bni.co.uk Omdömen 19

Wasted 18 months in BNI and got no meaningful business from it. A few issues were;

Most people were there because they struggled to get business as they simply weren't very good at what they did. Some weren't even regulated to sell the services they were offering (in regulated industries)

The main aim was to get more members to join, rather than making sure that existing members got value for money

On multiple occasions members stood up and stated, in front of everyone, that they could introduce me to the company I'd asked for an introduction to, having no actual intention to do so despite attempting to follow up with them

There was no quality control on any new members with some even trading without insurance

Having to stand up and tell everyone what we'd been doing each week, along with the traffic light system, felt like being back in school. The traffic light system is a way of BNI tracking and ranking your activity against fellow members. Most members didn't log that you'd given them business so it wouldn't actually show up in the system. Unless you dedicated lots of time to chasing people up on this it could look like you didn't contribute to the group, when in fact people weren't logging the business you passed over

I was pressured on multiple occasions to log the value of the deal rather than the income I received from the deal. The figures they show are inflated to make it more appealing to entice new members to join

If you're looking for a networking group to meet fellow professionals then this isn't it. Most people are there because they aren't very good at what they do. There are some very good professionals there, however they are few and far between. The main aim of BNI is to get you to pay membership, they don't actually care if you make money or not

BNI is the worst thing ever which has happened in my partner's life.
Ever since my business partner has joined BNI, he has gone crazy. BNI is a cult whereby they absorb the person so much that instead of focussing on his business and family, one tends to focus and prioritise unnnecessary networking, events and parties. To top it up BNI pushes people to take on extra responsibilities. BNI expects financial and time commitment from business owners and takes away a major chunk of their work time.
In my opinion, BNI is a hyped up thing and should be avoided at all cost.

BNI is not a networking group rather just promotion for BNI within the meeting agenda.

All the networking has to be done outside of the weekly meeting in your own time. I tried to turn up early or stay late to actually network to be asked to welcome guests or help set table up etc etc

All the members were great personally and great people however as a business everyone was either a start up looking for contacts

This is defiantly not worth your time and BNI should re structure the meeting to help the actual paying members rather than just looking for revenue and using the time to promote themselves and put on a show for visitors to sign up.

I have also received £510 in parking fines from the carpark i was told to park in during the meetings. When asking for help none was received rather just a email address for me to deal with this myself. More wasted time in my busy day.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. Im sure there are plenty of networking meetings that actually focus on the members

I joined BNI with the hope of growing my business through genuine networking and referrals. Unfortunately, my experience has been extremely disappointing.

Instead of focusing on real business opportunities, most of the time and energy is spent on unnecessary weekly meetings and personal parties. These so-called "networking events" often feel more like forced social gatherings than productive business meetups. It's becoming more about who can throw the next party rather than who can bring the next business lead.

What’s worse is the financial strain it puts on members. With constant contributions, event expenses, and pressure to participate in personal celebrations, it's draining rather than profitable. I’ve seen many members quietly step away after realizing that this system benefits a few while financially burdening others.

If you’re looking for real business growth, I would recommend exploring more balanced and cost-effective networking options. BNI might work for some, but for many like me, it’s been a costly mistake filled with empty promises and unnecessary financial pressure.

Extremely Disappointed with BNI Group in Alton, Networking Hampshire Ltd

I had a deeply frustrating experience with BNI Group in Alton, Hampshire. After we expressed dissatisfaction with the services provided by the company, things took a very negative turn. Instead of addressing the concerns professionally, the directors chose to pursue a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against the director's personal name, rather than the company itself. This felt completely inappropriate and unprofessional, especially when the issue was with the service provided, not any personal dealings.

As a business, it's expected that disputes would be handled in a reasonable and business-like manner, yet this situation was far from that. I strongly advise caution before entering into any agreements with this company, as their handling of customer dissatisfaction leaves much to be desired.

Would not recommend.

