Delta Mechanical, Inc. Ripping off employees and customers! Brandon, Florida

Delta Mechanical Inc. (Delta) rebuts the comment made as follows:

Upon information and belief, the person(s) who submitted the above post was a former employee of Delta.  Due to the unfortunate downturn in the housing market in the State of Florida, Delta was forced to make the decision that many American companies are now being forced to make and that was to regrettably lay off this former employee.  Presumably, out of frustration and anger, this employee has now found it necessary to publicly disparage and slander Delta.  Since Delta has worked extremely hard to build its reputation as a nationwide leader in the plumbing industry and takes these allegations very seriously, it will rebut each allegation posted above in turn.

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Delta Mechanical was the worst experience I've ever had with any company. The Bulgarian mob run company (a fact they tell each employee about during his/her first day) is the shining star of bad business. Everything from taxes all the way down to an individuals commission is done in correctly with little-to-no oversight.

Delta is not run by the Bulgarian mob but run by hard-working Americans that strive to remain a nationally recognized leader in the plumbing industry so that it can continue to employ other hard working Americans.  Indeed, Delta is a star of good business achieving honors from the Heartbeat of America which recognized Delta as a key component in building the infrastructure of the United States.  Delta has also received the Rear Admiral Kevin F. Delaney Keeping American Strong Award, gold ribbon awards for superior customer service and multiple recommendations from large companies and satisfied home owners. 

As far as paying taxes and employee commission, Delta pays its required taxes in a proper and timely manner pursuant to state and federal law.  It also pays its employees competitive wages and rewards them commission based upon an established pay structure.  Hard working employees have flourished under Deltas system and Delta recognizes that its employees are its most important asset.

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Many of the employees must constantly fight to obtain the correct amount of compensation they've earned for each sale over the phone for plumbing services. Career growth is next to nil as even a raise must be begged for. Unless you're a Bulgarian, there is nowhere for you to go in the company other than out the door.

Employees do not have to fight to obtain the correct amount of compensation.  Compensation is calculated automatically through Deltas internal accounting system and paid on a biweekly basis.  If there is a dispute over compensation, Delta strives to rectify the dispute promptly.  Career growth is not next to nil but rather encouraged.  Raises are given based on job type, promotions earned and the successful completion of probationary periods.  Although the owner of Delta is of Bulgarian descent, Delta does not discriminate and refuse to employ or promote employees based upon race, color, sex or nationality.  If an employee achieves results, Delta recognizes the importance of that employee and rewards him/her accordingly.

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Even if you do try to obtain more responsibilities (such as attempting to manage certain zones in a state) you must fight an uphill battle with two of the "managers". While a professional office would see these obstacles idiotic, Delta thrives on them. When is it ever productive to allow a manager to take as many as 10 breaks a day and conduct business on a strictly emotional level?

Like all companies, Delta welcomes and encourages its employees to take on more responsibilities.  Its managers are an important and significant function of the company inasmuch as they are responsible for managing employees, projects, delegating work and insuring that assignments are completed properly, timely and efficiently to the high standards set by Delta.  Without proper management, Delta would not be one of the recognized leaders in the plumbing industry that it is today.

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The pay is also laughable. Having to take the job out of desperation due to the great recession of the recent years, $11 an hour sounds like good pay until you realize how much work and overtime you're forced to put in without being paid for it. This is supposed to be compensated by the $5 per sale commission but that is IF you are ever paid for it.

As set forth above, Delta pays its employees competitive wages and strongly encourages them to make any and all sales commissions that they can achieve.  It only makes sense that the more products/services sold, the more money that Delta and its employees make.  In so doing, Delta strictly abides by all federal/state wage/overtime laws and its employees are paid for every sales commission on a bi-weekly payroll basis as mentioned above.

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Coming from the professional world with an education, it is easy to see why this company is doing so poorly even though they are Home Depots main plumbing subcontractor.

