REVIEW: IPA commitment to 100% customer satisfaction, IPA - International Profit Associates implemented strategic changes to insure their clients business success, focusing on finding ways to help small & medium size companies make improvements to both their short-term and longer-term profitability & creating a secure future. Buffalo Grove Illinois

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*UPDATE: Ripoff Report REVIEW - International Profit Associates recognized by Rip-off Report as a safe business service - IPA pledges to resolve all complaints, 100% commitment to customer service and satisfaction, feel confident and secure when doing business with IPA

I worked A&I a division of IPA/IBA for only 4 days, but that was all I could stand. After telling my family what went on there , they insisted I not go back. We were initally lied to at the interview and never given a clear answer as to the discrepency in the information we were given and the actual job. There was no base pay and the hours were very different than we were told. When we complained we were given the option to transfer to another division of the company (IBA or IPA)Each was worse than the next.

They would require us to go stand outside in the cold several (4-5) times a day for PEP talks . These pep talks became more and more like some sort of CULT indoctrination. There was yelling and HIGH FIVES all around.They tried to make us believe we were helping small business that were struggeling. I believe now we were just taking them down the rest of the way. Much like vultures who feed on the dead carcus.
A young (much are young) fellow employee pointed out a poster on the wall where she stated that a manager had put an employee through the wall previously. All the phones were mismatched , the type you can buy at any discount store for 20 dollars and the chair we sat in were missing arms , no waste baskets , no computers, no head sets, not even the basic office supplies(paper and pens) When questioned we were told it was so the owner could pay us higher commissions.(RIGHT)
Anyone going to work or doing business for this company be weary. I now wish I could could go call the businesses back I talked to and tell them I made a terrible mistake and not let these people into their business

Signed
At Home Sick

I worked A&I a division of IPA/IBA for only 4 days, but that was all I could stand. After telling my family what went on there , they insisted I not go back. We were initally lied to at the interview and never given a clear answer as to the discrepency in the information we were given and the actual job. There was no base pay and the hours were very different than we were told. When we complained we were given the option to transfer to another division of the company (IBA or IPA)Each was worse than the next.

They would require us to go stand outside in the cold several (4-5) times a day for PEP talks . These pep talks became more and more like some sort of CULT indoctrination. There was yelling and HIGH FIVES all around.They tried to make us believe we were helping small business that were struggeling. I believe now we were just taking them down the rest of the way. Much like vultures who feed on the dead carcus.
A young (much are young) fellow employee pointed out a poster on the wall where she stated that a manager had put an employee through the wall previously. All the phones were mismatched , the type you can buy at any discount store for 20 dollars and the chair we sat in were missing arms , no waste baskets , no computers, no head sets, not even the basic office supplies(paper and pens) When questioned we were told it was so the owner could pay us higher commissions.(RIGHT)
Anyone going to work or doing business for this company be weary. I now wish I could could go call the businesses back I talked to and tell them I made a terrible mistake and not let these people into their business

Signed
At Home Sick

I worked A&I a division of IPA/IBA for only 4 days, but that was all I could stand. After telling my family what went on there , they insisted I not go back. We were initally lied to at the interview and never given a clear answer as to the discrepency in the information we were given and the actual job. There was no base pay and the hours were very different than we were told. When we complained we were given the option to transfer to another division of the company (IBA or IPA)Each was worse than the next.

They would require us to go stand outside in the cold several (4-5) times a day for PEP talks . These pep talks became more and more like some sort of CULT indoctrination. There was yelling and HIGH FIVES all around.They tried to make us believe we were helping small business that were struggeling. I believe now we were just taking them down the rest of the way. Much like vultures who feed on the dead carcus.
A young (much are young) fellow employee pointed out a poster on the wall where she stated that a manager had put an employee through the wall previously. All the phones were mismatched , the type you can buy at any discount store for 20 dollars and the chair we sat in were missing arms , no waste baskets , no computers, no head sets, not even the basic office supplies(paper and pens) When questioned we were told it was so the owner could pay us higher commissions.(RIGHT)
Anyone going to work or doing business for this company be weary. I now wish I could could go call the businesses back I talked to and tell them I made a terrible mistake and not let these people into their business

Signed
At Home Sick

I worked A&I a division of IPA/IBA for only 4 days, but that was all I could stand. After telling my family what went on there , they insisted I not go back. We were initally lied to at the interview and never given a clear answer as to the discrepency in the information we were given and the actual job. There was no base pay and the hours were very different than we were told. When we complained we were given the option to transfer to another division of the company (IBA or IPA)Each was worse than the next.

