Mueller Services Inc. - Insurance Loss Control Surveys

I too Worked for Mueller for about 5 months. It was going to be par time fill in work for me but they were demanding a few hours each day. Made my time for anything else unproductive. After working for an Architect and being around construction for 30 years I felt I had a good base of knowledge of construction. I crossed my supervisor over construction methods of a high end home. She insisted it could not be built as I had diagramed it. I instead it could and I could draw and build it. Another point of disagreement was over a home which I said had E.I.F.S. system of exterior finish which the supervisor instead that it was cement stucco and she determined this from the photo and the neighborhood. Well I had been on site and examined it up close and it was positively EIFS and had the photos to prove it. Lesson learned never tell you supervisor that they are wrong. After that it seamed that every inspection I submitted was rejected by QA and additional time sent at my cost. Things went south from there real quick and in the end I was told that they were losing money on every inspection I went on. After hinging it over I told them that I was also losing money on every inspection I did for them and quit. Best thing I ever did. The only thing good I can say about Mueller is that I got paid training, and learned what insurance companies to never buy insurance from.

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Originally Posted by Randy Ashcraft

I too Worked for Mueller for about 5 months. It was going to be par time fill in work for me but they were demanding a few hours each day. Made my time for anything else unproductive. After working for an Architect and being around construction for 30 years I felt I had a good base of knowledge of construction. I crossed my supervisor over construction methods of a high end home. She insisted it could not be built as I had diagramed it. I instead it could and I could draw and build it. Another point of disagreement was over a home which I said had E.I.F.S. system of exterior finish which the supervisor instead that it was cement stucco and she determined this from the photo and the neighborhood. Well I had been on site and examined it up close and it was positively EIFS and had the photos to prove it. Lesson learned never tell you supervisor that they are wrong. After that it seamed that every inspection I submitted was rejected by QA and additional time sent at my cost. Things went south from there real quick and in the end I was told that they were losing money on every inspection I went on. After hinging it over I told them that I was also losing money on every inspection I did for them and quit. Best thing I ever did. The only thing good I can say about Mueller is that I got paid training, and learned what insurance companies to never buy insurance from.

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Randy,
If all of your surveys were rejected by QA, there was obviously something wrong with the information you were supplying. If it was at your own cost, that is because you didn't submit the time spent to correct your errors. Did your supervisor tell you to not add that time? Like all businesses, losing money can only last so long before a change needs to be made. Sounds like a win-win to part ways. You received your training and additional knowledge and the supervisor didn't have to worry about the bottom line in your area.



On a different topic:
Have any of you worked with an accountant to claim the mileage difference of $0.40/mi to the government rate of $0.56/mi?

Also curious if any of you current reps are using PhoenixMobile and what your thoughts are.

Finally had to formally quit the field rep job. The places Mueller sent me were often extremely interesting and I discovered areas in my region that I previously never knew existed. However, the pay was ridiculously low and the increased demand became all consuming.

I understand that Mueller needs to be competitive with other insurance inspection companies. Nonetheless, I do not know how most rural area field reps can make it work. I could not help but laugh when the Muller Rapport recommended that field reps PURCHASE (with their own money) the Microsoft mapping software. I guess some employers can get away with a lot when there are enough desperate people in a down economy.

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Originally Posted by Current FR

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Randy,
If all of your surveys were rejected by QA, there was obviously something wrong with the information you were supplying. If it was at your own cost, that is because you didn't submit the time spent to correct your errors. Did your supervisor tell you to not add that time? Like all businesses, losing money can only last so long before a change needs to be made. Sounds like a win-win to part ways. You received your training and additional knowledge and the supervisor didn't have to worry about the bottom line in your area.



On a different topic:
Have any of you worked with an accountant to claim the mileage difference of $0.40/mi to the government rate of $0.56/mi?

Also curious if any of you current reps are using PhoenixMobile and what your thoughts are.

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I have done my taxes and the mileage difference is deductible, if you have enough total business expenses to be deductible.

I meant to post this on this thread yesterday but created a new one instead so here it is...

Hello folks!!

