NetSuite slapped with fraud lawsuit over 'aggressive' salesman's claims
NetSuite is facing a lawsuit from a skin care product retailer that alleges an overzealous salesman led them to buy software that utterly failed to meet their needs. Gulf Coast Medical Group LLC, a Florida company that does business under the name of SkinMedix, had outgrown its website and shopping cart platform and began looking for a replacement that could manage both sales and back-office functions. Its existing system was managing an inventory of 3,000 products but SkinMedix needed something that could eventually handle a 20,000-item inventory.
It quickly became apparent that NetSuite's system was incapable of delivering as promised. NetSuite also failed to meet the deployment deadline, according to SkinMedix. As a result of the salesman's claims, SkinMedix has spent more than $250,000 on a "manifestly unusable" website, the complaint states.
NetSuite socked with lawsuit by textile manufacturer
NetSuite has been hit with another customer lawsuit, this time from textile products manufacturer Kentwool, which alleges the cloud ERP vendor pulled the wool over its eyes in order to take its money. Kentwool signed a one-year contract with NetSuite, under which the vendor would “customize, configure and implement its ERP [enterprise-resource-planning] software for Kentwool’s specific needs and uses” .
Kentwool relied on Netsuite's pledges when it decided to sign the contract, but all the while NetSuite knew its software didn’t have the functionality required to live up to the deal, the complaint adds. NetSuite told Kentwool it could fix the problems, but allegedly failed to do so. Kentwool ended up paying US$318,000 to NetSuite, “well in excess” of the original estimate of $246,000.
Infor demands $131k for 3rd party access fees from Micromatic, a customer of 20 years
Chris Kanaracus, Computerworld
Micromatic, a manufacturer of rotary actuators and automation systems located in Berne, Indiana had been using Infor’s ERP software for almost 20 years. After an audit, Infor suddenly claimed that Micromatic owed them $131k in additional license fees for access to its software by two third-party support providers although these vendors only maintained Micromatic's computer systems, and did not use Infor’s software.
In a Federal lawsuit, Micromatic asked the court for a declaratory judgment exonerating them from Infor's claims. The suit claimed that Infor’s actions appeared to be part of a pattern designed to extract extra revenue from customers.
Infor then filed a lawsuit against Micromatic claiming wrongful third party use. Also, the Infor suit argued that their software had been copied illegally and that Micromatic had allowed a contractor access to Infor’s support system although this was not authorized. Infor gave their 20-year customer 15 days to resolve the problem, failing which they would terminate Micromatic’s license and demand the return of the software.
Texas mental health center files breach of contract lawsuit against software provider
A mental health center in Texas is suing a software provider for breach of contract. The lawsuit was filed by the Heart of Texas Region Mental Health Mental Retardation Center (MHMR), against CoCentrix Inc., a Florida-based company. The lawsuit seeks a refund of $250,000 that the agency claims it paid the software provider, as well as triple damages available under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
According to the lawsuit, MHMR contracted with UNI/CARE Systems Inc. to provide software for a records system. CoCentrix later assumed all obligations under the contract, which specified that support documentation, training, installation and consulting would be provided. According to the lawsuit, CoCentrix missed more than 10 deadlines for the software to be completed. MHMR states that it terminated the contract and demanded a refund of the money it had paid to the defendant, but CoCentrix did not refund the money.
Pet food maker Sunshine Mills takes Ross Systems to court after spending $235k on failed ERP
Chris Kanaracus, Computerworld
Pet food maker Sunshine Mills wanted new ERP software to replace a legacy system. They purchased Ross ERP for $235,000 and spent a further $2 million on recommended hardware and other items. Sunshine Mills expected big savings but instead had to hire additional people and deal with problems like system lockups and an inability to print invoices. Promised functionality like a real-time dashboard was not operational.
Problems were so bad that Sunshine filed a lawsuit against Ross Systems. One of the prosecuting attorneys claimed that Ross had tricked Sunshine Mills by demonstrating software that supposedly worked out of the box, but failed miserably once it went live. Sunshine Mills won their case against Ross Systems and received a substantial award.
Buckley Powder sues Infor over ERP implementation failure
Buckley Powder, a Colorado company supplying explosives and other products to the mining and construction industries, purchased ERP from Infor and was promised a working system within 6 months. After spending more than $185k and still having no working system 18 months later, Buckley sued Infor.
Systems integrators are often accused of supplying junior consultants to work on projects resulting in missed deadlines and excessive costs. However, customers are usually also at fault with inadequate requirements and not making the right people available. According to analyst Michael Krigsman, the lawsuit was vague suggesting either an ignorance of details or an attempt by Buckley to blame Infor for all their problems.
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