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• 12/5/2009 12:10 AM Ken wrote:
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  I don't know what your all getting for paid but I use to work for JEZ and the pay was pretty good. Lets say you could make a nice living with them.
  
  The pay was 65% of the ticket but they lost their contracts and this new company Go Configure is paying junk we're only getting around 30 to 40% of the job.
  
  Then there is the upstairs deliveries and none of these companies charge for second floor deliveries but should because some of these game tables weight close to 400 lbs.
  
  Does any one know a good company to work for that wont rip you off and not pay you for work you have done ... looking for a honest company that will be fair with me.
  
  Mike you say you will talk to the company on our behalf what I would like to know is, is there any thing legal I can do for none payment on work performed?
  
  I am not the only one this has happen to with Go Configure.
  
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  1. 12/5/2009 7:36 AM MikeM wrote:
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     Ken,
     
     Unless you got it in writing (by e-mail) you have little to no recourse.
     
     Many of the people you are talking to on the phone making these pay promises have a job and they will do whatever is needed to get the job done.
     
     So… to keep those in question honest, before you do any job requiring additional money, have the work order re-issued or a separate e-mail sent to you with any additions or changes.
     
     My biggest problem with many technicians is they don’t have a Web enabled phone. This type of devise is staple in your job as a technician, it is you main tool. Because if you are on a job and it requires more money (for whatever reason) you can request the changes be sent to you.
     
     Additionally, if you have a Web enabled phone you can get work orders while in the field. You might get a work order that just may be right down the street from where you are and if you don’t see it until you get home… you will have to drive all the way back to where you were the day before.
     
     However, if a work order needs to be printed out, you may need an additional devise like a lap top computer and a small portable printer.
     
     Be prepared and get it in writing!
     
     ~
     
     Reply to this
• 12/6/2009 12:10 PM Ken wrote:
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  Mike
  yeah one job was extra pay for going 235 miles for a repair... But GCI has cheated me out of $400 for 2 in-store jobs i did i e-mailed them the logs within 24 hours and now they say i didn't send them even tho i sent them proof that i did, they still wont pay me and they have done the same thing to a couple other techs that i have heard from
  
  I think a company that has a commission adjustment form tells you everything about them ... every week since i have worked for them i have had to fill one out to get pay corrected LOL and why cause the try to beat you out of every penny they can
  
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  1. 12/6/2009 2:02 PM MikeM wrote:
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     Ken,
     
     Being a contractor means you are in business for yourself. GCI is different with other national companies because they pay you less than you are worth from the get go.
     
     I am not defending CGI here… but you must get any changes in writing. There is no other way around it. If a dispatcher or manager convinces you to do more than the job is originally intended, you “MUST” get in writing what you are expected to do and any additional pay to do it! Then when it comes time to get paid… make sure you submit everything.
     
     That is the nature of business and I don’t care what industry you are in if you don’t follow protocol you “WILL” get (as you and so many others have put it) cheated.
     
     It is not right to be asked to do more and not get paid; but a verbal agreement is only as good as the person agreeing to whatever it is they want you to do. It is your word against theirs.
     
     It’s absolutely necessary to keep good records; if you do, you will never get burned. It may take longer than usual to get paid, but supporting (written) documentation can not be disregarded or defended against.
     
     ~
     
     
     Reply to this
• 12/12/2009 6:35 PM Miller wrote:
  ~
  
  Being a contractor means you are in business for yourself.
  
  Is he really in business?
  Does he have insurance?
  A business bank account, "DBA" min?
  
  Certain information needs to be maintained from every subcontractor hired.
  
  The following will help you determine if you are a subcontractor or not.
  
  1)Subcontractor has employees and provides a certificate of insurance.
  
  Real subcontractor.
  
  2) Subcontractor has employees and does not provide a certificate of insurance.
  
  In most states a charge will be made on your policy treating them as if they were employees of your operation.
  
  3) Subcontractor does not have employees.
  
  The first step to determine if they will be considered a true independent contractor or your employee. A certificate of insurance is not used in this determination. You will be asked to provide answers to several questions which will assist in this process. Example of the questions are:
  
  1. Who controls the work being performed?
  
  2. Is the work performed a normal part of your regular business?
  
  3. Who provide materials and or tools?
  
  4. Does the subcontractor work for others.
  
  5. How paid - hourly, weekly, by the job?
  
  OK this is in the basic brochure from my insurance company.
  
