senex told me and helped these people my way. I got a go ahead, and things looked better.

So then I went off again the follwing week, and I'm rambling here, so that one once again didn't happen, nothing exciting there. Went off to another city, around a holiday (a major one I might add) to a restaurant. Ok, having grown up in a restaurant, let me tell you now you don't go in at that time of the year and demand an owner stop running the business and pay attention only to me. I tried conveying that to my fill in senex (Mine was in field), but was met with cursing and told to do my job, J.C. Ok now that was professional, at that point I knew the company was a sham in many respects, they did no qualifying, etc. to prepare these people and employees for what needed to be done.

I'd go on forever, but I don't want to rehash any more bad memories. Needless to say I left the company that day, went home, and soon after joined a consulting firm that actually does their homework and sends you into a situation where the people are ready and willing for what is to come, not throwing the employee up against the wall and hoping they stick.

Oh yeah, everyone in my training class quit within 6 months too, you must see something wrong with that, it's not just the hires that caused that. Anyways good luck in your new business.

David from Idaho I can't tell you how much I do hope that you will someday get to hire the GSM company for your own business. After what you have done to the clients you set up while you were in Field Services it would simply be the most poetic justice I could imagine. Just think, someday you will get to experience the joy of having an individual who has had to memorize a rote presentation and deliver a predetermined dire analysis of your business, complete with inaccurate charts and non-standard accounting practices assumptions, tell you that you will be bankrupt if you don't hire GSM.

If for one minute you can honestly say that you felt the "survey" that you sold to these unsuspecting business owners was anything more than a highly misleading, overly dramatized sales pitch for the extortion of their hard earned dollars (which would be taken not by the skilled professionals they were promised but by hour eating, untrained generalists whose primary purpose was to drive up billing costs and print out boilerplate notebooks) then you are truly delusional.

Every so often one of these "happy" GSM employees feels compelled to act as a company apologist in an effort to justify their actions. If you use a bit of logic you can always unravel their position, for example; If you indeed interviewed hundreds of business owners each month and took six days a week to do it...well lets just do the math. 200 (I'm being kind...he said "hundreds")divided by 24 would be a little more than 8 a day or 48 a week. Now to hit the income level good old Davy says he hit he would only have to sell two or three surveys a week. Lets see that would be a close rate of less than 6% for the valuable services GSM offers. Yeah...they, the business owners, were begging you to take them on as clients weren't they.

You are right about one thing; many businesses would be gone without GSM, thats due to the natural rate of attrition in the business world...but many could have stayed in business longer if GSM hadn't made it its primary business objective to suck out the last bit of cash flow from a desperate and scared business owner.

I hate coming back to this sight because it forces me to relive a horrendous and embarrassing part of my business career, but as I have stated in an earlier posting, If I can convince just one potential employee or client to be wary of this horrid company I will have gained back just a little bit of the dignity that GSM has caused me to lose.

I know all about GSM. I have for years. I owned my own consulting business for 7 years and worked with start-up and development projetcs. I also possess over 25 years of experience in business, management, electrical industry and construction, etc... I have a ton of real life skills like many people of my age who have lost their jobs, incomes, homes, futures due to job loss, downsizing, etc... We seek replacement jobs and income and these "consulting offers" seem to target us.

But, what is happening, is myself and many others I have read on this site, are being approached to get involved as executive consultants and make BIG $$$$ utilizing your former developed business skills. SOunds great but.... Careerbuilder.com seems to be the site of choice for these people to find victims researchign resumes posted on them and profile people like us.

Last week, I was contacted by one such organization, IIB, or as they are known The Institutue for Independent Business and are HQ'd out of the UK. They recently have come into the USA, and though they have been the focus of many inquiries in UK. Businesses can operate in Europe in ways not acceptable in the USA, and this firm (IIB) in my opinion works to stay under the rader, yet really operate no different than any other front fee MLM type scheme.

Basically, I attended a select orientation meeting and was 1 of several persons supposedly picked from 2500 applicants. I did the meeting, heard the information, received the documents in hand and was left to make a decision to join IIB. But you see, though on the surface they seem plausible talking about networking with 4000 other global associates and to have the IIB accreditation logo on your business cards, you are expected to work and establish a private consulting business just the same. You are required to sign away any connection to IIB or any legal liability to IIB, and you, effectivley, are 100% self employed in every way, including taking 100% of all the customary liability and business issues that face any business.

HOWEVER, to begin this final process, you MUST go to the IIB training program in New Jersey, and you MUST pay approx. $20,000.00 for a one time fee. Once you are accepted, you then pay an annual membership fee of $350.00, and as you work and meet with the small businesses they purport to help, you are told what to invoice and lock the small business into a 1 year contract, and of those billable invoiced amounts each month (approx. $3,000.00/client/month for basic services), the organization group that brought you into IIB to become an associate, they receive 20% off your invoiced amounts..

For what it's worth, the IIB group leader who gave the orientation, did mention he thought George S. May's sales tactics were unethical and too pushy and mentioned some other Australian based consulting firm as well, but said nobody was a competitor of IIB and the field was wide open in the USA especially. On a worst case scenario with only 3-5 clients, the first year you could expect to receive $150,000.00 in compensation.

Networking is great. It is a basic function of life or any business. But for an organization to approach and solicit you to become affiliated to them for fees & costs, yet you sign away any legal relationship to them in the process, then why would anyone in business want to have so many hands in the mix to begin with, right? Why not just use your $20,000.00 + and invest that for your business and grow it yourself and not have to pay others percentages off your efforts, and a continued yearly membership fee?

Something just is not copasetic with IIB or the GSM's out there, and for what they purport to save small businesses, are they really? Or are they reallocating those monies into the IIB machine and the small business really is no further ahead than before these "consultants" camed into their lives??

BTW, I have IIB documents to bonifide my statements and concerns here and can be contacted directly by anyone else seriously thinking about going to one of their orientation meetings so they can make a logical decision.

Just common sense says, if you have to operate as any self employed entity and pay all your travel, meeting, business costs as other businesses, why pay someone like IIB just to have their logo and give them 20% of what you bill the client???? Just makes no sense..

I know there are many internet webpages of supposed IIB associates who state the same thing; but in my travels, I have yet to find any business that has ever heard of or dealt to them in any fashion. Also, IIB demands none of its associates deal with restaurant or retail businesses, and only target small businesses in $1million to $10million range...