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Report: #9377

Complaint Review: Ceiltech (Acousti-Clean, Inc.) - Daytona Beach Florida

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  • Reported By: Durham, NC 27704
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  • Ceiltech (Acousti-Clean, Inc.) 825 Gatepark Dr. #3 Daytona Beach, Florida U.S.A.

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We purchased the "Ceiltech" ceiling cleaning business opportunity in 2000 following a seminar scheduled through a local Home Show. Our total investment for the purchase of the equipment, freight and start-up costs totalled over $12,000.

We bought the package following several conversations with the Ceiltech salesman, Tim Richardson, who repeatedly promised the following items: 1) Local training, 2) Guaranteed National Account Referrals,

3) Guaranteed Bid Appointments scheduled by their Florida telephone team who follow up leads provided by us -referred to as the Personal Introduction Program or "P.I.P.", 4) Unlimited Earnings averaging $250/hour,

5) Work that was easy to perform with no ladders or scrubbing, 6) Huge Demand with Unlimited Potential. We were told that marketing support was provided so that Ceiltech could "guarantee our success." The above items were also described in various language in the contract we signed with Ceiltech and/or in their advertising banners and hand-outs.

The main reason we ended up purchasing Ceiltech's system was because we were guaranteed leads from the company - both national referrals and demonstration appointments that were to be set up by their Florida-based telephone specialists. (The P.I.P.)

Richardson repeatedly mentioned the availability and importance of this lead program and urged us to use it when we received our equipment.

We earnestly followed Ceiltech's recommendations including regular post card mailings and weekly faxes of our 20 lead names for their Florida follow-up calls. Guess how shocked we were when, after our first Fax, we received by mail an envelope of
Ceiltech form letters & faded photocopies of dated testimonials!

This was the "guaranteed" lead program we had purchased; there were, in fact, no phone calls or national lead referrals being offered.

From this point on, all we received from Ceiltech in trying to rectify this "bait and switch" tactic were more lies, spin and avoidance. The President, Mario Signorelli, feigned innocence about Richardson's tactics, and turned the whole thing back on us by insisting that we "weren't trying hard enough," which wasn't true. We paid for a yellow pages ad, did local telemarketing, cold-called businesses, and did regular direct mailings.

For all our trouble we never got the business past the part-time stage. The chemicals and equipment that we purchased did a satisfactory job, but there was not the "huge demand" for the service that we had been promised and we never received one lead from Ceiltech.

We complained to the "National Business Opportunity Bureau" - where Ceiltech is registered - but found out that they are a BBB clone; they keep complaints secret and don't do anything other than collect fees from the very companies they are supposed to be rating.

It was obvious that NBOB did not even read my detailed complaint, but rather forwarded to us a copy of Ceiltech's blanket denial of all charges.

As to the 6 items above, this is how Ceiltech fared: 1)We requested the local training but were told we had to pay to go to Florida to get it;

2) In 13 months of pursuing this business we got ZERO national leads; 3) The P.I.P. program was a TOTAL DECEPTION; 4) We NEVER made $250/hour an any job;

5) We found the work required high levels of energy and endurance; ladders were needed on ALL jobs to do a complete service and scrubbing was OFTEN required; and 6) In spite of all our marketing efforts we did not find a big enough demand to support a business.

After a year of filing complaints with various agencies and fighting with the corporate office, Ceiltech faxed us a name of a person who wanted to buy our used equipment - probably because they were tired of our pleas to amend their tactics.

We ended up selling the entire business at a loss. Ceiltech's spin on this is that they did us a big favor by facilitating a sale, and they refuse to admit that they did anything unethical or fraudulent.

Since then we have spoken to at least 3 other parties who also commented on Ceiltech's deceptive practices. We suffered through a painful year of stress and heartache trying to make this business work. I hope our experience can alert others to the real "truth" about Ceiltech.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 12/16/2001 12:00 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ceiltech-acousti-clean-inc/daytona-beach-florida-32114/ceiltech-business-opportunity-uses-lies-and-deception-to-attract-new-operators-9377. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
8Consumer
1Employee/Owner

#9 General Comment

Timothy Richardson - CCIS

AUTHOR: Cesar - ()

POSTED: Thursday, November 21, 2013

 

I recently attended an Expo show for franchises in NJ,  I visited a booth for CCIS, Commercial Cleaning Income Systems.  It sure sound very much like "Ceitech" I wonder if this is the same individual operating under a different alias company.

