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Powerhouse Retail Services Don't Go to Work for Powerhouse! Crowley, Texas
I made the mistake of answering an ad on Craiglist for "Retail Merchandiser", only to find out that what I was not told up front made this into a huge boondoggle. The company, and Mr. Otte in particular, makes claims that he later rescinds. He cannot be trusted to tell the truth.
For instance, "shift work" means graveyard shift work.
$15.00 an hour? they only paid me $10.00 an hour, with no explanation for the discrepancy.
$0.50 per mile for mileage? Only if you've been on the job for two weeks or more!
And worst of all, they expect you to be away from your family for four to six weeks at a time.
This company is contracted to Wal-Mart to refurbish old stores and set up new ones. The job I was assigned to was actually in Anadarko, Oklahoma. And yet, all of the people hired for this job came from out of state, like Kansas, Missouri, and Texas. Why wouldn't they hire from Oklahoma City, which is only 40 miles away, for an eight to ten-week project?
Yes, they put you up in a motel with a roommate. No, they do not pay your meals or any per-diem expenses. No, they don't pay mileage to go home on the weekends.
The work is hard, manual labor, which I didn't mind. But after two days, I realized this was not the opportunity that I thought it was, and not something that was going to be a long-term career move.
So I went back to Houston, after spending over $150 in gasoline and meals. I got a check for the two days work at $10/hr, not $15/hr as stated in their ad. And no mileage, unlike what they had advertised proudly up front!
Don''t go to work for this company, unless you have a signed contract up front, spelling out what you're going to get for what effort you put out!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Allen Houston
Houston,Texas,
United States of America
Update of Original Report- Powerhouse RS
#2Author of original report
Thu, May 05, 2011
Since I filed my original complaint about Powerhouse Retail Services, they have gotten in touch with me about money owed to me. After some back-and-forth wrangling, they let me know that there was a "per diem" payment that they had not sent to me.
Surprisingly, their "per diem" payment was based on hours worked (which I have never heard of), and amounted to five dollars per hour worked. This made up the discrepancy between the ten dollars/hr originally paid to me, and the fifteen dollars/hr originally quoted. So the second check they sent me made up for that discrepancy.
So this is not a bad job to have, as long as
1) you don't mind hard manual labor (which I don't), and
2) you don't mind working the "graveyard" shift (which is not hard to get used to), and
3) you don't have any family or close friends to be away from for a couple of months.
Again, make sure you know what you're getting into with any new job, but especially if it's 400 miles from home!