Beware

Hi, I actually got wrangled in to working for this company. Not in PA, but in another state. Each 'division' is run mostly independently with the main office being located in California. But from what I experienced from the other 'managers' in my state, and the multiple contacts I have made with people from other states, it is obviously run with similar disregard to the customers. I originally thought that this might be a tremendous opportunity.Though I took all the information I received from the Higher Ups in the company with a grain of salt, I still trusted that it was mostly truth with the general positive 'spin'. That is not the case with this company, lies and mis-information is rampant throughout. Not only are many of the clients being victimized, but the college students themselves are being preyed upon. Throughout my time with the company I kept a foolishly (in hindsight) optimistic outlook. I kept believing that by the end, I would receive a revelation that would make everything make sense. I was led to believe that the difficulties I faced were due to my own faults, so I tried even harder. What I eventually came to realize...The simple fact is that most of the people who make it in this company have no regard for other people. Anyone who does is at a severe disadvantage, and will eventually either lose themselves, or lose their position with the company. I personally tried to give my clients the best that I could, even though there are no bonuses for customer service, and spent a lot more money than budgeted because what I was allowed to spend would not cover what I had led the client to believe they were receiving.

I know it doesn't count for much if you have already been conned by this company, but I truly am sorry for you. If you find this before you join/sign a contract, I hope that you will take this message to heart and not work with them.

VERY IMPORTANT: The reason the prices for college works are so high are not because they have excellent service. Because if you look them up, they obviously don't. It is because they don't pass on the discounts they get from the paint store.They charge as much or more than if you supplied the paint yourself. But most of the Overhead comes from something entirely unrelated to how your house is painted. It comes in the form of VACATIONS. A yearly trip to Las Vegas, all expense paid, with free drinks and VIP service to every VP, DM and high selling interns in the country takes place in the late spring. In the fall the destination is much more exotic...CANCUN. Again ALL the DM's, VP's, and highest selling/producing interns are treated to a complimentary trip. Not only that, but also all the employees from California who work in the background of the company. These events are national, add on to this the events that happen within each state and VOILA why you are being charged so much for so very little.

For potential clients here is a list of a few things you should know about the timeline they work on:

1) Fall/Spring Recruit the Branch Manager- They were recruited from the Universities even though this company has no affiliation with any of them, also many of their recruiting tactics are prohibited. Then they attend an orientation, and one Sales conference which is generally a week or two before Super Bowl Sunday.

They do sales until May, when they attend their Paint conference.

2) Paint Training- This is their first introduction into what it really takes to 'manage' their summer. NO ACTUAL PAINTING TAKES PLACE in the conference room. Instead they are treated to 8 hours of how to do Payroll, and how to 'adjust' hours so that their painters only make the bare minimum.

3) Training house- One of the clients who is easy going and wanted to go early is set up to have their house painted by the interns. Takes a few days, with all interns working a few shifts. (this is the first time 90% of them have encountered any of the equipment or tools used to paint your house. by the end, NOT all of them have even used a sprayer.

4) Mid-MAY- They begin to interview their painters, usually in a coffee place or other such area. Despite any promises made to any clients about experienced painters, and the common sales technique "all of our painter's are re-trained by the company", neither of these things is a necessity, and the latter is usually a lie. (the training they speak of is actually nothing more than being shown how to use a ladder properly, showing them the safety on the handle of the sprayer, and showing them how to strap into a safety harness. No hands on training is given to ensure they know how and where to anchor the harness, or the best ways to handle the sprayer). Remember at this time many of them are on a deadline, they NEED a painter to paint your house, so whoever shows up and isn't old, fat, or a convicted murderer is who they hire, unless they hire their college buddies instead.
They also begin looking at which clients are the easiest houses with the easiest home owners, because this is their first house ever painted. That means even if you were promised May, if you have a large house, or if you seem somewhat impatient then this is not going to be you, they want the people who won't complain when they mess up, which will happen.

5) Last week of May/Second week of June- The district Manager spends ONE DAY with each branch manager as they individually begin production. This means that after ONE DAY the managers and their brand new painters are on their own painting your home. (Also, despite all promises made about time-lines, NO BRANCH MANAGERS PAINT BEFORE THE END OF MAY. Their are a few "Executive Managers" (1+ yrs. exp.) who paint at this time, by a few I mean usually 1-2 PER STATE.

6) June/July- Every other Friday is a mandatory meeting where the managers turn in paperwork (excluding any unfavorable reviews they may have received), often listen to a guest speaker talk about starting their own company, and have some sort of event.

7) August- they are encouraged to be wrapping their clients up by September. At this point you should know that very few of the managers hired make it this far, many of them are used just for sales, and once they squeeze out as many clients as possible, they are let go, and those clients, who believed they would be working with Manager A, are now working with Manager B. Many managers leave throughout the summer as well, which means some clients work with more than 5 different people before they actually work with the one who ends up painting their house. If you get transferred between managers you will often end up here. At the end of the line of whoever is left.

sorry that this ended up being rather longer than expected, but there was so much that could be said, and it took an amazingly short amount of time in order to say it. Because the problems were so pervasive throughout the entirety of CWP.