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Mark Four Enterprises, Home Remodelers Group, Jerry Leen, Bill Thiede ripoff employee contract does not complete work, pay salespeople Fairfield New Jersey
I was hired by Home Remodelers Group in February, 2004 to sell windows. Within a few weeks the sunroom and deck division learned that I had sold sunrooms and I was put in that division.
Within two months it became evident the company did not have the expertise or ability to so much as apply for building permits in timely fashion. Worse, Denise Cabello, the "coordinator" for the division, lied repeatedly about the status of filings for building permits.
Even though applications for permits had never been submitted to cities and towns, the company sent letters to my customers stating "due to circumstances beyond our control, your project is delayed in zoning". Customers not being nearly as dumb as the company expects, they called their zoning departments to complain of the delay, only to be told that the company never had filed applications. Of course customers were (rightfully) distrusting of the company after that, and many canceled their contracts.
Because the contracts were canceled, I was not paid. I quit at the end of May, with NONE of my deck and sunroom sales completed. Some of the jobs were eventually built.... some six, seven and eight months after the dates of the contracts.
In June of 2006 I decided to give the company another try. Working in the windows division last year was both profitable and fun. Because building permits are not generally needed for replacement windows, and because the personnel in the windows division were much more competent, I knew I would be successful.
On arrival for my interview with the new manager, Kevin Spitzer, I told Kevin I absolutely did not want to sell decks because of Denise Cabello's and Andy Gemeindhart's failure to get the jobs done last year. Kevin informed me the problems were not Denise's fault, but Andy's. He told me he had assurances from both Denise and Andy that decks would be built in 8 weeks and sunrooms in 12 weeks. It seemed logical that in the year I was gone the personnel would have learned to work more efficiently, so I reluctantly agreed provided I would be given window sales leads. I expressed my concerns on virtually daily basis, and was assured by Kevin Spitzer that the jobs would be done. My sales amounted to $222,798 for the months of June, July and August. The problem was.... not a single building permit had been applied for ..... not one. During these months I continually followed up with Kevin Spitzer and inquired about the status of the jobs of Denise Cabello and Andy Gemeindhart.
Finally, at the end of August, I demanded that Denise give me the drawings and permit applications for my jobs so that I could obtain the permits myself. In reviewing my files, she told me that she had mailed a permit to Matawan, NJ but had not received a reply back. A simple phone call to the building department revealed that the permit application was received by Matawan Building Department, but it was the wrong agency to file the request with. Matawan had phoned the office weeks earlier instructing that the application be picked up, but noone was given the message by Denise.
So... I drove to Matawan to pick up the permit and deliver it to Old Bridge Township, then went to the Edison Building Department to file the only other permit request Denise Cabello ahd prepared.
The zoning officer at Edison was a very agreeable guy. He advised me he could not accept the application on the form provided by Denise Cabello (interestingly, she had on a number of occasions bragged about how good she was at working with Edison because she knew ALL of their procedures). The zoning officer provided me with the proper form, which I immediately drove to the customer's business and had signed.
That same afternoon, contrary to the complaints often heard about zoning and building departments, the zoning officer approved the application.
On my way out of the building, I noticed that the dimensions of the structure were wrong. The sunroom and deck dimensions were not drawn to scale. The zoning officer approved the size indicated by the drawing on the survey. I went back to the zoning officer, who instructed me in amending the drawing to the correct dimensions and he changed the approval on the form. From there, engineering and building departments completed their reviews and provided the permit in only two weeks.
The next morning, I wrote Bill Thiede, Vice President, a letter explaining the events described, and urgently requesting a transfer to the windows sales division. That afternoon, he called me on my cell phone. In his office were the sales managers for the windows division, the company's "ace salesman", and training manager. The conversation was on speaker phone so all could hear.
Bill Thiede quoted from letter, calling my descriptions of events "bullshit" repeatedly. He basically said that my objections were not valid because Dan Raia, his "ace" salesman, sells $2,000,000 per year. I told Mr. Theide that he cannot compare my sales to Dan's, as he phones the marketing company in Dallas every morning to review all of the day's appointments and pick those most promising.... a practice specifically prohibited within the company, but obviously done by Dan with Bill's knowledge and consent.