This has been a very interesting read to say the least! After reading this thread, part of another and the info from Glassdoor, I decided to do the phone interview and get the ball rolling.

I think I have a good grasp on the pros/cons of Mueller from the plethora of post on here. I will approach this like I have everything else...with a positive outlook! Given the amount of negative opinions I will be cautiously optimistic.

I don't have any experience in a related field but I have been in sales and self employed most of my career, so self motivation and management isn't an issue. I will participate in step 2 tomorrow which is the webinar and then the second interview with the manager in my territory.

One of the concerns I do have is in regards to what I've read about rural areas. I not only live in a rural area, the territory I'm interviewing for doesn't even include my county. It consist of 3 counties that are adjacent to mine. Based on all I've read on here I don't know if this will work or not, but there's only one way to findout!!

Thank you all for your past and future post and all the insight!! I look forward to more!!

I just had a phone interview with Mueller Services. The only thing they asked me was what my availability was, expected pay, how far I was from the job location, and if I was a felon and few other background information. Is this typical for the first interview? I don't know how you could see if someone is qualified for a job just by asking simple questions like this.

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Originally Posted by Jon Holmes

I just had a phone interview with Mueller Services. The only thing they asked me was what my availability was, expected pay, how far I was from the job location, and if I was a felon and few other background information. Is this typical for the first interview? I don't know how you could see if someone is qualified for a job just by asking simple questions like this.

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Mueller has such a high turnover rate, you don't have to have any qualifications. You just have to pass the tests after the training.

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Originally Posted by Jon Holmes

I just had a phone interview with Mueller Services. The only thing they asked me was what my availability was, expected pay, how far I was from the job location, and if I was a felon and few other background information. Is this typical for the first interview? I don't know how you could see if someone is qualified for a job just by asking simple questions like this.

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The initial questions are probably meant to weed out people who either live too far, have little availability, or need to make more than what can be paid. This makes sense since the job will fail if these criteria can't be met. Beyond that, yes, there are other qualifications needed to succeed. You will not make it through training if you are completely clueless to home construction. You will not make it if you think it's ok to fudge answers. You will not make it if you don't actually read, absorb, and study the training material. If you do have construction knowledge, the training is a little easier, but you still have to work to learn the job of reporting the information correctly. Once you pass all the tests, it takes a while for you to maximize your income since the job requires practice to get the most financial returns. That takes commitment. It can't just be a part-time job you pick up for a while to pay your car note.

Here's a comparison: If you were applying for a bartenders job, and were completely clueless to the difference between wine, beer, and spirits, you probably will fail training in a frustrating way. If you have some prior knowledge, say if you were a waiter or just visited enough bars as a customer, you have a better chance of passing the bartender tests and getting the job, but only after hard work learning recipes, wine types, and ringing sales. Once you get your very first bar tending job, don't expect the big bucks to roll in on day one. Even if you know all the recipes in Mr. Boston's, it takes practice before you reach a point where you aren't thinking CONSTANTLY about ingredients or which is the correct glass, etc. After your first few days of killing yourself behind the bar and making little money, you will be frustrated.

If you are as short-sighted as some of the frustrated people who post here after applying/working for Mueller and failing because they expected ez money from day one, you will fail, and not understand why. There is a learning curve in this job. Depending on your background, it might take weeks before it clicks in, but when it does, everything gets easier and faster. You no longer have to stop and think about every decision. You look up and just start sketching and can knock out a huge house in the time it takes to walk around it. On an average day, I can knock out 12-14 exteriors in 4-5 hours with ease. If you like reporting on construction materials, filling forms, sketching, photography, working outside, and providing a service for people, you will learn fast and the job will be great. If you don't like these things, or you think you can learn this job in 5 min, you will fail. Ask ANY bartender how long it took them to really get the job down, and they will probably say weeks. Nothing really satisfying happens overnight, or without hard work and commitment.


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Randy Ashcraft is an example that a manager/supervisor will create the scenario that will result in a desired outcome while providing a way for the supervisor to CYA if challenged for cause. Managers/supervisors dislike being challenged, it is an ego thing, and will go to extremes to maintain a feeling of self importance and protect an inflated ego.:mad: Its possible Randy could have been an idiot, but if that were the case his supervisor would have fired him early and not carried him along. So I tend to think the problem was with the supervisor.

