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Precision Consulting (formerly Minimax Consulting)

Tigercub

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Has anyone else had any dealings with this group?

I answered an ad of theirs in Craigslist. They were looking for editors to edit college dissertations. They sent me a sample 78-page dissertation to edit, without pay. I spent quite a bit of time and effort on it and sent it back by the deadline. A week later I got an e-mail from them saying that they "decided not to move ahead with your candidacy." No reason given.

I also had to fax a bunch of stuff to them, which cost, so I not only didn't get paid, but I'm out money.

I Googled them, and they apparently don't have a really great rep. Yesterday, I saw another Craigslist ad from them, same one.

Comments -- Is it just sour grapes here, or are my suspicions warranted?
 

M.R.J. Le Blanc

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Sounds like suspicion is warrented. They had you do all the work then took off. I'm sure there are others they got the same way, so why should they pay anyone?

This is why I usually avoid jobs on places like craigslist. There's usually just too many bad apples to try and find the good ones.
 

victoriastrauss

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It looks to me like the equivalent of essay mills for college students, except it's for PhDs. On the other hand, I've never seen anything quite like it before, so it's hard for me to evaluate. Still, I can't imagine that PhD candidates are encouraged to use a service like this.

Let me check with my stepmother, who's a college professor, and see if she has any thoughts.

- Victoria
 

AlaskaRonald

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Chabot is a scam artist

so in the last few months, Peter Chabot (ie "P.C." or "Pierre", two of his aliases) has been "outed" by some, and they took "P.C." off the website bio's list, but his wife Charlotte is still up there. My guess is she'll be off quite soon as well, b/c this whole scheme is really gaining steam. Hard to believe all the scumbags that actually work with them haven't found out about all this yet. Perhaps they are all in on it, completely falsifying their backgrounds like Peter does.

The entire company is a complete scam, they hire people to edit for free and use them as "sample projects", pretending to be considerating these people for full time hiring. Trust me, I did a sample project for them, only to be told they would need another "sample project"....from what I've read about this has happened to many other people.

Check out this link, or the SEC write up on this scam outfit's ring leader:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_21/b3834097_mz020.htm

"..Peter W. Chabot, after a brief stint on Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s arbitrage desk, lied both about his age and trading experience to collect more than $1.2 million from 14 investors starting in 1999 for his Synergy Fund, according to court documents. The 26-year-old spent the money on Armani suits, personal-fitness trainers, and tickets to New York Knicks games. A chronic drug abuser, according to a criminal complaint, he was caught on the run in Mississippi, allegedly on his way to Mexico in November, 2001. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in New York to two felonies: using manipulative and deceptive devices and fraud. In March, 2002, he was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution and to undergo drug rehab treatment."

Impressive salesmanship and clever schemes though. Gotta give them that. The Wall street journal or some big paper should pick up on this outfit and write a nice investigative piece on modern-day internet based scams!
 
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jchoo48

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Good Experience

I've never applied to Minimax as a potential employee, but they provided me with some great help. After working on my dissertation for 4 months, I encountered some trouble with my chapter four quantitative analysis. My statistics background isn’t as strong as it should be, and my advisor did not offer much help aside from suggesting using SPSS software to analyze my statistics. The problem was that I had no idea how to use the software. One of my good friends, who had finished her dissertation last year, suggested I give Minimax a call. She told me that she was having similar problems, and that the people at Minimax did a great job with her work. I’m so glad I took her advice, from my first call onward I was treated with respect and I felt that my work was given the proper attention it needed. I had been very nervous about using SPSS software, but the analysts at Minimax spared my weaknesses and delivered great results. I especially liked that I was assigned an associate to speak with as often as I needed, and to provide me with frequent updates on the progress of my work. I would definitely recommend Minimax’s services to anyone who needs dissertation help.