I did the mistake of becoming a member hoping and believing the promises.
Paid for the year almost £1500 and still 5 months after paying we still haven't launched and no benefits received like the app and so on.
BUT they dare have demands from me to work for them to promote BNI. I pay and apparently I work for them as well and nothing promised was delivered.
They are a pyramid scam, do not register, do not waste time and money.
Still chasing them for a refund as we never launched but they keep demanding from me.
Scammers at best.

I've been in business 16 years and I've tried all different forms of networking for myself and my staff. BNI has always been far more profitable. Yes it's a big commitment and the structure can be a bit like being in school but this is why it works.

Time and money waste,payed bni membership and president of chapter ask me for any refferal to add on quote 10% his bonus,yes bni is a very big scam.
Presidents of chapters they won't do anything else then "hunt" for members for gain their comision.
Should be instead of "givers gain" to be "givers don't see money back ever".

BNI has been fabulous for us... True it is very focussed but like any business growth stratedgy focus is the key to being succesfull... We grew our first Telecommunications business from a seedling when we joined BNI in 1999 and sold it it 2014... We are now on our second business jouney to success and without BNI we would never have got it off the ground so fast... If you are looking to start grow or sustain your business BNI is the perfect platform... It is focussed and process driven and most imortantly fun.

BNI has been a game changer for both my business and personal development. It has transformed me from a solo entrepreneur into a more confident leader, presenter, and overall business professional. The referrals are just a bonus! The real value lies in the invaluable skills, connections, and personal growth I’ve gained. I can’t recommend it highly enough

11+ years with BNI

I built a cleaning business to £1 m a year in 3 years of being a member of BNI . The support and training I received especially the personal development far outweighed the cost of the membership. I then sold my business to another BNI member.

I bought a membership for 2 years
I then found out I was pregnant and put my membership in hold with 18 months remaining.

I was told I had 2 years to start using it again
After 1 year I contacted head office to start the process as I didn't want to lose out

I got out on to a wait list for a group that hafnt gone live yet but as soon as it did I'd have a place.
Except they cancelled the group and forgot to tell me. I'd been on the waitlist for 10 months. They said the expiry hadn't been extended for the wait period so still due to expire at the set date.
I was furious. So I sent loads of emails stating this to be told
1. In not in so many words... tough shit
2. This is what head office have said is the policy there's nothing we can do

Spike to head office and they had idea of the situation. So person who claimed this about head office (may I add is very high up in Midlands bni) blatantly lied.

Unfortunately head office came back with a 3 month extension.... not the 10months I'd lost out on and not the further months its taken to get to this solution.

Absolute joke!
I will be making sure I market this story as much as possible so people are aware of BNIs scam on this instance. I am extremely disappointed with them stealing months from me at no fault of my own.

Rogue business people who don't pay. The bni ethics are absolutely ignored once in a conflict.

The head of the area will allow her direct consultants to send abusive and treating voicemails and do nothing.

This was greater manchester east, kirkless and calderdale patch

Avoid at all costs

If you are a tradesperson, BNI is probably a great option. However, in my limited experience, here is what I wrote to my chapter when I asked to be taken off BNI with immediate effect having only been a member since April 1st this year.

After very careful consideration and a number of attempts to communicate with ____, please remove me from BNI with immediate effect.

The reasons for my request, which I hope will assist BNI in the future are as follows:

1. The BNI is repetitive to the point of becoming disengaging. Week after week of the same repetitive approach with little real effort to actually network, at least for my type of business.

2. The group is somewhat “clicky" in terms of culture, some people are dominant and very school-orientated in their approach making the environment feel more like a club someone has to fit into rather than a modern networking culture.

3. The 30-second pitch week after week has become nauseating and doesn’t allow for any nuance.

4. The feeling I’m left with after my short time with BNI is that I work for BNI in terms of providing numbers that satisfy the chapter and not my needs.

5. Information overload, way to much information, over-engineered and an expectation from members that we complete things to BNI’s expectations without due consideration to the circumstances of the individual.

6. Finally, when a point is raised, the gaslighting or ignoring of any points raised is followed by a failure to authentically address any feedback.

