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Buyer Beware! NewAgeSMB will take your money and not provide the product that was originally agreed upon. They will turn around and bill you for items that were never approved. Their Client Service Manager Giovanni Livia is probably the worst CSM I've ever had to deal with. His lack of involvement with the project is 60% of the problem. All he is interested in is collecting money once the contract is signed. DO NOT PAY anything unless you set up milestones first and only then once those milestones are completed to your satisfaction should you pay! After spending 10K dollars on a project that was budgeted 12K the website is only 50% completed and they want the balance of the budget paid before doing any further work! Don't get stuck as I did. My suggestion is that you seek other companies and be sure to do thorough reference checks on current and past customers...Don't just talk to the customers they provide.
This is an unfortunate situation because not only do I NOT have a website but the quality of work was poor...lots of bugs! This engagement started in April of 2008 and it is now June of 2009 and there is nothing my customers can use to buy our products...Even when I asked to give me what I already paid for Giovanni insist nothing will be handed over until the balance is paid in full...THEIR IS NO PODUCT so what is the balance for! Seek other companies and stay away from NewAge. I do will contact the New Jersey State Attorney's office and the Better Business Bureau to file a formal complaint
Recki1799, that actually doesn't surprise me they would lose their ISO certification. I'm glad I cut my losses with NewAge SMB and Giovanni Livia because even if the project moved to completion they would continue to own the source code of my application (that's not unusual) but I would be forced to work with the lack of professionalism by NewAge SMB and Giovanni Livia. It was better that I cut my losses and seak a company more reputable. I certainly would discourage anyone who is considering working with NewAge SMB and Giovanni Livia.
Hello Aaron, I don't usually check this site for updates but please allow me to follow up. Regarding payments, I gave your company over ten thousand dollars and have absolutely nothing to show for this investment. The issue I have with your NewAge or NewAgeSMB is that the project was not even 50% complete when I had paid over 80% of the budget and to require that I pay the remaining 20% of the budget was not acceptable. Whomever was is charge of project managing this process; I believe Giovanni Livia, did a poor job doing so. As the client, if you refer to the scope of work that we all signed up for and compare to the actual work done (the 50%) you'll see first hand how the critical points were not addressed. So what did 10K get me...nothing! Nothing but grief but a learning experience nonetheless. Your scope of work is merely a cut and paste and I should've been more cautious about this from the start. ...I will take responsibility for this even if it cost me 10K
You state you have several happy customers and people can call you for them, well that's an easy rebuttal and you'll attempt to discredit every person who post their complaints about your company. The true question is how many of your customers ended up leaving dissatisfied...that would never be disclosed by your company which is why...thanks to the internet, we'll continue share our experiences about Giovanni Livia and NewAge / NewAgeSMB with others. I do not have any ill will with the development team, they were merely doing what they were instructed to by the project/account manager Giovanni Livia. In fact, I liked working with the development team...I didn't like, however, working with Giovanni Livia...I'd explain what needed to be done with him and it seemed like it was def ears...plus he's abrupt to say the least. It was a 10K loss for me but I gain tremendous experience and now understand how to better qualify offshore businesses like yours and how to avoid them, especially if they have unprofessional account/project managers like Giovanni Livia.
In General: If you're a potential customer of NewAge / NewAgeSMB that you really take into consideration the following
1. Don't pay up front for work that "will" be done
2. Know that you will not own the source code and will always be linked to NewAge / NewAgeSMB for any future modifications
3. Be aware if the account manager who comes across as a total solutions provider
4. Make sure you have written in the contract that if the company does not meet a milestone within an agreed upon timeline that they are held accountable financially (a portion of the cost for the milestone)
5. Don't be sold strictly on the sales exec...come up with questions regarding the development team, ask how many projects the team is currently working on...because that will affect your project...
6. Hold the offshore company accountable...Unfortunately you don't have too much leverage because like me...if you pay pay pay, and they don't deliver, there is no loss for them..you've paid them for their time and you'll just have to walk away with nothing...so make sure you have every worse case scenario documented in your agreement and make sure you have written what the ramifications would be.
7. I would just stay away from NewAge / NewAgeSMB and go to www.elance.com and find someone who will be the person working directly on your project. Working through Elance you can put the money in escrow and if the person(s) doesn't deliver the milestone you DON'T have to release the payment until they meet your satisfaction.
Thanks...but buyer beware with NewAge / NewAgeSMB because you talk with someone in the states and they farm it out to India...
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
I agree. They are too bad! They says they are us company but their actual setup is in india.
Yes this company had recently LOST there ISO certification too due to bad mishandling and mismanagement.They had completed the norms with the certification firm and had found substandard in ther e work.It is rare that a company lose ther ISO certification
“Hi Mr. Ortega,
Earlier you posted a comment on this site using your real name and now you’ve changed your name to do what you did earlier. We’ve been talking to you for quite some time to get this issue resolved, but you seem to be bent on bad mouthing about us. The actual fact is that we’ve performed our part as agreed to in the proposal and that you have still not paid the balance amount you owe us. We have a long list of very satisfied customers who have done business with us in the past and continue to do business with us. What you’ve written on this site about NewAge SMB is utterly false.
Hi Recki1799,
We know that you are a disgruntled ex-employee of our firm who is trying to create a bad impression on our company by spreading false and incorrect information. Just FYI, our business is growing and this year is our best year ever!
Hi Everyone,
Anyone who wants to know the truth behind all these, please contact us and we can provide you with many satisfied customers, who would be more than willing to give excellent reference about us. We have been doing professional and ethical business for 15 years! Please see the contact information given below.
Aaron
NewAge SMB,
Phone no: [protected]
Email- aaron@newagesmb.com
ISO 9001 is part of the ISO 9000 family of standards. The new ISO 9001:2000 designation comprises the ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003 standards. ISO 9001 targets the manufacturing process, although it also includes manufacturing services and software development.
