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Report: #41290

Complaint Review: George S. May International Co. - Park Ridge Illinois

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  • Reported By: Chicago Illinois
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  • George S. May International Co. 303 S. Northwest Highway Park Ridge, Illinois United States of America

I George S. May International Rip-off Dishonest misleading & one of the worst companies to work for Park Ridge Illinois

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: George S. May Buyer beware

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Another report from a recent ex-employee

*Consumer Comment: Since 1925 things haven't changed

*Consumer Comment: Mr. Kushner/Kushnir, which is it?

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Another ex-employee chimes in

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: George S. May International Corp. Ex- Las Vegas based rep responds. STAY AWAY!

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

*Consumer Comment: (((REDACTED)))

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Think before you tell them how much credit you have or how much you have in your bank account.

*Consumer Comment: going it is going into the trash , Thank you Rip-off Report!

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I was hired to work as a "Business Analyst" for a company I knew very little about. Most of my experience has been in sales and marketing and I knew very little about business analisis, but I was pleased to learn after my interview with the "Senior Executive Analyst", or as they call themselves "SENEX", that they were interested in having me join their team.

Immidiately I was asked to start the Business Analyst training in their headquarters trainging facility in Park Ridge, IL. I attended this 2 week very intense training program along with 9 other Analysts-to-be who had come from different parts of the country. I was quite impressed to see that most of my peers were high-caliber executives. The trainer, who happened to be an older woman in her 60's did a wonderful job painting this picture of perfection about the company and convinced most of us that this was the opportunity of a lifetime. I could tell than when we asked certain questions sometimes she would be evasive and would try to avoid answering.

For starters they made us memorize word by word this 5 or 6 page sales speech which they call "the institutional". They always called us Mister whatever our lastnames were and encouraged us to call them back in the same manner. This seemed rather formal and fake to most of us. Anyway. Right after the training was over, they sent us all to our first assigment in different parts of the country.

The assigments took place as far as Canada and Mexico. Our main function as an Executive Analyst was to go into a business do a general analisis of their finances, operations, sales & marketing strategies, productivity, etc...and then give the business owners an assesment of our findings. But our real work was to sell them consulting services that could range from $5,000 to 50,000; 70,000 or more!

I didn't think there was anything wrong with this since most businesses could use some help anyway and I thought we would sell them a project they could actually use and benefit from. I started having reservations when I started to experience a treatment I had never experienced in a job before. Since I was traveling all the time from place to place, I expected that they were going to book the hotels for me and at least tell me two or three days in advance where I was going to, but instead I would finish an assigment one day in the afternoon, they'd ask me to go to the closest airport and sometimes I'd wait there for hours without knowing where I was going next.

I would always leave for my assigments on Sunday evenings and sometimes I would fly to the closest airport to my destination and arrive at 12:00, 1:00 or 2:00am, rent a car and drive another hour or even 2 get to my hotel at 3:00 or 4:00am and then I'd have to be at my appointment at 7:00 or 8:00am.

This showed me they just had no consideration for their employees at all and they almost treated us as if they wanted us to quit after a short while. The worst came when I started seeing their tactics, I didn't feel that they cared for the business owners at all. Their only concern was to sell as many hours of consulting as possible. In many cases I'd find the business owners were not in the position to spend several thousand dollars for a project!

Part of their "modus operandum" is to have their analysts calltheir "SENEXS" infront of the business owner and then have this very pessimistic conversation about the situation of the business. Many times they would tell me what to say and they'd expect me to repeat word by word whatever they said, infront of the business owner. Afterwards when I was on my own they would try to explain to me that all of this is done just to help the client make a quick and smart decision.

During the training they made a big point in convencing us that we were not salesman but analysts. Truth was that this was an extremelly high-pressure sales job full of lies and deception. I'm sure that some of the projects their consultants deliver are of much use for some business owners, but I also know that in many cases they try to sell more hours of consulting than are actually needed, I know their tecnics are not very honest and they don't always deliver what they promise.

My career with George S. May International was very brief and I would never in a million years incourage anyone to work for them or do business with them. By the way, all the people who did the training with me are gone and went to better things.

Me Chicago, Illinois U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/13/2003 04:08 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/george-s-may-international-co/park-ridge-illinois-60605/i-george-s-may-international-rip-off-dishonest-misleading-one-of-the-worst-companies-to-41290. 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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#13 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Another ex-employee chimes in

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

POSTED: Sunday, October 23, 2005

It seems refreshing to find a site which tells the truth about GSMIC. I, too, am an ex-employee of the consulting service. It was probably the worst six months of my life.



Others have detailed the deplorable travel conditions and the incredibly long hours. They have told about the screaming Senior Execs. It is all true. The entire operation is based upon this "use 'em up fast and get fresh ones" approach to staffing. Sad, actually, because most of the folks I worked with were truly skilled.