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On a different topic, hoping that it has not been posted earlier in this thread.

This is from another thread that followers of this thread may not have noticed.

Insurance inspections, being different from Home Inspections, seem to be hidden under a basket. But this thread seems to shed some light and provide a resource for those interested whats going on and what to expect.
Insurance Inspection Fees?

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...ine=1240376302 Dana Bostick
http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...ser-online.png

I currently do a few inspections for Millennium Information Services. They provide inspection services to most of the major residential insurance carriers. Their payment schedule totally sucks.

I know I'm probably just pissing in the wind but I thought I would do a little research on some of the message boards to provide some feedback to Millennium in an attempt to get them to raise my fee schedule or tell them to just piss off. LOL
;
1. Do any of you guys do these kinds of inspections?
2. What sort of fee schedule does the company you work with provide?


While there are many variations, the most common inspection they request is called a "Condition Check" which is essentially a drive-by with a few pictures, not even requiring contact with the resident. Fee=$8.50


The next step up is called an "EHP" as in Electrical, Heating & Plumbing inspection which adds additional requirement of making an appointment and entering the house to get additional pictures of the systems.
Fee=$20.00

Next in line is an exterior only with pictures and a measured footprint sketch of the primary dwelling and any outbuildings. Fee= +$10 over regular fee.


Next Is a "Mid-Value" , typical requiring all of the above plus pictures and comments of all the major rooms.
Fee= $40.00


Lastly is called a "High-Value" which is essentially a mid-value with considerably more detail such as actually measuring all the rooms and commenting on linear feet of crown molding, base molding, millwork etc. and interviewing the client about age of home, when purchased, when upgrades/replacements were done, value of home, contents, contract employees that have access etc.
Fee= $90

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Originally Posted by Garry Sorrells

I currently do a few inspections for Millennium Information Services. They provide inspection services to most of the major residential insurance carriers. Their payment schedule totally sucks.

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Garry, I've been getting work from Millennium for about 2 years now and if you think
Millennium's fee schedule sucks, you definitely don't want to get work from Mueller.

I'll give you some comparisons:

- Millennium's fee schedule is broken into 4 "Areas" based on survey location (city to
rural).
- Mueller's fees are the same whether your surveys are all within a couple miles of each
other or all 15, 20, 30, or more miles apart from each other.

- Millennium - "Condition Check": 8.50-11.00
- Mueller - Calls them "Exteriors w/No Diagram or Replacement Cost": 13.00

- Millennium report takes about half the time as Mueller

- Millennium - "RCT Inspection": 11.00-21.00
- Mueller - Calls them "Exterior With Diagram & Replacement Cost": 15.00

- Millennium report takes about half the time as Mueller

- Millennium - "Mid Value": 40.00-55.00
- Mueller - Mueller calls them "Interior/Exterior": 32.00

- Millennium report takes about half the time as Mueller

- Millennium - "High Value": 90.00-120.00
- Mueller - Also called "High Value": 52.00

- Millennium report takes about half the time as Mueller

- Millennium - "Wood stove supplement": 10.00-16.00, "Wood stove" Stand alone: 14.00-20.00
- Mueller - Wood stove discovered during appointment survey: 0.00, Wood stove confirmed
during an exterior only survey: 6.00

- Millennium - Close-out with no site visit: Pays 3.00 for an appointment survey if the insured does not return your calls.
- Mueller - Close-out with no site visit: Pays 0.00

- Millennium - Close-out with site visit: Pays 9.00 for a no-show appointment or if you can't locate a non-appointment survey.
- Mueller - Makes you go back with no additional compensation.

- Millennium's photo up-loader is twice as fast. Although Millennium requires labels on all
photos, the list of labels is concise and the label you give each photo determines the
order and positions them automatically.
- Mueller's photo up-loader is slow, laggy, and crashes often. Not all surveys require
photo labeling, but you still need to manually reorder each photo individually.