Richard claims to be from Ohio, and owns 3 McDonalds  all thanks to his CCIS business.  He also claims to have a farm in Ohio, he holds two PHD degrees and 5 bachelor’s degrees & has written several books.  He is smooth and savvy individual (very convincing), polite and likeable.   

The CCIS business offers three system: 1 Interior renovation, 2. Floor safety & 3. Environmental.  He claims that only 10 jobs per month, one can generate $10,000 dollars & this is as a part time basis.

 He referred me to Vincent Whaley a small business consultant who was supposed to provide an objective opinion on CCIS, however after talking to Vince I was lead to think that Vince is part of Tim's sales pitch.

 I am still investigating, if someone has any information about Timothy Richardson from CCIS please share your information, I'm just trying to do my do diligent before engaging into some type of scam.

His picture:

 

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#8 Consumer Comment

Success with Ceiltech

AUTHOR: Theresa F. - ()

POSTED: Thursday, July 18, 2013

 In 1991 my husband and I visited a home show in Southeast Texas.  We were searching for a career change for the both of us, and were immediately interested in the Ceiltech system and earning potential.  Within a week, we were Ceiltech operators. It was a leap of faith as we had three small children at the time.

 It took some hard work, but we were more than happy to invest the time and effort into building our own business.  22 years later, our business is still operating.  We've managed to raise a family on the fruits of our labors.  Was it always easy? Absolutely not.  But we did not sit on our thumbs and wait for the referrals to come in from the parent company.  We sent out postcards, made phone calls, made personal visits, and really "worked" our business.  We did receive some referrals, some very lucrative, but again, we did not rely on these to make our business a success. 

It was OUR business and we were motivated to make it work.   I think that anyone looking for a get rich quick scheme where no work is involved would be disappointed, but you cannot blame that on the company, system, or their products. Your failure was just that.. YOUR failure.  Your failure to recognize that if you want something badly enough, you must understand that it takes WORK and be willing to DO WORK.    Perhaps you should have invested your money in the lottery? No work involved there, and hey, if you hit the numbers, you will get rich quick without having to do any work.

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#7 Consumer Comment

Ceiltech Tim Richardson Freedom Commercial Services greenfield Ohio

AUTHOR: Rochelle - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, November 07, 2012

2 Years ago I bought from Ceiltech and Tim Richardson at a franchise show in Tampa Florida and after careful consideration I bought into this company despite my husbands objections.  I should have known better and checked out Tim Richardson a little closer as it turns out he was not the nice guy he led us to believe he was.
Since then we have found out that his real name is Robert T Richardson and has been involved in many now defunct business opportunities and one of them is a company called Freedom Commercial Services, Premier Printing LLC and several others that we found on the internet.

We have begun an investigation with the help of our states attorney general and I suggest that you do the same as the business seems to be ongoing and recently we witnessed Mr Richardson at a show saying the same things he told us and did not even recognize me when I walked into his booth.

Im disgusted that I let myself fall for this but I will look for revenge soon enough.

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#6 Consumer Comment

Another Brief Point of View

AUTHOR: David - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, December 13, 2004

I am a CEILTECH operator in the Tampa are and regularly get calls from potential investors since my website is very visible. Alot of those people mention finding this letter I am posting what I tell them here.

This is not a get-rich quick scheme. It took us roughly 4 months to make back our initial investment (which was about the same as above).
The ladder we most often use is a 3 step ladder and yes, in the case of restaurant kitchens, scrubbing is quite often involved. Our work in diningrooms and other businesses requires no scrubbing and very little ladder work.

I too found this opportunity through a local home show, with Mr. Richardson giving the presentation. I was never told nor expected anyone to do marketing other than myself. CEILTECH provided generic marketing materials which we customized and I use the national reference letters mentioned above to supplement my own materials. The staff at Ceiltech has always been helpful and honest in all my dealings with them. The training we went to was especially helpful in saving both time and money.

I believe this to be a solid and workable business opportunity and reccomend it to anyone who does not mind building upper body strength and frequently putting in night hours. Since I began working with CEILTECH I have had only good experiences with the staff, the process and the local clients I deal with.

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#5 Consumer Comment

Another Brief Point of View

AUTHOR: David - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, December 13, 2004

I am a CEILTECH operator in the Tampa are and regularly get calls from potential investors since my website is very visible. Alot of those people mention finding this letter I am posting what I tell them here.

