Geekdom becomes latest Photon firm to restructure
Geekdom is set to be the second Photon company in recent days to undergo a major restructure, Mumbrella can reveal.
Boss Troy Rushton confirmed to Mumbrella that an announcement is imminent on Geekdom’s consumer-facing division Geekversity.
Geekversity claims to be able to teach its clients how to make money in online marketing. It charges several thousand dollars per course. Last week it was reported by News Ltd that the company was facing a customer revolt and cashflow issues. A Facebook group, The Geekversity Issues Group, has also been set up tackling similar topics.
And in October it was reported in B&T that Geekdom had let go of nearly 20 staff.
Rushton denied that the company is set to close its doors, telling Mumbrella that industry rumours of more staff being made redundant this week were untrue.
He said: “There’s been nothing going on like that. There might be an announcement next week. Geekdom got into a consumer business and it’s not what we want to be in. There will be a communication coming next week.”
He declined to say whether this would be the closure or sale of Geekversity.
The reshaping of Geekdom comes days after fellow Photon company The Population revealed that it was to shut, with staff moving to sister company C4.
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I’m not sure how Rushton’s claim that “industry rumours of more staff being made redundant this week were untrue” fits with a Geekdom employee telling me today they’d just been made redundant. I’m so confused.
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Yeah, I’m with @stilgherrian. Thats what i was told today, too
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Has anyone had any experience with the Geekdom “Parklings” sites? I have been considering buying the program. Just not sure about products from Geekdom right now.
thx
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@ networkingprincess I would look at the sites on their own merits. They launched that Geekversity business right at the beginning of the GFC, so was always going to be tough to sustain, even with Photon behind them.
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I’m not confused. Geekversity staff and management like to say a lot of things and a small percentage of it is true.
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@Wheez: So what sort of person would, you know, lie about their work or business? I’m still confused…
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I’m confused too, Stil.
Obviously Geedom is part of an ASX-listed company, so for the boss to deliberately mislead the market by lying to me would clearly be a very serious matter.
I can only assume the rumours I keep hearing are incorrect.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Hi, I actually enrolled in one of their courses… paid my deposit but left the course after 1 month.
Interesting ideas.. but the price was waaaayy too high.
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Rushton is full of it. I know at least three people who’ve been made redundant from that company last week.
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I want to see Geekdom and Geekversity do the right thing by their students and give the full refund that is deserved.
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i was a customer and having been burnt by Troy and his geeks decided to investigate their business. I hear they are facing millions of dollars in claims from people like me and all but 20 staff have / are going to be made redundant.
Not sure he is telling the whole story to you or anyone…
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Many students have submitted claims to Office of Fair Trading this week in an attempt to recover their money. Geekversity announced they have moved to a new location on Friday.
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20 or more student have now submitted a claim NSW office of fair trading and more coming in daily.
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.....laintclick
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I’m also an ex-student of Geekversity who has been asking for a refund for more than 2 months now … I’ve also submitted a claim through the CTTT
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Geekversity have not been very honest with us students. After announcing the changes in the program, an offer of a refund was also announced. When too many people started asking for a refund, they reneged and said it was no longer an option.
I have been waiting 6 months for my refund and have not received my revenue from traffic trading.. even though I had paid my fees. After promises of profits, they have not only put me in debt, but wasted my valuable time. If anyone is considering a refund or just can’t get through to them about your own future with them, i suggest lodging a complaint with the Office of Fair Trading.
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.....laintclick
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Between myself, boyfriend, his brother inlaw and a business partner (edited for legal reasons), we too have tried everything to get at least some funds back and nothing. We are not giving up though…..
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I worked within Geekversity throughout the entire start up and failure of this project. (Edited for legal reasons). Not only did he fail to deliver a product to the consumer market that was in any way proven but he also (edited for legal reasons). Geekversity will at best be sold but I would be surprised who would take on the mess to be honest. I can only hope that most of the individuals who made this “investment” can get something in return aside from the false promises! Tim, (edited for legal reasons) Dont be fooled! Stay away from any GV or Geekdom products 😉
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The numbers regarding redundancies don’t stack up. At its height, Geekdom had 80 staff. About 20 (roughly) were made redundant in October and another 20 (roughly) were transferred with the sale of Geekversity. While this should leave 40 in the office, I have been told there are only 20 remaining.
Sadly, my attempts to clarify this and a few other questions have gone awry. Very few companies include contact numbers on press releases and then don’t return calls, but Photon chairman Tim Hughes and chief executive Matthew Bailey currently are in their own class. They have also instructed all staff to send media inquiries – particularly those from The Advertiser – through a subsidiary, City PR, where no comment is made by its director, Tim Allerton. Strangely enough, this lack of communication only started when I wrote an article about Geekdom and its problems.
From a professional perspective, I am more inclined to give credit to companies whose senior officers are able to front the media. Those that hide tend to have something to hide.
Russell Emmerson, The Advertiser
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Just another unhappy GV student, I have also been waiting a number of months for my refund, after sending in my cancellation letter there has been NO communication from GV, not surprising really. The ethics of the ‘powers to be’ are non-existent!!! Stop hiding behind false lies, PR companies, come clean, have respect for your disgruntled customers and for yourselves for that matter. Do the right thing!!!
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As someone who has been closely associated with GV both inside and out I can say they tried to deal with a lot of false promises made by (edited for legal reasons)
Troy tried to recover and do the right thing by his customers and the right thing legally.
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(Edited for legal reasons)
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I have been involved with GV/Geekdom as a student and also friends of previous and current owners. Once owned by the corporate Photon they seem to have totally fallen apart and not understood the skill required to deliver.
(Edited for legal reasons).
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@Don’t believe the bull you must have worked in a bloody different GV office to me.. (edited for legal reasons)
The only good thing they did was let me go so i didn’t have to go down with them.
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Troy is a very intelligent “can do” man with big dreams and loads of energy. Others may think he’s a (edited for legal reasons) but I’m sure he thought GV was a good product. Bet Tim Hughes is mighty cross – might even make Troy sell his car… house?
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For legal reasons, we’re going to have to close comments on this post.
For consumers trying to reach others in the same situation, I suggest following the above link to the Facebook group.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella