I was hired by Home Remodelers Group in February to sell windows. Within a few weeks the sunroom and deck division learned that I had sold sunrooms and I was put in that division.
Within two months it became evident the company did not have the expertise or ability to so much as apply for building permits in timely fashion. Worse, Denise Cabello, the "coordinator" for the division, lied repeatedly about the status of filings for building permits.
Even though applications for permits had never been submitted to cities and towns, the company sent letters to my customers stating "due to circumstances beyond our control, your project is delayed in zoning". Customers not being nearly as dumb as the company expects, they called their zoning departments to complain of the delay, only to be told that the company never had filed applications. Of course customers were (rightfully) distrusting of the company after that, and many canceled their contracts.
Because the contracts were canceled, I was not paid. I quit at the end of May, with NONE of my deck and sunroom sales completed. Some of the jobs were eventually built... Some six, seven and eight months after the dates of the contracts.
In June I decided to give the company another try. Working in the windows division last year was both profitable and fun. Because building permits are not generally needed for replacement windows, and because the personnel in the windows division were much more competent, I knew I would be successful.
On arrival for my interview with the new manager, Kevin Spitzer, I told Kevin I absolutely did not want to sell decks because of Denise Cabello's and Andy Gemeindhart's failure to get the jobs done last year. Kevin informed me the problems were not Denise's fault, but Andy's. He told me he had assurances from both Denise and Andy that decks would be built in 8 weeks and sunrooms in 12 weeks. It seemed logical that in the year I was gone the personnel would have learned to work more efficiently, so I reluctantly agreed provided I would be given window sales leads. I expressed my concerns on virtually daily basis, and was assured by Kevin Spitzer that the jobs would be done. My sales amounted to $222,798 for the months of June, July and August. The problem was... Not a single building permit had been applied for... Not one. During these months I continually followed up with Kevin Spitzer and inquired about the status of the jobs of Denise Cabello and Andy Gemeindhart.
Finally, at the end of August, I demanded that Denise give me the drawings and permit applications for my jobs so that I could obtain the permits myself.in reviewing my files, she told me that she had mailed a permit to Matawan, NJ but had not received a reply back. A simple phone call to the building department revealed that the permit application was received by Matawan Building Department, but it was the wrong agency to file the request with. Matawan had phoned the office weeks earlier instructing that the application be picked up, but noone was given the message by Denise.
So... I drove to Matawan to pick up the permit and deliver it to Old Bridge Township, then went to the Edison Building Department to file the only other permit request Denise Cabello ahd prepared.
The zoning officer at Edison was a very agreeable guy. He advised me he could not accept the application on the form provided by Denise Cabello (interestingly, she had on a number of occasions bragged about how good she was at working with Edison because she knew ALL of their procedures). The zoning officer provided me with the proper form, which I immediately drove to the customer's business and had signed.
That same afternoon, contrary to the complaints often heard about zoning and building departments, the zoning officer approved the application.
On my way out of the building, I noticed that the dimensions of the structure were wrong. The sunroom and deck dimensions were not drawn to scale. The zoning officer approved the size indicated by the drawing on the survey. I went back to the zoning officer, who instructed me in amending the drawing to the correct dimensions and he changed the approval on the form. From there, engineering and building departments completed their reviews and provided the permit in only two weeks.
The next morning, I wrote Bill Thiede, Vice President, a letter explaining the events described, and urgently requesting a transfer to the windows sales division. That afternoon, he called me on my cell phone.in his office were the sales managers for the windows division, the company's "ace salesman", and training manager. The conversation was on speaker phone so all could hear.
Bill Thiede quoted from letter, calling my descriptions of events "bullshit" repeatedly. He basically said that my objections were not valid because Dan Raia, his "ace" salesman, sells $2,000, 000 per year. I told Mr. Theide that he cannot compare my sales to Dan's, as he phones the marketing company in Dallas every morning to review all of the day's appointments and pick those most promising... A practice specifically prohibited within the company, but obviously done by Dan with Bill's knowledge and consent.
At this point, Mr. Thiede agreed to my transfer to the windows division provided I "never repeat to anyone in the office" what I knew about Dan's special priveleges.
As you might imagine, I no longer work for Mark Four Enterprises. From June 1 through October 13, I put 25,000 on my vehicle, paying for my own gas and expenses.in the meantime, I was paid some $4,500 in advances, most of which will have to be repaid if the jobs are not built.
During the course of this writing, I received a call from a customer in West Orange telling me he is canceling his contract because he get no return phone calls from Denise Cabello and Andy Gemeindhart.
In five months of sales, one sunroom has been built... The one in Edison that I obtained the permit for. That contract called for the construction of a sunroom and a deck for the sum of $38,000. On completion of the sunroom, the installer requested payment of $23,000, even though work had not begun on the deck (work has still not begun on the deck). The owner refused to pay, citing the terms in the contract. Kevin Spitzer phoned me to tell me it is my responsibility to get the owner to pay. I said no, the terms of the contract call for payment on completion of the entire job. That customer told me 4 months ago she is going to India for an extended stay at the end of November. I made numerous comments to Kevin Sptizer and to Andy about this over the months, and told andy when the sunroom job was almost complete to get ready for the deck. All was simply ignored.
The customer in Matawan called yesterday to say that Andy told her the building inspectors were scheduled to inspect the holes for the footings today. She called the building department and was told that no such appointment existed.
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