Delta is proud to announce that, despite the economy, Delta is currently expanding and growing nationwide.

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On top of the vast amount of oversight, the company has a very illegal policy called "Charge Back" where they will deduct funds from your paycheck if something goes wrong on a job. If a sales rep accidentally forgets to ask the customer one of the several questions regarding their home or if the customer just mistakenly tells you the wrong thing and the technician is unable to perform work at the site, the employee can be charged for the technicians trip charge of $25 to $35.

Delta does not have what this person regards as a Charge Back policy nor is Delta even familiar with such a practice.  This notwithstanding, Delta does not charge back its employees for mistakes of the field technicians, or vice versa.

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Keep in mind, all houses are built differently, and not all homeowners can answer the questions correctly, but Delta does not want you to build a worst-case-scenario quote in case you lose the customer over the high price. You are truly damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Delta can guarantee the lowest final price over the telephone.  But, since houses are built differently, Deltas employees are told to discuss pricing variables with customers and alert them that a Delta employee may have to meet with the customer in person to provide him/her a more specific estimate.  As stated above, Delta has received many BBB reports and customer referrals regarding Deltas honesty to its customers.

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I personally had a "Charge Back" occur and was not shown the evidence where I had made a mistake. The form for deducting my pay was already filled out and approved by the VP before I was even talked to about the issue. All calls are supposedly recorded, but there is no way to monitor who modifies a customers invoice to change equipment or cost codes. So, if a customer calls back in and does not speak to the original sales rep and changes something, there is no way to prove who modified the system.

It is common practice in the retail industry for a company to reduce an employees pay if a customer returns goods or modifies his/her service to a lesser amount.  If a pay deduction has occurred, Delta provides the employee with proper documentation and a forum to voice a concern if he/she has one.  All of Deltas systems have logs to show which employee modified the invoice, when the invoice was modified, where the invoice was modified and when the invoice was modified.  Delta is a proactive company and also records all calls to insure accuracy and excellent customer service.

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I talked to a lawyer and go clarification on just how illegal this was. When the VP was confronted with this, he remarked that he was going to continue to do it until someone took it to court.

Delta prides itself on complying with all federal and state regulations.  Should a VP or manager notice that there was an issue with a pay deduction or if an issue was brought to his/her attention, Delta would rectify the issue in a prompt and efficient manner.

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The VP is the only plumber who holds a plumbing license, while all the other technicians are trained for a few days then set loose to install water heaters, toilets, sinks and so on. This and all the inflated pricing is approved by the Home Depot.  Parts that cost $5 are charged to the customer at an incredible mark up as much as $100 more. I was lucky enough to find a job in my profession to be able to leave Delta Mechanical, but others are just stuck.

Delta has entire departments of employees dedicated to licensing and permits and takes this aspect of its business extremely seriously.  It employs numerous licensed plumbers and holds various company licenses across the nation, all of which are listed on Deltas website www.deltamechanical.com.  These licenses are placed prominently on Deltas trucks and state exactly what type of license that is held (i.e. a master plumber, journeyman, etc.).  Deltas technicians are required to complete two weeks of training at its test facilities which replicate situations that they could expect to encounter in the field.  After completing their training, technicians are then required to shadow master plumbers for two weeks as apprentices.  Upon completion of this training, technicians must then pass a final test and gain the approval of Deltas managers before they are ever permitted to work on their own.

As far as Deltas relationship with Home Depot, Deltas installers not only go through the training as discuss above but also satisfy Home Depots compliance system.  Pricing is approved by Home Depot and is consistent and competitive with other similar companies in the industry.

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In conclusion, Delta prides itself on the reputation it has built as a nationwide leader in the plumbing industry.  If any reader, prospective customer, business partner or interested person has any questions regarding the issues mentioned above, we here at Delta invite you to call us at 480-898-0007 and ask for Steven Nikolov.

Sincerely,

Delta Mechanical, Inc.