ComplaintsforGoodwin Recruiting

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Goodwin committed fraud. Goodwin found an unqualified candidate who was terminated within 8 work-days. Goodwin demanded full fees even though candidate was defective, and coached by Goodwin to lie about his resume. Contract attempts to lock in client if hire does not work out, but we don't want to deal with Goodwin anymore. Highly unprofessional and fraudulent company. Now they put invoice to collections, less than 30 days past due.

  

  Business response

  06/02/2023

  The complaint lacks the facts.  Please see attached Fee Agremeent with the client as well as the below facts.  
  
  1. This is the email i sent him expalining the facts and why the fee was due:
  Yes, our job is to source qualified candidate, which ******* clearly was as otherwise you wouldn’t have interviewed him in the first place.  We then do a full and detailed interview of our own and recommend them to the client, which you again choose to interview.  We prepare them for interviews with our client, so they know the concept and who they are speaking to.  It is ultimately the clients’ decision to interview the candidate, do as many interviews needed to determine if they are a good fit, do any background checks they require, make the decision to hire, train and retain them if desired.  We were obviously not in the building, we don’t understand the training or support you provide, and are not responsible for what goes on in your 4 walls, but we are willing to back up our service with a guarantee and replace ******* if he left on his own or you felt you made a bad hiring decision. 
  
  With that said, I think you are missing the main point as you are not paying for *******, you are paying for the service to find a candidate and we are willing to replace ******* since you felt he wasn’t the right fit.  In addition, you stated earlier in this thread “Due to the recent downturn of the commercial real estate industry, ****** has decided to permanently suspend hiring for this position.“ which based on our contract in essence removes the need for us to replace ******* and raises the question if ******* was termed for performance or due to a reduction of the workforce.  However even with that fact, we have offered to keep the guarantee in place, if you simply pay the invoice and we even offered you to pay 50% now and 50% on replacement, so we both had skin in the game, but that is the most we will offer.  If this is not acceptable, we will just add late fees and collection fees as per our contract and send to our collection company to resolve.

  2. We are not a temp agency but agreed to work the job for the client as a temp to perm hire at their request   

  3. We clearly communicated with ****** (our contact with this client) via email and confirmed we are not a temp agency.  ****** replied “Ok no worries at all, That’s fine” so ***** was very clear prior to them interviewing ******* (the candidate).

  4. Client admitted to us after the hire that they did not do their usual background checks.  We don't understand why they didn't do as normal, considering it is a normal practice of theirs.  They say they didnt because he was a temp hire, but we made it clear to them this was not the case.   

  5. As per our contract, they make the decision to hire or not hire candidates. See clause below
  

  Company will make the decision to hire, or not hire, a candidate presented by Goodwin Recruiting independent of Goodwin Recruiting. Goodwin Recruiting is not liable in any way for the independent hiring decisions of Company. 

  6. The fee is owed if the candidate starts, in this case the first half of the fee.  We are not charging for second ½ since the candidate didn’t last 6 months. See clause below

  Payment becomes payable in full once the candidate begins employment. Payment for fees invoiced shall be payable within20 days of the hired Candidate’s start date.

  7. We offered to replace the candidate, provided the invoice is paid on time.  We offered this several times and he refused.  See clause below  
  

  Goodwin Recruiting guarantees that if a placed candidate leaves employment of the Company, either voluntarily or through termination, for any reason other than reduction of workforce, within 30 calendar days from the candidate’s start date, Goodwin Recruiting will provide a one-time replacement candidate at no cost to the Company. There is no cash back. Company agrees to provide ample opportunity for the replacement to be fulfilled as soon as possible.  If company does not provide Goodwin Recruiting an opportunity to replace the candidate for a period of 1 year, it will be understood that the replacement is no longer needed. Company agrees that the guarantee portion of the agreement becomes null and void if payment is made in installments or if full payment is not received by the due date.

  8. The client also sent us the below email, which in essence means the positions was eliminated and really we dont owe a replacement at all, but we still offered in in good faith as long as the invoice was paid on time. 
  Hello Goodwin Team,
  
  Due to the recent downturn of the commercial real estate industry, ****** has decided to permanently suspend hiring for this position.  We will no longer require your services to recruit for this role at this time.  Thank you.
  
  *** *****
  Controller

  Customer response

  06/05/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because:  Goodwin has presented false information in its response.   See agreement attached.

  Clearly it shows "1 Temporary Senior Accountant", which means this candidate was a TEMP.   Goodwin provided an unvetted temp.  If we were to hire a permanent candidate, that candidate would have gone through a rigorous internal vetting process, such as a background check, multi-step interviews and a skills assessment.    This temp went through none of this because he was a TEMP, and was expected to have been vetted by Goodwin.   We no longer wish to work with Goodwin, so their replacement guarantee is of no use to us.  Goodwin is a complete fraudulent company, and we are currently seeking counsel to handle this case.

  Sincerely,
  
  *** *****

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