- Report: #435805
Complaint Review: Kiwi Services - Carrollton Texas
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Kiwi Services
3230 Commander Dr Carrollton, 75006 Texas, U.S.A.
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Kiwi Services Work and get paid. Not at Kiwi. Carrollton Texas
First of all if you have already read the previous reports that have been written by both customers, and techs that have been wronged by this company I urge you to do so. Dont be fooled by there advertising and marketing strategies.
I was a contractor for Kiwi for three years, and most of what has already been said in previous reports is will give you an idea of what this company is like, and hopefully help you, if your making a decision of whether or not to work for this company or use there services.
There is no contest between bonnet cleaning and steam cleaning. Bonnet cleaning removes a small amount of surface dirt at the top of carpet, while the rest is dispersed, pushed down and blended into the carpet. Viola! carpet looks clean.
There are always going to be a handful of people that dont know any better, or dont really care whether or not thier carpet is really getting clean or not, and just want to go by looks, and that clean smell. I dont know about you, but I would rather have clean good smelling carpet, than dirty, clean looking, smell good for a day carpet.
Steam cleaning is the industry standard, and with todays more advanced and powerful machines, along with stronger and safer chemicals, and better educated technicians, all the old arguments about steam cleaning are just that. Old and out of date.
Now to get to my story with Kiwi Services. I always knew that they were not the greatest when it came to a lot of things and I have had my share of ups and downs with them. The last six months that I worked there is what really did it for me, and brings me here.
They asked me to go Houston for them to water damage-disaster, after hurricane Ike hit. The company had not done this kind of work before, and I was kind of leary about going. My manager and the company said I would make a lot of money down there and offered anyone that was willing to go 250 to 300 a day.
I was one of the few that went ahead and stepped up to the plate for them.
The first week I was there I made 250 a day as a helper. Then a lot of jobs went in my name, because another tech was fired for not listening to a manager. To my surprise I was going to have to wait until the insurance company paid the customer, and the customer paid the Kiwi before I got paid.
Talk about disaster! and on top of that I had about six techs helping me, and did not find out until I was neck deep in all this work that they were getting paid 250 a day, but that it was going to come out of my commission! It took about a month to tear out and dry out all the houses that we were working on. After that they decided to get temps to help us.
I stayed down there for another two months trying to make it worth it and did about ten more water damage jobs. I also held on to the idea that any day I would get a big check for all the hard work I had done, and being away from home, and all that. Instead my checks were very small and some times in the negative because I did not have time to do any regular carpet cleaning. Just disaster, and demoliton.
Right before Christmas I came back to Dallas and thought things would be better and I would finally get paid, and get out of debt, which was the whole reason I went down there was to make money, and ended up in worse finacial shape than ever.
Sometimes every day, and at least every week for months I spoke to my manager, about the floods that I have done, and that I need to get paid, and if there is anything i can do to help, and gave him lists of all the jobs. In the mean time I did three more floods for them here in dallas and still have not been paid for those. Out of all the flood jobs I did they have only paid me on a few small ones. The rest I am still waiting for.
To me its ridiculous and unheard of to have to wait so long. And what bothers me, is that I always have to go to them, or ask them, and get the same answers, and never get anywhere.
I know a lot of other technicians that they have not paid that they owe a lot money to. Some have left, or have been let go, and others are still there. I am not the only one.
Two weeks ago I found another company that does steam cleaning and water damage that does things right, takes good care of there technicians, and makes them employees, and gets them certified. Thank God. After working for kiwi all those years I feel like I have died and gone to heaven working for this other company.
I still want to get my money from kiwi that they owe me, but I kind of get the idea that its not going be easy, and there going to try to get away with what they can. So that's my story, and any help or advice will be appreciated. Thanks
W.C.
mesquite, Texas
U.S.A.
I was a contractor for Kiwi for three years, and most of what has already been said in previous reports is will give you an idea of what this company is like, and hopefully help you, if your making a decision of whether or not to work for this company or use there services.
