Was I too nasty with Agency ?

[GWilliy]

Well it all happened so quickly !

I got a call on Tues am from Agency with "can you attend interview Weds am ?"
It was 140 miles away but I agreed

Got a call later that day "sorry to muck you about can we cancel & I'll get back to you" I said OK

Got a call the day after that "can you attend interview tomm Thurs" I agreed

I Attended Interview with Major Blue Chip mobile Co next day for a 10 Day Contract - discreet piece of run of the mill data transfer work scheduled to be completed in 3 weeks from today.

Agent called me later that day "Good news they want you to start in 2 working days time. All we need are you company details etc and all your previouse employment references for the previous 2 years"

Mmmm I said "this is not going to happen I will give you contact details for my last Contract and that is all"

"O Ok he replied - that should be OK"

I then receive an email from the agent confirming that they do require 2 years references.

My response:

Hi Mr X

With reference to your confirmed request that your company requires two years previous contract contact details, I refer to our previous telephone conversation (prior to your email below) where I immediately stated "This will not happen" I have considered this at length & now Re-affirm that "This will not happen".

As Director of xxx Ltd I have decided that supplying such details MAY have a negative effect on my companys potential future contract Re-Engagement opportunities.

Subsequently I must accept your companys requirements and must unfortunately decline your offer of contractual obligation to you and thus, to provide my services to xxx . This is my final decision & I will NOT CHANGE MY MIND.

I accept that taking such a stance may intimate that I have something to hide, I assure you that I have not. You are of course at liberty to check this yourselves with the Information you already posess.

On a more personal note:
I found your (Mr x) conduct prior to this request exemplorary & would suggest that you insist that the individual who has confirmed your companys requirements has wasted everybodys time and that they themselves should contact [email protected] and truthfuly inform him why the individual whom he chose at interview & saw best fit to achieve his companys objectives is no longer available !

Please be aware that I will not hesitate to provide [email protected] more detailed contact references directly should it be intimated to him that I take this stance because I have something to hide.

I see this as an end to the matter and expect no further correspondance from you.

Regards GW

I'm fairly certain that these references were not required by the client or the agent should have said.

I'm lucky to have a V Popular Skillset and will work in most places in UK so have little difficulty finding contracts <Touches wood>

I just get so tired of Agents trawling for references & it seems now that they're making this a condition of engagement.

Q. How do you think the conversation went between the Agency & Client.

Q. was I being a numpty

GW

[SallyAnne]

Asking for 2 years worth of references is absolutely ridiculous. I'd tell them where to stick it too.

Do you want to name and shame them so that anyone dealing with them in the future will know what to expect?

I dont think you were a numpty...but maybe you shouldn't have put the "I WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND" bit in....as they may have gotten back to you and said "oh ok then, forget about the references" then you could have still had a gig to start.

[boxman]

Couldn't agree more.

Nowadays my stance is that my clients have a policy of not giving references to suppliers. I'm happy though to give you the name of the consultant at the agency that retained myco's services.

I don't think you'll find this is followed up!

[Lewis]

Well it all happened so quickly !
GW

Well done. If more people did this it would help us all. The agent just wants references to cold call. I got a call this morning from an agent who had a three year old CV. I filled him in on the last three years but said I wasn't currently looking. He asked for references from these years so he could update his records on me!! I told him to take a running jump

[wendigo100]

Your letter was a bit long winded, but I agree with you. Two years references for 10 days work? My old clients would give me a kicking for that!

[Lewis]

Asking for 2 years worth of references is absolutely ridiculous. I'd tell them where to stick it too.

Do you want to name and shame them so that anyone dealing with them in the future will know what to expect?

I dont think you were a numpty...but maybe you shouldn't have put the "I WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND" bit in....as they may have gotten back to you and said "oh ok then, forget about the references" then you could have still had a gig to start.

Yeah I agree with the end bit.

[Sockpuppet]

I got a direct Gig.

5 days work - solutions design for a contract tender. They wanted 5 references.

Told them to swivel.

Last I heard they didn't win that contract (at least £5million project) as they didn't submit a bid on time.

Ha. Muppets.

[GWilliy]

Thanks for your support folks.

As I don't believe I've done anything wrong or said anything defamitory the Agency was

Ifftner Solutions

I expect I'm blacklisted with them now but hey - If they wanna play games with us then - this is what they should expect.

I'd call it bullying

Anyway I've recently finished my last contract and enjoying this brief spell of good weather.

GW

[Diver]

Good for you.
As an employer I get sick to the teeth with agency inquiries that start with specific reference to a long past employee and rapidly degenerates into a fishing expedition.
I.e. have you any current vacancies, what are your staffing levels, what are your minimum qualification requirements etc etc etc.
And, can we send someone along to have a chat with you.
You get two of those a day and your day is ruined.

[Spartacus]

Well done GWilliy. If references are mentioned, I just tell agents up front that all of my recent clients have a "no references" policy. Soon sorts out the wheat from the chaff. Truth be told, I haven't provided a reference to either an agent or client for more than 10 years now.