- Millennium's Sketch tool is fast, easy, and precise. To adjust a wall, you simple click
and drag. When you save the diagram, all the square footage, story types, foundation
type percentages, etc. from the diagram are automatically calculated and inserted into
the replacement cost form.
- Mueller's Sketch tool is completely unintuitive and is completely lacking in precision
requiring you to zoom in and out in order to even select an object. Adjusting just one
wall requires you to delete one wall and adjust the adjacent wall and then redraw the
deleted wall and then reselect the area type.

- Millennium diagrams take about half the time as Mueller

- Millennium - "Quality Control": QC reps are very knowledgeable and rejections are rare.
- Mueller - "Quality Assurance": QA reps have no idea what they're doing or what they're
looking at. Rejections are frequent and usually incorrect.

- Millennium does not use an interior, exterior completion, rejection percentage scoring
system. Millennium treats its field reps as adults, not like grade school children.
- Mueller uses a convoluted rating system. If you have an appointment survey and the
insured never returns your call, is a no-show, or you have a bad phone number and have to close, your "Interior Completion" rating is negatively impacted. If you have exterior only survey and have been given bad address info and can't find the location and have to close, you're "Exterior Completion" rating is negatively impacted. If you are unable to make an appointment within the the allotted time frame and need to close out the survey, the survey automatically goes into "overdue" status and your "Overdue" rating is negatively impacted. If you get an incorrect rejection that is past the due date (even though it was submitted on time), you're "Overdue" rating is negatively impacted.


I think the clear winner is Millennium.

Either way, my home inspection business has been growing and I will be phasing out the insurance inspections and Mueller will be the first to go.

I just came across this thread, and I admit I haven't read all 400 replies, so sorry if I'm repeating what others have said.


I saw the fees quoted by Roadie and I wanted to make sure those thinking of applying at Mueller don't expect the same. Are you a contractor, Roadie? I've been working there 3 years, and they haven't changed for me despite the fact that almost every insurance company has increased their report requirements. They also pulled a cute little stunt in they way they handled mileage. It's not reimbursed, instead a portion of our income is tax-free. When I started it was $0.51/mile, now it's $0.40/mile (or thereabouts). Not that big a deal, a few tax pennies, right? But in doing so it meant an increase in the taxed portion, and the taxed portion is what determines whether you meet your base wage through your fees. If you spend enough time on your cases that the fees don't earn you your base hourly wage, Mueller adds the difference. The tax change was brilliant business move, one that saves them many thousands in wages, while subtle enough that I bet a lot of FRs don't even realize the impact. The pay system is confusing already.

As far as I know, the fees below are fairly standard (or they were 3 years ago when I was trained), but if others have started in the last year or two and have been making higher fees, I'd sure like to hear about it! (Those in areas with high costs of living are making more, I'm sure. I'm in a mid-size city.)

I sure would like to work for Millennium.

Occupancy verification (which includes photos of home, outbuildings, and any hazards): $6
Exterior survey with no sketch (but with hazards and descriptions of them): $10
Exterior with sketch: $13
Interior/exterior: $26
High value: $46. These have in my experience become extremely rare (I've had one in the last year), even for homes with replacement costs over half a million. Apparently companies have added enough requirements to normal surveys that they don't need to pay for more.

While the money is abysmal, I like the job. Well, some of it. Some of it sucks.

Anyone out there using the new 360Value software? How I loathe it! So much of the standard Mueller training doesn't apply, and the 360Value training is worthless. Basically, it tells you how to navigate the software and leaves the actual use of it up to FRs to figure out through the Help section. The result is that when I was first using it I did all kinds of wrong things, but QA isn't trained well enough to catch them. For instance, old houses often have a default ceiling height of 9 feet, but that's only visible if you open the Interior tab, and on an exterior you wouldn't think there's a reason to do so. Checking all the defaults is just one more step in a long report, but it can make a huge difference in replacement cost.

I wouldn't really care, having no sense of allegiance to Mueller or the insurance industry, but I do feel a responsibility to the policyholders - something that is never ever mentioned at Mueller.