At this point, Mr. Thiede agreed to my transfer to the windows division provided I "never repeat to anyone in the office" what I knew about Dan's special priveleges.
As you might imagine, I no longer work for Mark Four Enterprises. From June 1 through October 13, 2006, I put 25,000 on my vehicle, paying for my own gas and expenses. In the meantime, I was paid some $4,500 in advances, most of which will have to be repaid if the jobs are not built.
During the course of this writing, I received a call from a customer in West Orange telling me he is canceling his contract because he get no return phone calls from Denise Cabello and Andy Gemeindhart.
In five months of sales, one sunroom has been built... the one in Edison that I obtained the permit for. That contract called for the construction of a sunroom and a deck for the sum of $38,000. On completion of the sunroom, the installer requested payment of $23,000, even though work had not begun on the deck (work has still not begun on the deck). The owner refused to pay, citing the terms in the contract. Kevin Spitzer phoned me to tell me it is my responsibility to get the owner to pay. I said no, the terms of the contract call for payment on completion of the entire job. That customer told me 4 months ago she is going to India for an extended stay at the end of November. I made numerous comments to Kevin Sptizer and to Andy about this over the months, and told andy when the sunroom job was almost complete to get ready for the deck. All was simply ignored.
The customer in Matawan called yesterday to say that Andy told her the building inspectors were scheduled to inspect the holes for the footings today. She called the building department and was told that no such appointment existed.
Bill
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
10 Updates & Rebuttals
Marc
Fairfield,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Owner
#11REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, February 28, 2006
This response is sent by way of rebuttal to Bill's updates dated - January 28, 2006, January 29, 2006, February 2, 2006 and February 3, 2006.
Bill would like to mislead once again utlizing the internet as his forum. He is misguided. Bill is well aware of the employment agreement he signed with the company. It is clear and without any ambiguity as it relates to future commissions as well as draw repays. All draws are due in full and will be deducted from any and all commissions to be paid until such time that said draws are fully repaid. These draws could include without limit - draws on completed jobs, draws previously given on cancelled jobs etc.
I will not comment on Bill's stated conversation with an employee of this firm as I was not privy to it. I will say that I do not believe the use of vulgarity is reasonable on the web.
As it relates to Bill's comments on privacy and securing of paperwork - all customer files/paperwork that is disposed of is shredded.
Lastly, as it relates to collection of deposits - Bill has admitted and acknowledged that the company is following the guidelines regarding the amount of the deposit in the jurdisdiction he mentions. In fact this same jusrisdiction has recently raised the allowable minimum deposit that is acceptable. Any and all other payments that he may be referring to our not deposits and are not collected at the time of the initial sale. Once again - Bill is misguided.
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
illegal deposits in Rockland County, NY
#11Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
Rockland County, NY, limits the amount of deposit a home improvement contractor can collect to $500. Mark Four Enterprises will not accept a contract with a $500 deposit, even in Rockland County. If a salesman should accept a contract for a deposit less than 20% of the contract price, Mark Four Enterprises sends the salesman back to the customer to obtain more.... they think they are "getting around" the deposit law by taking multiple checks or credit card transactions simultaneously with the contract... one for $500, and the second for the difference between $500 and 20% of the contract, with the second deposited on "measuring" the job.
Funny these guys can be so clever about circumventing laws intended to protect consumers, but they are not smart enough to even obtain a building permit for something so simple as a deck!!
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
illegal deposits in Rockland County, NY
#11Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
Rockland County, NY, limits the amount of deposit a home improvement contractor can collect to $500. Mark Four Enterprises will not accept a contract with a $500 deposit, even in Rockland County. If a salesman should accept a contract for a deposit less than 20% of the contract price, Mark Four Enterprises sends the salesman back to the customer to obtain more.... they think they are "getting around" the deposit law by taking multiple checks or credit card transactions simultaneously with the contract... one for $500, and the second for the difference between $500 and 20% of the contract, with the second deposited on "measuring" the job.
