Carvel Inc. John Carvel INCONSIDERATE LIAR Rochester, New York
I responded to an ad in the paper titled "rug shampooers needed". It promised $350 or more a week and opportunities for bonuses. I called an she said (Michele Madrid) to come in for an interview. I took my friend with me because it was in Rochester and I wasn't too familiar with The area. She said this was a permanent job and that I would be making $350 a week guaranteed. She was discribing what I would be doing and not once did she say that I would actually be cleaning someones house, and it sounded more like a sales job. She said that we didn't have to sell anything an that there was 3 days of training. So me and my friend agreed to the job because it was good money.
Throughout the 3 days of unpaid training, we learned how to use a Kirby vacuum cleaner and pack it in a box. Okay??... This was not meantioned earlier. Also that we would travel in a company van with a group and our team leader and that they would put us in a house to show people these vacuums and that all we had to do was show them the cleaner. She emphasized how much money we could be making and all the bonuses we could make by selling these on top of our weekly $350 wage and that we could win trips and scholorships even if we weren't in school. She definately had us sold on how much we could be making so we decided to give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen right? hmm.. yeah...
On our first day on the job we get there and are packing our bag for the demos we would have to do in peoples houses. As were getting ready our team leader (John Carvel) says, "We're going to PA." Pennsylvania?! They did not mention once that we would be going out of state! So we drive 1.5 hrs. to PA (In Carvel's car, not a company van) and end up going to the middle of nowhere where there's no service and your neighbor is a mile away. Also Carvel is driving like a maniac down country roads almost getting into an accident multiple times. The next day he ends up getting pulled over for doing 46mph in a 30. Very professional... To get us into the houses our team leader would lie and say."Hey I've got some college students in the car who are trying to win scholorships for school, mind if they come in?" Note: None of us are in school... On the way home 2 of they guys that were with us that had been with the company for awhile decided that it would be alright to start drinking. This didn't make sense because they made it clear that no drugs or alcohol were allowed on the job. And we were suspicious that Carvel was doing drugs too while on the job. This scared me because we were in a different state and I didn't even know these people.
The next day we go to PA again. This day there were 7 of us that had to fit into his Honda Pilot. He said one of us had to sit on someone's lap or one of us had to go home. So another girl decided she was gonna drive her car to PA. At this point on the way to PA for the second time, me and my friend weren't gonna do this anymore and somehow word got to Carvel in the car in front of us. So he pulls over and comes over to us and says you guys can go home if you don't want to do this anymore and he suggested we take the other girls car home. She didn't want us to take her car so we continue to drive a little longer and we stop at a gas station and he tells us that we can stay here or go watch demos. So we stay at the gas station and they never came back! We had to get a ride home! Nobody even called or texted us later to make sure we were ok!
This is not how a business should be run. I have nothing against trying to sell something to someone but it should not be done like this and nobody should be treated like this. Leaving us in a different state should not have been an option. Something needs to be done about this!
4 Updates & Rebuttals
xTheSaint
Conshohocken,Pennsylvania,
United States of America
Lies? Yeah, sure.
#5General Comment
Mon, March 04, 2013
Oh, so the poster is lying? I used to work for a distributor in Liverpool, Ny. They pulled the same thing on me. Left me at a gas station because the manager was a disrespectful jerk and didn't like the fact that I wasn't going to take any of his crap. Seems that all of these distributors follow the same policy. I know they pay you to sit in the office and ma****bate in front of your computer and write stupid crap on here, but please. Shut up.
switchhitkilla
Beaumont,Texas,
United States of America
Debating the cover up
#5UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, December 24, 2012
This rebuttal is in response to the Carvel representative(TheLiedetector) rebuttal regarding the former employee statements. As a one time employee(I worked there around the same time period as Alex) I can say that the statements made by Alex are in fact true. I have personally witnessed firsthand the claims made as well as heard the same claims made by employees working there at the time.
First I will start with the ad used to attract prospective employees. The ad which I responded to appeared on Craigslist Rochester NY. It stated a need for carpet shampooers with a guaranteed $350 a week salary. i was hired after a short interview and then the job description started being conveniently revised to be a sales job for Kirby cleaners. Three days of unpaid training was provided to learn how to pack/unpack, configure, clean, and sell the system. The ad should have accurately reflected the actual job description. The $350 guarantee is basically a mirage. You would have to sell more than one unit in order to get any pay and it wasn't uncommon for someone to not get paid at all for a week. Employees who weren't college students were encouraged to play the "student trying to win a scholarship" story.
Now let's review the facts and fiction of what Alex said. I never had the "pleasure" of taking the trip to the Pennsylvania border with John Carvel. I did however have the pleasure of being in the hazardous situation of riding in a vehicle with 6 other people which only had space to carry 4 passengers not including the driver. I personally witnessed calls being made for the purpose of narcotics sales while on company time and in a company vehicle. The person making the call also showed me his product and went into stories of how this along with alcohol and girls was common in the company vehicle when Carvel was not in the van with him.
I cannot vouch for being abandoned in the middle of rural Pa by Carvel, but from the many things I heard about him I would not be surprised if he did in fact do that. TheLiedector claims that everything said by Alex was lies and were made by someone who was bitter from not being successful. In the time I was there I worked hard to do what was required of me each week and had next to nothing to show for it. I witnessed others do the same and eventually having to leave. No one can afford to work 10 hour days for 6 days a week and only get paid $200 or sometimes nothing at all. There is a 15 demonstration per week stipulation that must be met in order to get paid at all. Once you get out there you realize that it's very difficult to meet this expectation.
I had to clear the air on all of this and my insight does matters because it's not arbitrary: I worked there and understand where Alex was coming from. If TheLiedtector is in fact a company representative then she would be better served trying to remedy these issues rather than being accusatory and sweeping them under the rug. It's not good to mislead and swindle the honest and willing individuals. It's not a good way to run a business nor is it a good way to represent the Kirby company. Kirby makes great, quality products and it's a shame how Carvel Distributions' business practices takes away from that.
TheLiedetector
Rochester,New York,
United States of America
Your statements are all lies
#5UPDATE Employee
Sun, May 20, 2012
I am a current rep for Carvel and was when the above fake statements supposedly occurred, Carvel is a great place to work and offers a great opportunity to make a lot of money, advance rapidly and have fun, drugs and drinking has never been allowed and I have never seen it allowed here, and people making false statements just because there lazy and quit on there way to work and are unhappy isn't cool in my book. I find it funny that the business has been around for many many years and your the only complaint. Don't ruin a great opportunity for others by lying and posting garbage, just because the position wasn't for you and your unhappy!!!
Kirby-Customer Relations
Cleveland,Ohio,
United States of America
The Kirby Company
#5Consumer Suggestion
Mon, March 26, 2012
Kirbys Customer Relations Department encourages anyone with questions or concerns about an independent distributorship to contact the Department at 1-800-494-8586, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EST. The Department can also be reached by email at consumer@kirbywhq.com.