This is not a get-rich quick scheme. It took us roughly 4 months to make back our initial investment (which was about the same as above).
The ladder we most often use is a 3 step ladder and yes, in the case of restaurant kitchens, scrubbing is quite often involved. Our work in diningrooms and other businesses requires no scrubbing and very little ladder work.

I too found this opportunity through a local home show, with Mr. Richardson giving the presentation. I was never told nor expected anyone to do marketing other than myself. CEILTECH provided generic marketing materials which we customized and I use the national reference letters mentioned above to supplement my own materials. The staff at Ceiltech has always been helpful and honest in all my dealings with them. The training we went to was especially helpful in saving both time and money.

I believe this to be a solid and workable business opportunity and reccomend it to anyone who does not mind building upper body strength and frequently putting in night hours. Since I began working with CEILTECH I have had only good experiences with the staff, the process and the local clients I deal with.

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#4 Consumer Comment

Another Brief Point of View

AUTHOR: David - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, December 13, 2004

I am a CEILTECH operator in the Tampa are and regularly get calls from potential investors since my website is very visible. Alot of those people mention finding this letter I am posting what I tell them here.

This is not a get-rich quick scheme. It took us roughly 4 months to make back our initial investment (which was about the same as above).
The ladder we most often use is a 3 step ladder and yes, in the case of restaurant kitchens, scrubbing is quite often involved. Our work in diningrooms and other businesses requires no scrubbing and very little ladder work.

I too found this opportunity through a local home show, with Mr. Richardson giving the presentation. I was never told nor expected anyone to do marketing other than myself. CEILTECH provided generic marketing materials which we customized and I use the national reference letters mentioned above to supplement my own materials. The staff at Ceiltech has always been helpful and honest in all my dealings with them. The training we went to was especially helpful in saving both time and money.

I believe this to be a solid and workable business opportunity and reccomend it to anyone who does not mind building upper body strength and frequently putting in night hours. Since I began working with CEILTECH I have had only good experiences with the staff, the process and the local clients I deal with.

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#3 Consumer Comment

Another Brief Point of View

AUTHOR: David - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, December 13, 2004

I am a CEILTECH operator in the Tampa are and regularly get calls from potential investors since my website is very visible. Alot of those people mention finding this letter I am posting what I tell them here.

This is not a get-rich quick scheme. It took us roughly 4 months to make back our initial investment (which was about the same as above).
The ladder we most often use is a 3 step ladder and yes, in the case of restaurant kitchens, scrubbing is quite often involved. Our work in diningrooms and other businesses requires no scrubbing and very little ladder work.

I too found this opportunity through a local home show, with Mr. Richardson giving the presentation. I was never told nor expected anyone to do marketing other than myself. CEILTECH provided generic marketing materials which we customized and I use the national reference letters mentioned above to supplement my own materials. The staff at Ceiltech has always been helpful and honest in all my dealings with them. The training we went to was especially helpful in saving both time and money.

I believe this to be a solid and workable business opportunity and reccomend it to anyone who does not mind building upper body strength and frequently putting in night hours. Since I began working with CEILTECH I have had only good experiences with the staff, the process and the local clients I deal with.

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#2 Consumer Comment

Questioning Jonathan's Motives

AUTHOR: Mary - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, February 22, 2003

This is a rebuttal to Jonathan's comments titled "Completely Different Experience." I find many weaknesses in his presentation - especially the fact that he has no actual Ceiltech field "experience" to back up his rebuttal. I wonder - because he is so defensive, apologetic toward and accepting of Ceiltech's deception - if he is actually a corporate rep doing "damage control" or really a new operator who is just in denial about the potential downside of this business opportunity.

1. Jonathan speaks as if salespeople are expected to lie and deceive and we should forgive them for saying alot of things "to spark interest". I'm in sales, too, and there's a big difference between sparking interest and blatantly cheating a person out of their money with false claims, as Ceiltech did.

2. I question his statement that he will receive "exactly $250/hour" for his first job. You can figure $250 on your bid but you can't know "exactly" how much you really made until after. Things always take longer than they look.

3. We bought the business because we were promised very specific marketing support from Ceiltech and planned to utilize their techniques (why reinvent the wheel?) plus some of our own, as we did. Getting a small business off the ground is not an easy proposition, and marketing is everything. I've represented a manufacturer for years who provides national lead support which returns over 50% of my business, and I know how vital this is. Ceiltech never gave us ONE lead from their national advertising program, and their promise to call on OUR leads to have their experts set up "demonstrations" for us was a bald-faced LIE.