It is also true that many (most?) of the jobs to which we were sent could ill-afford the service, and , in many cases, simply didn't need us. Moreover, getting rid of us was no easy matter -- often the cost of sending us away was more than the cost of any work we did.



Looking back at the clients I served, there are some who genuinely needed help and got it. Those results were some consolation in an otherwise dismal tenure. The most common situation, however, was that the analyst had painted a picture for the client that was not borne out by the actual situation and promised results that no reasonable person could expect.



On one occasion, we were sent to an insurance agency in north Texas. They had been told that they were in financial trouble and were seriously mismanaging the business. At the end of the first day, our team determined that this business of over thirty years was a model of fiscal stability with prospects only for continued success. They needed a rewrite of their employee handbook and that's about all. Since we didn't know we were supposed to find lots of "trouble in River City", we presented a short program. The partners were understandably livid. There was no way to explain the analyst's findings, except, of course, that he had lied. It took HQ a week to sort this out, requiring me to make three trips back to the client, all the while not getting paid.



The sad part is that we all knew what was going on. It was a scam, and most of us simply left when we couldn't stomach it any more.



My advice to clients is to examine carefully the work that is presented to you. You should be aware that, in some form, the same work is given to everyone. If it doesn't have a value to your business commensurate with what you are paying, don't pay the bill, don't write the letter, call the sheriff, the BBB, and your state attorney general. Better advice still -- hang up the phone when anyone calls and mentions George S. May.



For those of you looking for work, do something else. Anything is better than working for these people.

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#12 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Think before you tell them how much credit you have or how much you have in your bank account.

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

POSTED: Friday, June 04, 2004

Please note when you sign up for a $350.00 Survey report it is ORAL. You will not receive a scrap of paper to check the results with!



Do not give them ANY of your company data other then what YOU want to get out of your company because their computer program will transmit your data to their office where the sales manager will have it to look at to paint you in to a no win corner.



Think before you tell them how much credit you have or how much you have in your bank account. That data the will get from you on the very first form they have you fill out.



Under no circumstances allow them to call their office unless it is on a speaker phone. Why because the counsel "team" they are pretending to call is only a sales manager who is feeding the sales person (disguised as an analyst) what to say to you.



Make sure to get resumes of ANY and all people they want to send in including the sales person disguised as your analyst.



MOST OF ALL if you go that far and do sign the contract NEVER give them a letter of satisfaction until you receive your 2 to 1 return on your investment they promise but forget to put on your contract.



It is all CANNED PEOPLE! The results are fixed your going to get a bill for up to 50K in the first week or so. You have to pay by cash or bank wire every riday no matter what?

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#11 UPDATE EX-employee responds

George S. May International Corp. Ex- Las Vegas based rep responds. STAY AWAY!

AUTHOR: EX-George - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, March 28, 2004

Greetings,



Strange and wonderful to see this growing choir of ex-employees warning others of the shortcomings of the failed promises of George S. May International Corporation in this forum. How cathartic & positive to be able to really help a small to mid size business make the proper choice visa-vi this venue, I too am an EX, '''''''''''George S. May Man'''''''''''. First off to take responsibility for my own actions, '''''''''''I AM SORRY''''''''''' to those owners of struggling enterprises that I signed up.



During my short stint as an employee (four months as it is put almost an un-heard of LONG length of time) with GSMIC I had five go ahead deals (sales). Every word of what has been reported on this site I have either witnessed / enabled or participated in, for that I am not proud. So excited to get in and help other owners of small business that I was blinded to what was really going on high pressure closing learned from Ms.Gill then re-enforced by the yelling SENEX on a daily basis. Part of brain washing is the use of sleep deprivation and conditioning this is absolutely used on the sales force starting from the first day at training, how else would so many high performing executives subject themselves to what is to follow. For those who have under gone the training who survived the first weeks out in the field to be asked back for advanced training will remember that your SENEX said from that point on you would be getting back to a normal life. I put forth if you make it that far they feel your indoctrination is sufficiently routed to allow you to not be run to the point of exhaustion as described in the other accounts of Survey Service Survivors.



For those who are not or were not in the employ of George S May International Corporation for any length of time please allow me to share my thoughts. After being with the company for my first two months (after the Advanced training that is nothing more then a combination refresher on how to fill in your laughable expense report coupled with the SENEX war stories) you receive a letter from the president of the company asking you to let him know how your job could be improved. To which I replied that I objected strongly to the OPENING script that was to be used in front of the client. That one script is so dishonest in that no matter how well the company is run no matter how good or bad things are the script must be followed or your SENEX will be yelling in your ear to get back on script, with the sold purpose of gaining the clients admission of failure no matter what.



