Reply to: whoops...

[wantacontract]

update for you...

agent 1 has phoned like crazy today and also emailed and txted...

i rang agent 2 saying I'm going to need to talk to him, agent 2 says he is going to back off as I emailed sole rep....

I speak to agent 1, he's very apologetic....so I am now with him!

[expat]

Or maybe "agent A" scrapes the ad from jobserve, does a few fishing calls to find out who the client isand then readvertises it. They hook a contractor and convince them to sign up for "sole agent". Nice.

Now, since agent A isn't on the preferred suppliers list for that client they have a snowball's chance in hell of placing the contractor with the client so they tout the contractor to the perferred supplier "agent B" for the client in the hope of claiming a "finders fee"....

Now what happens?

• The preferred "agent A" tells agent B to bugger off because they have enough clients of their own and they bin your CV.
• The client gets your CV from agent B and bins it because it's not from a preferred supplier.
• Agent A gets your CV but bins it because they know agent B has a sole agent agreement with you.
• The client actually reads your CV from agent B and tells agent A to get you off agent B and in for an interview. Agents A and B can't make a deal so you get binned.

All this happens behind your back and I really can't see how any of these shenanigans benefit the contractor. The agency has everything to gain and little to lose.

The trouble is that agencies do this EVERY DAY, it's their core business. We do this maybe a few times a year at most so we aren't as thick skinned or wise to their tatics.

My understanding is that signing up to a sole agent isn't forming a contract because there is no "consideration", ie money paid so they can't do anything to enforce it. It's just agency bulltulip at the end of the day.

Perhaps we should start a campaign to "just say no to sole agencies" and make a list of "stupid agency tricks" for people to watch out for.

I think you swapped A and B in the middle of your scenario, but otherwise I agree totally.

I have had this, where I picked the wrong agent and my CV didn't even go forward because he wasn't the preferred supplier, and the preferred supplier had enough CVs. If I had gone to the preferred supplier then my CV would have gone in and IMHO I might well have got the contract.

The strange thing is, my agent didn't see anything wrong about this.

[MikeC1408]

Don't worry about it, take the contract and keep quite.

I had this happen to me, Agent said they had submitted my CV, they kept this up for a week before changing the story to 'Sorry, made a mistake our quota was full so couldn't submit your CV'

Contacted another agent I knew had the role, Interview arranged for the next day and got the 3 month gig

That was 3 years ago and I'm still here, tough tulip too the first lying scumbag of an agent

[Wanderer]

I would be surprised at that. More likely they have a better candidate and as they can only submit so many.

Or maybe "agent A" scrapes the ad from jobserve, does a few fishing calls to find out who the client isand then readvertises it. They hook a contractor and convince them to sign up for "sole agent". Nice.

Now, since agent A isn't on the preferred suppliers list for that client they have a snowball's chance in hell of placing the contractor with the client so they tout the contractor to the perferred supplier "agent B" for the client in the hope of claiming a "finders fee"....

Now what happens?

• The preferred "agent A" tells agent B to bugger off because they have enough clients of their own and they bin your CV.
• The client gets your CV from agent B and bins it because it's not from a preferred supplier.
• Agent A gets your CV but bins it because they know agent B has a sole agent agreement with you.
• The client actually reads your CV from agent B and tells agent A to get you off agent B and in for an interview. Agents A and B can't make a deal so you get binned.

All this happens behind your back and I really can't see how any of these shenanigans benefit the contractor. The agency has everything to gain and little to lose.

The trouble is that agencies do this EVERY DAY, it's their core business. We do this maybe a few times a year at most so we aren't as thick skinned or wise to their tatics.

My understanding is that signing up to a sole agent isn't forming a contract because there is no "consideration", ie money paid so they can't do anything to enforce it. It's just agency bulltulip at the end of the day.

Perhaps we should start a campaign to "just say no to sole agencies" and make a list of "stupid agency tricks" for people to watch out for.

[NotAllThere]

I would be surprised at that...

Me too, in fact, since it would show a level of sophistication and intelligence not normal to a recruitement agent.

[wantacontract]

I've heard rumours that some agents will do this sole representation thing to lock you out of the role - they never submit you and make sure no-one else has.

that sounds like another typical underhanded trick from the pimps...

[MarillionFan]

I've heard rumours that some agents will do this sole representation thing to lock you out of the role - they never submit you and make sure no-one else has.

I would be surprised at that. More likely they have a better candidate and as they can only submit so many.

To be though, if you agree to an agent to represent you to client X, and then dont send you, but someone else does. Then IMO, they aint representing you.

When an agent asks you to send that email of representation, you should probably add some T&Cs to it?

Is there a small set of T&C's available?

[NotAllThere]

I've heard rumours that some agents will do this sole representation thing to lock you out of the role - they never submit you and make sure no-one else has.

[Wanderer]

wantacontract, from what you've said it sounds absolutely clear that the job you got through agent B is completely different to the one agent A put you forward for. So there's absolutely nothing to worry about. However, now that you have a contract, I don't see that there is any reason to ever speak to agent A again.

How about contacting agent one and mentioning your suspicions and see how he reacts.

As much as we would love to know what the backgound to this one is, you know that agent A will just pump the contractor for as much information as he can get then rub his flithy little hands together with glee and go after the agent B to demand a cut.

It's interesting to see how strong everyone's reaction to the "sole representative" thing is. It makes agents who demand sole rep status look like they are up to some dirty tricks, doesn't it.....

It's quite amusing when two agents but it's not worth stiring up the tulip and risking losing a contract over it.

[MarillionFan]

Had the same issue recently. Agent One ignored my calls and eventually said he had better candidates. Agent two put me forward.

Agent one didnt get any candidates through for interview but I did and got the gig. Go figure.

[SuperZ]

How about contacting agent one and mentioning your suspicions and see how he reacts. As he may have lied to you, mention you have heard from a source within the company that he may not have submitted you and you want to know why. Depending on outcome of this, mention that you will be talking to the client about the tactics his agency uses and take the issue up with procurement when you're in the door.

Must admit I've been having a bit of fun with a few agencies recently, even had one pull a job advert off of a job board when I reported it to client co. Oh and must remember to have my revenge on another for pulling the same trick as your agent did, a fake meeting at a non-existant address at the tip of scotland to discuss the hiring of five £700 a day project managers should do the trick . WIll leave it for the 1 year anniversary of his lie, the scumbag

[wantacontract]

good stuff...

I like the advice....!
thanks people.

[NotAllThere]

...

maybe just keep quiet to the first agent?

Why "maybe". The first agent broke his part of the agreement by not representing you.

[The Wikir Man]

Just say nothing. I once went direct with a client on a renewal without telling the agent. We split his 30% fee. Everyones a winner.

Well....

I hope you split it 29.9% your way, 0.1% to the client. They still save some money, after all

[MarillionFan]

Just say nothing. I once went direct with a client on a renewal without telling the agent. We split his 30% fee. Everyones a winner.

Well....