examsemployee
Knoxville,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, December 01, 2011
The company has approximately 50 offices scattered throughout the United States. All are under the control of the corporate headquarters in Farmers Branch, Tx, although some of the older offices have local partners that own a share of the business.
I met with Robert and Vauna Peterson in their home in Dallas when they pitched me the job offer. I could care less about his multi-million dollar house(s), planes, cars, etc. When I met with Robert, Vauna, and Chris Generale in their home I simply asked for one thing: don't lie to me and we will have a successful partnership. When I was offered the job I was promised above the board accounting and told everything was always out in the open and on the up and up. I was promised an accurate monthly P&L. Never happened. I was promised an accurate and concise list of the opening costs for the office that I was opening for them which I never received. I was promised an amortization schedule where my opening costs would be amortized over a 24 month period. This never happened. This huge corporate conglomerate that has approximately $20-$30 million in yearly sales nationally has an "accountant" that manages the the business and money of every single office that is a kid with a high school education that was pulled from the call center. Wonder why? Let's just say that an accountant has things that they cannot do because they could lose their license or go to jail for it. I continually asked for insight through my direct manager, Chris, with little or no results. I was receiving none of the promised above the board accounting, my petty cash was always a mess, Vauna goes into every office every day, pulls money out, adds it back a day or two later, pulls some more out, etc.......continually. I SPENT 3 MONTHS ASKING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY! And have the emails to prove it. The straw that broke the camels back for me was when the original $55k in opening costs that I was told that I had(but never received any breakdown of) was changed to $120k because of a years worth of Yellow Page advertising ($65k) that occured before we ever opened up. I didn't think that this was fair but there was nothing that I could do about it. What this effectively did was remove any hope of any bonuses for several years. AMS doesn't pay that well. You work 7 days a week for weeks and weeks at a time because the corporate office will not allow you to hire help to keep overhead down and the bonuses make it worthwhile. However, the bonuses never come. You don't get them because you get none of the accounting info needed from AMS corporate so you have to take their word for it. Anyway, after requesting a copy of the billing for the $65k that was being added to my bottom line from Vauna and her not being able to provide it I went to the local Yellow Page rep and asked for a copy of it and she said that it didn't exist. She brought me several years of phone books to prove to me that this advertising that was being added to my bottom line didn't exist. When I lost it on several other issues and my direct manager Chris came up from Dallas I simply asked that Chris, Ormando, Vauna and I have a conference call to get all of this out in the open and get it resolved without all of the he said she said going back and forth and Vauna and Ormando refused.
As far as customers go you are getting shafted. AMS is NOT forthcoming in their charges. The call centers job is to "hook" the customer and the rest is left up to the local offices. 90% of the calls to the company get routed through the Dallas call center. It is intentionally setup to make you believe that you are calling someone down the street. You are instructed as a manager to call yourself the "owner". You tell everyone that you own the local office. Each office has its own corporate status but there is absolutely no local control. Farmers Branch is pulling the strings.
AMS has numerous deceptive billing practices. I will just give one. All managers are instructed to charge customers for a 6 pack of tape. It must be on all bills-whether the customer uses it or not. I heard repeatedly in Dallas that this practice "makes the company a million dollars a year in free money". If the customer gripes about it just apologize, say it was an oversight and take it off of the bill. No harm, no foul. The problem is 98% of all AMS customers don't catch it and end up paying for something that they didn't use. a 6 pack of tape runs from $21 is some markets to $30 in others. This is very dishonest, yet if you are not putting tape on all customer account YOU WILL get a phone call from Ormando asking why. As I said, one of many deceptive practices.
Employee training is nil. AMS hires straight off of the street with no training. The AMSA "Pro Mover" status that the company proudly displays that "proves" that they only use trained "experts"? Robert Peterson buys memberships for his new offices at a rate of $20k at a time-and AMSA, because of his money, does not make him go through the certification processes or one year "mandatory" waiting period that most companies have to go through.