One of the other ex- George S. May International employees noted to have any and all forms / work checked by an outside party. Well this Survey Service employee was trained not to even leave a scrap of paper behind as evidence of any work done. The only forms left were for the owner to fill out as homework of the first night after your three conditioning calls, (Yes that is the exact term used in training CONDITIONING CALLS) then that one form was to be collected the morning of the second day by 7am and not even reviewed in any depth when collected you are instructed to say, '''''''''''well that is what I expected to see''''''''''' NO MATTER what the result found on the self examination form.



Sad to say that the number one form you are to get filled out then to be transmitted to you council to OPEN the job is a disguise to find out how much cash they have on hand. This determines how many people will be there to start fixing the problems in the business if the SURVEY is successful, YEAH RIGHT!



Oh by the way my SENEX ran up an $1,100.00 bill on my cell phone calling me while I was in Canada on three bogus '''''''''''JOBS'''''''''''. Did they stand tall for the bill? No. Did they stand tall for the money spent chasing the TWO BITES of the apple that were already EX GSM clients (who were all very UN-HAPPY CAMPERS I might ad) for three weeks? NOPE.

WORST OF ALL and I hold my head in shame over this, did they save the clients that sorely needed real help? NO. I know of one family who lost their business because of GSM and I am sickened to learn how they were treated. SHAME ON GEORGE S MAY!

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#10 Consumer Comment

Since 1925 things haven't changed

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

POSTED: Wednesday, March 17, 2004

1925

George S. May, a flamboyant 25-year old, founds George S. May International Company and gets two clients after mailing out 50 letters. He serves his first client, the Chicago Flexible Shaft Company from a basement office in his home. May becomes infamous for commission-based marketing techniques. Perrin Stryker, wrote in Fortune: "Most consultants assume a primly professional attitude towards clients. In the George S. May Company, the client is hotly pursued. Indeed, few companies in any industry have dared to sell their services so hard, so blatantly and so indiscriminately as does the George S. May Company." May also sponsors the May World Championship Golf which becomes the top money circuit tournament.

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#9 Consumer Comment

going it is going into the trash , Thank you Rip-off Report!

AUTHOR: None - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, March 03, 2004

I suffered a lay off and have my resume visible on the careerbuilder.com web site. They just e-mailed me a job advertisment.



It is going it is going into the trash with the rest of my spam!

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#8 Consumer Comment

Mr. Kushner/Kushnir, which is it?

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

POSTED: Thursday, October 23, 2003

It's great the the president of GSM standup and respond to the comments at this site. However, in the future, perhaps he should spell his own name the same way within the comment.



Kushnir or Kushner?



Personal attention by the company president? Hardly.....

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#7 Consumer Comment

(((REDACTED)))

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

POSTED: Monday, October 20, 2003

(((REDACTED)))

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#6 UPDATE EX-employee responds

George S. May Buyer beware

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

POSTED: Monday, October 20, 2003

The following steps are suggestions to give you proof that George May 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 George May. 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 George May, 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, George May 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.



One day of consultants can cost you $10,000 with all related inbound and outbound expenses. George May will say that they cannot provide any deliverables in 1 day. George May is very expensive for a small business.



Buyer Beware

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#5 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Another report from a recent ex-employee

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

POSTED: Sunday, July 20, 2003

After quitting the George S. May Company after less than two weeks, here is the letter I sent to the President of the Company, Mr. Israel Kushnir. I think it is balanced and respectful, but is also very clear about the liabilities of the Company's business practices.



QUOTE



Mr. Israel Kushnir

George S. May International Company

303 S. Northwest Hwy.

Park Ridge, IL 60068-9717



Dear Sir:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit an Exit Interview. I think that more usable information can be offered to you in letter format than with a form. I trust this is acceptable to you.



My primary reason for resigning was that I found all of five clients unqualified for a Preliminary Survey, in the sense that there was any reasonable chance that a '''''''''''go-ahead''''''''''' could be achieved. Two clients had effectively zero bank balances, considerable borrowing, and a struggle to meet weekly payroll. One client abruptly ended the survey in the middle of a mandatory scripted institutional, claiming he had been misled by Sales. One client refused to begin the survey claiming he had mis-calendarized the appointment (not true) and was unprepared. The final resurvey client had no idea why we were there, could not see the benefit to either himself or ourselves, was very confident in his own abilities to manage the business, and had no access to his own financial statements and little time to spend with us.



On a 100% basis, I do not think that it was unfair to conclude that GSMIC and its Field Service process showed dubious capability to reliably deliver qualified clients for Survey Services to work with.