  If you have no insurance at all you are an employee whether anyone wants to admit it or not.
  
  The final say is the IRS, workman's comp, state unemployment, etc not the assembly company.
  
  How many guys working for all these assembly companies fall into this category? My guess 85%.
  
  How do the assembly companies hide it from there insurance companies ,IRS, Workman's comp, etc?
  
  Maybe they don't.
  
  But if they don't you could be reclassified as an employee and the assembly company will be responsible for withheld and paying all your taxes.
  
  For the guys being "USED" this is some information for you to go after them with.
  
  They will be scared. No one wants the government coming after them.
  
  If they have been writing check directly to you in your name that is a red flag.
  
  I have been audited and I know almost all the facts. I had the state workman's comp come and audit us. They wanted to see every single check written.
  
  Here is the IRS link.
  
  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss8.pdf
  
  Look up your state, I am sure they have the some thing similar. "$$$$$$"
  
  Also see if they are registered as a foreign company allowed to do business in your state. Another big one.
  
  You start talking like this and you will get your money.
  And most likely, no more work.
  
  Good luck you guys.
  
  To my fellow assembly companies, watch out.
  
  ~
  
  
  Reply to this
• 12/12/2009 6:37 PM Miller wrote:
  Bummed out that we are not trusted to post directly.
  
  Even this might not get posted.
  
  Reply to this
  1. 12/12/2009 8:58 PM MikeM wrote:
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     Well it is posted...
     
     I almost did not respond to this but everyone concerned needs to know why it is moderated...
     
     It is not the honorable techs on this network that is the reason for moderation, I even have to moderate my own posts because of the way the Blog is set up and because of certain not so honorable people.
     
     All posts are moderated because we have been getting spam totally of topic like "click here for male enhancement drugs" or "Knock off watches that look real" and so on.
     
     Nice thing is, I can track the IP address and report it to their ISP. After reporting, I also block the IP of that kind of crap from posting at all ever again.
     
     Another reason is to prevent another tech from talking about you. You all know we will not tolerate dissension.
     
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     Reply to this
• 12/12/2009 9:30 PM Miller wrote:
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  OK, I understand.
  
  If you have been watching the traffic you can see I check this blog out everyday.
  
  I have wanted to post many times, but have held back...
  
  Not sure why.
  
  ~
  
  
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  1. 12/12/2009 9:44 PM MikeM wrote:
     Yep...
     
     I know a lot of you check it out...
     
     Wished you and everyone else would respond more.
     
     ~
     Reply to this
• 12/14/2009 3:59 PM Bruce H wrote:
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  The name of our network is United A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E-R-S, and I'm emphasizing the ASSEMBLERS part because the assembly only part is very deceiving. The industry has taken a drastic turn from the good old days when all you had to worry about was showing up on site, pulling out the assembly manual and assembling the product.
  
  So in 2010 and beyond the game has changed and the tables have turned. For complete accuracy I suggest changing the name to United Assemblers & Delivery & Warehousing & Electronics Repair & Wall-Anchoring & Cement Workers Network, because just getting phone calls, driving out and putting stuff together is just a SMALL fraction of what we are now forced to do if we want any type of steady work. And to put additional pressure on us, we always have the looming threat of losing our independence and losing our contracted accounts that we worked so hard to win over & maintain to the national "assembly" companies that will instantly enforce a hefty paycut to the newly-hired technicians.
  
  In working with these national companies, the days of the 70% to 80% payout are over. And 60% commission for many of us is barely the break even point. Fortunately for my company, Metro Assembly Services, I have hired $cheap$ labor that does good professional work and we still make an OK profit with our marginal commissions we earn in contracting with these national companies. But in the process I had to sacrifice our customer coverage from a 100 miles radius to less than 60 mile radius, therefore keeping control of the jobs closer to our home office and micromanaging costs even closer.
  
