Update: Geeks on Time Does Not Pay
Not much to say today, except that it has been crazy as usual!
I am still fighting with Geeks On Time, though. Keep in mind, this is money that I was supposed to be paid on April 1st, and that this latest round of emails has been going back and forth about my pay since May 23, 2008.
Here is my latest email to them, directed to Venus McNabb, the founder and CEO, and Daniel Matalon, the VP Director of National Services:
Obviously, there is now a lack of communication on the part of GeeksOnTime. I have had no response from you since Tuesday, June 10th.
The lack of pay and communication seems to be turning into a terrible habit there. When I initially accepted the job offer, I was pleased that I could find no negative media, and that the Better Business Bureau Complaint had been successfully resolved. I don’t what has changed there, but in addition to having consulted an attorney, I will also be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I am well aware of the fact that I am not the only person that this has happened to, and I think other people should be aware that if they work with GeeksOnTime, they shouldn’t count on being paid. I hope that whatever is going on financially with your company, that it is resolved more quickly than my pay issue has been.
Regards.
And do you think I will hear back from them? As of now, approximately 12 hours later, no response to this, but we will wait and see. In the meantime, looks like GeeksOnTime still is NOT paying.
This post has 13 comments
August 1st, 2008
Check ripoff report.com, the same thing has happened to others
September 4th, 2008
Hello have you had any resolve with this matter. I am having the same thing happen to me.
September 10th, 2008
Unfortunately, as of today, I still have not been paid. I have, however, been informed by a reputable source that the tech payment issues should be resolved sometime between mid-September and mid-October. And, a few techs have successfully been paid: some have posted here, others as updates to their RipOff Reports. I hope everybody does get paid soon. On top of the fact that so many people just NEED their money, it would be nice to see GeeksOnTime running successfully again. Some of the wonderful people they have working there truly deserve to be working for a successful, award winning company, and I have no doubt, if these people stay on board, that GeeksOnTime could be there again. So, in the meantime, we all just wait to see what happens…
September 20th, 2008
I think you are naive in your advice here singlemom. Techs have been told many times that the money will be coming for sure next week, in two weeks, etc. etc. I think the people at geeksontime are really good at making people believe things that aren’t true. How do you know it is different this time?
Regarding your statement that geeksontime is an award-winning company, I wonder if you have checked up on the awards that they’ve actually won. The “Stevie Awards”, for which a logo is posted on their site, seem highly suspect to me. First of all I’ve never heard of them before. Second, if you look for the site it seems geeksontime are the only winners, ever, of these awards. The press release seems to be pretty weak… did you know that anyone can honor Donald Trump with an award? It certainly doesn’t mean he endorsed them or showed up. And how likely is it that any awards which are really legit would choose 3 people all from the same company? I mean come on how likely is it that all 3 of them are the best in their fields?
They did appear on Good Morning America, true, but that’s hardly a show that does investigative journalism and is a good source of advice where your career is concerned. With due respect, the CEO is very pretty and apparently has a striking personality. Good Morning America is a program that relies on commercials to support itself and its network and frankly if I worked there just having someone like that come on would seem like a good idea to me in a commercial way.
I in no way think anyone should be encouraged to continue working for geeksontime on word given by ANY person there, no matter how “inside”. Sure you can continue to hope that the money will come, but especially considering how unprofessionally they have handled the entire situation, continuing to do work for them at this point is highly foolish. Personally I don’t see why anyone is still working for them with the way they’ve treated people if for no other reason. We can do better than this. Money is only part of the equation in finding good employment. If we don’t get respect and demand that those we work for show us respect, everyone in this field will suffer.
Stop working for geeksontime now, is what I say. If and when they pay you you can start working again, not before. Really, it takes a psychological toll on a person to be treated with as little respect as the company is showing to techs. Advising people to continue with geeksontime is passively condoning this behavior in my opinion.
(I say all this with sincere respect to you singlemom. It think you’ve helped a lot of people by making this blog)
September 20th, 2008
P.S. Please visit my blog at http://thegeekadvocate.blogspot.com
September 20th, 2008
Thanks for your comment, geekadvocate! As I stated in my latest post, I still have not been paid, and I have also been one of the people told that I would be paid next week…several weeks in a row with no money forthcoming.
I don’t believe I am being naive; I am simply stating that I was told this situation would be resolved. Whether it actually will be or not, remains to be seen. I don’t have much faith in that at this point, and the person who passed on that information may have simply been passing on what they were told. I do consider this person to be fairly trustworthy, but the position they are in, unfortunately, does not guarantee that funds will be in place to pay everybody. My faith or lack thereof notwithstanding, we all would like to be paid!
And there is content on the Stevie Awards site regarding geeksontime. If you do a search for it, you will come across it eventually, although it doesn’t seem to rank very high in search engine results.
From a tech point of view, I do agree with you. If you are not being paid, why continue to work for the company not paying you? W have all heard the promised pay is on its’ way, but not many people have seen it. A few have, but not many. Those few are far outnumbered by people still waiting.
