ExecRanks or ExecRank.com Advisor or AdvisoryCloud Recruiting firm Warning FactSheet - Are they Ethical & Legitimate?

Tavares, FL      June 7, 2018      Personal Opinion by Vance Jochim -  Updated Jan. 26, 2021

This is a living document - updates will be posted as I get more information.

Update Jan. 26, 2021:  ExecRanks has now changed their name to AdvisoryCloud and their ads keep popping up on my LinkedIn Account.  BEWARE of this firm.  My older experience is below.  Here is the Updated Better Business Bureau list of complaints.  Note: BBB lists complaints by STATE where the firm HQ is, so use the full AdvisoryCloud (no space) name and even if you list your state, it should find the complaints filed with the California BBB.  Also do a Google search on "review of advisory cloud" to find complaints filed on other sources including LinkedIn. If you read positive reviews, many are from EMPLOYEES of AdvisoryCloud - they must require they file a positive review on all the reporting services to offset all the complaints of MEMBERS who paid fees, then complained.  LinkedIn should be ashamed for accepting their ads. 

Update May 14, 2019:  I got an email saying that ExecRanks has changed their name - here is a list:  The names have been: ExecReps, TheExecRanks, ExecRank, and now as of 4-2019 it is: AdvisoryCloud. 

Below is my original 2018 post:

A firm currently named ExecRanks uses questionable ethics (to me) in recruiting and this is my story of dealing with them, plus research of other people posting negative comments about them.  They operate on LinkedIn to "connect" with potential members. 

They reached out to me via LinkedIn with an enticing offer to join their advisory group membership for an onboarding fee of $200, and a monthly fee of $195 to be in their database of independent advisors (paid or voluntary) for firms seeking advisors.  The idea is I would be in their recruiting member database where I could apply for corporate advisory positions.  

After a first 30-60 minute phone conversation, I figured I would try it out so see if I could be interviewed for positions as a paid business advisor for various firms, such as tech startups, needing business experienced advisors.

Further research indicated they have no incentive to actually find a "member" a position but still collect $200/month, so I immediately asked for a refund, and they refused. 

The short link to this page:  http://www.fiscalrangers.com/ExecRanks-AreTheyEthical.html 

I also figured I had a three day cancellation window usually mandated by most states in order to evaluate the subsequent written agreement to be provided via online registration. 

Oooops.  These guys are, in my opinion, possible con artists.  They may provide legitimate connections to some people (examples are listed on their website), but by refusing to provide a requested refund of an unearned $395 within 3-days without providing any services is unethical to me.  I conducted online research and found many bad comments about their services and possibility of actually getting interviews or be hired for consulting fees.

So, before starting in the scheduled April 23, 2018 "on-boarding" interview with Kyle Williams ([email protected]), I told him I wanted to cancel and I wanted the initial fee of $395 charged on my credit card to be reversed.  He said there are no refunds, even though I had not received one bit of advice or taken any of their staff time. 

I didn't even have a written copy of their "member" terms of service agreement because you only see that AFTER registering on their website.  I did try, but when the website said I had to click agreement to their rather one sided "terms of service", I refused. (I did make a copy, however). They even had a section "NO GUARANTEE OF SUCESS".  It also had terms for the employer requiring that if they hired you for a position other than advisor, they had to pay ExecRanks a 15% commission.  

I since exchanged emails with two other ExecRanks employees and they also refused any refunds.  Instead, one offered to give me a discount to $50 per month to continue until I had a paid gig.  Based upon what I read, it seemed it was a ploy to keep me on the books with monthly payments, without any promise of any success in obtaining paid advisory positions.

So, you should review the information below I found by online research to determine if the promise of POSSIBLE future income, while still always paying them is worth the risk.   Do you feel lucky?

I HAVE an audio recording of the initial and subsequent interviews with them which will be posted soon so you can see how they treat customers. 

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People I dealt with at ExecRanks - based in Novato, CA

Corporate address:  ExecRanks,  7 Hamilton Landing | Novato, CA | 94949  

Initial recruiter who I signed up with: 

John Memolo - [email protected]   Director of Training and Continued Education  -  (415) 233-9961  

Brenda Bouyea  - Customer support sent the notice of the onboarding interview: 

        [email protected]  415-289-7115

Person assigned for the "onboarding interview":  Kyle Williams [email protected]   

Response to my request for refund:  

        Rebecca Kirsch  [email protected]  | Team Lead Member Success   415.578.7426 x214

"We are certainly sorry to see you go, however our services are non-refundable, as stated in the Terms and Conditions which you agreed to upon enrollment."   (Note:  I never did agree to the terms of service on their website, so that is not true. - VJ)

Manager who tried to get me to stay on by offering a discount to only $50/month: 

Brian Fukushima - " Member Success Manager,"  [email protected]   415 578 7426  

Online Research on ExecRanks

1.  As a former anti-corruption specialist, and certified fraud examiner, I hate con artists.  One of the methods they use to escape online exposes is to change their name, or use multiple names.  Thus if they get a bad online reputation, they change the name and you won't find comments about them for awhile unless you know the old name.   Thus this firm's name is ExecRanks but the email domain is ExecRank.com.   Online research found one comment that cited an older, different name they used.  

