Monthly Archives: December 2016

Correctional Facilities

The Keefe Group Raining the Standards of Correctional Facilities

The Keefe Group is a leader in the provision of varied services to correctional facilities in the prison industry. When the firm was originally instituted, they only majored on a couple of edible products, but currently, the Keefe Group provides hundreds of different services and products to both the inmates and the staff in the correctional facilities all over the country. These additional products include, but not limited to, hygiene products, food, and electronics among many others. The most primary service that the Keefe Group offers is that of communication so as to link the outside world with the prison world.

With decades of extensive experience in the prison industry, the Keefe Group has been continuously perfecting their services, products as well as methods of delivery to foster increasing satisfaction to their target consumers. According to STLToday.com, the communication services offered by the Keefe Group not only enables inmates to keep in touch with their families and friends, but they are also helpful in maintaining peace while still reducing recidivism. These communication services and products help the staffs in the prison industry as they require less workforce and consequently less energy especially trough the Keefe Group facilitated video visitations.

Since the firm’s inception in 1975, the Keefe Group has made substantial advancements and upgrades to their systems and technology. These improvements have helped the Keefe Group to securely cognize and keep track of their clients’ information from the hundreds of facilities nationwide. Over the last few years, the Keefe Group has successfully been able to expand their business locations and distribution centers, and are now able to efficiently serve and manage almost every correctional facility throughout the country. The Keefe Group is renowned for its auxiliary services, which include free shipping, disaster relief, and same day shipping.

Over the decades that the Keefe Group has been in active operation, they have established an extensive network as well as collaborated with other entities. As a result PrisonCensorship explains that the Keefe group has embarked on instituting several firms, which work together forming the most prominent company in the correctional industry. The Keefe Group does not only have an excellent reputation, but they also move out of business to engage the community and work in collaboration with organizations such as the United Way and Big Brother Big Sisters.

 

Business Integrity

IC Solutions: Fraud At Its Finest

The F word is one that people don’t throw around a lot unless they truly mean it. I’m not talking about that F word, but I’m talking about the word fraud. If you don’t believe me, all you have to do is look at all of the negative reviews right on Pissed Consumer: http://icsolutions.pissedconsumer.com/state/arizona.html. These are from real people that have dealt with IC Solutions and they are sharing their brutally honest viewpoints on their experiences with the inmate communications provider. Right now, they have a 1.5 rating out of 5, which is pretty awful. If a film had that type of rating, I would imagine not too many people would go out and see it. They would avoid it at all costs.

As far as how IC Solutions is performing fraud, one of the biggest issues people have with the company is the amount of dropped calls the company has when the loved one of an inmate wants to speak to the inmate. One would think this would be a simple and easy process without a lot of hassle. They would look into it and try to get it fixed. With the high prices they are charging, it is the least they could do. Instead, they like to play a game of ping pong and mess around with their customers.

The bottom line is they have zero respect and zero regard for their customers. They are only interested in their money and that is it. Anything else behind that, it means nothing whatsoever to them. That is how they are run and that is how they operate daily. They have also charged people twice to speak an inmate and they are still unable to speak to them. If that is not fraud, I don’t know what is. That is as low and dirty as it gets, quite frankly. To learn more about the company, read the article written by the State Journal Register about them.

 

 

Prison News, Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Evaluating the progress of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

According to lexology.com, which provides tracking of various legal issues, some cases regarding the application of the TCPA in inmate communication services. FCC application of the Act notably recently in changing the maximum rates applicable for calls continues to be disputed in courts. In one of the cases, the FCC argued that callback services and missed calls were used to bleed dry family accounts with communication providers. The argument follows the new revelation that communication providers charged as much for a missed call as if the call was answered and completed.

The Network Communications International Corp (NCIC) applied to be allowed to send a follow-up message when the ICS call or collect call from an inmate to a family at home was unanswered. The argument is that people are suspicious of unknown identification, and most prison service IDs are not commonplace. A collect call may be ignored on that basis. A text will clarify, and the family member may pick the call the next time. This will make the costs of connecting calls to go down.

However, the FCC is wary of the allowance because such follow-up communication is billed to the family. This comes at a time when the FCC does not trust that the prison communication service is implementing low-cost rates. The FCC is hoping to have control of the call rate system through the introduction of caps, but service providers have blocked their implementation. Inmate communication services are likely to continue to be offered in a legal impasse as providers continue to defy any such caps.

Although there is a similar permutation of the TCPA exemption, it does not quite clearly capture the scenario that NCIC is going through. If a recipient has blocked collect calls or fails to recognize caller ID, there is no way through. It makes sense to have the exemption, but the foreshadowing precedence of further stretching the families of inmates is keeping inmates lonely at risk of relapse.

The matter is still under review, and this article only points out to status and the backdrop of the forces that are likely to impact the ruling.

