In April 2017 I was solicited via email by this firm. They promised to deliver regular cost free seminars for me to speak with Medicare beneficiaries for the purpose of enrolling them compliantly in Medicare Health Plans. At the time I was living in SE Florida and intent on spending the summer up north. I picked out a territory in NJ doing the competitive analysis and contracting with them with the insurance companies. I paid the fees for 2017 certifications.
In May Bret Louden, who was my primary contact indicated they were not going to do seminars in summer months as attendance was not there. He went on to promise that during the Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) I would be swamped with business and wanted to get started in September as AEP commenced in Mid October.
After getting no promised marketing support from initial contracting to about the end of August, I set up an office in Vero Beach, FL and moved there. The market required me to contract with another company through them to be competitive it what looked like a great market. September came and went with no support. October, their admin contacted me to source locations for seminars to be held during AEP.
I provided locations that she was happy with and forwarded to Louden only to have him come back and have me search again for cheaper venues. No budget, no standards, no process, no guidance. Finally Louden claimed that they were going to forward inbound calls in lieu of the seminar support and if I wanted seminars I would have to cash flow them myself. Given their lack of specific performance to date, I decided against that option.
Due to the fact that we were in AEP my contracts could not be moved even with a release. It was lost opportunity that properly marketed would have yielded conservatively $35 to $45 thousand in recurring annual income.
Beginning about the fourth week of October I received a number of calls from their "marketing". Although Louden was fully aware of my current location, he marketed to a county up to 150 miles away. After a certain time I was getting the impression that the calls were not inbound but rather robocalls directed to my phone. Bringing that up to Louden, he explained that the "lead lists" were of persons of a specific age range who had opted in to "something" over the last twelve months.
This appeared to me to be in violation of numerous federal and Medicare solicitation rules and laws. For a day or two I let the calls go to voicemail and have archived recordings of some very confused people. At that time I thought it best to let go and opted out of getting the calls with the understanding again that seminars would start after the Jan 15.
Never happened. More call campaigns yielded poor results and were of questionable compliance. I had written as bulletproof a script as possible, but not understanding the source of the data. I decided it was time to cut bait. In the beginning of March I found an opportunity with another agency that I wanted to take. Louden said I could not move forward without a call with his "operations manager". That turned out to be Luke Alford.
In a three way call Alford attempted to sell me on on direct mail support in excess of what I asked for prior to finding the other opportunity. By that time I was done. On the call Alford promised to release me from the contracts so I could recontract elsewhere. It generally accepted that a "release" is an event that allows for immediate transfer.
Louden claimed that I owed them money although I did write business from my own contacts. They paid the 2018 AHIP certification but 2017 AHIP that I paid for was a waste of money as they never provided support in accordance with their claims and web site. Once I paid them I was told in email that I would released from the contracts. I even provided the carrier approved forms and sent payment via PayPal. To date I have not been released and am quarantined from do any business with the companies for six months.
In my mind that is fraud. Their misrepresentations and taking of money with the promise of release is also fraud. A year of lost business development and lifetime recurring income. Thousands in relocation expenses. In addition I personally believe they placed me in harms way through non compliant marketing methods. Loss of license stuff.
Avoid Bret Louden, Luke Alford, National Senior Seminar and Alford and Associates at all costs.
National Senior Seminar Reviews
In April 2017 I was solicited via email by this firm. They promised to deliver regular cost free seminars for me to speak with Medicare beneficiaries for the purpose of enrolling them compliantly in Medicare Health Plans. At the time I was living in SE Florida and intent on spending the summer up north. I picked out a territory in NJ doing the competitive analysis and contracting with them with the insurance companies. I paid the fees for 2017 certifications.
In May Bret Louden, who was my primary contact indicated they were not going to do seminars in summer months as attendance was not there. He went on to promise that during the Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) I would be swamped with business and wanted to get started in September as AEP commenced in Mid October.
After getting no promised marketing support from initial contracting to about the end of August, I set up an office in Vero Beach, FL and moved there. The market required me to contract with another company through them to be competitive it what looked like a great market. September came and went with no support. October, their admin contacted me to source locations for seminars to be held during AEP.
I provided locations that she was happy with and forwarded to Louden only to have him come back and have me search again for cheaper venues. No budget, no standards, no process, no guidance. Finally Louden claimed that they were going to forward inbound calls in lieu of the seminar support and if I wanted seminars I would have to cash flow them myself. Given their lack of specific performance to date, I decided against that option.
Due to the fact that we were in AEP my contracts could not be moved even with a release. It was lost opportunity that properly marketed would have yielded conservatively $35 to $45 thousand in recurring annual income.
Beginning about the fourth week of October I received a number of calls from their "marketing". Although Louden was fully aware of my current location, he marketed to a county up to 150 miles away. After a certain time I was getting the impression that the calls were not inbound but rather robocalls directed to my phone. Bringing that up to Louden, he explained that the "lead lists" were of persons of a specific age range who had opted in to "something" over the last twelve months.
This appeared to me to be in violation of numerous federal and Medicare solicitation rules and laws. For a day or two I let the calls go to voicemail and have archived recordings of some very confused people. At that time I thought it best to let go and opted out of getting the calls with the understanding again that seminars would start after the Jan 15.
Never happened. More call campaigns yielded poor results and were of questionable compliance. I had written as bulletproof a script as possible, but not understanding the source of the data. I decided it was time to cut bait. In the beginning of March I found an opportunity with another agency that I wanted to take. Louden said I could not move forward without a call with his "operations manager". That turned out to be Luke Alford.
In a three way call Alford attempted to sell me on on direct mail support in excess of what I asked for prior to finding the other opportunity. By that time I was done. On the call Alford promised to release me from the contracts so I could recontract elsewhere. It generally accepted that a "release" is an event that allows for immediate transfer.
Louden claimed that I owed them money although I did write business from my own contacts. They paid the 2018 AHIP certification but 2017 AHIP that I paid for was a waste of money as they never provided support in accordance with their claims and web site. Once I paid them I was told in email that I would released from the contracts. I even provided the carrier approved forms and sent payment via PayPal. To date I have not been released and am quarantined from do any business with the companies for six months.
In my mind that is fraud. Their misrepresentations and taking of money with the promise of release is also fraud. A year of lost business development and lifetime recurring income. Thousands in relocation expenses. In addition I personally believe they placed me in harms way through non compliant marketing methods. Loss of license stuff.
Avoid Bret Louden, Luke Alford, National Senior Seminar and Alford and Associates at all costs.