Funny these guys can be so clever about circumventing laws intended to protect consumers, but they are not smart enough to even obtain a building permit for something so simple as a deck!!
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
illegal deposits in Rockland County, NY
#11Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
Rockland County, NY, limits the amount of deposit a home improvement contractor can collect to $500. Mark Four Enterprises will not accept a contract with a $500 deposit, even in Rockland County. If a salesman should accept a contract for a deposit less than 20% of the contract price, Mark Four Enterprises sends the salesman back to the customer to obtain more.... they think they are "getting around" the deposit law by taking multiple checks or credit card transactions simultaneously with the contract... one for $500, and the second for the difference between $500 and 20% of the contract, with the second deposited on "measuring" the job.
Funny these guys can be so clever about circumventing laws intended to protect consumers, but they are not smart enough to even obtain a building permit for something so simple as a deck!!
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Your personal information at risk
#11Author of original report
Fri, February 03, 2006
One of the more astounding occurrences I witnessed at Mark Four Enterprises was when I gave Kevin Spitzer a credit application for a prospective customer in Bayonne who had been turned down for credit.
Kevin Spitzer simply tossed the whole package into the trash can! No shredding... no tearing up... NOTHING!!! So I say, "Kevin, surely there must be a shredder somewhere in this building to safeguard people's social security numbers, etc,".
He doesn't even know what I am talking about!! With all the talk about identity theft in this day and age, Bill Thiede and the Leens do not make any provision whatsoever, if I am to believe Kevin Spitzer, for protection of customer information.
Shame on these guys.
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Ridiculous Bill Thiede Moments:
#11Author of original report
Sun, January 29, 2006
One of the more absurd moments during my 4 1/2 month stint without the company so much as applying for a building permit (and therefore paying no commissions):
We were having a pretty productive sales meeting, when Bill Thiede comes in and interrupts... complaining that "you are not selling enough". "You need to increase sales on each opportunity"... and here's the good one.... he gets all red in the face, pounding on the table.... "I DEMAND action!!", he yells.... but he can't look at me.... because I'm thinking, and he knows it... "I'd like to see a little action from the company". How ridiculous to have this guy demanding more sales, when the sales already made have not even gotten to the starting gate by the production department.
Oh... another good one... a meeting in the kitchen sales conference room... Thiede tells us... "you can voluntarily do some things around the office without expecting anything for it"..... hell, I couldn't even expect a paycheck, and now the guy is asking for even more work without pay!!!
Ridiculous to the nth degree!!!!!
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Mark Four Enterprises, Jerry Leen, Bill Thiede
#11Author of original report
Sat, January 28, 2006
I am attaching (I hope), a few recent payroll reports.. all paying $0 because Mark Four paid itself back all of the advances on commissions with the commissions on the very few jobs actually completed.
How would you like to have these paychecks???!!! Not a very rewarding career, is it??
See the attachments/photo section.
While I'm at it... this is from my notes on an actual conversation with Bill Thiede.... is this right out of Dilbert or what.....???
Bill Thiede: "What is all this bullshit in the letter about?"
Me: "Bill, production has not filed for a building permit on even one of the jobs I have sold."
Bill Thiede: "Bill, you do not know more than we do".
Me: "I need to generate some income. I need these jobs to be built as promised".
Bill Thiede: "You do not know more than we do".
Me: "Kevin Spitzer promised that all of the problems from last year were solved and decks will be built in 8 weeks from sale"
Bill Thiede: "Whatever problems you have you had when you came here".
Geez.... how is that for a businessman?? Anyone wanna run right up to work for this guy??
Check the payroll reports..... note that many of the impoundments for advances have a reference number of "0"... these guys do not even bother to try to match an amount with a property, a customer or a sale in many cases. In one case, the advances were already taken back last year... now they are shown again, but in differing amounts.
These people act like they are the Sopranos or something... they do not have to follow the rules... whatever they say is the way it is....
I will believe it when I hear it from a judge.