Correctional Facilities

Global Tel-Link is Acting Like a Bad Child & Getting Away With it

Global Tel-Link is like that conniving kid who annoys everyone. You know who I’m talking about, right? Nobody likes the bad child, and people are completely repulsed by the brat. GTL is a self-made inmate communication company that has grown to be one of the largest in the industry, but it has also grown to be quite vindictive and unfair.

Global Tel-Link or GTL has been found guilty of stealing from people by manipulating bills. Yes, the company decided that it should be hated by its own customer-base. This seems like bad business planning to me. The ACLU found out that the company not only stole by manipulating bills but by charging unfair rates, which went up as high as 89 cents per minute.

This company decided that this was a good time to go ahead and make sure that the FCC did not like the entity either. The FCC decided that the unfair rates should be regulated, so it imposed a fair cap. GTL should have just accepted it, right? I mean, the company should have its tail between its legs. Well, GTL seems to be impervious to scandals, because according to Bloomberg it decided the cap was unfair. It claimed that the cap would make it lose profits, which meant it could not provide quality service to customers.

Does that sound like the company is threatening to treat customers poorly because the FCC is taking away a little money? I was completely appalled to read the company’s statements about the cap. The company has already stolen enough, and it is having a fit now that that it is time to pay the piper. I really wish the personification of the fight between the FCC and GTL become a reality. I would love to see the FCC beat GTL to a pulp, just saying.

READ: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/us/steep-costs-of-inmate-phone-calls-are-under-scrutiny.html?_r=0

 

Business Integrity

IC Solutions: The Company That No One Likes

With every company, there is going to be some good, some bad, and some in between. That is just the law of the land and the reality of the situation in many cases. No matter how hard people try, they are not going to please everyone. However, when there is a company like IC Solutions, the inmate communications provider, one thing is for certain: no one likes them. That is not a typo and that is a misprint. They have made many enemies in the industry thanks to their underhanded way of doing things. If you don’t believe me, just read the following link: https://icsolutions.pissedconsumer.com/state/arizona.html.

There is nothing more powerful than written world from people that have something to get off their chest and from people that have been wronged. You get it straight from the horse’s mouth and they are straight shooters. They do not mince words and they do not hold back in situations. It is because it comes from a really organic and real place. According to pissedconsumer.com, whenever someone has been ripped off, lied to, or cheated, they are not happy, and they should not be happy. They are simply looking to speak to the inmate in prison and help them get better.

Yes, they might have made a mistake and they might have messed up, but that does not mean they are not human beings. IC Solutions does not view people as human beings. They view them as dollar signs. It is revolting to its very core. They deserve to be punished for their actions and they deserve to be punished as soon as possible. The best way for them to be punished is for them to not have any business, whatsoever. Maybe that will give them some time to think about what they have done and how their actions have affected others. To learn more about the company and their services, visit the State Journal Register website.

 

 

Business Integrity

IC Solutions: They Are Not Helping Anyone

When someone finds themselves in prison, it is rather scary place, I would imagine. I’m not speaking from experience, as I have never been there before, but I’m more speaking from a place with a general knowledge of the world. It is prison for a reason. Someone is behind bars and they are in a bad situation. That is the reality of it. It is not pleasant and most people that find themselves in prison, they can’t wait to get out of it. I’ve always said there are two types of people in prison. There are those that have committed unspeakable crimes and I don’t have any sympathy whatsoever for them. There are also those that might have done a small crime, and they simply have to do their time and when they come out of prison, they will be a better and more well-rounded person.

Life is going to hand people a lot of learning experiences. That is the law of the land in prison. When someone falls in the category of getting a second chance, they need to be able to speak to the people that are closest to them. That works with IC Solutions, the inmate communications provider. The people closest to them are going to get them through prison and help them come out in a better way. Though, this pissedconsumer.com link, https://icsolutions.pissedconsumer.com/ic-solutions-shady-fraudulent-company-20141224574304.html, points out that is not always so easy. Even if the other person has paid and paid twice, they don’t often get a chance to get through to the inmate. They will gladly take the person’s money. They have no issues whatsoever with taking people’s money. However, when it is their time to do their service and give what is owed to the person, that is a different story all together, so they are clearly not helping anyone out there with their product. To learn m ore about this company visit the State Journal Register website.

 

 

Business Integrity

IC Solutions: Good Luck Finding Any

It has been pointed out, but it bears repeating for the obvious reasons: how in the world can IC Solutions actually call themselves by that name? For their customers, they offer little to no solutions whatsoever. Actually, they don’t offer any solutions. Unless someone is interested in headaches, stress, and losing money, which they provide plenty of for their customers. I’m not actually sure if I would call them customers by the way they treat them. They see them as an easy way to make money, and boy, do, they love making money. That is what they are all about at the end of the day. The more money they make, the happier they are with themselves.