My overall takeaway from BNI is that there are a number of members that have referred to BNI as “Marmite” you either love it or you hate it. I’ve also had feedback from a number of members who share my concerns and distaste for what appears to be an outdated and unsophisticated business networking model. Hence, the upfront fee unlike a number of other networking groups are required.

I’m fully aware that I chose BNI thinking it would be a good fit so I have no problem accepting responsibility for signing up for something that frankly has left me with a bad taste in terms of BNI networking experience. It was up to me to do more research so in that regard, lesson learned.

In the meantime, I wish you and BNI all the best in the future and I hope you can accept my feedback with a view to bringing BNI into the 21st century. Having said that, it could be a cultural chapter-by-chapter issue and another chapter may be more suitable, however, I doubt it.

They are great people, but not within my demographic regarding meaningful time spent trying to develop business. Money spent, lesson learned!

Unfortunately, I had a negative experience with BNI. 1. The model is hugely out of date, much better networking clubs exist now. 2. It doesn't work! because if you have a negative experience with someone in your chapter you are not going to say it, you just won't use them again, as a result, you have a lot of people that only just qualified but lack the experience or expertise in their fields and unfortunately provide poor quality service as well as financially put their clients in a worse off position. This happened with every person of BNI I engaged. 3. Members give each other positive reviews but most of those are for free work or for advice. 4. of course you do have a handful of good people in there but those few are not worth joining this network for. 5. BNI itself is a very aggressive and greedy organisation where they demand joining fees of you not advising of the ability to pay monthly or even giving that option at times and then if it does not work out for you even when you can show how poor quality service is given they still don't give your money back even when they close the chapter you are in, they just tell you to join another one even if the time or location does not work for you. So honestly not worth it...

After nearly 21 years with BNI and giving over £40m of referrals I left BNI Regency of Dorchester on 31/01/2024. By midday on 01/02/2024 the chapter vice president Michael Joscelyne I understand on the instructions of Paul Haley who owns the Dorset BNI franchise - had my name erased from their records and I was advised of a professional complaint against me. Since then they have been unable to substantiate the complaint and have laughed at my attempts to obtain further information. BNI Dorset is horrific. Avoid at all costs

This is basically as good as the people in it. I was a member and in some respects did find it useful but not particularly as a method to 'grow my business' as promised.

I was a BNI member for 2 years. In September I paid £1678 to renew for a further 2 years and in October the BNI chapter decided due to being absent without having a sub in my place they terminated my membership with 23 months left to run. They are now refusing to refund saying once fees are paid they don't offer any kind of refund.
BNI is nothing more than a scam, shady business practices and should be avoided. Any reputable business with confidence in their product offers a refund policy especially when it is the company choosing not to deliver the product/service paid for!

Following the advice received via the BNI chat assistant, on Monday 25th July I wrote to Kathleen Walker, Director Consultant and National Franchise Support at BNI regarding a BNI member and Chapter Director who has caused damage to my property and ruined materials to the sum of £5200. I explained within my complaint that although the tradesperson had admitted full liability and culpability, he confirmed that his business, R M Facilities Management Ltd of Carnforth had nothing to offer me by way of compensation as he cited the business as "failing". I also explained within my letter to BNI that the MD of RM Facilities Management Ltd, Richard Moran, had left bare live wires exposed in my property, and also left a smoke detector covered with a plastic bag: all actions that Mr Moran has admitted to in writing. After confirming that Mr Moran had breached each of the 6 points on the BNI code of conduct, Ms Walker confirmed that despite sympathising with my situation, BNI would remain impartial. Mr Moran has since contacted me to suggest he will claim for my loss via his insurance Company and suggested I inflate my claim in order that he can secure a higher insurance pay out. When I reminded him that his request amounted to incitement of insurance fraud, he hung up. The telephone call was recorded. Why would BNI distance themselves from such an issue and allow a trade to remain in situ as a member and Chapter Director after such behaviour.