They would require us to go stand outside in the cold several (4-5) times a day for PEP talks . These pep talks became more and more like some sort of CULT indoctrination. There was yelling and HIGH FIVES all around.They tried to make us believe we were helping small business that were struggeling. I believe now we were just taking them down the rest of the way. Much like vultures who feed on the dead carcus.
A young (much are young) fellow employee pointed out a poster on the wall where she stated that a manager had put an employee through the wall previously. All the phones were mismatched , the type you can buy at any discount store for 20 dollars and the chair we sat in were missing arms , no waste baskets , no computers, no head sets, not even the basic office supplies(paper and pens) When questioned we were told it was so the owner could pay us higher commissions.(RIGHT)
Anyone going to work or doing business for this company be weary. I now wish I could could go call the businesses back I talked to and tell them I made a terrible mistake and not let these people into their business

Signed
At Home Sick

I have been hounded by these people for years. Initially I listened to their spiel & decided it wasn't in our best interest to use their services. That's when the "fun" began. I was hammered by phone calls from their telemarketing department incessantly. I informed them that I had listened to their proposal an decided that it wasn't right for us. (They state in their pitch that the 1-1/2 day "review" would be $300, but if I didn't have to pay if I didn't think the info was worthwhile.) The calls kept coming. These were not follow-up calls, they were calling as if they had never had any contact with me. After informing them numerous times that I had listen to their proposal and declined their services, and to please put me on their "do not call" list, the calls kept coming. From then on, any time they called, I acted intersted and made an appointment with their "analyst". As soon as the analyst would arrive, I informed him of the problems I was having with his company, and maybe if their employees complained, the calls would stop. Well, they didn't, an subsequently, I've had three more analysts show up. I gave them all the same story, and the person's name I had spoken to at their home office that was supposed to stop the calls. For a while after that, this person would "catch" my appointments and call me to inform me that no-one would be showing up. I told her I would continue this practice every time I was called by IPA. It almost became comical after that. I would make an appointment and about an hour later the Supervisor would call me and say "you almost got us this time", laugh about it, and hang up. It stopped for almost two years until today, which brought me to this site. I also informed them that I had just made myself a consultant in the telemarketing business and that the could use my expertise on how to write down phone numbers NOT to call.

It pains me to read some of the horror stories that past "clients" of IPA have experienced. I worked as a staff consultant with IPA for 2 years and felt my services made a major improvement for our clients who stayed committed to the program and followed through.

IPA's biggest problem is they lost focus on what they are in business for-helping business owners. It became more about feeding the office overhead and quantity of clients at the cost of quality of service. Bottom Line? They hired people who weren't qualified to give advice-period. Most employees were middle-aged men who had been downsized from some company and now considered himself an "expert". No credentials, no industry-specific background just a suit and some smooth talk.

In the past 3 years, I've started my own consulting practice and IPA has made alot of business owners naturally skeptical of consulting services. Unlike accountants and lawyers, there is no licensing-anyone can call him/herself a consultant-just print the business cards. You have to do your homework before you hire one.

Using the services of a PROFESSIONAL consultant does reap rewards-don't let "one bad apple spoil the whole bunch". Best of luck to all of you- Being a business owner isn't for everyone-just those who have a passion for what they do.

After being hired by various low-paying telemarketing positions in the city near where I live, IPA seemed like a great alternative. Claiming to be an upstanding, professional, legitimate business operation that was out to help out other businesses just sounded too good to be true...and it was. To start with, the "sales reps" that they send to the businesses are really just people who live in that state where the business is located. Every week IPA hires around 300 new employees (mainly minorities or other low-income bracket worker) with the promise of "hard work will make you $100K+ per year!"

