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MeasureComp - Pete Cancelmo - Home Depot ripoff unfair ethics policies and abusive didn't pay technicians properly for work perfomed over booked routes didn't compensate milage allowance as gas prices risen but had technician drive further Oak Park Michigan
As a former employee of Measure Comp, I am glad that I am not alone with my experiences. At the orientation, it was explained by Brian Luther(Market Manager at time of hire) & Dwayne Picinini(Corporate Trainer) that we (the technicians) would be assigned territories based on the number of stores located within a certain radius of our home.
We would be required to service the routes between 8am-5pm. Calls for the next day would be made before 9pm the day before since the work would be available for download (get) by 6-6:30 pm the day before.
We were told that gas compensation for mileage was factored into the zone rates based on a milage calculation and average distance between appointments.
Cell phones were required at the technicians expense to have mobile communication to Home office staff and contacting customers if running late. A basic package was suggested.
Tolls would be reimbursed if a receipt was turned in. For meetings, half-days pay would be compensated or additional time off if scheduled on a day off.
My territory was Southwestern NJ (servicing the Home Depot accounts), which was paying a rate of $13.00 per measure. Many times I was assigned to service appointments outside of my territory (South, southeast and Northwest of my assigned area in addition to Middlesex County. Many of these areas were in the $15-$17 zone rate pay.
It was explained to me by the Market Manager (Brian then Pete Cancelmo) that I would be given additional pay in the form of trip charges. On a weekly basis for months, I was assigned measures in these areas but not paid the correct pay rate nor was I given the promised trip charges.
In addition to the inaccurate rate pay, I also noticed failure on Measure Comps part to correctly pay for additional rooms measured & different surfaces then carpet as stated in the manual. Hard surfaces were to pay an additional $5.00 and extra rooms at $2.00 per room.
As the number of appointments scheduled for the day increased and the distance traveled, I had concerns about the time needed to complete all the appoints. I heard from other technicians about situations where other technicians (A)did measures close to Tech B house but tech B was not giving the appointment to do. Instead, they were giving appointments further out when those closer would have made more sense. I inquired as to how the routes are complied and about the overloading since I needed to make later appointment times then what was stated in the manual.
Technicians will schedule AM (8am-1pm) or PM (12pm-5pm) appointment times with the customers giving a 2-hour window for each appointment. The manual stated the last appointment will be by 5pm to allow for travel time back home to finish the PM reports, do a send (days work) & get (received next days work).
Also, to give the technician time to relax, review and adjust next days route & make next days calls by 9pm. It also was stated that if a technician had issues with routing to contact the District Manager to adjust schedule if a conflict or over routing occurs.
I addressed these issues amongst others along with the ongoing payroll shortages with Pete Cancelmo. No immediate remedy was arranged. I was constantly hearing the same excuses over and over as the situation was getting worse with no corrective measures insight. I tried other means to have the situation rectified but it appeared that I was always instructed to contact Pete.
Since the Home office was not addressing the issues either and I was taking timeout on a weekly basis to pursue correcting, I decided to leave the company as others before me did.
Here is a brief list of other issues that developed while I was with Measure Comp:
1.Gas cost (mileage rate) not being increased as gas went up and drive distance increased (measures were further apart & further out of area). Measure rates included .33 per mile as stated at the orientation. Technicians were guaranteed $13.00 per measure minimum. If you calculated the mileage traveled to the guaranteed pay of $13, the technician is making less then $13 per measure. Measure Comp should have recognized this and offset to compensate.
2.Cell phone use was higher then what they implied at the orientation since the home office including managers would keep you on the phone for long periods instead of waiting till you found a payphone or returned home (used up those minutes). Back then the cell plans were not what they are to day. Plenty of occasions, I know I was on hold for 5-10 minutes before they would return or if being transferred waiting for them to pick-up. This 1 call would total out to a 10-15 minute call. Also, times when I received calls to review a drawing of a plan from a different day, took more then a few minutes to go over for them to understand or verify information.
3.Equipment malfunctions while at the customer's house. Mainly the unit crashes and causes you to redraw 50% of the time since it couldn't be recovered. Trying to reach tech support wasn't quick. Most of the time you had to be put on hold. Burning up those minutes.
In short, I doubt that Measure Comp had priority concerns about correcting the issues that put money in their pocket and not the technicians. Home Depot paid them, but it appears they didn't want to pay the technicians in my opinion.
Looking back, I should have contacted Home Depot to see if they were aware of what Measure Comp was doing to its employees. You had to fight for your money. Those of us that worked during this time know what I am talking about and I know of some that have experiences different to mine. What goes around comes around and in time, I hope they pay for their unethical & unfair procedures.
Tech no-more
Browns Mills, New Jersey
U.S.A.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
anonymous
Dayland,California,
USA
Another Screwed Measurecomp Employee
#7UPDATE Employee
Sun, October 24, 2010
Hey guys,
I posted some of my experiences with Measurecomp on here the other day. Just thought Id share another site I found where you can add your own review of Measurecomp. If your interested check it out and please add your review.
http://www.careerbliss.com/company-reviews/measurecomp-reviews-1140676/
Im hoping that if enough of our stories get out there that Measurecomp will have to change the way it operates. I have my doubts but who knows. Then again I thought the law suit would too but doesnt appear it changed a thing :-(
Best wishes!!
anonymous
Dayland,California,
USA
Another Screwed Measurecomp Employee
#7UPDATE Employee
Sun, October 24, 2010
Hey guys,
I posted some of my experiences with Measurecomp on here the other day. Just thought Id share another site I found where you can add your own review of Measurecomp. If you interested check it out and please add your review.
http://www.careerbliss.com/company-reviews/measurecomp-reviews-1140676/
Im hoping that if enough of our stories get out there that Measurecomp will have to change the way it operates. I have my doubts but who knows. Then again I thought the law suit would too but doesnt appear it changed a thing :-(
Best wishes!!
