The Henker Group Mary Ann Henker Took $13K for services which were not delivered - refuses to refund $13K Easton Maryland

The Henker Group did enter into a business relationship with "Alexander D" (Alexander C Doty) this past April, however the claim that The Henker Group did not deliver promised services is false. Further, the statement that The Henker Group refuses to communicate about this issue is also false as we communicated with Alexander Doty repeatedly via email weeks prior to him posting on this website that we would communicate with his attorney regarding this matter via our retained attorney.

The Henker Group did complete agreed upon deliverables and provide marketing communications strategy development that included (all designs and materials were approved by management prior to The Henker Group finalizing any of the projects mentioned):

• created a multi-week marketing plan for the grand opening;
• established a visual brand for the business and created a logo (that the business is still using as a basis for its brand);
• provided six additional logo designs on top of the agreed upon five that were presented initially; two rounds of edits were included with the five initial designs (note: The Henker Group did not charge Alexander Doty to present the six additional logo concepts or 18 rounds of additional edits);
• designed, printed and provided account management for three business cards, notecards and matching envelopes;
• secured a domain name for the business, established three email accounts, provided website and email hosting and developed and posted a landing page for the business so the business would have an immediate online presence while a formal website was being designed and programmed;
• provided copywriting, designed and distributed an e-vite for the grand opening;
• created two separate comprehensive ad matrices for the grand opening and for the business post-grand opening to include recommended publications and online outlets in which to advertise, type of ads, cost of ads and timing of ads;
• secured and confirmed contracts for advertising space in all media outlets approved by Alexander Doty’s business;
• concepted, designed and provided final advertisement files to six media outlets to promote the grand opening;
• wrote a media advisory to promote the grand opening and distributed it to all local media;
• designed, printed and provided account management of a temporary business banner to cover the street sign of the previous business in that space;
• designed, printed and provided account management of two welcome signs to display at the grand opening;
• posted details about the grand opening to community calendars;
• provided copywriting, designed, printed and provided account management to develop a promotional discount postcard to distribute to customers;
• provided professional photography services for the evening of the grand opening;
• drafted press release to announce Alexander Doty’s business;
• secured space with media to publish new business press release;
• confirmed with local media that they would promote details about the grand opening via their respective social media outlets;
• provided professional photography for management’s head shots, interior and exterior shots of the building and multi-course, food staging shots; and
• provided social media support.

During the four-week timespan from when the relationship between The Henker Group and Alexander Doty was formalized to the day of the grand opening, The Henker Group incurred many more hours of labor than expected (but did not charge those hours back to Alexander Doty’s business) to support the group in Alexander Doty’s self-imposed aggressive timeline. During this four-week period, The Henker Group was in constant communication with Alexander Doty and his business partners for a total of 50 emails, 11 phone calls, 6 texts and 12 in-person visits.

The successful implementation of the strategy, however, was thwarted by the internal dysfunction, conflict, and lack of organization of Alexander Doty's business, which resulted in missed opportunities and the inability of The Henker Group to execute the marketing communications strategy effectively. Further, The Henker Group was instructed not to market Alexander Doty’s business until it passed its health inspection. Once the business did pass the inspection, it allowed for only eight days to execute an approved multi-week marketing plan.

Following being greeted with hostility at the business’s grand opening by Alexander Doty.’s accountant, Randy Schiera of Schiera & Associates, and Alexander Doty’s business partners, The Henker Group decided to end it's relationship with Alexander Doty's business. Alexander Doty and his accountant, however, wanted to continue to work with The Henker Group after they admitted that the internal issues of the business impacted the success of the grand opening. At that point, The Henker Group agreed to continue to work with Alexander Doty’s business and continued to provide stellar service and work product thereafter (which covered a three-week period). At the end of that three-week period, The Henker Group made the final decision to end its working relationship with Alexander Doty’s business and provided a final invoice for $9,727.28, which Alexander Doty is refusing to pay (and are for services and amounts that Alexander Doty originally approved).

The claim that "services delivered were detrimental to the business" is false and the business is still currently using materials and branding developed by The Henker Group to currently promote their business. The Henker Group is still awaiting payment for this work.

It is unfortunate that Alexander Doty claims that The Henker Group refuses to communicate about this issue when we have followed proper legal protocol in attempting to resolve this matter with his business. Also, rather than Alexander Doty communicating via attorneys to resolve this issue, he chose to use social media and other public venues, e.g. the State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division and the Greater Maryland Better Business Bureau.

The Henker Group is an established, nationally award-winning and well-respected marketing communications agency and we welcome reference checks. We also welcome inquiries regarding the details of Alexander Doty’s false statements about The Henker Group.

Finally, we would like to bring it to the attention of the readers of this report that the individual who submitted this to RipOff Report.com <http://Report.com>  has himself been reported of a considerable accusation in another report, http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/JCW-Ventures/Hilton-Head-South-Carolina-29928/JCW-Ventures-Alexander-Chase-Doty-is-the-president-of-the-company-that-is-currently-not-a-591195.