After a three day training session, workers are coached to know the "industry specifics" enabling them to sound knowledgeable to the business owners they are calling. It is the employee's job to get as much info out of the owner as possible and to book an appointment with them even if they really don't want it.

For every appointment booked that turns into a sit-down discussion between the owner and the rep (a "sit") the IPA employee back in Illinois gets anywhere from $100-$300, depending on how many he or she has already got that week.

Of course, with 300 people being hired every week (the majority of them are commuting 1+ hrs by car or (most) by bus from Chicago out to the suburbs where the company is based) the majority of these people stay a week or so and then leave after their first paycheck.

And they call it a legitimate business!
And I have been informed the local and county police are investigating the business right now, and I got followed by detectives while I was working there because of it. Coincidentally I left the company, after being questioned by police and now am...once again...without work.

an unhappy ex-employee

After the first visit I signed up for the Tax and Estate Planning session. When I contacted the office to let me know who was coming, I never got a return phone call. Sure enough Monday morning two guys were there to help me put this tax plan all together. I had my concern because no step by step process was laid out, or what the end result would be. After asking a few questions, I learned that they would produce something in 30 to 45 days about my tax strategy and then I could proceed to contact either a CPA or lawyer to complete the process. They were only going to charge me a mere $10,000 for this scam.

I informed them we were not going any further with this project. They told me that I owed 1/3 now. I told them to leave an invoice and leave immediately. I'm waiting to see what the company does next since I don't plan to paying anything.

Thank God I stopped when I did. I can't imagine how much more money they would have sucked from me if I hadn't stopped.

We allowed IPA to come in because the person on the phone told me that if we felt that they helped us in any way we would then pay them $300.00. After being insulted for 4 hours by the consultant on how poorly our company was ran and how we were riding out a good economy, and how me and my partner are just "good ole boys" doing business the old fashioned way, he called his analysts. The so called analyst that he called recommended that we desperately need there help and that they had a number of ways for us to improve. After they ended the phone conversation we declined their help, so the consultant calls them back and somehow miraculously now they feel that they can't help us.

Now its time for the consultant to leave so he stands up and says, well if i can just get my $300.00 I will be on my way. I immediatly told him that it was negotiable and we felt they didnt help us in any way. He said he couldnt leave until he had a check because all the expenses he incured for travel. We wrote him the check just to get him to leave.

Since then they have called back approximately 15 times and I continue to tell them to not call back. Another consultant called my partner under the company IBA and came in. At the time we didnt know they were affiliated. We got rid of him quickly when he showed up. Its a shame that this company continues to harass us and there isnt much we can do about it. I feel lucky they only got away with $300.00 after reading some of the other stories. I would gladly be a part of any class action lawsuit against this company. Something should be done.

We allowed IPA to come in because the person on the phone told me that if we felt that they helped us in any way we would then pay them $300.00. After being insulted for 4 hours by the consultant on how poorly our company was ran and how we were riding out a good economy, and how me and my partner are just "good ole boys" doing business the old fashioned way, he called his analysts. The so called analyst that he called recommended that we desperately need there help and that they had a number of ways for us to improve. After they ended the phone conversation we declined their help, so the consultant calls them back and somehow miraculously now they feel that they can't help us.

Now its time for the consultant to leave so he stands up and says, well if i can just get my $300.00 I will be on my way. I immediatly told him that it was negotiable and we felt they didnt help us in any way. He said he couldnt leave until he had a check because all the expenses he incured for travel. We wrote him the check just to get him to leave.

Since then they have called back approximately 15 times and I continue to tell them to not call back. Another consultant called my partner under the company IBA and came in. At the time we didnt know they were affiliated. We got rid of him quickly when he showed up. Its a shame that this company continues to harass us and there isnt much we can do about it. I feel lucky they only got away with $300.00 after reading some of the other stories. I would gladly be a part of any class action lawsuit against this company. Something should be done.