There is no contest between bonnet cleaning and steam cleaning. Bonnet cleaning removes a small amount of surface dirt at the top of carpet, while the rest is dispersed, pushed down and blended into the carpet. Viola! carpet looks clean.
There are always going to be a handful of people that dont know any better, or dont really care whether or not thier carpet is really getting clean or not, and just want to go by looks, and that clean smell. I dont know about you, but I would rather have clean good smelling carpet, than dirty, clean looking, smell good for a day carpet.
Steam cleaning is the industry standard, and with todays more advanced and powerful machines, along with stronger and safer chemicals, and better educated technicians, all the old arguments about steam cleaning are just that. Old and out of date.
Now to get to my story with Kiwi Services. I always knew that they were not the greatest when it came to a lot of things and I have had my share of ups and downs with them. The last six months that I worked there is what really did it for me, and brings me here.
They asked me to go Houston for them to water damage-disaster, after hurricane Ike hit. The company had not done this kind of work before, and I was kind of leary about going. My manager and the company said I would make a lot of money down there and offered anyone that was willing to go 250 to 300 a day.
I was one of the few that went ahead and stepped up to the plate for them.
The first week I was there I made 250 a day as a helper. Then a lot of jobs went in my name, because another tech was fired for not listening to a manager. To my surprise I was going to have to wait until the insurance company paid the customer, and the customer paid the Kiwi before I got paid.
Talk about disaster! and on top of that I had about six techs helping me, and did not find out until I was neck deep in all this work that they were getting paid 250 a day, but that it was going to come out of my commission! It took about a month to tear out and dry out all the houses that we were working on. After that they decided to get temps to help us.
I stayed down there for another two months trying to make it worth it and did about ten more water damage jobs. I also held on to the idea that any day I would get a big check for all the hard work I had done, and being away from home, and all that. Instead my checks were very small and some times in the negative because I did not have time to do any regular carpet cleaning. Just disaster, and demoliton.
Right before Christmas I came back to Dallas and thought things would be better and I would finally get paid, and get out of debt, which was the whole reason I went down there was to make money, and ended up in worse finacial shape than ever.
Sometimes every day, and at least every week for months I spoke to my manager, about the floods that I have done, and that I need to get paid, and if there is anything i can do to help, and gave him lists of all the jobs. In the mean time I did three more floods for them here in dallas and still have not been paid for those. Out of all the flood jobs I did they have only paid me on a few small ones. The rest I am still waiting for.
To me its ridiculous and unheard of to have to wait so long. And what bothers me, is that I always have to go to them, or ask them, and get the same answers, and never get anywhere.
I know a lot of other technicians that they have not paid that they owe a lot money to. Some have left, or have been let go, and others are still there. I am not the only one.
Two weeks ago I found another company that does steam cleaning and water damage that does things right, takes good care of there technicians, and makes them employees, and gets them certified. Thank God. After working for kiwi all those years I feel like I have died and gone to heaven working for this other company.
I still want to get my money from kiwi that they owe me, but I kind of get the idea that its not going be easy, and there going to try to get away with what they can. So that's my story, and any help or advice will be appreciated. Thanks
W.C.
mesquite, Texas
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
W.c.
Garland,Texas,
U.S.A.