I suspect Mueller's way of dealing with dissatisfied customers is by adding freebies onto their reports. They have quality problems, I think, which is one reason there are so many unfounded rejections: there's pressure to find fault. Management doesn't understand that the way they train and treat their employees is not conducive to good performance.

Whew! That rant was building up for a while. Glad to finally get it off my chest.

(Please don't tell me I should quit if I'm so unhappy. The job has it's merits, it's the company I don't like.)

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Wow, that was quite a rant! As I've said before, a lot has to do with individual experiences of the job. Carlos, for instance, has a completely different idea of the job:


"If you are as short-sighted as some of the frustrated people who post here after applying/working for Mueller and failing because they expected ez money from day one, you will fail, and not understand why. There is a learning curve in this job. Depending on your background, it might take weeks before it clicks in, but when it does, everything gets easier and faster. You no longer have to stop and think about every decision. You look up and just start sketching and can knock out a huge house in the time it takes to walk around it. On an average day, I can knock out 12-14 exteriors in 4-5 hours with ease...." etc. and so forth.

There is truth to what he says about the learning curve, of course, but Mueller Mule is also right in pointing out that more and more is expected of us. The learning is never done, and the companies continue to diverge in their requirements. When you do several interiors in a row for X company and then do one for Y that has a completely different format and requirements, you can't stay in automatic mode. A mixture of three report types requires yet more attention and more time. Do I count doors or estimate room size? Record the base and crown molding, or count the lamps on the track lighting? Can I step into a bedroom or not?

Now one company wants to know if a bit of rotten or insect-infested siding we see means there is imminent structural damage. What's that - how is that defined? And how are we to know? That is not something for us to judge, it's pure speculation. There could be a vast carpenter ant problem, and we'd never know it. We can report and photograph what we see, and that is all.

I guess I needed a little rant myself.

Hi Kristi, I haven't been here for a while, and its nice to be back. Yes, its always a challenge when there's new stuff to record, but where I am, I'm able to roll with the changes, and try to do some little things to make everything smooth her when I leave the house ( my house, that is). I highlight all the odd stuff, like the one company who has anrail hazard for 22 in high decks, and stamps like "interview any adult" or "shoot straight on", or "8 roof shots". This jumps out in yellow so I don't have to think a lot and can stay in auto mode. I snip the actual ticket (about 1/4" of the corner) of all the tickets that don't require a roof verif shot with one snip at my desk. When I'm in the field, before I go, I glance down and if I see the corner snipped, I don't need a cu roof shot. After 5000 sketches, I can almost no look the paper as I sketch and architectural masterpieces with asymmetrical double porches are no big deal anymore. There seems to be a balance of my being able to do a lot of things easier with the companies adding more stuff to do, like tape measuring balusters, so I am still enjoying the job very much. I did 37 houses this week and a full commercial of a 27 lane bowling alley, most of all of them in the rain, and it wasn't that hard, really. I don't think I clocked in 35 hours, and I was home every day by 4 or 5. I had city risks, farms, cabins deep in the forest, and huge suburban places where people don't answer the door. My favorite part is always the dogs who mostly all believe I showed up just to play with them. :)

Gotta watch those dogs. I got bit by a rotweiler a couple years back.

Well, I've been canned. A homeowner who was also the agent for the risk made a complaint about me (a month after I was there, which I thought odd) about a few minor things that I would have been happy to change, where possible, none of which were against company policy. Examples: I didn't offer to take my shoes off, I wore a bandana, and I was flipping through the pages of the 360Value form - 5 poorly organized pages for the interior alone. She said I seemed to be clueless when looking for CSST, but I was looking for the bonding; the CSST was obvious. The agent said she didn't want me working with her policyholders, and that means I'm automatically terminated.

Sheesh! There was no mat next to the door for shoes, and foyer was already full of muddy dog and foot prints when I got there. Besides, I always checked my soles before entering a house. But this was a brand-new suburban development McMansion, so I should make proper obeisance and be expected to offer to walk around the unfinished basement in my socks.

I suppose I should have worn my best clothes and been super-professional, but I'd forgotten that she'd told me she was an insurance agent on the phone, and it never occurred to me that I would be scrutinized.

