RB Balch & Associates RB Balch Buyer / Employee Beware! Glendale, Arizona

We've been in business 19 years. We do have certain policies. One is billing for time spent at a client site; we do have a 1 hr min for onsite work; we do complete our "invoice" while onsite - but our "invoice" is also a detailed description of the work performed, any login updates or changes, product keys, IP addresses, etc. - all important/helpful information for our client; we consider documenting our work as part of the appointment, as we leave it with the client.

We are a Dell partner, but no one has to buy from us; anyone can buy from dell.com directly; we do not mark up Dell pricing you see online; we bill for our services to install, replace, upgrade, troubleshoot, etc. We will order Dell computers for our clients as a courtesy (we do not bill for placing an order).

Most parts are purchased as a reseller, and then sales tax is billed when parts are sold to a client. If parts are purchased for a specific client "on the fly" and we sell parts to the client, we are still  required to charge sales tax.  That is, if the part was purchased "retail", we still need to bill sales tax - as we are required, and we pay state and city sales tax on all taxable items old.  While this does happen, it is rare.

Everyone has time off, but varies depending on time with the company. Most of our staff work about 6 hrs per day; some onsite at client sites, some done remotely from their homes; I am unaware of anyone working 12+ days. We offer 100% company paid medical premiums, auto expenses, some company cars, and other benefits.

It is unfortunate that the "poster" had a poor experience and/or a misperception of our services and our company; I'm happy to help clarify if you would like to contact me directly. We will do a better job of training our new staff on policies and procedures in the future.

I understand that a job with our company may not be for everyone. We are looking for techs with excellent attitudes, and an aptitude to learn. We take IT seriously, and support our clients well. I sincerely hope you will give us a try (potential employees and potential clients).

I was doing a Google search for our company and was very surprised to see this coming up in our listings. Since I am a current employee of this company, with years of experience, I felt I should respond to this and correct some factual errors.

 

To respond to the first "warning" to potential clients; Yes, we do bill for the time we spend creating your invoice. We have a custom-built scheduling and invoicing system that includes history on every client going back nearly 10 years. Our invoices are extremely detailed; we do this so the client knows exactly what we did and why, and also so that historical information is saved in our system so that a year from know if a client calls and asks what password one of our consultants configured in their router, we can go back and look. This kind of detailed information is valuable to our clients, and for this reason we do bill the 10 minutes or so it takes to input, save, and print the invoice.

 

Secondly, we are a Dell reseller. If a client asks for advice regarding a new computer, we recommend Dell. We do not pressure clients to buy Dell, nor do we pressure them to buy their Dell systems through us instead of direct. We do not mark up Dell systems from the online price; our revenues are made based on the services we provide.

 

We carry many parts in our inventory that are only taxed once when we sell them. However, on rare occasions when we have to buy a part locally on short notice, we pay local sales tax when we purchase the item, and again when we resell the item. We do pass these taxes along to the client. We try to stock as many parts as possible ahead of time to minimize this from happening. The only time we bill a client time to purchase a part is if we leave an appointment to get a part and return. If we get a part prior to an appointment, we do not bill for that time. 

 

Lastly, we do in some cases charge a "diagnostic" fee if a problem can't be fixed. This is lower than the one-hour minimum charge that the client is told about prior to the appointment. We do not charge a diagnostic fee on top of our time. The fee is INSTEAD of the minimum one-hour charge, and is akin to a "trip fee" - common industry practice for mobile I.T. services.

 

To the second point; it is obvious based on the knowledge of the original poster, that this is a former employee. Let me be frank; working for our company is not easy. We have very high standards. Many new employees last only weeks based on attitude, lack of knowledge, etc.

 

There is nobody (except maybe the owner of the company) that puts in 12-hour days. Most employees work between 6-8 hours a day. Salaries are competitive for the industry; however, employees are not compensated just for having or claiming to have any kind of experience or certification. The salary is raised after a short period to a level appropriate to the skills that a new hire has demonstrated in the field.

 

Our vacation time, and sick days are comparable to other companies. Not all requested time off may be paid; it depends on how much time the employee has accrued. However, I have never had a problem getting a day off because I am sick, or I have some other personal reason for needing the day off. In some cases, if I am too sick to travel all over the city but feel okay to do some remote access work, I can optionally do so. I've never been pressured to do that though. In fact, the only thing we are pressured about is to do a good job, listen to instructions, and accurately document and bill our time. We are not instructed to overbill, or work long days, weekends, or after hours.

 

The benefits for working for this company are exceptional. Depending on how long you are with them, the benefits may include: health insurance, dental, family coverage for both, employee trips, gas, vehicle repairs, a smartphone and laptop with 4G access, company vehicle (24-7 use!), employee activities (NFL tickets, etc), holiday bonuses and so on. Easily the best company I've worked for in terms of benefits and flexibility.

 

The owner of the company is very no-nonsense. If there is a problem with something you did, you will be told about it and expected to fix it. If you want to be a mediocre employee and still get a pat on the back at the end of the day, this probably isn't the job for you. But for smart, driven and friendly people, the work environment is excellent. Unfortunately, not everyone is smart, driven and friendly; sometimes it doesn't work out, as it obviously didn't for the original author of this complaint.