Times up
#2Author of original report
Sat, July 11, 2009
I have been waiting and waiting for them to do whatever it is they say they have to do to, to get me paid. After not getting a response from the last email I sent to them, I think that I am going to have to go through the courts or some legal avenue in order to collect the money that they owe me. I have a few friends that still work there, and keep me informed as to whats going on as best as they can. From what they have told me, its still a big mess, they have not made much progress, and are apparantly going to try to deduct anything and everything that they can, in order to pay me less. Its complicated to get into, but there were dumpsters that were rented, they gave me a small loan and part of it has already been paid off. The rest is supposed to come out of the commision checks that they owe me. When I was working there I had to constantly remind them, and correct them, about these kind of things and which job was which and so on. They always had it all mixed and messed up, and they still do. I realize now that I have to have some sort of proffesional, and or, legal help in this matter. Whenever they have paid me in the past on floods, Its just a check for whatever amount that they have figured out. In other words, there is no explanation or breakdown of how they came to that amount, and trying to get that from them is like pulling teeth. This is a substantial amount of money that they owe me. Its going on seven months since I came back from Houston. I think that I have given them plenty of time, and plenty of chances to figure out, or do whatever it is that is so difficult, to get me paid. I spoke to a tech that still works there, and he told me that he was in the same situation. They owed him money for floods that he had done. He bugged them and complained every day and they have paid him most of his money. So why not me? Whats the difference? I dont have the time to call and bug and complain every day, and I should not have too. They should do what they are supposed to do, and not keep telling me for seven months that they are working on it, and are no closer than they were when they started. And thats what I dont get. Working on what? What are they doing? What needs to be done? I dont know, but I am tired of leaving it up to them, and ready to do whatever it takes to get it settled. I am responding to the person that would like to file a class action suit. I am in.
None
Houston,Texas,
U.S.A.
Ex Employee Here
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, June 13, 2009
Hey man, I used to work for them several years ago and never got paid either on a lot of jobs!! I now own a carpet cleaning business here in Dallas and we use truck mounted steam cleaning. I went down to Houston too (on my own) BTW. Made some GREAT money and helped lots of people out in the process!! I'll give you a couple of reasons why you never got paid. #1 Kiwi is a joke! And a scam! but that's obvious. #2 Rising water is not covered by homeowners insurance. So if the damage did not come from say a tree falling over causing a hole then the insurance isn't going to pay it (I'm a preferred vendor with insurance companies so I deal with them all the time). And as you know, if Kiwi doesn't get paid, YOU DON'T GET PAID! Most customers won't pay if the insurance doesn't cover it. General rule. Rising water= credit card up front BEFORE work is done. It sounds like they were just hitting and missing there trying to make SOME money knowing they don't have to pay you if they don't get paid. Considering how badly they are doing know it wouldn't surprise me if they got paid and just told you they never got paid. Just as an example of how shady they are, I worked for them for about 4 years. I went to the Houston office during the hurricane looking for jobs and Staley, the supervisor basically escorted me out. I've never stolen from them but they had a bunch of Dehues and fans around and no electricity. I walked back to the chemical room to talk to him and immediately "you can't be back here, we have a lot of equipment out". Dude! I've known you for 4 freaking years man and you're going to treat me like that? "Well, we have to take precautions". BS! I was one of the most honest people who worked there!! So that's the mentality over there. Everyone is a snake because they are. Needless to say I didn't accept any jobs from them. I just happened to be in the area. Regardless I wouldn't have trusted them to get paid. I would have ran it through my credit card processor and had the checks made out to my company name THEN paid them. Good thing it didn't work out! I still can't imagine how you guys were doing floods with those shop vacs and those $99 home depot dehumidifiers! Here I am, fully loaded with Dri-Ease 1200's, Evolutions and 2000's (these are $1000 and $2000 machines) and I roll up and see dozens and dozens of $99 home depot dehumidifiers! Hahaha. And what's funny is they were actually charging the customers $80 a day RENTAL! For $99 machines! Three and four days each per dehu! AMAZING! But I expected nothing MORE from them! What's even funnier is Staley thought I was going to run off with a $99 home depot dehu! What the hell am I going to do with one of those? I walked out just laughing! Here I am, $50,000 truck mount, ready to dry out some structures and he's worried about his little Home Depot dehus! I don't even know what I was thinking. I know! I was thinking "hopefully they'll let me take care of a few people the RIGHT way"! I thought maybe they'd see the value in actually having some GOOD equipment handy but eh, I had about 5 other companies I was getting jobs from so whatever!
Tsd
Houston,Texas,
U.S.A.
W.C-I UNDERSTAND
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, May 05, 2009
I am in the process of getting legal action-would love a class action suit! Please respond!!!