I liked my job and I'm sorry I lost it, but now that I no longer work there, I can say honestly, it was a crappy company to work for (I don't care what Carlos says!), especially in the last couple years. They do pull scams, like the change in base wage hidden in the change in the mileage taxation that Mueller Mule talked about (effectively an across-the-board pay cut that affected some employees more than others, but especially those who drove a lot) or the fact that my base wage was lowered by managers twice (first time an accident, I think, but the second was intentional; I'd complained to the manager who did it, who then threatened to pay me a flat $12 hourly, my former base rate), in defiance of policy, for which I got over $1000 in back pay after talking to one of the upper managers about it.

And did I mention in another post I got a "Final Written Warning" because I asked how to log minutes spent on things like communicating with managers, reading the 360Value help guide because training for it was so abysmal, or buying printer paper? My terrible error was admitting that I hadn't logged every single minute spent on the job...but of course, that stuff isn't included in our time guidelines. They said the question was fully addressed in the handbook, but all that talks about is time spent on particular cases, and it certainly didn't address how to report correction of errors for cases that had already been paid. They commanded me to report all the minutes I hadn't reported, as if I'd timed and recorded every email exchange with my managers and every minute sharpening pencils in the previous 33 months. I think they were worried about getting sued.

And did any of you (besides Carlos, I know he did) see the letter I sent to Mueller Rapport about amperage of electrical panels? Even after revision, the training still says to add the numbers on some types of main switches to get the amperage, which is completely false. Their description of main breakers shows how utterly clueless they are about electric panels. Why haven't the underwriters caught this??? Mueller training is full of errors, though mostly not as bad as that.

So, there's a more honest opinion of the company than I've so far given, for fear of losing my job. To any potential future employers who read this: I take pride in my work, and it was frustrating working for a company that not only didn't give positive feedback, but also gave little in the way of constructive criticism. I also took pride in the way policyholders responded to me, and it hurt that I made such a poor impression on someone - and shocking that I got fired for it.

I'm sorry, Kristi. The one bad visit shouldn't negate all the hard work and the hundreds (thousands?) of cases you worked. You wouldn't have lasted this long if you weren't doing a good job, and no one can take away the time you put in. I'm sure you thought about Millennium Information Services. They are huge and pay straight case fees, based on where they are, but you probably already know that. The HR director is Nicole Castro. If you want to apply, you should send her an email. Good luck with everything, and I really hope to see you here again.


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Kristi,
Be assured it had nothing to do with your performance nor the disgruntled insurance agent. You were axed as a result of your questioning of why were they cheating you out of what you had earned. Your manager probably had a talk with his manager and they were just waiting for a way to fire you that would not result in a law suite over the fraudulent wage practices that they employ.

It is sad that even though you put up with Muller Services Inc deceptive and fraudulent wage and work practices you were fired. I am sure Muller Services Inc will use you as an example to keep other employees in line and to have them not question anything for fear of loosing their job.

You are a prime example of why someone who has integrity and a good work ethic should not work for Muller Services.

Kristi, I am sure you will be able to do better than Muller in the future and be happier in your work associations.

Garry, there could be a number of different reasons why these two parted ways. A bad report from a ph who was also employed by the customer is certainly possible. One thing for certain: your state,net that Mueller's payroll practices is fraudulent suggests that the other 1700 of us must be so dumb that nobody has figured out that were all being duped except you. I can't speak for the other 1699 employees, but that accusation is ridiculous. I have been with Mueller for 3 years, have my taxes prepared professionally by my family CPA, and I can tell you that I've never been paid incorrectly. The idea that a nationwide company is fooling their employees with some trickery is silly.

I've known Kristi online for a couple of years and she has taught me a couple of things about what we do and know her to be a great surveyor and a hell of a nice person. It's too bad things went down the way they did, and that happens to people sometimes, but blaming Mueller and posting about some management conspiracy is pure conjecture.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kristi Silber

.....A homeowner who was also the agent for the risk made a complaint about me (a month after I was there, which I thought odd) ..........the agent said she didn't want me working with her policyholders, and that means I'm automatically terminated.