4. I'm happy for Jonathan that he is fortunate to have a mentor in Georgia to assist him. We also asked this operator in Georgia for phone advice, but it was not enough to overcome local competition, Ceiltech's lack of support and other factors.

5. I'd like to know which websites Jonathan checked which were so helpful in making his decision. I bet they were all sponsored by Ceiltech. If I had read a similar complaint like this before I invested my money, it would have raised valid red flags which would have caused me to ask the right questions and would have saved me alot of grief. The main reason I filed a complaint with Ripoff Report was because of the lack of balanced information available on business opportunities, hoping that it could give consumers another side to the story.

At the time I researched Ceiltech, everything was from either Ceiltech insiders or reporting agencies who are payed dues by corporations to give only positive feedback. I found ONE complaint listed against Ceiltech, but they wouldn't give me a copy of it, which seems to void the whole idea of having these "watchdog" agencies. The only 3 references given by Ceiltech were people who are controlled by the company to give out positive information.

6. Jonathan claims that his research on the cleaning process made him expect ladders and scrubbing. If that's so, that's something new, because everything in their videos, written and oral material promise the opposite. I feel that he is "reaching" here, maybe because he needs to justify how much work he has cut out for him.

7. I found Jonathan's final comments very inappropriate, that he thinks my attitude "is lazy and frustrated," & that my "disatisfactions (sp?) are only the result of (my) naive and overly-dependent nature." I don't know how Jonathan can possibly judge my effort or my nature, and I thought these rebuttals - to be fair - were supposed to center on facts and actual experience. This reaction is the very thing I got from Ceiltech when I challenged their behavior - more "Blame the Victim" techniques - such as "you didn't try hard enough" - which distracts from their own wrongdoing.

I did not buy into Ceiltech expecting them to "hold my hand", but I did have a reasonable expectation that they would honor their claims, which they did not. His rebuttal seems to be more of an effort to convince himself that he made the right decision, and that can be accomplished only by discrediting me and my complaint. I wish Jonathan well with his business venture and hope he finds success.

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#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company

completely different experience

AUTHOR: Jonathan - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, February 22, 2003

Tim Richardson did stress to me the importance of the P.I.P. program, yet further emphasized that one could not fully rely upon it for success. Also, I was intelligent enough to know that there was financial incentive for him to get us to buy this system, and he was a salesmen, not a friend or business partner. I was never literally promised personal phone sales support, but it almost seemed like that was what he was talking about. Not even an employee, but only a compensated endorser, he would and could say a lot of things to spark interest; that's what he was getting paid to do.

Honestly, I am speaking from a lack of experience, however. Tomorrow night is actually my first job. It was not hard to get, and I have more lined up. I'm getting exactly $250/hour tomorrow and am very satisfied with the system.

You can't be naive enough to believe that someone else's technique for starting and operating a service business would work perfectly for you instantly. You've got to develop your own style, and feel out your prospects to determine where your effort is best spent. Also, you should never rely on paid advertising alone to get you started. This is only effective when word-of-mouth begins to spread and seeing an ad confirms an already curious prospect's urge to contact your business.

I have worked extensively with a nearbye Ceiltech operator who has prospered for over 12 years with this service. He taught me the ropes and I know now how to make it work. This is my advantage, but in your case you should have known and expected this stage of discovery to take a long while before your momentum picked up. I prefer to create my own advertising materials and distribute them at my own pace, so that I know the content of what is being distributed.

After actual research on the Ceiltech process, I fully expected ladders, scrubbing, and the whole deal. I expect to work for $250/hour, don't you? Any time you throw $12,000 into something, I recommend that you at least check a search engine or two for some information on the investment. In my mind, it could take a year or more for me to realy get this going, but I have planned on this, and am ready to put all my effort into it.

Mr. Richardson mentioned that he was being paid $10,000 to travel the trade show seminars. Why do you think Ceiltech would throw away this much and use an associate and not an employee? Don't you think that Tim Richardson wanted to earn his chance to do the sales trip next year?

Your attitude is lazy and frustrated. Your disatisfactions are only the result of your naive and overly-dependant nature. Nobody holds anyone's hand while starting a business. Ceiltech has worked for plenty of people, but only those who are truly willing to work.

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