Warning : Geeks On Time Not on Time With Paychecks

You know, everybody thinks, “Oh, if only I could work at home, everything would be great! I’d have time with the kids, I’d make a bunch of money…”

Yes, this is the part where I laugh at all that think that way! I’ve been working at home for a few months, and in many ways, I love it. In reality, it’s not necessarily more pay than a go to the office type job. And, the issues I have working from my cute little office are worlds apart from what I had in a regular workplace!

First, the pros:

• I more or less make my own schedule.
• I actually can work in my pj’s
• I’m not interrupted by co-workers
• My paycheck is dependent on how much effort I put forth
• NO commute!

Next, the cons:

• My own schedule sometime requires pulling all-nighters to make clients happy & meet deadlines
• Try working in your pj’s after pulling above-mentioned all-nighter…makes naps a little too tempting sometimes!
• I’m interrupted by kids & dogs rather than co-workers
• Sometimes, that paycheck isn’t quite as forthcoming as it should be, regardless of effort

So, how hard is all this to juggle sometimes? (Keep in mind, in real life, I could add many more things to both these lists!) The all-nighters are actually easy. Once I really get into a project, I can focus on it until it’s done, and I often don’t even realize how much time has passed. And the trade off is usually a longer weekend and a happier client. That’s totally worth it to me.

The clothes part, I really love. Now, I do try not to work in my pj’s That actually makes me feel a little too casual. I am a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl, though, so there is nothing I hate worse than having to pick out clothes especially to wear to an office day, after day, after day! So, I wear my T’s and jeans,and the person at the other end of the phone never knows the difference.

The interruption part. When I worked in an office wearing my dress up clothes every day, there was always somebody sticking their head in the door. They only needed “a minute or so.” Yeah, right. That minute usually turned into 30 non productive minutes. An then the whole process would repeat itself with the next person! A whole day could easily go by with none of my “real work” getting done, simply because of these impromptu meetings. Now, I can work and get stuff done! I love it! If I’m not available to take a call, I simply don’t take it. Nobody can track down receptionist to tell her I must take the call, and most people won’t actually get in their car, drive to my house, and knock on my door. Actually, my clients know I am not avoiding them. I do return all my calls quickly. I simply avoid being distracted by the phone when it isn’t a good time to stop what I am doing. I get more done faster, my clients are happy, and that makes me happy

Oh, and the part about the kids & dogs interrupting? It does happen. Amazingly enough, not nearly as much as I thought it would. (Although both have a knack for picking the most awkward time imaginable!)

But, my biggest complaint today is the paycheck part. Usually, my efforts are well rewarded. I do a little advertising, get a couple of freelance jobs, get paid, and stay happy. But, when I initially started working from my house, that is not the way it worked. Now, I honestly wasn’t happy where I was at. And I was looking for a job that would give me more flexibility and let me stay home in my jeans.

I was thrilled when I got a phone call offering me a job with Geeks On Time. There were nationwide, had been around for about 9 years, had won national awards, and had no negative publicity. They had one BBB complaint, which had been successfully resolved in 2005. Sounds great, huh?

Well, it started off that way, but didn’t stay that way. Once I was trained and on my own, I started trying to schedule techs to take service calls. There was a huge database of techs available, and it was often recommended to me which techs I should try to use for certain geographic areas.

This was where the problems started. Getting a tech to take a service call was impossible when they hadn’t been paid.

So, I would try another tech. Then would find out that one hadn’t been paid either.

I can’t even guess the number of techs I had talked to that had not been paid. According to the tech database, some of them had done hundreds of jobs for Geeks On Time. According to them, at first, they thought nonpayment was because of an oversight. So they tried to call & email the Geeks On Time to get the money they were owed. Often, they were told they would be paid next week. But when next week rolled around, they didn’t get paid either. Some of them told me they had spoken with Daniel Matalon and Venus McNabb, the two top executives, who were apologetic and told them they would be paid.

They still never saw their money.

I personally forwarded email from some of these techs, then tried to call them for other calls that came in. They still refused,even weeks later, because they had still not been paid!

I ended up leaving Geeks On Time with short notice for two reasons. One, I was actually having electrical issues in my home that were a fire hazard. By the time the landlord got these fixed, I had been without power for about two weeks. When I realized that the repairs were going to take so long, I felt like I needed to make a quick decision. I couldn’t work from home, but couldn’t really leave it, either. Between my growing concern over the finances at Geeks On Time, and the electrical problems, I called and told them I would not be returning to work there.

Anyway, I had a long phone conversation with Daniel Matalon himself about why I would no longer work for Geeks On Time. Bottom line: single mom, no child support, and I didn’t think the company had the money to pay me. He tried to convince me otherwise, saying there were disputes about the techs’ work, etc. Well, guess what? My first paycheck from them was actually short, and one of the techs with a “dispute about the quality of work” had calls that I handled from start to finish. Not only did the customer call to say he was very professional, knowledgeable, and nice after the service call, I had other customers that specifically requested this particular tech. But, I couldn’t send him on any more calls – he hadn’t been paid, had the nerve to get upset, and was fired. Oh, but his work wasn’t up to par. (Yeah, right, I totally believe that.)

And, just as I had feared, I didn’t get my paycheck either. I didn’t even try to collect it at first. I didn’t think I would ever see it, and figured it wasn’t worth the trouble. Now don’t get me wrong, the loss still hurt. It was a third of the income I had budgeted for the month.

Then Daniel emailed me, two months later, asking me to come back to Geeks On Time!!! Please, feel free to giggle at this part- I certainly did. Of course, I love to work for FREE!!!!

I pointed out that I hadn’t been paid, and that would have to be resolved before I could even consider his offer. That was almost a month ago. I still haven’t been paid, and Daniel Matalon and Venus McNabb are now both ignoring my requests for either pay or a status update. I have pointed out to them several times that both service logs and emails will show the exact time that I worked there, other employees have also verified it, and I still have NO PAY!

So, there may be happy, well paid employees at Geeks On Time. But, if you are looking for a job with them, as a tech or a Service Manager, or anything else, please consider yourself warned: Geeks On Time doesn’t pay on time. Sometimes, Geeks On Time doesn’t pay at all.