Marc
Fairfield,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Response to employees additional comments
#11REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, November 16, 2005
Bill states in his reply "that Second, when terminated, I did not even work in sunrooms... I worked in windows. To claim I was terminated for low sunroom sales is ludicrous".
That is not what was stated. As is clearly stated - "Bill was terminated from the window division for his lack of sales performance and once again poor and incomplete paperwork".
Bill replies "As for delays in taking care of paperwork problems... an outright lie, easily provable by the records. I suppose I will have to subpoena them as well". There is no need to go into any furher deatil - as has been stated previously - it is in the companies best interest to generate leads, have the reps sell the work and to have the work installed. It makes no sense whatsover to sell work and make a decison not to install it because of some sort of personal vendetta with an individual as it seems Bill would tend to have one believe. There are of course reasons as to why work that is sold is not ultimately installed. In Bill's case, he had serious issues with completing the paperwork required by the company on all sales. While he states he has all of the records - I am not quite sure what those records will show. We have at least 5 employees that worked with Bill day in and day out as well as with his paperwork that would argue and prove to the contrary. He was given every opportunity to correct same. If ultimately he decided not to correct and/or it was determined that after reviewing the file, the contracted work could not be completed because of the way it was sold, priced, written - it is in the sole discretion of the company to decide as to whether or not to run the job. At the end of the day - it is the company that is the ultimate loser as well as the customer. Had it been sold and the paperwork completed in accordance with company policy and priced correctly, the work would be installed - the customer would get what they contracted, the company would receive the revenue associated with the sale and Bill would be paid his commission.
Bill can assert all that he wants - the bottom line is very simply this - He was provided a great opportunity. The company provided sales leads to him. His obligation was to sell the work as set forth in company policy. This includes without limit - properly filling out and completing all paperwork, correctly calculating pricing and to follow up on any issues that needed attention. Once again - it makes no economic nor business sense for this or any other company to walk away from work that is sold by a sales rep as Bill would have one believe. If the work cannot be performed as sold, the paperwork is not correct, the pricing is not correct, and/or the town during the permit process rejects the work due to a variety of reasons - variances, set backs, tax liens etc -then and only then would the company make the business decision to cancel the contract - the very reason that a sales report would not show the sale. It would be categorized as a cancellation for all of the reasons as stated above.
One correction I will make - Bill is correct - he did sell more than 1 sunroom - that is net sale - during his tenure. He in fact sold 8, 5 cancelled and 3 were actually net. However - he was assigned 111 leads, not 67 - His net close rate for sunroom leads run (3 net sales out of 111 leads issued) was 2.70% - well below company objectives.
I am not quite sure after reading through Bill's issues what his ultimate goal is. If at the end of the day - he is utlizing the internet as a forum to discredit this company - I guess that is his perogative - as untrue as it may be. Our responsibility is to provide an accurate response of the very pointed allegations he has nade against the company, its owners and employees.
Bill refers to lawsuits and the like. I am not quite sure what it is that Bill is seeking. If in fact Bill desires to review his open sales (this list was provided to him yesterday) the company would be more than willing to sit with him and review each and every job. Further as I have stated in prior reply, we welcome him calling and checking on the status of the open jobs and as to the status of when commissions (less any draws that may be payable) would be forthcoming.
One last point - as I have stated in prior reply -the comapny may have made a mistake in re-hiring Bill. However - if the company is as Bill would describe - why is it that he decided to leave a competitor and seek out the possibility of re-hire with our company.
Thank you
Mark Four Enterprises, Inc/The Home Remodelers Group
Fairfield, New Jersey
U.S.A.
Bill
Bethlehem,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
... the monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said, your story's touching, but it sounds like a lie
#11Author of original report
Wed, November 16, 2005
whew... how typical a response from this gentleman, and proof that data is only as good as the analysis intelligently thereafter... in this case.. none!!
Mr. Thiede's assertion that I sold only 1 of 67 sunroom leads is off by several hundred percent. It is interesting that those sunrooms cancelled by customers after months of waiting for the company to perform no longer show up on the sales reports at all.... poof! Gone!
Second, when terminated, I did not even work in sunrooms... I worked in windows. To claim I was terminated for low sunroom sales is ludicrous.
