hitting the wire*

Do not use Incorporex to register your newco

When you use an agent to register a NewCo, you expect to be paying a bit more than you would have by going directly to CIPRO, but suffering far less pain for the extra cost not so?  

More than 90 days from the day I paid Incorporex close on R1,800.00 I still have no tangible proof that they have done anything with my money other than an SMS giving me a reg number and suggesting that the documents will be following. That was 20 April 2009. It is now 29 May 2009 and I have heard nothing despite progress enquiries, which appear to be ignored.

This is what a recent mail looked like:

Pamela an Stanley
I have only word to describe the level of service I have received from your company:
PATHETIC!
Pamela promises to facilitate the registration of a pty ltd for me and indicate that it takes about 6 to 8 weeks.Pamela neglects to collect the documents I courier to you on 25 February 2009 until I call 3 weeks later to ask for a progress report.Stanley calls me to apologise and undertakes to do whatever is possible to ensure that the process is expedited.On 24 March 2009 I emailed asking for an update. Pamela has never replied.I email Stanley on 8 April 2009. No reply.I hear no more until I get an SMS on 20 April 2009 to give me the reg number and indicates that the documents will be following.Since then - nothing.I email Stanley on 20 May 2009 again asking for an update. Nothing.I call your call centre today and cannot get to speak to anyone at all.
90 days later and I have no registration papers with which I can open a bank account and start billing my customers.
At this stage, I'm asking what I paid you R1,799.00 for - to make my life more difficult? I could have done the work myself by now at less cost!
If I do not have my documents by Friday 29 May 2009 16h00, I am listing Incorporex on HelloPeter.com & will be seeking legal advice on obtaining my registration papers from CIPRO without delay.

And did you know that they can place a document on their website saying they are authorized by DTI/CIPRO to register companies on CIPRO's behalf, but I get told by a DTI call centre agent that DTI have no governance authority over the agent and I must lodge a case with the SAP. Say what?!

HelloPeter here I come.

***update as at 2009/05/29***

Contacted SA Chamber of Commerce who were helpful but doubtful about their chances. Then got hold of CIPRO in Cape Town who asked me to formally raise a complaint, which I did. Also got hold of Incorporex's CEO's cell phone number and called him - no credible reason for why I'm being ignored and admits they had "misplaced" my documents (for over a month?!?!?) and he would see they were couriered to me over the weekend. He's SMSd me a tracking number, so who knows, he might be on the level.

Total and utter incompetence and no idea of what it means to provide any modicum of service level.

Sorry mate, but the deadline was today and I think it wasn't unreasonable.

What do your corporate lunches say about your company?

(finally bit the bullet and bought a Mac app to draft Typepad blog posts offline and manage postings for me. One of the very few things I missed after "switching" was a good blogging tool. Methinks it showed a bit eh?)

One of things I loved about working at Storm was the lack of ego's, sense of fun and the constant humour. Life at ViaData is much like the early days of Storm in that way, but in a company that is 13+ years old. There are two of us doing sales pitches and although the cold calling and guerilla maneuvres needed to evade gatekeepers is a pain, the pitching is fun an really rewarding when you find a need that matches the product. There is one of me doing product development, brand, marketing, pr, etc (sounds familiar, although I could really do with an Anne Hoemberg right now!) and some bright, enthusiastic people who love their product and get REALLY excited about what they're doing. Love it.

Today's musing though. We do lunch as a team each Friday - or at least anyone who is in the office joins in. We're a busy bunch, often with those 4pm/Friday crises that ALWAYS seem to appear. But team lunch is important enough to fit it in. The operation works like this:

• Around 12 Craig (MD), takes orders from the crew and calls Jakes and places the orders, stipulating the time the food must be ready 12h30.
• The crew carries on working.
  
• 12h25, five minutes before the food hits the table, we evacuate the building, pile into the biggest vehicle there.
  
• On or just after the appointed hour, we arrive, are seated, and while we're placing drinks orders, the food hits the table, followed shortly thereafter by drinks.
  
• There is time for debate (today's topic - "do you have the right to check your child's MXIT, MSN, Skype, Email history - even if you have warned them & you only have their safety at heart?"), general banter, digestion and paying the bill, before heading out back to the office...
  
• ... no more then 30 minutes past the hour!
  

ViaData is focused on delivering business value in all the work we do for customers. Very little patience is exhibited for fluffy stuff that does not add tangible value. It struck me today that Friday lunch is a corporate cultural reflection of that. Work hard, play hard, don't waste time.

Now I'm not against the odd lunch that slips quietly into supper when there is a good wine and fine company to go with it, but I wonder what your company lunches say about your company? ;)