CMM offers a model for judging the software processes of an organization and for identifying key practices required to increase the maturity of these processes. It establishes a successful means for modeling, defining, and measuring the maturity of the processes used by software professionals.
The rules for the structure and drafting of documents intended to become International Standards, Technical Specifications or Publicly Available Specifications are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards. As far as practicable, the rules also apply to documents intended to become Technical Reports or Guides. They are intended to ensure that such documents are drafted in as uniform a manner as practicable, irrespective of the technical content. The technical requirements for the submission of text and graphics are also provided, together with the ISO templates, the ITSIG exchange DTD, and a range of boilerplate texts.
At Level 2, under the Abilities key practices of each Key Process Area (KPA), the phrase "receive training" is used in the CMM requirements. The assumption is that individuals are selected for assignments based on general background and experience, and their supervisor monitors their performance. If a problem is noted, the supervisor would ensure the performer receives training, to provide the missing skills and knowledge.
This implies that training is available for all Level 2 KPAs. Large Level 2 companies typically maintain an on-going series of courses in each KPA, and the supervisor enrolls those needing training in the next scheduled class. Many smaller companies may have difficulty with this approach.
The term "orientation" is used in the CMM to broadly to indicate less depth of skill or knowledge being transferred than would be expected via training. Orientation is an overview or introduction to a topic for those overseeing or interfacing with the individuals responsible for performing in the topic area. For example, software engineers need "orientation" in Software Configuration Management (SCM), whereas SCM specialists need "training" in SCM.
Just to counter this argument about SMB.
This complaint almost talked me out of working with them when I found it back in February.
We've just wrapped up a three month project with SMB.
SMB created a GREAT system for us, at a really great price.
Yes, we had minor communication challenges along the way, but nothing that would give me any real cause for alarm.
I'm really happy with the result and would absolutely work with them again.
The final result in this project is something which works really well, AND looks cool.
It is something we're proud to show off, and is a system which meets the exact specs we asked for.
I think in working with SMB, I found that the best way to communicate is to get on a web meeting with them.
Ask early, and ask often, to get on a web meeting, so that everyone is on the same page. I wish I had done this earlier as it would have sped up the project. One thing I find odd about SMB is that, as the complaint says, they do ask for payment before the project is complete (at least they did with me). I think this is because their accounting department is separate from their development team and sometimes the communication doesn't get relayed same day.
They also require payment before the project is on your server.
With other providers, I always approve everything and it's active and live on my site, before I release payments from escrow. Working with SMB, I had to review it on their development server and make a payment to them before they would put it on my server. That was different for me, but it worked out really well.
It was just a different way of doing things. Maybe that's what caused concern for the person who posted this complaint.
Anyway, procedure aside, I'm SUPER happy with the results I've received from SMB.
I would absolutely work with them again.
I am a real person, and I will be happy to show you the system SMB built for us, if you would like to see it, but they are a great company to work with, at least in my experience.
I have lost my job becasue of the ridiculous people in newage, I outsourced to new age and they havent deivered me any thing and i have to pay back to the client for the lose.I see that few employees who claim to be senoir who handles the project, they are really rookies who even dont know how to handle a project.The coordinator of the project is really a rookie.I am gonna sue those rookies who spoiled my business. I am not surprised why they lost there ISO, Totally out of standard.if I would have read this article before, i would have saved my [censor]
I have lost my job becasue of the ridiculous people in newage, I outsourced to new age and they havent deivered me any thing and i have to pay back to the client for the lose.I see that few employees who claim to be senoir who handles the project, they are really rookies who even dont know how to handle a project.The coordinator of the project is really a rookie.I am gonna sue those rookies who spoiled my business. I am not surprised why they lost there ISO, Totally out of standard.if I would have read this article before, i would have saved my ###
They are complete bait-and-switch scam artists based out of India. They show you websites as demos that they didn't even develop and then try to charge you additional money to make changes. AVOID NEWAGE AT ALL COSTS!
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE company to work with. They are liars and thieves. Avoid them at all costs or it will cost you. I paid them $6, 500 for an ecommerce website and they showed me samples of sites they did that was exactly what I wanted. After signing the agreement, the website samples they showed me (and was in the agreement) were now mysteriously not working. After months of waiting and excuses on why they haven't finished, they finally just sent an email and said it was done. It wasn't even remotely close to being done. I contacted them to air my displeasure and they told me to send a list of what needed to be corrected. I spent hours upon hours testing the website and putting together a list of what needed to be fixed so the site was even usable. Shortly after I received a return email with hours and prices next items I sent for them to be fixed. It was more than $4, 000! And the kicker was this:
Request: Please install the attached Google analytics code onto the site.
Response: 4 hours - $200
REALLY!?!? 4 hours to paste a line of code in the header? You've got to be kidding me!
This company should have criminal files charged against them as well as a ton of civil cases. Avoid them at all costs! They are not even decent human beings and revel in the fact that they rip people off. He was laughing at me on the phone and I was in tears (maybe it's because I'm a female and they're based out of India, not New Jersey). I told him I was going to reverse the charges on my credit card and his response was, "Go ahead. I beat them all the time", which apparently he must be a pro because I lost my dispute. I'm out $5, 000, not including how much time I wasted, and have a completely worthless website. I have never felt more violated in my entire life.
Thanks to all who posted I am in the midst of firing my current web designer and was looking for another firm to complete my project, all your reviews helped me to make my decision to stay away from New Age, it seems many website design companies promise you the world and give you crap. What I would like to share with others is to put a programmer and UI person on your payroll even as advisers to guide you in your development stages this is what we are doing and the comfort of having an associate you cant trust is priceless
DY