Agency Slimeball
A contractor sent this about a real agency slimeball.
Have you experienced anything like this before?
Call From an Agent
I got a call from an agent that I didn‘t know.
I‘m a project manager at a fairly big company and hire contract staff regularly.
So, this guy makes an offer that I hadn‘t heard before.
He said that they had an extensive database not only of contractors but references good and bad for contractors.
He said that if I gave him the names of the contractors that I had working here he would run a check on them on their database and give me the results.
Curious and Suspicious
I was suspicious but curious too.
So, I asked him to go ahead.
I gave him the names of the contractors here.
Astonished at Results
I was astonished at the results.
Quite a few contractors here had let their previous clients down badly.
Their clients asked some of them to leave.
Security guards had shown out others from the premises for misdemeanors.
Others simply had bad references by people who said they wouldn‘t employ them again.
Project Leader was Contractor
What this agency slimeball didn‘t realise was that I was a contractor too.
He only knew my first name as he had blagged his way through to me.
So, I gave him my name as well, as one of the contractors to check out.
I was astonished to find that I had been thrown out at one company for having too many days off and chucked out at another for making suggestions to a female member of staff.
Good Contractors on His Books
When he sent in the report and called me up I thanked him for it and said it had been a real eye opener and asked him what he suggested I do about it.
He said that he had a number of good contractors on his books that he and his agency had taken extensive references on who were the cream of the crop in this area of the business.
I then asked him at which companies did contractor X (which was myself) get his bad references.
Agents are usually quick on their feet and he told me it was British Gas and British Telecom (BT).
Never Worked There
I said ‘that‘s surprising. I haven‘t worked in either of those places’.
He said ‘No, no, I was talking about X’.
I said ‘That‘s me’.
He of course said ‘What do you mean that‘s you’.
Included My Own Name
So, that‘s when I told him that I was a contractor and had included my own name on the list.
I told him that I was perfectly happy with the contractors I had and that as my ‘references‘ were obviously wrong, I didn‘t trust the sources for the other references.
I told him that I would be passing on copies of the report to all the contractors mentioned in them and it was up to them what action they would take.
Needless to say, I never heard from this agency slimeball again and we all live happily ever after.
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