Complaint Review: DLT Federal Business Systems - Chantilly Virginia

FBSC, is a Woman-Owned Small Business providing information technology products and services to the federal government, State & Local governments as well as commercial entities. We offer products and service via open market, GSA Schedule as well as other contract vehicles. These vehicles can be reviewed on our website. FBSC was incorporated in Delaware in 2010. FBSC’s main sales office is located in Chantilly, Virginia. FBSC also have offices in Alexandria, Virginia and San Antonio, Texas.

We understand that disgruntled, former employees use this site to express their frustration. However, as can be verified by the information provided below, this report is completely false and without merit.

FBSC use a recruiting data base which matches resumes with our job descriptions. All potential candidates are considered based on their relevant experience to the position advertised. FBSC offers a written training/onboarding scheduled for all new employees based on their level of experience and position hired.

Each new employee is required to read and sign the employee handbook during orientation and onboarding. FBSC’s employee handbook covers the specific areas below;

• A welcome statement, which also describe the company's history, reasons for its success and how the employee can contribute to future successes. It also includes our mission statement, and a statement about a business' goals and objectives.
• Information about employee pay and benefits (such as vacation and insurance).
• Expectations about conduct and discipline policies. This sections include conduct policies for such areas as sexual harassment, alcohol and drug use, and attendance; plus, grounds for dismissal (i.e., getting fired) and due process. This area also include information about filing grievances with supervisors and/or co-workers, and communicating work-related issues with supervisors and/or company managers.
• Rules concerning mail; use of the telephone, company equipment, Internet and e-mail.
• There is also a non-disclosure policy that require employees keep certain business information confidential.

FBSC strives to create a positive work environment where employees can feel good about coming to work. We provide transparent and open communication, a work-life balance, training and development, as well as recognizing employees for hard work and achievement.

I had no misgivings when I went for an interview. I met with their HR associate Donna and their IT specialist Geoff. I was told that I would serve as an IT inside sales representative. It was a woman owned small business. When I got the offer letter it seemed like a standard job offer.

When I came in my first morning I had a couple red flags. There was another sales associate who started the day before me who had absolutely no sales experience. I was told that the company had their headquarters in Delaware for tax purposes but ours was the main office. I found this odd because there were only three supervisors, three sales people, and one "government liaison" working there. I also had no job training.

I was told that my job was to contact government agencies and introduce myself and the company and offer our services for IT, hardware, and software solutions. They set me up on the phone and had me start googling Department of the Interior phone numbers. After about two hours, Cliff, the manager called everyone into the conference room and talked for about an hour and a half about how important it is to work hard to make money. Afterwards I went back to work googling agencies and calling.

The odd part was that the company had no GSA Schedule, which means that they could not do business with the federal government. For a company whose sole purpose was catering to the federal government this was unusual. They said that it was pending. Over the next three days I heard several accounts; it was coming next week, it was supposed to process yesterday, it was supposed to be in three months ago...

Despite having no training, I picked up the job very quickly. I found two lists of every purchase card holder for two different bureaus. Without a GSA schedule I was supposed to call them and ask if they had any micro orders pending or any office supplies they needed.

By day two I had all kinds of bad vibes about the place. I was told their revenue from the past year. For proprietary purposes I will not post it, but it was nowhere near what a small business government contractor with a woman-owned holdout should make. I also saw Geoff interviewing a new woman in the conference room. Despite this I needed the money and kept working, trying to make the best of the situation.
 
My neighbor has worked in sales with government contractors for about twenty years and managed several multimillion dollar companies. He said that the company was not following proper procedure. They had no GSA schedule. They were using accounting software to build quotes for clients. They offered no orientation. He also showed me a few different programs companies can buy that list all the card holders for government agencies. DLT-FBSC had me googling them and then asking to speak to card holders, which took more time and had worse results.

I told Cliff about Centurion, the software that listed these numbers. I said it would save about 4 hours of work each day and allow for more direct contact with our target market. He said he knew and wasn't interested in spending the money on it.

My "mentor" at the company was a woman named Venessa. She had worked in the sales department for about 8 months. Her sales strategy was to shamelessly flirt with anyone she called. She actually interrupted a conversation at one point to tell her potential customer that he had a sexy voice. Her mentoring consisted of her taking me into the conference room and telling me that I should be on the phones during peak hours.

I should also point out that I am a Muslim. I took about 10 minutes every day around 1 to pray in the conference room. Rose, a sales manager told me that I could and it would be no problem. I was grateful for the accommodation at the time. Now I wonder if it may have been a factor in my firing.

In my job offer it stated that company hours were from 8am to 5pm. I was punctual. I always took exactly an hour for lunch and worked right to 5pm. I was caught in traffic and came in sometime between 8:03 and 8:05am that Friday. Venessa asked to speak with me alone. I was expecting another "call customers" speech. Instead she said that the company had to let me go. I was completely taken aback. When I asked why she was the one telling me this she went and got Rose.

Rose said the company has a zero tolerance policy on tardiness. She said the company was small and needed people "dedicated to the process." She said the attendance policy should have been explained to me when I was hired.

I worked three whole days at this company. While I was there they were actively interviewing new sales people. I received no orientation or job training. I was fired for being 5 minutes late with no coaching or warnings. I performed better than Venessa or the other new hire by finding two entire databases of phone numbers and contacting people from them. I was the only one who worked to the clock.

This looks like a company that churns and burns. I think they keep hiring telemarketers and putting them to work with no training. I have no idea how they have an A+ BBB rating. They have ORCA and CRC certifications, which means they should be held to more astringent hiring and termination practices.

They hired me away from another company and fired me in less than a week on flimsy pretenses. I am now unemployed for the first time in five years. DO NOT WORK FOR DLT FEDERAL BUSINESS SYSTEMS!