As far as if anyone gets hurt or damaged in the process, they just see that as part of their game, and they are perfectly content with that. IC Solutions is a jail phone services and inmate communications provider which allows inmates to speak to their loved ones on the telephone for a hefty price. They have fees which make no sense, the worst customer service known to mankind, and they have high prices. Why you might ask? It is because they can and no one can stop them. They are on a pretty big power trip and there does not appear to be any hope for the inmates or their families.

I understand why some people might be hesitant to have any sort of sympathy for someone that is in prison. However, they are still human beings and as long as they have not committed a crime that is beyond reason and beyond hope, they deserve to be treated with the same equal rights as everyone else. Although if you read this link, http://icsolutions.pissedconsumer.com/state/arizona.html, you will see that is not how IC Solutions runs their day-to-day business. They run it by fraud and lies. For more info, visit icsolutions.com.

 

Prison Corruption

Keefe’s Alarming Corruption Rate At The State And Local Prisons Exposed

According to their website, Keefe Group is a private organization that seeks to take off the burden of food services provision from the correction department and provide a better product to their consumers. But that is what they would like to us to believe while most of their actions right from the acquisition of the supply tenders to their implementation speaks otherwise. So how are we supposed to trust their commitment to the provision of quality services if they only got their exclusive food and commissary supply contracts through corruption?

In a report by STL Today, through its parent company’s, Keefe Group financial power and unethical office holders both within its management and state agencies, Keefe commissary and food supply company was able to clinch lucrative exclusive deals that have been auto-renewed annually since their inception in 2007. Recent reports intimate that Keefe has earned over $40 million from the correction service department for the provision of these services. Some of which has always ended back in the pockets of key corrections facility administrators such as former corrections secretary James Crosby and Allen Wayne.

Carefully orchestrated corruption deals

In a recent article by Tampa Bay Times, two of the key witnesses in the trial against the fired correctional facility secretaries admitted in court to have entered into an agreement to pay between $1,000 and $14,000 to per month to the two. In effect, the two gradually gained exclusive canteen operation rights in all Florida state and federal prisons. Additionally, they were supposed to remit over $260,000 of the $1.5 million they expected to make in revenues to Keefe’s Commissary president Jack Donnelly as well as other Keefe executives.

The practice went on for all the years that the company experienced auto-renewal for its contracts. It would, therefore, of Keefe management and it’s parent company to argue that none of their previous administration’s practices such as unethical scoring of exclusive supply deals came off as suspicious. In any case, I can only think of the company as either complacent to the corruption or ignorant of their employee operations in their name. In both instances, Keefe commissary and its parent company Keefe Group are guilty or unfit to continue being in charge of the correctional facilities operations.

 

 

Prison Issues

Spending Too Much Money

I try to put money on my Global Tel link account each week so that I can talk to my spouse while he is in jail. It seems like there is always an issue with putting the money on and then more getting taken off than is supposed to be charged for each call. One time, I added the $25 fee to get the GTL account started, and I then added a bit more money so that I knew my husband would be able to call for about a week a couple of times a day if he wanted. After only two days of him calling three times, I noticed that my card only had $5 left on it when there should have been at least $20 left. Fees! I discovered from Bloomberg that the company took more money off of the account than was supposed to be taken off for fees. There was also an alleged dropped call that I received, which wasn’t true because I made sure that each call went through like it should. ACLU calls this company is a money-hungry corporation that should not exist as it takes advantage of the people who need to keep the money that they spend but choose to make sure they can talk to those they love who are locked away.

 

Business Integrity

Keefe Group In Bed with the Prison Industrial Complex

I gave Keefe Group’s main website a visit and nothing seems sinister or corrupt about them from my first impression. It appeared to me that it is just a medium-sized food and shampoo distribution company. It turns out that their business model is primarily based upon obtaining contracts with correctional facilities to sell their products in bulk

Just like many industries that are involved with government contracts, there is always suspicion of favoritism or bribery. According to an article in 2011 by the Tampa Bay Times, Joseph Arthur Deese and Edward Lee Dugger admitted that they paid bribes to prison officials. The were expected to make over $2.6million in sales a year from their contract with the state’s prison system.

In Mississippi, Keefe group holds one of the no-bid contracts with the Mississippi prison system. The state is currently holding investigations as to why the contracts are not open to competitive offers from other companies. The state is considering making new laws to ban no-bid contracts and to provide transparency of government contracts.

According to STL Today, since 1975, Keefe Group has been a distributer of personal care products, food products, electronics and other necessary goods to correctional facilities. Many of their products are generic items of familiar household goods such as saltine crackers to MP3 players. They are currently based in Saint Louis, Missouri and operate in multiple states around the country. They are alternatively branded as Keefe Commissary Network, Keefe Supply Company, IC Solutions, Advanced Technologies Group, Access Corrections, and Access Securepak.