Third, the number of sunroom leads seems high, but I do not have the full list. What I can say is that it is at best the gross leads issued... including noone home, one-leggers, rehash leads and other extremely low probabability leads for the nature of the product.
Fourth, the only data that is really important is NSLI ... net sales to leads issued, which in my case has never dropped below $1,000 for more than a day or two. Again I don't have the data before me (I suppose I should subpoena it for my lawsuit), but I believe my NSLI is well over $1,000 in both sunrooms and windows.
As for delays in taking care of paperwork problems... an outright lie, easily provable by the records. I suppose I will have to subpoena them as well.
Marc
Fairfield,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Rebuttal to allegations by former employee
#11REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, November 14, 2005
This is sent by way of response to the above complaint filed on your site under the heading Mark Four Enterprises, Home Remodelers Group et al:
"We pride ourselves on outstanding customer service and satisfaction and unfortunately in this instance we fell short of that. For that we apologize. Bill was initially hired as a sales representative in February 2004. When a representative is hired, it is not for a specific divison or product. The reps are trained in the basics of our program. It is during this training that the company decides which division is best suited for the rep. Bill was assigned to the sunroom and deck division. He resigned from the company in July 2004. At the time of his resignation, Bill indicated that he was moving to California. However it turned out that he in fact never moved, but rather went to work for a competitor in the sunroom business. During his tenure with our company in the sunroom and deck division, Bill's sales performance was well below average and further was below the goals and objectives set forth by the company. In June of 2005, Bill contacted our office seeking another opportunity to sell sunrooms and decks. During discussions with Bill, our VP of sales was told that the competitor position he had taken had failed and that he was looking to secure his old job back. He was re-hired - maybe that was our mistake based on prior sales performance - in the sunroom and deck division. On September 2, 2005, Bill resigned from his sales position. He indicated to the company at that time that he was aware of various issues with the permit process and due to these issues - he was going to have trouble making ends meet. For the record - I cannot substantiate Bill's comments regarding the specific customers and towns he refers to regarding challenges he faced and/or customers faced with the permit process. What I can address is the following - each and every sunroom and deck that is built requires a permit. The permit process is unfortunately not as simple as it seems. Some towns will issue a permit quickly. Others will require the application to go through zoning first. Others will require Health approval - other towns may require a variance. It varies considerably from town to town. There are countless examples of us filing all of the necessary paperwork and the towns misplacing same. There are towns that we call for updates - some give them - some say - we will call you when ready. Are there some instances where we may have have not followed up as often as necessary? Probably accurate - Mistakes do occur - But it is in everyones best interest to install what is sold. It does not make any practical sense for us to not try utilizing all resources available to get a project through the system and built and completed in the most time efficient manner.
It should be noted that during his 2005 tenure -out of 67 appointments, Bill sold just 1. Bill discussed his future with the company and he felt he would be better served if he were transferred into the window dept. That move was made in September 2005.
During his entire tenure at Mark Four - Bill was not able to sustain the sales level performance required of our sales reps. Further, on numerous occassions - quite frankly - almost every single sale Bill made - there were issues with missing paperwork and incorrect pricing. When requested to go back to the customers by his sales managers to complete the orders as he should have done initially, Bill would either fail to do so or would take his time in getting the paperwork corrected. Unfortunately in most instances - Bill was his worst enemy. Had he followed the program, correctly priced and filled out the paperwork - his orders would have gone through the system in the most time efficient manner they could have and he would have in return received his commissions that much sooner.
Bill was terminated from the window division for his lack of sales performance and once again poor and incomplete paperwork.
Bill is more than welcome to stay in touch with the company in an effort to keep apprised of the status of any work that is still open and as to when any commissions that may be forthcoming will be payable.
Lastly - as it relates to Bill's comments regarding the alleged special arrangements with one of our sales reps - I will not comment on this other than to say - it is totally inaccurate and as Bill so cleary states - against company policy.
I am sorry for Bill that it did not work out for him and wish him only the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Thank you
Mark Four Enterprises, Inc/The Home Remodelers Group