Most of this companies offices do not have BBB certification, even though they display the logos on their websites. They initially get it but quickly lose it because of numerous continous complaints. They have even come under fire in many markets for displaying it knowing that they are not supposed to be.
CHeck out the lawsuits against them. Check out where even states have sued them. Read reviews. Get informed. This is not the local down the street Mom and Pop family owned movers that they want you to believe that they are-they are the archtypical corporate giant that I believe unfairly treats their customers and employees to make millions with little regard to either of the above. Always ask for a itemized bill!!!
asilosjr
Mesquite,#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, January 12, 2010
I AM An Ex-Employee Of This Company, And Will Tell You As An Employee Of More Than 2yrs. And That Left On Not So Great Terms That The Report You Have Just Read Is Not True. The Fact That They Have Local Numbers For Various Cities Across The US, Is Because They Have Offices In These Cities. I Know For A Fact That Not All Of The locations Calls Go To The Call Center. The Ones That Do Only Do This To Allow The People In These Local Offices To Provide Better Customer Service To The Customers That They Are Actually Moving That Day. If A Customer Calls From A City Outside Of Dallas And Needs Help That Is Not What They Consider "AN EVERYDAY MOVE" Then They Are Transferred To That Locations Office To Get The Most Accurate Quote. The Local Number Does Not Imply That They Are Trying To Be Corrupt. If I Call To My Phone Company's Customer Service Number I Am Sometimes Routed To Another Country For Help With My DVR, Needless To Say I Am Gratefull That AMS Has Chosen To Stay In The US. Which Is More Than I Can Say For Alot Of Other Companies Of This Size. I Think Anyone Who Has A Job And Gets Paid More Than Minimum Wage Should Be Grateful. I Was Paid Good For What I Did And Never Had A Complaint About The Money I Made.
In My Time There Even In Management I Never Saw Anyone Get "Fired At Will"! The Company Tries To Take Care Of Their Own! If An Exsisting Employee Has A Friend Or Family Member That They Think Will Be Good For The Job, Or Is Going Through Hard Times They Get A Shot At It. If They Can Not Handle The High Call Volume Or What Is Expected Of Them Then They Are Not Treated Un-Fairly They Are Just Told That They Might Not Be The Right Fit For That Position And Sometimes Even Offered Positions In Other Departments. I Brought In A Friend Of Mine In 2007 Who Was An Ex-Employee Of Mine And I Thought That He Would Be Great At The Sales Aspect, But It Turned Out That He Was Not. I Was In A Supervisor Position In A Totally Different Department, But Was Told That It Just Was Not Working Out. We Talked To My Friend And Apologized That It Was Not Going To Work Out, And Did Offer Him Another Position. He Declined And Said That He Was Greatefull That He Had Gotten The Oppurtunity. This Department Is Given A Script To Follow, Just Like Any Other Customer Service Department. In This Script They Are Given Scenarios Of What A Customer Could Say And How To Respond. This Is Not A Sales Pitch It Is MORE Informative Info For The Customer.
In Regards To The Ferrari's, Beamers, Benz's, And Travel Bus'. Name An Owner/CEO Of A Company This Big That Does Not Have A Hobby Or Thing That They Collect. I Worked With Bobby Not So Much VaunaOn Occasion And He Always Treated me With Respect.
I Prefaced This By Saying That I Am An Ex-Employee And Left On Bad Terms. I Was Called By A Friend That Had Asked If I Knew Still Knew Anyone At AMS I Told Him Yes And Gave Them The Number. He Took It Upon Hisself To Come To This Website, And Quickly Called Me. I Read The Posting And Was Disgusted That Someone Could Say The Things That Were Posted. I Have Never Worked For A Company That Was "PERFECT". If I Had A Choice To Work For AMS Again Or Hire Them To Do my Move, I Would In A Heartbeat.