  From a business standpoint, we've always diversified ourselves and never put all of our eggs in one basket. Our company has survived two massive takeovers from the national companies, once in 2000 (OfficeMax, Staples and Office Depot) and now in 2009 (Dicks Sporting Goods). We've always had our smaller, local furniture delivery/install accounts to fall back on which do pay out quite well, along with the online sales, word-of-mouth reference and the yellow pages, but these aren't as steady workwise as the volume that the national retailers provide.
  
  So in the long run, there's much more to being part of the network as an independent than cherry picking jobs from your website and passing out your business cards around town. The national accounts are a force to be reckoned with and cannot be avoided, we either work against them or partner with them, but they cannot be ignored.
  
  Bruce Harapcio
  Metro Assembly Services, Inc.
  1-888-255-1716
  www.metroassemblyservices.com
  
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  Reply to this
• 12/18/2009 1:37 PM Ken wrote:
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  Hey Miller
  
  The way they are getting around it now is they force you to have Occupational Accident Insurance which is just another name for workman's comp ... I know back in the 80's the IRS was clear that you cant control a contractor but to me GCI does to much controlling of the contractors having to check in each morning even before you start the job.
  
  Believe me I would love to go after them for withholding tax money.
  
  ~
  
  
  Reply to this
  1. 1/12/2010 8:13 PM Michael Noble wrote:
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     Greetings,
     
     My two-word motto (not a resolution) for this years is simple: Do Better. So you may begin to see my name pop up a bit more as I get more involved again.
     
     Concerning this issue: at least in California you cannot micro-manage independent contractors in many areas - such as having your service providers wear your company shirts during calls that you have provided for them - - you have essentially turned them into an 'employee' and (God forbid) opened yourself up to a whole new slew of problems.
     
     And California will frown on you all the way to your service providers bank account - then ask where is his company sponsored health care if you have more than a certain number of people working for you.
     
     I plan to look into this a bit further and let you know whether they can legally require you 'check in' (the way IRG does - but they are employees) when you are deemed an independent contractor.
     
     Michael
     
     ~
     Reply to this
• 12/30/2009 6:42 PM Miller wrote:
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  OK, so today I get a couple of guys calling and the 1-800 line and they are super mad.
  
  They said I owe them money and they have been traveling all over the place "FL. GA, TN, AL etc " assembling bicycles at sports authority and dicks and they want to get paid "now".
  
  They said I am working with goconfig as a sub contractor and then subing out the work. Like a middle man or a buffer between goncofigure.
  
  They also said they have not gotten paid for weeks and are mad as hell.
  
  I ask them what company are they looking for, they say said ,pro assembly out of Florida.
  
  I told them I am based in Wisconsin and will never do business with go configure "ever".
  
  I asked him how did you track me down?
  
  They said online google search.
  
  So I asked them if they read my website? They said yes, I said then you know I only work with Walmart , Sam's Club and Costco.
  
  He goes on to say, he is going to post every week on craigslist "down south" that no one should work for pro assembly or goconfigure.
  
  So is this the new plan from go configure? Are they going to use other our assembly company names. Use or names as a sub contractor "buffer" and then rip off these techs.
  
  And then through this process ruin our company names, like they are right now to anyone who is using pro assembly.
  
  So does anyone know of a pro assembly in florida who is working with goconfigure?
  
  Mike if you want, I got the guys name and number.
  
  I would not put anything past goconf***ya.
  
  I would have to say this is one of there new plans, at the expense of other companies. So watch out your name could be next.
  
  Drag Pro Assembly through the mud.
  
  If this an honest mistake it could easily go away if they would, "PAID THEIR TECHS"!!!!!
  
  I can't stand this company.
  
  Shawn Miller
  Pro-Assembly LLC
  414-324-1377
  
  ~
  Reply to this
  1. 1/1/2010 5:16 PM MikeM wrote:
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     Shawn,
     
     GC… Goofy Contractors
     
     There is a company called Pro-Assemble which is very similar to your company name.
     
     The owner of “Pro-Assemble” was on our Webinar a couple months ago and tried to stir up dissention by asking why I was talking so much about Urban Express Assembly on the Webinar, and asked why we were supporting a national company.
     
     Pro-Assemble has every ambition of being national themselves. I don’t see anything wrong with being a national company as long as the techs are being treated and paid fairly. Nuff said… nope!
     