We allowed IPA to come in because the person on the phone told me that if we felt that they helped us in any way we would then pay them $300.00. After being insulted for 4 hours by the consultant on how poorly our company was ran and how we were riding out a good economy, and how me and my partner are just "good ole boys" doing business the old fashioned way, he called his analysts. The so called analyst that he called recommended that we desperately need there help and that they had a number of ways for us to improve. After they ended the phone conversation we declined their help, so the consultant calls them back and somehow miraculously now they feel that they can't help us.

Now its time for the consultant to leave so he stands up and says, well if i can just get my $300.00 I will be on my way. I immediatly told him that it was negotiable and we felt they didnt help us in any way. He said he couldnt leave until he had a check because all the expenses he incured for travel. We wrote him the check just to get him to leave.

Since then they have called back approximately 15 times and I continue to tell them to not call back. Another consultant called my partner under the company IBA and came in. At the time we didnt know they were affiliated. We got rid of him quickly when he showed up. Its a shame that this company continues to harass us and there isnt much we can do about it. I feel lucky they only got away with $300.00 after reading some of the other stories. I would gladly be a part of any class action lawsuit against this company. Something should be done.

We allowed IPA to come in because the person on the phone told me that if we felt that they helped us in any way we would then pay them $300.00. After being insulted for 4 hours by the consultant on how poorly our company was ran and how we were riding out a good economy, and how me and my partner are just "good ole boys" doing business the old fashioned way, he called his analysts. The so called analyst that he called recommended that we desperately need there help and that they had a number of ways for us to improve. After they ended the phone conversation we declined their help, so the consultant calls them back and somehow miraculously now they feel that they can't help us.

Now its time for the consultant to leave so he stands up and says, well if i can just get my $300.00 I will be on my way. I immediatly told him that it was negotiable and we felt they didnt help us in any way. He said he couldnt leave until he had a check because all the expenses he incured for travel. We wrote him the check just to get him to leave.

Since then they have called back approximately 15 times and I continue to tell them to not call back. Another consultant called my partner under the company IBA and came in. At the time we didnt know they were affiliated. We got rid of him quickly when he showed up. Its a shame that this company continues to harass us and there isnt much we can do about it. I feel lucky they only got away with $300.00 after reading some of the other stories. I would gladly be a part of any class action lawsuit against this company. Something should be done.

Before I write this report, I would not like to have my name or city printed on the report because I might lose my job if they found out I wrote this report. Working at IPA is also a rip-off! The employees have to park in a miniature golf parking lot 1 mile from the building and take a shuttle van. Getting on the shuttle van is awful because you can slip. With all the money they're making, they can't afford to get the employees a bus (which is easier to get on). On both training days, they serve slice of pizza, chips, cookie and pop. That is like a kid's meal. The phones are outdated! They keep hiring new (sometimes too many) employees every week because people are quitting or getting fired. The pay rate is horrible considerably guys have to wear shirts, ties, nice pants, & nice shoes. After reading these rebuttals, I understand why companies don't want to deal with IBA.

IPA came in our office with a smooth talking salesman giving us the doom and gloom complex. He said that our company would eminently fail without the help of IPA. Unfortunately, we agreed to let IPA bring in an anylyst. The following Monday. not one , but two people showed up from IPA. We were told that the anylyst would have at least 10 years experience in our field of business as well as at least a masters degree. Well, neither of the sleezeballs had any experience in our business field. We sent them packing, but not before we had to write them a check for almost $5,000.00 for no work completed. They left our offices and within 30 minutes they had cashed the check and caught the first flight out of town.....This may be the sleeziest of all companies I have dealt with in my 15 years of business experience........

The following steps are suggestions to give you proof that IPA-IBA employees are not being honest with you.

1)Ask all employees about their background in y's our industry. They have been instructed to tell you that they have training and background...but they do not.

Most employees have a very short work history in consulting, and have not been successful in pervious businesses.

2) You really do not have a method to check the data provided about your business by IPA. The employees have been instructed to 'make mistakes' in the financial presentations, to ensure that you think they know what your problems may be, and have solutions that work. Before you spend $10,000's, take the data to a 3rd party, such as your accountant or banker, and ask them to verify the numbers and assumptions.