2.  Most recruiting firms do NOT charge a fee to candidates, but only to the employer.  Thus the incentive is to not waste the time of unqualified candidates, but focus only on qualified candidates.  Thus, if ExecRanks was ethical, they would only charge any fees AFTER the candidate was hired.  But ExecRanks transfers the entire risk of no hiring to the candidate while still getting paid.  Thus they are incentivized to keep promising possibilities but not actual performance. 

Comments on Quora.com about ExecRanks (other than one glowing comment from ExecRanks):

https://www.quora.com/Has-anyone-actually-gotten-a-BoA-position-with-execrank  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Weber, Head of Portfolio Company ManagementAnswered Nov 22, 2016

I asked ExecRank for ANY evidence of their rate of success and they refused to respond despite repeated requests other than to point to the “case studies” on their web site. So, I called one of the persons listed who said he was disatisfied, thought Execrank was unprofessional and had previously asked that his testimonial be taken down.
Execrank’s claims seem highly dubious would stay away

K Pierce, M.B.A. Certified Public Accountants, UNM Anderson School of Management (2011)

        Here’s Chris Beaver according to Bloomberg:Executive Profile Chris Beaver

Founder, CMO & EVP of Sales, The ExecRanks, Inc.

This person is connected to 0 Board Member in 0 organization across 1 different industries.

Gyan Parida, Ernst & Young Award Finalist for Entrepreneurship

Updated May 17, 2016

Yes, I used it for almost 7–8 months and not only wasted the money but so much time. Don’t waste your money -Stay as far away as you can. Check Ripoff Report. I work with super growth VC funded startups and was totally misled even after I clarified them. This is a pure rip-off.

This is essentially a job board where companies wants to hire people to work for free disguise as a BoA.

You pay $200/month to ExecRank to work for free for some companies, if you like. :-) :-)

Rafael Martin, Special Education Teacher (2007-present)

Answered Jul 2, 2017
I copied and pasted this from the Ripoff Report. Here is the website link:

    https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/execrank/nationwide/execrank-sean-mcdonald-scam-misrepresents-service-takes-your-money-refuses-to-refund-1296871   

ExecRank Complaint Review Nationwide

ExecRank is a scam. I wished I had checked the reputation of the company prior to signing up. I cancelled after I realized that none of their so-called board positions were real, or at least none of the ones they connected me to. After months, I found no connection, and most of the positions that were even close to my skills were mysteriously filled prior to discussion. The few connections I made through ExecRank wanted money from me.

And, as others online have mentioned I still got charged for one more month (another $200) because I did not cancel on the day before the billing cycle. This, of course, is contrary to the sales pitch they give you when they talk you into joining the service where they say you can cancel "at any time." What is the good of being able to cancel "at any time" ? In actuality you can cancel the day before they charge you for the following month. You get a one day window to cancel (I cancelled the day after that one day window, hence my chagrin). They claim the reason for that policy is that they don't want people "poaching" opportunities.

If ExecRank were a reputable company, they would be getting opportunities on a regular basis, there would be no arbitrary monthly tempo associated with "new" opportunities coming in. So, forcing members who have resigned the service to arbitrarily pay for the next month after they resign goes counter to their concern about poaching. If they really get "new" opportunities on a regular basis it would make the poaching risk even worse since that member, who knows he's resigning, gets exposed to those (allegedly regularly coming in) opportunities.

If they were really worried about poaching, they would let you go as soon as you know you want to go. Given this, I can only surmise that the majority of their revenue is gained from exploiting this hook in their contract and squeezing an extra $200 for those foolish enough, as I was, to join their service. It's not the money. I am ashamed to admit it but I have paid over $200 for a tie. My advice: don't do it. Months into it, nothing but emails and meetings that go nowhere. Essentially, I paid ExecRank money to set up meetings with people who further solicited me for money. I have relatives for that, don't need to pay ExecRank.

More to be added later (VJ  June 6, 2018

Better Business Bureau (you have to find the BBB in their location.  You won't find them listed in out of state BBS sites. Smart con artists don't cause complaints in their local area.  They reel in victims from other locations.  

RipOffReport, etc. 

 

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Vance Jochim [email protected] YouTube Channel "FiscalRangersFlorida"