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Houston,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, June 13, 2009
So true so true! I use to have to take rugs to the shop and clean them myself otherwise the rug guy would leave them for months on end! I remember a few times taking rugs back that weren't even touched! Not even vacuumed! HUGE embarrassment for me! Not to mention the time they'd LOSE customers rugs! If the rugs didn't have any stains the rug guy would just vacuum them and roll them up (if you were lucky enough to get is vacuumed). They offered me the rug position. I told them sure, for $50,000 a year plus commission. I would have done it RIGHT! Every single rug. Rugs were my specialty and I'd make a good $100,000 a year in the field (and doing a d**n good job I might add!). You know what they offered me? $10/hour plus commission! Yea right! Think about it. The guy cleaning your rugs is getting paid $10/hour and most of them couldn't even identify problems on rugs much less sell them to the customer over the phone! You think a guy making $10/hour is going to take pride in his work? "A worker is worth his wages!" You quickly learn to request your add ons on a daily basis because who knows how much they are going to deduct from your paycheck. Here is a great example. About a year and a half after I was working there they tried to take $4,000 out of my paycheck because I supposedly sprayed the leg of an antique table by accident and it caused it to bleed onto the carpet. This supposedly caused a stain on the carpet and they had to replace "the entire downstairs of carpet!" I asked then why they didn't patch it and they said "nobody wants a patch in their carpet!" Yea, because no one at Kiwi could do it RIGHT! I don't believe any damage occurred, I think the manager was just screwing with me. I remember him saying "You make too much money!" WHAT? How are you going to tell me I make too much money? And how are you going to say I damaged something and not even let me inspect the damage or attempt to fix it! (Or even tell me which customer it was!). They tried a few more like that but when my attorney got involved they quickly backed off and let me be for the next 2 years! The only other discrepancy is that my 1099 was about $20,000 higher than I actually made! IRS FRAUD! I remember walking into a customers house one time and seeing a patch. I just chuckled and said "so did you try to patch it yourself?" and offered to repatch it. She said "no, the last technician did". Again, FOOT IN MY MOUTH! Let's see, what else? They tried to make me drive to Fort Worth every Wed. to work. It would put about 300 miles every day on my truck between running around and driving. After a while I simply said no. And when they told me I HAD to work Fort Worth I'd simply not show up. When I started exercising my contractor rights they'd get MAD! They don't like educated technicians or educated customers. They get REALLY mad when I'd buy chemicals and submit the recipe for reimbursement. "Why are you buying chemicals?" "Because your stuff doesn't work!" I'd get an attitude with the managers!! haha. Hey, as far as I was concerned, they worked for me giving ME jobs, not vice versa. If I was responsible for the customers satisfaction at the risk of not getting paid on the job if they complained, I was going to do the job the best I could! I rolled up in a truck mount one day and oooooh, they got PISSED! "What the hell is that for?" "I have a big flood call". "You can't use that!" "haha, yea, watch me!" Then from the customer "wow, the last guy didn't have that kind of machine. This REALLY looks good!" Oh the memories! You've gotta be firm with people like this and know your rights as a contractor. They don't treat people like contractors. They'll even tell you "we use contractors but they are treated much like employees". Yea, that's illegal! The IRS has been notified! I believe a few people sued and won for taxes because it's not how you pay the guys it's how you treat them. Telling them when and how to do a job plus what tools they can and can't use and what to wear constitutes an employee and NOT a contractor. You can't hire contractors, pay no taxes for them and take no liability when they are in someones home and at the same time treat them like employees! It doesn't work that way! They would have meetings at 6am and everyone would show up. HA! "Why weren't you at the meetings?" "Because I'm not getting paid to be". I'd roll in at 11am sometimes. "Where have you been? We had 8 o clock jobs". "Sleeping, where else" "You can't do that" "OK, we'll try again tomorrow then!" hahhaa. It was fun. And FUNNY! Watching the managers react! They would get the same thing from me "pay my taxes". If they had a problem with ANYTHING, the answer was simple "sure, if you pay my taxes and give me benefits". Nope! So screw em!