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Report: #906702

Complaint Review: CoVet Solutions - Tampa Florida

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  • Reported By: Eileen — Ypsilanti Michigan USA
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  • CoVet Solutions 9223 N 52nd Street Tampa, Florida United States of America

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I was contracted last year to work for CoVet Solutions, LLC, (headquartered in Tampa, FL maintains an operations office in Baltimore, MD. D&B number: 964803147, CAGE Code: 66Q53, FEI Number: 25-1927302, Website http://www.covetsolutions.com).  The Tampa "headquarters" (9223 N. 52nd Street) is a residence.  The "operations office" (400 E. Pratt Street in Baltimore) is as best I can determine, a small business hotel in Baltimore.

Amy Coleman is the "Executive Vice President" who seems to be working for one business while attempting to run CoVet Solutions on the side.  CoVet Solutions operates as a temporary medical and IT staffing agency, run by a retired Air Force Supply Officer by the name of Morris B. Coleman.  The business is designated as a "service-disabled, veteran-owned small business."

I am a freelance writer, specializing in technical documents, including RFPs and RFP responses, technical documentation, grants, etc. Amy Coleman approached me to work on proposal responses for government staffing contracts for CoVet Solutions. In one of our initial phone conversations, she made a point of assuring me that CoVet Solutions always paid its contractor invoices immediately because she understood how important it was to pay writers on time.

I'm not sure how Amy Coleman defines "immediately," but despite having a contractor agreement that
specified in writing that my invoices were to be paid within 10 days (which was CoVet's own agreement, by the way), the company NEVER managed to pay me on time, and on more than one occasion paid me less than the invoiced amount.  When I called CoVet Solutions out on that, I was told that the earliest their accounts payable system could pay out invoices was on Net 15 terms.  (Right. I'm just guessing here, but they don't even seem to understand how stupid that sounds.)

I was regularly told that my checks were approved right away, but somehow they always got "lost" in the mail.  (Once maybe, but every month?  Really?) Not surprisingly, the only two of my clients who ever claimed that the "check must have gotten lost in the mail" turned out to be major deadbeats, CoVet Solutions being one of them.

Typically, CoVet Solutions paid their invoices 30-60 days past due.  This woman soaked HOURS of my time on the phone at all hours of the day and night. On one particular proposal, I have documented telephone records showing nearly 40 hours of telephone calls with her, including one at 11:00 PM!

And that's just telephone time. That doesn't even include the time I had to spend drafting the proposals she was looking for. She thought absolutely nothing of asking for same-day and next day turnaround on
proposals.  Everything was always last-minute, rush work.

I reminded her frequently that if she wanted to absorb that much of my time, she needed to pay my invoices in a very timely way, but somehow getting my invoices paid was never a priority for her or CoVet Solutions.  Even after I explained to her that late payments on her part required me to take on extra work from other clients in order to pay my bills each month, and that reduced the time I was available to work on her projects, she still never quite managed to make my invoices the priority she initially claimed she would.

After a short time of paying invoices 30 days late, CoVet Solutions started to pay my invoices 60-90 days late. After completing a major proposal, she tried to hook me into another large task and I told her that I couldn't work on any new projects for her until she paid my outstanding invoices - one of which was already 60 days past due.

She swore up and down that the check had been sent (several times and I will post all of her emails on the subject if she attempts to deny it), but in the end she simply walked away, leaving me with nearly $2,000 in unpaid receivables.  I have transferred this account to a commercial collections agency, and will have to sue to recover the lost income.  I've also entered them into the Freelancers Union database of deadbeat clients.  Hopefully, this will at least prevent someone else from being ripped off by CoVet Solutions.

My simple advice to you is this: do not do business with Amy Coleman, Morris Coleman or CoVet Solutions. Amy Coleman has a demonstrated history of taking advantage of freelance workers and thinks nothing of walking away after stealing dozens of hours of their time.

I am a freelance worker, so that means I'm self employed and all of my revenues go to support my family. When people like Amy Coleman do something like this to me, it means that they're literally stealing food out of the mouths of my children.  This woman stole WEEKS of my time, which I can't make up. 

