The Spring group (aka Hyphen) - AVOID IF YOU CAN

[zara_backdog]

Have Spring every tried to get you to work for them directly ?. Everytime I have talked to them they suggest I do this as they ' Could get me more work'.

[voodooflux]

Have Spring every tried to get you to work for them directly ?. Everytime I have talked to them they suggest I do this as they ' Could get me more work'.

They know me well enough to not bother asking that

[MaryPoppins]

[QUOTE=voodooflux;780840] They also have a system for generating an invoice on your behalf if you so desire.

QUOTE]

I have always opted to use Self Billing with agencies who offer it, but am I being charged for this? I can't see any evidence of it on remittance etc but someone has mentioned that its sometimes chargeable?

[voodooflux]

I have always opted to use Self Billing with agencies who offer it, but am I being charged for this? I can't see any evidence of it on remittance etc but someone has mentioned that its sometimes chargeable?

My understanding is that Spring don't charge for this - I've certainly not seen any mention of such a charge. It wouldn't surprise me if some agencies did levy a charge for this though.

[AlanR]

I have to use Spring / Hyphen for 1 of my clients and i have never had any problems with them.

Also have not been charged for using their self billing feature.

[AZZIK]

I'm currently with Spring as well - no issues here, they pay on time and the contractor portal works well for me. They also have a system for generating an invoice on your behalf if you so desire.

The lads at Spring that I have dealt with have been good, and I'm in no way swayed by the couple of occasions they've taken us out and picked up the tab

Yup same here, no major issues yet. They seem to be quite efficient with payments.

[oldtimer45]

Spring

What annoys me the most is all the chasing and checking I have to do to make sure that they are actually processing my invoices - I can see that they have been uploaded successfully, but this doesn't seem to lead to automatic payment.

It's a sad reflection of our times I guess. I remember () when Spring were called Software Personnel, and my agent (a very nice man called Clive South) interviewed me before taking me on, and personally kept in touch with me. He also knew about the IT industry, unlike the random CV keyword matchers you get nowadays.

Anyway time to put the pipe and slippers away and do some work

[handlingit]

The 'incompetents' Respond

What a complete bunch of incompetents!

My troubles started in November, when the company I was working in single-sourced all their contracts through Hyphen (Spring). My contract with my current agency was terminated, and I had the choice of a new one at 10% less, or the door.

I am also forced to use their cra**y website Contractor Portal || SECURED CONTRACTOR PORTAL, CONTRACTORS DETAIL, CONTRACTOR PORTAL TIPS,, to enter timesheets etc.
When I didn't get paid as expected, despite following the process as instructed, I was told that the process had changed and I needed to use new e-timesheets (which laughably still had to be printed off, signed and faxed back).
Every time I logged on my details had changed, such as contracts current, payment frequency, and timesheets.
The website was also down for some time with a "virus"!
The staff aren't very helpful either, blaming each other for their faults, my on-site rep blaiming the Website, and the support people blaming her.

I like working where I am, but the forcible use of Spring as an agent is really putting me off. The reasons why the company I work in have done this is to cut costs, obviously, but it really pi**es me off!

I work for Spring and support the website in question. I cannot comment on the reasoning behind why you were on a particular timesheet frequencies or timesheet types as there a few different types. One being the complete on-line preferred solution but some clients prefer the printing out, signing it and then having it faxed back in method.

With regards to your comments on the site being down for some time due to a “virus” I would have to completely disagree with you here. The website has not been down during work hours for the last 7 years I have been responsible for the support it. We only down the site for maintenance out of working hours and always give notice of this outage. We have NEVER had a “virus” on it.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I am also currently with spring.

The staff are really rude and unhelpful. I have had to fax my timesheets over to them 3 times to get them approved for this month. Their pay schedule is daft, their system crap.

[dspsyssts]

Contractor Portal are the most enept bunch of monkeys I have evr had the misfortune to be associated with.

As Computer People and Spring IT have now joined "forces" the Contractor Portal are trying to deal with the payroll. They are specialising in sending sums of money to banks with no remmitance advice notice so the banks don't know who to pay and how much.

This has happened three times over the last 7 days alone.

Parasol staff are getting fed up to the back teeth with contractors wanting to know when they will get paid and where is their money.

I really warn anyone thinking of starting a contract with Computer People or Spring to be wary.