And I am not encouraging any techs to continue to work with GeeksOnTime. I have even posted several alternative opportunities and ideas, both in my posts and on the Tech Resources page at http://www.singlemomextramoney.com/?page_id=63. I am not sure where you would have gotten that impression. Even in the Google Groups, one of which was removed by the owner, we hope things work out well for some people that work for GeeksOnTime, and that if the company does get up and running successfully again, that would resolve all the pay issues, etc., as well as the difficult positions some people there are in. Techs are truly experiencing difficulties from the lack of pay, especially those owed for a lot of time. I could not imagine being one of the people at GeeksOnTime who has to take these calls. However, don’t take this to believe in any shape, form, or fashion that because there is a hope for them to get their act together that anybody is encouraging new techs to start working for no pay, or for anyone to continue to work for no pay. I don’t like to work for free, and don’t expect anybody else to, either.
In addition, I would also like to encourage again to post to ripoffreports if you have had pay issues, as well. Last time I checked, there were 6 reports filed, and one that shows up on the site off and on in addition to those. I’m not sure why so few are speaking up, but everybody should!
September 26th, 2008
Thank for for your thoughtful and thorough response. Would you be opposed to continuing our conversation on my blog at some time in the future? I have added you to my blogroll and invite you to do the same for me. Or if you prefer I will continue to address these points here, just let me know. I do not doubt your good intentions, I just had some issues with the way you wrote things. Also I wouldn’t mind going into further detail about the inconsistencies I see in things like the “Stevie Awards.” I could split that discussion off to my own blog and leave my other comments here maybe. Sorry this response is so wordy, I can’t help it.
http://thegeekadvocate.blogspot.com
September 26th, 2008
Of course you are welcome to post whatever information you like on your own blog, geekadvocate, and, as always, you are welcome to post comments here, as well. We all have our own opinions about things, whether it is a style of writing, or anything else.
For instance, when the Enron scandal hit a few years back, I am sure that there were a few good people that had no idea what was going on were probably caught up in it. Unfortunately, many people who worked for Enron were left unpaid, or without retirement funds, etc. in that case. Many of the techs made positive statements about some people at GeeksOnTime in the original Google Group that was taken down, such as the Level 2 techs that were available.
I would also like to point out that Level 2 techs probably have no control over any kinds of finances at GeeksOnTime. Aware of the situation? Sounds like they are, and probably have been or a bit…but that does not mean they can pay us. And, especially if they have been with GeeksOnTime for a while, they may be trying to ride this whole thing out in hopes that this whole thing will be worked out.
Some may feel everybody involved with the company may be at fault, others feel specific people are to blame. I have my own opinions about who to blame;Techs that dealt with other people, or more GeeksOnTime people than I did may feel like the blame falls on different people, or more people. Again, they are entitled to their opinions, or may have different information than I do. Regardless, anyone who worked for them is entitled to their pay. Period.
I still have not been paid as of today. And, I have found additional ripoffreports under “Geeks On Time”, rather than all the words being run together. I am still encouraging people to post comments wherever they can in hopes others can avoid the financial losses we have had to deal with.
While our opinions may differ on some points, I think anybody who has been left unpaid by GeeksOnTime at the LEAST deserves the courtesy of an honest explanation from those accountable, rather than being ignored or getting multiple excuses. Mostly, I think we all deserve to be paid!
October 11th, 2008
I spoke with Daniel Matalon of geeksontime. Daniel Matalon is the “VP Director of National Client Services”. He advised me that my July statement that was not paid was the result of an automatic check system that was supposed to pay people, said that it paid people, but never did.
He went on to say that this has been going on for quite sometime, and that there is no immediate resolution except that the payments will be processed. I asked him if it would be before the end of the year, and he could not guarantee this.
October 13th, 2008
Thanks,781pac. Unfortunately, I am not really looking for this to happen. I was supposed to be paid 5 months ago, and then heard for several weeks I would b paid next week, Then, it was I’d be paid in July. Then in mid-September. Then, in mid-October. Even if it was supposedly guaranteed, I think far too many people have gotten the runaround to believe it until they see their money. In the meantime, though, we will all keep our fingers crossed. And, of course, this is one of MANY reasons people have been given for lack of payment.
Also, unfortunately, there seem to be new RipOffReports quite frequently now. (Make sure you check for Geeks On Time as well as GeeksOnTime.) One person claims to be owed $5000, others are now stating they have filed charges in court. The variety of reasons people have been given for the lack of payment is very interesting too.
February 9th, 2009
I used to work for GeeksOnTime since 2004 or so. They “used” to pay on time. I dropped them since I haven’t been paid for my last 4 jobs with them. It’s been almost a year now since the last job I had with them.
February 18th, 2009
Geeks on Time was “sold” to a company called Media Awareness International in December. The CEO of Geeks On Time, Venus McNabb, is also the CEO of Media Awareness International, so it is probably a paper shuffle.
March 12th, 2009
The “sale” involving Media Awareness International is just an attempt to take the company public and generate some revenue. MAI has changed hands 3 or 4 times over the past few years. Venus aka GeeksOnTime obtained the shell last fall and then tried to promote it as if they just acquired GeeksOnTime. One worthless company buying another. Its all BS and has failed miserably. Given this economy would you invest in a company whose share value is .0004 cents? By the way, Daniel and Venus are married. They are Canadians and very possibly working in the US illegally. They’ve scammed technicians for far too long.
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