Other firms actually partner with these clowns because CoVet Solutions is listed as a "disadvantaged business." I can't imagine another firm wanting to partner with a small business that is so financially unstable that it can't pay a $2,000 bill, or worse, so operated by people so thoughtless and unprofessional that they think that stealing time and work product from a freelancer is somehow OK.

Were I looking for a temporary job or a contract job as a healthcare provider or IT professional, I would have serious concerns about a company like CoVet Solutions even being able to make payroll.  I realize that work is at a premium in this economy, but don't waste your time with Amy Coleman, Morris Coleman and CoVet Solutions.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/04/2012 10:23 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/covet-solutions/tampa-florida-33687/covet-solutions-covet-solutions-llc-amy-coleman-morris-b-coleman-covet-solutions-does-906702. 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:
3Author
6Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#9 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Tax fraud by CoVet Solutions

AUTHOR: MSContract - ()

POSTED: Monday, October 13, 2014

I too was a Contract employee of CoVet Soultions.  My contract with CoVet was with Keesler AFB, MS.  I worked for CoVet Solutions for almost 3 years.  Many many times I was paid late and had to tell them I was not paid and it would take them several days to pay us (2 people were on this contract).  CoVet always said our paystatements "were mailed" but we Never recieved them, we finaly got them to email them to us.  We also were not paid the correct amount many times and when I had to attend a conference CoVet was supposed to pay for it took them 4 months to pay me back as I had to pay for everything and they were "supposed" to re-pay me.  They never did pay the Per diem.

The worst part of working for CoVet Solultion came this year when in July we found out why we did not recieve our State Income tax refund.  After speaking with the MS state tax off Mr. Bryan Mixon we found out that Covet used a tax ID # that was not registared to any company.  For over 3 months we tried to get CoVet Solutions to fix this problem but it still has not been corrected.  Mr Mixon, my self and my co-worker have all called and emailed dozens of times and spoke/emailed Amy Coleman and Kathy Lane from CoVet to correct this tax problem.  Kathy and Amy have "promised" that they will send in or call Mr. Mixon to fix the problem but they still have not done this.  They told me several times they sent in the documents but Mr Mixon said he never recieved any information from CoVet.  I asked Kathy for the tracking number of the"certified letter" they claimed to have sent but of course she would not give it to me.

On further investigation by the MS tax office it appears that CoVet Solutions took out our State tax but never paid it to MS tax office.   CoVet Soltions has committed tax fraud; they took out money from both of our paychecks bi-monthly (we have paystatements to prove this) but they never sent that money to the MS tax office.  They refuse to correct this problem.  y co-worker and I have filed a claim with the MS state Attorney General office and filed a Fraud Investigation with the MS state tax office.   We are waiting for the results. 

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#8 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Par for the Course

AUTHOR: Another Victim - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, February 15, 2013

Well no big surprise. True to my experience historically, CoVet's promise to provide a W2 is unfullfilled. None of the Former CoVet employees at Brooke Army Medical Center have received one. I feel the need now to address some comments made in the entry about CoVet being a good employer. I was not fired by CoVet THEY were fired for non-performance by the Prime on the Contract, fortunately unlike them I remain in the same job in spite of their failure. I have emailed; faxed and called every phone # I can find for them.

And all attempts have been unanswered except for one automated e-mail stating the W2 was sent . Apparently the Pratt Street Address in Baltimore has been vacated. I was a good employee. I never called off; demanded BIG FAT RAISES nor was I a "problem" employee.  You are right about this economy , imagine how I feel having $2300 of my hard earned dollars stolen from me in this economy! I haven't taken the litigous route in an attempt to profit from this situation I have simply filed complaints with the Dept. of Labor which is taking A VERY LONG TIME.

