Spectrum Higher Education Spectrum Higher Ed Does Not Pay Its Bills Orlando, Florida

Spectrum Higher Education purports to offer university services, online certificates, job skills development, recruitment and placement preparation for online university instructors, adjunct professors, and online teaching positions. 

Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education contacted me via email on March 10, 2011 to write three articles for her business.  Here is the email she sent:

Hi Eileen,
I am a previous employee at X which is where I got your name. I am in the process of creating a newsletter for my new  companys database marketing effort. We are looking for a couple of
short articles written on the following topics: 

• Interview skills key to higher education


• Adjunct professor job growth


• How adjunct professors stay competitive

We want to do a soft sell on our certificate offerings which can be found at: http://spectrumhighered.com/education

Can you please give me a quote for your services? If you have any questions, please email or call (xxx-xxx-xxxx) me at your convenience.

Thanks!
Jessica

I requested some additional information from Jessica Gammon at Spectrum Higher Education the same day, in the following email:

On 3/10/11 2:13 PM, Eileen wrote:

Hi Jessica,
How long should the finished articles be?
Thanks,
Eileen

Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education responded on 3/10/2011 with the following email:

Hi Eileen,
We are shooting for about 500 words.
Thanks!
Jessica

I responded to Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education with a quote for the articles on 3/10/2011, to which she replied about 15 minutes later, with:

Hi Eileen,
That price is good with our budget. Our company is www.spectrumhighered.com if you would like to reference anything. What is your timeline? Call me if you have any questions while writing.

Thanks!
Jessica

To her question regarding turnaround, I replied (on 3/10/2011) with the following: 

I can work to your deadlines. When would you like these materials?
Thanks,
Eileen

Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education responded with the following, late in the evening on 3/10/2011:

We are targeting early next week to send out the newsletter. Does that give you enough time?
Thanks!
Jessica

On 3/14/2011, I sent the following email to Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education:

Hi Jessica,
Attached are drafts of the articles you requested. Please review them at your earliest convenience and let me know if you need modifications or changes.
Thanks,
Eileen

On 3/14/2011 at 3:38 PM Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education responded with:

Thanks Eileen! I will look at them today and get back to you.
Regards,
Jessica

That is the last time I've ever heard from Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education.  She posted my work on the company Web site on April 14, where it remains today.  I've billed Jessica Gammon regularly since April 1, 2011 and have not received a single reply. I've even attempted to contact this company via their online contact form and have received no response.

Billed 04/01/2011 - sent .pdf invoice via email
Billed 05/02/2011 - sent second .pdf invoice via email
Billed 05/09/2011 - sent paper invoice via US Mail
Billed 06/04/2011 - sent .pdf invoice via email
Billed 06/12/2011 - sent Paypal invoice
Billed 06/15/2011 - sent registered mail to J. Gammon and J. Cutts with invoices
Billed 07/02/2011 - sent Paypal reminder to J. Gammon

In addition to billing Jessica Gammon from Spectrum Higher Education, I also sent copies of the bill by US Mail to her business partner Jennifer Cutts at the addresses they listed on their annual report.  

The state business registry for Spectrum Higher Education can be found by following the link.  

Jessica Gammon is listed as the company's registered agent on the most recent Spectrum Higher Education annual report, which can be found by following the link.

I indicated in my written correspondence to both Jessica Gammon and Jennifer Cutts that if I did not receive payment for the work by 7/15/2011, I would file complaints here and with the Freelancers' Union, sue them in my local district court, and sell the debt to a collections attorney in Florida. I am in the process of taking all of those steps right now.  I will also file a DMCA take-down request with their Internet Service Provider.

My best advice to anyone who is considering doing business with Spectrum Higher Education is to think long and hard about doing business with Spectrum Higher Education. This is clearly a very small operation and the principals at Spectrum Higher Education are either not set up to meet their obligations, or they're a take-and-run outfit.  If this is how they treat a vendor, I can only imagine what they do to their clients.