ICS Merrill - EMSI Management Services Do Not Work For These People!!! Great Neck, New York

I worked out of the Great Neck, NY office for three years (July,2003 - October, 2006) after my original company, In Photo Surveillance was sold to ICS from Kroll, Inc. Despite that fact that I made a few good personal friendships with some of my co-workers, I have to say that as an investigative agency, they are completely inept. They incorporate a pay system that makes it almost impossible for the employee to keep track of what he or she is owed, which makes it that much easier for the employer to hold back payment from the investigator. For example, the year before I quit, I was told that I would be earning a 33% commission from my cases, which included surveillance and activity checks. What they failed to mention that they would vary the fees and sometimes even give the client a free day. That meant that I was getting 33% of their discounted prices and sometimes that meant working for free!

It's also ironic that for a company that investigates so much insurance fraud, they can't seem to give proper insurance to their employees. On Christmas of 2004, they switched all the investigators from full time to part time status, laid off half the people in the office, and compensated us with the worst insurance coverage imaginable. As luck would have it, I became sick the following February and my medical coverage didn't even cover 10% of my hospital costs. If it were not for the fact that I'm a veteran and was able to transfer to a VA hospital, I never would have been able to afford and receive the medical care that saved my life.

The office constantly provides the investigators with inaccurate case information, thereby jeopardizing their safety, and the management has no clue as how to conduct a proper surveillance. Luckily, I received my training from In Photo Surveillance back when they were with Kroll, Inc. When ICS bought them out, the quality of the investigative resources declined drastically. Investigators that were once provided with mini-vans, video equipment, high powered binoculars, and disguises, were now being forced used their own cars with just a video camera. At one point the office manager, even had the bright idea that the investigators should be handling the video camera and recording WHILE driving on the freeway! Luckily the corporate head honchos from Texas put a stop to that.  After 4and1/2 years, I've since left the P.I business all together. I sometimes wonder if I would have stayed with it had I not worked for these a**holes.