     I believe GC is playing companies like them to try and discourage the true professionals (like you) that are a part of our network. Think about it… You suck in a few knowledgeable techs that are having a tuff time and promise them the moon. Then after they are thoroughly used… get rid of them!
     
     I have had techs call me to let me know that Pro-Assemble talked some pretty good trash about me and this network. The Pro-Assemble company is working with GC, so I believe there is something to it and what you say.
     
     If the network grows the way it should, it will prevent companies like GC from taking over the industry. If we all stick together it can be done, we can stop them, but if we battle one and other… it will be a tuff road.
     
     GC is making a claim they had a banner 2009… I know they have lost a lot of “good” contractors.
     
     I plan to do some serious research by looking up the share holders of publicly owned companies like Dicks Sporting Goods, The Sports Authority, OfficeMax, Staples, Office Depot and every other retailer that can use our services. I am going to buy a small amount of shares in each of those companies and when I find out who the other share holders are, I will let them know how their profits are being stifled by some very poor corporate manager’s decisions.
     
     To do this we need to get our subscription rate up, so the more that join our cause the more powerful we become.
     
     Here are the public companies and their stock codes and names:
     
     SPLS – Staples
     OMX – OfficeMax
     ODP – Office Depot
     DKS – Dicks Sporting Goods
     TSA – The Sports Authority
     
     That is just to name a few. Hang in there this new year is going to be great!
     
     MikeM
     http://UnitedAssemblers.com
     http://The-Savvy-tech.com
     
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     Reply to this
  2. 1/5/2010 7:41 PM John R wrote:
     I'm not sure what's going on with this situation, but I want to make it clear that this it is NOT 'Assembly Pro' doing whatever. We are in Florida, we have never done work for Goconfigure, and have never sub contracted work out to anyone.
     Reply to this
• 1/18/2010 5:59 AM BC wrote:
  

  ~

  I agree there are too many hands in the pot with assembly. It is already too expensive from a consumer viewpoint. I look back and think we should have centralized management years ago. This would have cut labor costs dramatically and allowed us to pay around 60-65% of the sale to the tech. Maybe even more if they could prove they were a real business with insurance, etc. But of course hindsight is 20/20.

  The retailers want something virtually impossible to deliver on. If they really want it to work well they need to get out of the assembly business and do a COD program. Let the assembly company pay a referral fee for the relationship. But the big retailers don’t want to relinquish control and they have to staff the department to manage the system. They don’t want to deal with 100 little guys so they hire a company like GC. In order for GC to maintain control, they have to have management staff.

  By the time it settles to the labor force, it is a relatively low wage. And it is constantly adversarial because the tech thinks he does all the work so he should get 90% of the sale. The tech is usually too unsophisticated to understand all the moving parts to the system, which itself is inefficient but necessary.

  The solutions are the retailers can charge 30% more, get out of the business altogether, or just let each store contract on a store-by-store basis. As my post states, I don’t miss that part one bit. There is just too much drama and it seems to be in a constant state of turmoil. I don’t see any of the solutions ever happening.

  The assembly business working with the big retailers is a broken business model with no fix in sight. The opportunity for the little guy is to become a marketing genius and stay geographically centered. Hire 2-10 workers for his local area and stay small. Work directly for the consumer and get clients through internet marketing and word of mouth. Charge less than the retailers. I mean really, $100 to D&A a treadmill?! WTF? Sears will do it for $45. Develop relationships with online retailers.

  I really like what you are doing. You are truly f’ing up the assembly business. I love it. Good work. Keep it up. Eventually something will give.

  Bobby Casey
  Fmr President, Diamond Retail Services, Inc.

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• 2/4/2010 9:52 PM Kenny Jameson wrote:
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  I agree with what you said, Bobby. I spent 12 yrs working for other big assembly companies. I finally realized what you are saying and did what you talked about in your last paragraph. I market directly to the consumer locally and it has worked well for me. I've had as many as 12 techs working for me at one time... and that's just scratching the surface!  All without depending on the big companies.
   
  One of the problems is that people don't place enough value on the assembly technician. That is the key to this business. Just like a truck is to a delivery company.
  
  -Kenny Jameson
  www.reliantassembly.com
  
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  Reply to this

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