AssignByWeb problems
 

I was speaking with a friend of mine tonight who noted that payment facilitator AssignByWeb is having some major problems in getting payments out to officials this year. This goes back to football season and has now moved into basketball season.

Anybody have any info on this issue? This does not directly affect me, but it would affect several officials I know. Any legal remedies being contemplated? Any response from ABW or the conferences or schools that are contracted with them for payments?

Z

The d3 conference I work in has had major problems with this. I worke games on 11/21 and 11/22 at a school that uses ABW payment system. The checks arrived in mid January and late January. They were dated December 15. I then worked a game at the same school on 1/3. Last week the supervisor emailed the entire staff asking about games for which we had not been paid at this school and one other. I replied...Still haven't heard anything back though.

Last year this was an extremely quick payment method but this year the wheels have definitely fallen off. Hopefully they can solve the problem soon and get payments out. I know a few people who are out 5 or more game fees. :eek:

Is it a software problem? Usually junk in, junk out applies.

Reminds me of a joke: how many software programmers does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: none, that's a hardware problem.

Anyone have any information or update on AssignByWeb's payroll program?

I used to work for a company that did computer certification training. I had a room full of Microsoft engineers one time and I told this joke:

How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: it doesn't matter - they just get Bill Gates to declare darkness as the industry standard.

They laughed so hard their pocket protectors fell out.

Was there snorting and guffawing along with that laughter? :D

Sounds like a ponzie scheme.
Is this run by Bernie Madoff?

The d3 conference I work in has had major problems with this. I worke games on 11/21 and 11/22 at a school that uses ABW payment system. The checks arrived in mid January and late January. They were dated December 15. I then worked a game at the same school on 1/3. Last week the supervisor emailed the entire staff asking about games for which we had not been paid at this school and one other. I replied...Still haven't heard anything back though.

Last year this was an extremely quick payment method but this year the wheels have definitely fallen off. Hopefully they can solve the problem soon and get payments out. I know a few people who are out 5 or more game fees.

Thnx

Still looking for anyone with information on ABW payroll program.

I have games from January that remain unpaid.

So do I. Haven't heard anything in a while from my supervisor. Hopefully the $ is coming soon.

From today's Boston Globe:
The payroll service that many colleges use to pay officials, an offshoot of AssignByWeb, owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to officials. The colleges paid the money upfront to PaymentsFirst, which was supposed to use the cash to pay officials after they worked games.

Just think - one of the rec leagues I work pays us at halftime of that game, usually by check, but sometimes in cash. :)

This doesn't sound like a software problem. It sounds like an integrity problem by the folks running that company.

The NCAA has just taken a huge step in this area. It bought 2/3 interest in both Arbiter and RefPay and will be using those to assign and deliver payment to officials in various sports and conferences come this Fall.

I'm not making judgment on this decision just delivering the information.

Where can I get more information on the NCAA's new stake in RefPay and Arbiter? Anybody have any information on how the mess is being resolved now, or if there have been any lawsuits filed yet?

Z

I'll see if I can find something that publicly announces the Ref Pay deal. I got my info from another source.

Here is the press release from last Fall about the NCAA buying a controlling interest in Arbiter, which will be changing to this new web address www.arbitersports.com

EOFFICIALS.COM || Excel Sports Officiating
NCAA Invests in Largest Officiating Management Organizations in Amateur Sports

NCAA News Release
For Immediate Release - Thursday September 25, 2008
Contact:
Christopher Radford
Assistant Director of Public and Media Relations
317/917-6117
INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA has made a financial investment in two officiating companies – The Arbiter and Excel Sports Officiating (ESO) – and now holds a controlling interest in those enterprises. The acquisitions further the NCAA’s strategic goal of ensuring fairness within student-athlete competition at the collegiate level while offering guidance to officials serving other amateur sports organizations.
The two companies will collaborate to form a more efficient online destination for officiating. Features of the effort will include a uniform online system to track the backgrounds, education, and accomplishments of officials; establishing nationwide registration programs for officials and the associations, states, and organizations for which they work; and launching new certification and licensing programs, which will establish consistent performance standards for officials.
The Arbiter, based in Sandy, Utah, is the most widely-used administrative program for game officials in amateur sports and has more than 240,000 registered officials. ESO provides educational programs and professional development for more than 50,000 officials. Both entities already serve a number of the NCAA’s members, which have recognized the experience and expertise that the companies offer.

Claire Roberts will serve as CEO of both organizations. Ms. Roberts has served in an advisory role to the NCAA for the past year, and brings a combination of executive leadership and expertise in technology start-up companies. Current management of both organizations will continue to function in their respective positions.

I found this posted on a job-seeking website:

Software Developer for NCAA Internet Subsidiary
Arbiter - Sandy, UT
The Arbiter and RefPay are web software companies owned by the NCAA that assist sports leagues in all facets of referee management; clients range from large college conferences to community youth leagues. We are currently seeking programmers with the skills and attitudes to build on our success at our small and friendly business environment in Salt Lake City, Utah. (thearbiter.net, refpay.com) Responsibilities: * participate on a product team in a rapid development environment * analyze, design and develop software solutions primarily using the Microsoft .NET framework and MS-SQL * provide solutions to daily operational software systems * be in frequent contact with programmers from NCAA and other strategic partners to build APIs and to work on collaborative projects * identify problems and...

http://www.simplyhired.com/job-id/wc...eveloper-jobs/

I can say that one school here has decided to pay the officals themselves (even though the had sent the seasonb's worth of payments to RefPay already) and seek reimbursement from RefPay.

That's the way it should be handled, imo. The officials contracted with the school (possibly through an association or assigner). The schools are responsible for getting the officials paid. How they do that, and problems they encounter in doing so, are not our concern.

Bob - I agree that maybe it "shouldn't be their concern," if the refs who worked actually got paid. However, when someone hasn't been paid for this many months, it becomes their concern. JMO

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking has undertaken a legal challenge against AssignByWeb, PaymentsFirst and the company president that resulted in a consent decree. It is available here.

It gives PaymentsFirst 60 days to repay the money to the colleges. As I understand, most officials have been paid by the colleges....which now must get their money back from PaymentsFirst. Some have.

The company involved here is not RefPay...which is an offshoot of The Arbiter, which now has the NCAA ownership.

The company here is PaymentsFirst, which is an offshoot of AssignByWeb.

They both are supposed to work the same way. The school or conference sends the money to PaymentsFirst, which then pays the officials after the games are worked. PaymentsFirst handles all the paperwork with the officials, including tax forms. This is supposed to make it easier for the schools -- since they have to write only one check to PaymentsFirst and don't have to account for every official in every sport.

It seems to me that PaymentsFirst used the money it collected from the schools for other things and did not have the money to pay officials when the bills came due. No one is saying what those "other things" are ... but it can range from "normal business expenses" (payroll, computer support, marketing) that outstrip income to totally corrupt (think Bernie Madoff). My feeling, and the fact that this was settled by a consent decree with the banking department and not by a criminal action by the attorney general, suggests to me that this start-up operation was undercapitalized.