If you have such a great relationship with Amy and Morris perhaps you can ask them to reply to one of us here and have them call the Dept of Labor Investigator at 210-308-2321 .Please let them know I have reported them to the IRS as well. Seems to me if they have nothing to hide they would be eager to contact the authorities to clear their name. Rest assured they ARE aware of this issue I have even gone to their web-site and submitted thru their info@covet  resource there.

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#7 UPDATE EX-employee responds

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

AUTHOR: Another Victim - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, February 07, 2013

 I recently discovered that CoVet is working as a Sub Contractor of a Mindleaf Technologies. A word of advice to anyone doing or considering doing business with CoVet, like our parents cautioned us "Birds of a feather flock together!" I'd be suspect of anyone willing to do business with them.  I'm sure they are using other Prime Contractors to conceal where they are working in an attempt to dodge the peolpe pursuing them for delinquent accounts etc....... The San Antonio District Office of Dept. of Labor W&H Divison is currently seeking to speak with Covet in connection with an open and ongoing investigation. Contact # for them is. (210)308-4515

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#6 Author of original report

CoVet Solutions - Fraudulent Government Contractor

AUTHOR: Eileen Peck - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, February 04, 2013

Yes, I was told the same thing by Amy - several times as a matter of fact - in writing. But again, I was a 1099 employee, so the penalties may be different for not submitting a W2 versus skipping a 1099.  You can file your taxes without a W2 form. There's a space to indicate on the return that you should have received a W2 from your employer and did not.  Use the figures from your last pay stub from them.

I hope you receive your documentation. If you receive it, verify that it has the amount CoVet actually paid you, so you don't get taxed on your loss. (i.e., make sure their figures do not include the missing funds).

If Amy isn't worried about the Army or the DCAA, she's also not worried about the IRS.  She is simply a disreputable person. She doesn't care about following the rules.  If she did, you and I both would have been paid as agreed. As it stands, I have no doubt that Amy continued to pay herself while everyone else went without.

Thanks again for your contribution.  Please follow up if/when you receive your W2s.

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#5 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Someone is listening/watching

AUTHOR: Another Victim - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, February 04, 2013

This morning I received this: From <AUTO GENERATED MESSAGE-DO NOT REPLY> [w2processing@covetsolutions.com]

NOTICE:  ALL 2012 W2s have been mailed.

 

 

/////////////////////Transmission Message///////////////////////

 

Inquiry Received From: *******************

Message: Status of my W2 please.

Resolution: W2 mailed 1.31.13 please allow 7 to 10 business days for receipt.

 

//////////////////////////////END///////////////////////////////
I think someone may be concerned about the IRS???????

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#4 Author of original report

CoVet Solutions - Fraudulent Government Contractor

AUTHOR: Eileen - (USA)

POSTED: Sunday, February 03, 2013

Thanks for your followup.  I also never received a 1099 from CoVet Solutions for the work I performed for them, despite my repeated requests and Amy's ongoing assurances that I would receive one.   As a 1099 employee, I can file my taxes without their documentation, but it irritates me to no end to hear that she's treated other people as badly as she treated me.

I reported CoVet Solutions to the DCAA because the work I performed for them was included in their overhead costs to the government, and since I didn't get paid for the work, they clearly overstated their costs.    I hope your efforts result in prosecution and restitution for you and the other affected employees, and I sincerely hope Amy Coleman and her crew are washed out of this business permanently.

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#3 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Contract Employee who also got ripped off

AUTHOR: Another Victim - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, February 03, 2013

I have also had a very negative interaction with this company. I was an employee of CoVet when they were a sub-contractor under my current employer at Brooke Army Medical Center , Ft Sam Houston Texas. After beign dismissed for non-performance by the Prime on our contract CoVet absconded without remitting the H&W Fringe that was withheld from my pay. The ammount was $3.59 per hr worked for the period of 1 April thru 15 Jul 2012.They claimed they were using this to cover health insurance and 401Ks neither of which was true. I have documents from the Insurance Company stating that only one month of the agreed 3 month premium was paid, and 401Ks never existed.  This impacted approximately 25 employees totalling in the neighborhood of $50,000.00. There are currently several investigators form various branches of the Federal Department of Labor pursuing them in regards to an active investigation. They have ignored all attempts to contact. I have e-mailed; faxed and phoned every contact with the company and to date have received no reply. The last e-mail from Amy Coleman when the company was dismissed assured us that when the accounts were reconciled our money would be remitted. REALLY , does it take 6+ months to do simple math? Every employee here is still waiting now not only for our $ but our W2 forms which have not yet materialized either. It is disgusting that these people would come into a military community and commit such acts! Many of my contemporaries are Military Spouses; Retiree Spouses like myself and Vets who served our Country Honorably!  I have been a Contract Employee at BAMC since 2008 and have worked under 5 Companies during that time as the contract changed hands from year to year. I have  never encountered anything like this! Luckily I possess the tenacity and intellect to continue my pursuit as long as it takes. Rest assured the IRS will be added to the scenerio if I do not receive my W2 byt the 15 Feb. there is a process in place that allows honest law abiding citizens to gain assistance and releif from the IRS so that we can file our taxes even if an unethical business fails to follow the laws requirement that they provide the neccesary documents.

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#2 Author of original report

Payless paydays are painful

AUTHOR: Eileen Peck - (USA)

POSTED: Friday, January 04, 2013

Well, I'm glad your experience with CoVet has been positive to date, but I certainly hope CoVet never hands you the pain of a payless payday, and especially not to the tune of nearly $2,000.  Please don't kid yourself; Amy and Morris are both WELL AWARE that they skipped out on my bill. The next time you talk to either one of them, please ask them when they plan to pay my outstanding invoice. Pay attention to their answer because they will do to you exactly what they've done to me.

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#1 UPDATE Employee

COVET SOLUTIONS IS A GOOD EMPLOYER, READ MY STORY

AUTHOR: Sharlene Williams - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, January 03, 2013

Hi, I stumbled upon this directory a few days ago merely by mistake but I am somewhat happy I did as it gives me an opportunity to share my perspective. I was home sick and needed to find an alternate contact number for my supervisor so I used google and up pops this Rip Off report page on CoVet Solutions.  They have been my employer for over a year now and I decided I needed to come back on here and post my view point.  I found the postings on Rip Off Report to be one-sided, harsh, and extremely opinionated.  I say this because I have had nothing but postive dealings with this company.  I wouldn't want anyone else to google the company name and assume the thoughts here represent the majority. 

I must disclose I don't know the previous posters nor do I know the nitty gritty of what or what did not occur; all I can do is share my experiences with you.  I also am not on here to bad mouth or discredit those who posted because I feel everyone is entitled to their opinion and to share their account - mine just happens to be polar opposite.  We all know there is always two sides to every story, I will alert my manager of these postings in hopes that someone who represents the company in an official capacity is able to respond.  I am not a spokesperson for the company.

After serving in the military I decided to look for a job in private industry, I responded to several job postings one of which was with CoVet.  After a series of interviews they eventually hired me on as a technical analyst.  I liked the fact that they were a service-disabled veteran owned company and also allowed me to work remotely.  I have not experienced any of the problems that any of the previous posters have talked about.  My experience has been pretty positive.  I always submit my timesheets on-time and never had a problem with me receiving my paychecks. 

I have also communicated directly with some of the people the others talked about in their post and have not found them to be anything but responsive, genuine and eager to assist. I guess, sometimes it is how people approach others - if you go yelling, ranting and raving you probably wont have the best interactions.  I try and maintain a bit of professionalism and diplomacy, I find that equates to positive results. 

Overall I am happy to be with CoVet. Of course we all want big fat raises and more vacation time but I am just happy to have a job in this tough economy.   I feel extremely blessed to be doing what I enjoy and working a flexible schedule that still gives me extra time to spend with my family and friends.

Thanks for reading.  I don't want to create a banter back and forth but thought someone better stand up for this company. They probably don't even know this stuff is out there in cyberspace. 

The rules state you can not sign your name or include any email address in the postings.  If there is someway I can add it to the title I will. 

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