New GeeksOnTime Group
So, since the old group is private, a new group has been put it place for people to share their experience with GeeksOnTime in public. I think there is the hope that somebody from GeeksOnTime will actually post a public explanation for what is going on. (For that matter, they could actually post one here, if they want to!) Oh, the new group is at http://groups.google.com/group/techs-unite-2?hl=en.
Today, I’m going to take a slightly different approach to this though. So, if I were one of the powers that be at GeeksOnTime right now, I think I would be absolutely mortified. Having been featured in the media by CNN, Yahoo, and Forbes, I certainly would not want to face the fact that my techs weren’t being paid. And what is the solution to that? It isn’t as though GeeksOnTime could turn away customers, right? I mean, you don’t want to be on the phone with somebody calling for service, and have to tell them you can’t afford to pay the tech. So, you take the call. But, then it starts to get a little hairy. How many techs are they having to call to find one willing to risk being unpaid, who will actually do the service call, and do it right? How long will it be before techs start doing bad work, because they don’t think they will be paid? How long will it be before techs start saying they will take a call, then not showing up? How long can you keep stringing the customer along before they decide to go with a competitor’s service instead, because that competitor can provide a knowledgeable tech promptly? And how many times today will you be screamed at by a tech, because they haven’t been paid? And so on.
I imagine all this is incredibly stressful for the people at GeeksOnTime. I wouldn’t want to be one of them right now, that is for certain! We’re still hearing good things about SOME of you guys, if that helps any. Sounds like most of the blame is being put on two specific people.
But, when people who have not been paid are ignored to the point where they feels the only actions left are to go public, and go the legal route, you have to take some kind of action. The general feelings among the techs are that they are being ignored and lied to. Just let people know what is going on. Ok, so you are broke? I’m sure everybody has been there, and can understand that. Techs aren’t turning in their paperwork? I’m not going for that one either. May apply in some cases, but some of the techs say they have submitted their paperwork many times, and have been going through the “We’ll pay you next week” cycle until they get to the “Being Ignored” phase too. And realistically, if anybody was talking to them, they could provide this paperwork over, and over, and over again.
Oh, and then there is “Your work is in dispute” excuse. The techs have been personally requested on some of their calls, because the customer was so happy with that particular tech in the past. Some of these techs also sound like they have done many calls for GeeksOnTime, some of them going back several years. So, that doesn’t give credibility to that, either. Customers don’t request bad techs – they ask for the GOOD ones.
I’m sure there are more, but I can’t remember them all right this second.
Especially from the techs who have done lots of work with GeeksOnTime in the past, we are still hearing some good things about the company. They have some great tech support for techs out on calls, they love the service managers, etc. And all these techs feel like they have earned the right to a little honesty. And, obviously, their pay. If GeeksOnTime could let people know what is truly happening, then maybe there would be a way to fix all this that much faster. Nobody wants to see the company go under; many of us enjoyed working with them in the past. So, GeeksOnTime; we haven’t heard from you yet. What is really going on? What is the game plan to fix it?
Oh, and for everybody visiting this site; I’m getting alot of traffic, so if you want to post a comment, it WILL be seen. I won’t share your personal info with anybody. I like that on the public Google Group that they posted to keep it somewhat professional. Let’s stick to that rule here, too. Complain, share your story, whatever, but let’s try to avoid acting like little kids. So, no calling GeeksOnTime people really bad names ( I delete those comments,anyway.) Try to keep your swearing to a minimum. You can post who you talk to there, and what they said, and if they actually helped you collect your pay. Got the inside scoop? Post it.We’d love to hear it. And, there’s a rumor going around that some of the GeeksOnTime VPs are checking this site occasionally too…again, would love to hear from them, too. We just want this fixed.
This post has 5 comments
August 23rd, 2008
The way they are acting, they don’t deserve to be running a company. They should hand it over to the techs. We’re the only ones taking any responsible action.
August 25th, 2008
We can all certainly agree; we would like to hear something from GeeksOnTime about what is really going on. We have far too many technicians who know how to follow the protocol there, and who were specifically requested for service calls. So, they evidently were doing things right.
Some of the comments indicate that some technicians had good, long term working relationships with them. Unfortunately, even those techs are now admitting that is no longer the case. So, as for what brought about the current situation, who really knows? The people that have the answer don’t seem to be very forthcoming at this time. And, since from our point of view, GeeksOnTime should be held accountable for their actions, they don’t seem to share that feeling quite yet. It is admittedly their responsibility to clean this up, and many techs have even indicated that if things go back to the way they were, they will start running service calls again. So it sounds like if GeeksOnTime starts acting responsible NOW, they can recover fairly quickly. If the same thing starts again, though, I’m not so sure they would be so lucky.
Oh, and by the way – I still haven’t been paid, either.
January 4th, 2009
Take it from an insider, there are larger problems than what seems and even employees are feeling the pain of what has happened.
I know someone who worked for Geeksontime intimately for several years and who I believe was the main contact for payment with technicians for awhile before she quit because of these issues.
From all accounts it seems like not even employees were being given the full story about what was going on and felt as lied to as the technicians. Pay was inconsistant for everyone and the situation was difficult.
I know at least three past employees of Geeksontime and all say they loved the company but could not get past what was being done in the end.
March 12th, 2009
I wrote the software that Geeks uses to run their site. I wasn’t being paid for my time and ended up taking them to court. We reached a settlement out of court, but Venus and Daniel have since reneged on it (they did pay about half of the amount owed). I don’t expect to receive a penny more from them. I know these two on a personal level. People should be aware that this business is run 100% by Venus and Daniel (who are husband and wife btw) – they allow no one to have access to the business side of things. They use the business as a personal ATM and spend money like it’s water. They keep no records of anything and own nothing. They have absolutely no regard for any of their employees. Anyone who questions anything finds themselves on the outside almost overnight. They are masters at finding very good people who become dedicated to the company until they finally get screwed over. So yes I agree with the posts in support of the staff – they generally are trying to do the right thing.
As for Venus and Daniel – I can only hope they will some day get what is due to them.
July 4th, 2011
This is exactly what I was lokiong for. Thanks for writing!
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