My second reason for resigning was based on the GSMIC methodology. Judging from my training class, I appear to be a normal Survey Services new hire, with a slight bit more relevant skills and experience. I came to you, and I expect everyone came to you, with the intent of leveraging our considerable skills, knowledge, creativity and client partnering skills into your Company and client base. Instead, we were given a 4-1/2 page Institutional to memorize, and scripts to cover the two other most pivotal events in the survey, the Opening Call and the Preamble to the Preliminary Findings meeting. In addition, the content, process and sequence of the entire Survey was defined in detail and not to be varied.



Mr. Kushnir, I ask you: What other credible management consulting company would place its highly qualified and expert people in front of Senior Leaders and Owners of client firms, with scripts and forms? What image do you think this conveys to these Senior Leaders? How credible is GSMIC perceived as, when their '''''''''''experts''''''''''' read their words off of papers?



My third and final reason for resigning has to do with the process of interacting with Senex/Council. First, it is grossly undertaught in Training class, and this exacerbates the issues I will now define. The interactions, in my opinion, have four nearly fatal faults:



''''''''''' First, the use of '''''''''''code words''''''''''' such as '''''''''''calling OP/for Council/for Traffic''''''''''', the creation of false dialogue between Analyst and '''''''''''Council''''''''''' to manipulate the appearance of the actual conversation, and an unusually tight control of what can and can't be shared. Do you truly believe that the client cannot see that this is happening? What do you think he thinks of it?



''''''''''' The fact that Senex/Council, on calls with Client present, very frequently interrupts Analysts mid-sentence to give a question, comment or (most often) challenge. Nowhere in global business have I ever seen Senior Executives encouraged to interrupt a colleague, particularly in the presence of a Client. If this occurred in front of you, wouldn't you consider this behavior rude and disrespectful?



''''''''''' The fact that Senex/Council, on calls with Client present, very frequently give Analysts significant negative feedback. This strikes me as completely absurd. It takes the analyst off script, off rhythm, confuses them, has them struggling for answers that would be appropriate with Client present, AND JUST SHOULD NEVER BE DONE. An immediate follow-up call with only the Analyst and Senex in audible range would easily meet any mid-stream coaching needs, and would be infinitely better than the current process.



''''''''''' The fact that Senex/Council, on calls with Client present, literally feed the Analyst the exact words they are to speak in reply, as if they were speaking those words on their own. With the inevitable long pause and stilted delivery of unfamiliar words, do you think that for one moment the Client observes this is as a natural and unprompted delivery? The looks I witnessed on Clients' faces were ones of absolute bewilderment, then contempt. This problem is grossly exacerbated when the Senex, without the benefit of the prior 8-10 hours of Client face-time, directs the Analyst to say something that is either dead wrong or insulting. Yet the Analyst faces no choice. These statements become the most memorable ones of the entire Survey in the Clients' eyes.



Please understand, Mr. Kushnir, that I do not dislike the George S. May International Company or any of its people. No one had more enthusiasm and commitment than I had when I was chosen for the position. Apart from some omissions and priority issues, I thoroughly enjoyed and profited from the Training sessions, and I again left confident and committed to a very long career with GSMIC. Everything seemed perfect: the position, the role, the geography, the clients, the work routine, the support people and incentives, the company culture'''''''''''..



I suppose that I could have sought counseling before deciding to resign. I also suppose that I could have explored a transfer to Management Services rather than opting out entirely. Perhaps I still should; I don't know. What I do know is that the difficulties and issues I defined above were very factual and real and needed to be confronted. I did not want to waste one more GSMIC sales opportunity or one more day of my own job search opportunities; it didn't seem fair.



On balance, I do deeply regret that this assignment did not work out for both of us. I remain convinced that it is and was a wonderful opportunity for both of us, but as the days have passed, I just have not figured out the way to make it work.



I wish you a great deal of fortune in running what must be considered one of the world's great consulting companies.



UNQUOTE

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#4 UPDATE EX-employee responds

This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

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

POSTED: Friday, June 13, 2003

This space previously contained a complaint about the business practices of George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates the Federal Communications Decency Act

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#3 UPDATE EX-employee responds

This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

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

POSTED: Friday, June 13, 2003

This space previously contained a complaint about the business practices of George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates the Federal Communications Decency Act

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#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

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

POSTED: Friday, June 13, 2003

This space previously contained a complaint about the business practices of George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates the Federal Communications Decency Act

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#1 UPDATE EX-employee responds

This space previously had a complaint about George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates Federal Communications Decency Act

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

POSTED: Friday, June 13, 2003

This space previously contained a complaint about the business practices of George S. May. Rip-off Report has temporarily removed the posting. Rip-off Report intends to appeal the preliminary injunction by the district court that we believe violates the Federal Communications Decency Act

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