Rhonda
Shelbyville,Tennessee,
United States of America
Thanx, John!
#7UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, November 03, 2009
Thanks to John, a class action lawsuit was filed against MeasureComp, and it was settled out of court. The settlement was just completed and plaintiffs received their compensation (albeit considerably less than what should have been, when you consider all of the hours that were put in by the technicians, but hey, something is better than absolutely nothing!) last week.
But it was interesting to read that I was terminated in the same manner as someone else was. I worked for MeasureComp for 4-1/2 years, in an exemplary manner, 6 days a week, and traveled extensively for them out of the Louisville, KY, market. I would end up in Cincinnati, OH, Indianapolis, IN, and out towards Evansville, IN, and south, almost to the KY/TN line, down the I-65 corridor. I was also sent for 10 days to Houston, TX, to help after Katrina and Rita hit there, because of the work load. But after 4-1/2 years, they couldn't promote me to another level, even though I was willing to relocate to management somewhere else, couldn't pay me more money, so they used the excuse that I didn't pass their background check. They were supposed to run the background check before the first month of employment was completed, but then waited until 4-1/2 years later to run it.
So, to find that MeasureComp terminated employees on false allegations, after so many years of dedicated service... man, that pisses me off even more. I loved the job, even though it had its ups and downs. I loved the fact that it was more like an independent contractor feel, with an employee benefit package. But to be let go in such a manner. WOW! Talk about an ego buster, and how do you explain to a new employer how you were let go?? Because you didn't pass a background check, after 4-1/2 years?
Dave
Collingswood,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Pete Cancelmo not fired yet???
#7UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, July 30, 2007
It's been 5 years since I worked for measurecomp and no surprise to hear the same stories of being ripped off and abused. This one being almost exactly the same as mine. I also worked southwest New Jersey as well.
When Brian Luther was promoted and moved to Virginia in 2002, I was offered the New Jersey managers position....If I had known what I was in for with Pete I probably would have taken the position (or found another job). I had met Pete once before (Brian is an old friend of both of us) and wasn't too concerned, although we didn't say much to each other. And considering I was a good friend of Brians it didn't seem to me I would have had anywhere close to the trouble with Pete that I did.
For starters, three weeks after Pete had taken over fully (Brian was done training him) I called him with a minor problem. But I probably wouldn't have bothered if I wasn't concerned about not hearing anything from him yet (a recurring theme with him).
Next was the small amounts of money missing from my paychecks every week. At first I heard "I'll take care of it", then it was one excuse after the other. I don't believe I was purposely being ripped off. This was just the inaction of a lazy, uncaring individual.
And of course the scheduling problems (I became a full time employee to help Pete out with this when he first started). It is not practical to drive 10 miles one way and 20 miles another way in the same time frame (especially if I was covering some of someone elses stops) and then continue on trying to get to other stops on time.
Also, I was always hearing of this plan (mostly from Brian) that was being worked out to compensate for the cellphone costs, which apparently still never happened.
And yes, the computers we received in 2002 were undoubtedly inferior to the ones we originally had.
Over the period of the 3 and a half months I delt with Pete, the situation escalated to the point of having shouting matches on the phone. Measurecomp corporate was absolutely no help (and never were before) and Brian's hands were tied due to the mutual friendship. It finally came to an end on 9/20/02 (if I remember correctly) with me saying to Pete "if you don't get your act together, I'm going to have to find another job". I was told to hand in my computer and modem (which I mailed in due to the animosity).
When my final check arrived Pete refused to mail it to me. He wanted me to pick it up at his house in person. As I was leaving he said "I'm sorry it had to end this way" and shook my hand!!! The only thing I could do was laugh. Especially when I got home and opened the check. I was supposed to be charged for a charge back. But the brilliant people at measurecomp forgot to put the minus sign before it and paid me instead.....It turned out to be close to the amount I was owed. After that I decided to cut my loses (I was still owed a little less than a hundred dollars) and put measurecomp behind me.
Michael
Clifton,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
fighting too
#7UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, September 09, 2006
John in Ohio. Look-up & reply to the 4-11-06 report about MeasureComp under " MeasureComp - Pete Cancelmo" as well as file your own report. The more individual reports & replies the better the notice for others to reply & report. We can fight this together.
I am glad that we here in NJ/NY Market are not alone in this matter. We were hoping that ours wasn't an isolated case. Currently, we are exploring other action against MeasureComp as well as refiling a group claim in labor court since our efforts last time meet with constant delays and reschedule tactics by MeasureComp.
We greatly appredciate your reply. The more listings will help with further action against MeasureComp.
We will gladly help in anyway we can with your fight as we also look forward to your assistance with ours.
If you know of any other former or current employees that also went through the same situation, I highly recommend you contact them to assist in your claim. Take advise from us, file together if you can and request the same hearing
date. A group can support each others claims.
For now, file an individual claim with your state Labor Department and then proceed from there if others surface.
Hopefully the reports on here will aid with your claim and convience others that haven't taken any action yet to act now. I think we can contact each other through this site. I am very much interested in your information as well as assisting you with your fight.
John
Cleveland,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Also employed by Measurecomp
#7UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, September 06, 2006
After reading your report I find that all of the exact same things that you have reported are also happening in the Cleveland, Ohio market with contacting the district manager and all the same people in the main office that you have talked to, coming up with the same results.
Pushing it further on the pay shortages the result was after 5 years with MeasureComp I was told I no longer passed the background check this time as this was the 4th one they had done over the years and that they no longer had work for me.
Planning to fight back Cleveland Ohio