3)When an invoice is presented for inbound and outbound travel, ask why the last or next client is not paying for at least one of the airline tickets. The employees will say that you will be refunded if another client pays, this is unlikely. Just refuse to pay.

4)Have a 3rd party exaimine the 'contract' and/or 'program' before you sign. The employees are instructed to use high pressure for you to sign without giving you time to get advice or think things over. The employees will say that you can close the project at the end of any day; but you could be billed for $10,000 if three employees showup, and will not leave until the end of the second day, with alot of expenses included.

It is clear to me that if a small business needs some outside advice to correct problems, the logical direction is to find someone that has a backgound in you industry. Industry groups or vendors may give you a lead. Forget about the promised savings from IPA, they will not happen while they are working, and will not respond if you do not realize the promised savings.

Ask what results can be promised for a specfic dollar amount. $5,000-nothing, $10,000 nothing, $15,000 nothing, IPA wants alot more money than you are thinking about spending. And once you start, it is very, very difficult to stop the meter from running. BE VERY CAREFUL.

Thank you for all of the suggestions about a class-action lawsuit. I have actually looked into it and it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have to have 1. Find an attorney that will even look at the case 2. A lot of consumers that are willing to pay some more hard earned cash 3. Victims of IPA that are willing to follow through to the end. IPA will keep getting away with their thievery and there is not much that a little company like mine can do. That is IPA's M.O.; they prey on small businesses that do not have the financial backing to afford a class-action lawsuit. IPA will come into your company and promise to turn your company into a profit making goldmine. What they actually do is get into your financials and figure out how long they can plant a "consultant" in your office and drain your account over a period of time. They make sure that the initial payments don't hurt your cash flow too much and then their "consultant" will spend A LOT of time trying to figure out how they can get more. My company hired an attorney to represent us against IPA and the minute our attorney sent them a letter, all the collection calls stopped and the nasty letters stopped. IPA asked us to post-date checks to them and after they left our company (in worse shape then when we started out) I put a stop payment on the checks. That didn't make them very happy. They never got their money. I have spoken to many ex-IPA clients all over the country and they have had the same horrible experience. This company definitely needs to be stopped but my little company in San Diego cannot afford to start something like a class-action. My hope is that consumers will check out companies that promise the moon and stars before handing them their checkbook. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Test

PLEASE ANYONE OUT THERE HAVING ANYTHING TO DO OR DONE WITH THIS COMPANY WE NEED TO GET TOGETHER AND NEED A CLASS ACTION SUIT - THESE PEOPLE ARE WITHIN THE LAW AND BREAKING THE LAW DAILY AND YOUR MOM & POP BUSINESS'S ARE LOOSING THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY - MAKE CONTACT - THANKS

Why not file a class action lawsuit against this Company. It would then have to be heard in a federal court, and not in the local court in which this Company's business is located, since there are obviously several states involved. Defrauding the public and fraudulent business practices with a deceptive "analysis" process, which is actually a selling process to get you to sign should be taken to court and exposed. Apparently this Company thinks they are above the law and can just deceive people and take their hard-earned money and not have to pay any price for it.

Most of the information provided to us from IPA was incorrect, was not helpful and a waste of our time and monetary funds. IPA promised to provide us with a working system, cash chart, model, and schedule of monthly receipts and payments. 100% of the excel worksheets that we were left to work with were either calculating wrong or were reports that could have been run from our current accounting system.

Their sales tehchniques were very high pressure and a lot of promises were made verbally that were never carried through to the actual paper agreement. We have tried several times to contact the companies project manager for a resolution and they will not return our calls or letters.

We have received rude calls from thier collection department that were offensive. When IPA left our company they left a huge white binder that contained regurgitated information that our accountant had given them.

IPA has a very shadey past and only after my dealings with them did I discover the hundreds of complaints against them via the BBB of Chicago and several interesting articles written about the founder of the company. My company is currently in litigation with IPA. For interesting reading look into the Inc.com article "Im John Burgess. I'm Here to Help You".