.......I suppose I should have worn my best clothes and been super-professional, but I'd forgotten that she'd told me she was an insurance agent on the phone, and it never occurred to me that I would be scrutinized.....

......it was a crappy company to work for (I don't care what Carlos says!), especially in the last couple years. They do pull scams, like the change in base wage hidden in the change in the mileage taxation .....
....pay cut that affected some employees more than others, .......
...... the fact that my base wage was lowered by managers twice (first time an accident, I think, but the second was intentional; I'd complained to the manager who did it, who then threatened to pay me a flat $12 hourly, my former base rate), in defiance of policy, for which I got over $1000 in back pay after talking to one of the upper managers about it.

..........."Final Written Warning" because I asked how to log minutes spent on things like communicating with managers, reading the 360Value help guide because training for it was so abysmal, or buying printer paper? My terrible error was admitting that I hadn't logged every single minute spent on the job.......... I think they were worried about getting sued.
........

So, there's a more honest opinion of the company than I've so far given, for fear of losing my job. To any potential future employers who read this: I take pride in my work, and it was frustrating working for a company that not only didn't give positive feedback, but also gave little in the way of constructive criticism. I also took pride in the way policyholders responded to me, and it hurt that I made such a poor impression on someone - and shocking that I got fired for it.

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Carlos,
Fraud ? Fraudulent ?
"...using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person."
"..breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage."

Wages incorrectly changed twice by management. No relief from immediate manager who made the changes. Then she "complained to the manager who did it, who then threatened " her which is common tactic of a manager that can not maintain fear in their employees. Had to go above immediate manager to resolve the incorrect wage (fraudulent) alteration. Demonstrating that the immediate manager wanted to fraudulently keep earnings from the employee by the fact that the upper management reversed the lower management actions.

How many of the 1700 Muller employees face the question of keeping quiet and taking what they are given due their concerns of retribution and/or job loss? This may be a good question to pursue, but it would probably result in termination. Management often takes has mind set that the employee should prostrate themselves before the company and be happy they have a job no mater what and not question anything. One truism is that management does not like being questioned.

Having one insurance agent request that one specific inspector not be used is far from the end of the word. In business it happens and you deal with it, unless there is an agenda on the part of management regarding a particular employee. Carlos you say, "some management conspiracy is pure conjecture", well a little conjecture that is later supported in fact/evidence is no longer conjecture. There are some facts that can support my theory. It may be a wrong interpretation of facts that results in a false conclusion, though the conclusion is not atypical within some management constructs. It happens.

Isn't it interesting that this thread started in 2008 and has 400+ postings offers the most, non company marketing, insight/information into the Mueller company than anywhere other site that I could find.

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Originally Posted by Garry Sorrells

Isn't it interesting that this thread started in 2008 and has 400+ postings offers the most, non company marketing, insight/information into the Mueller company than anywhere other site that I could find.

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Not only that, but the thread has over 100,000 views! I bet that's more than any other thread on the board!

I've considered the idea that the incident was used as a way to get rid of me, but I'm inclined not to think it was my own pay changes that was the reason. That happened over a year ago. On the other hand, Mueller didn't put up resistance when it came to the complainant saying she didn't want me to work with her policyholders, but perhaps that's to be expected - they didn't want to argue with the insurance company and risk losing the image of high quality. I don't think they had much choice but to fire me.

However, I don't believe they are as squeaky clean as Carlos believes, either. I still think the motive behind changing the untaxed portion of our pay given as mileage had little to do with taxes. Perhaps it was to save on pay given to those who actually do get mileage reimbursement, but they seem to be few. I don't believe that there was anything outright fraudulent (illegal) about this change, but the pay system is complex enough that I think many or most FRs never realized that the change in tax-free mileage goes beyond anything to do with taxes, and can affect pay itself, especially for those who drive a lot and regularly earn wages near their base pay (of which there are increasing numbers because Mueller is demanding more work for each case). It took me a while to figure it out. I consider it a sneaky but legal way to save on wages without informing employees that they may be making less.

I've also seen enough complaints of people being offered one wage before they were hired and then given a lower one after that it's hard to doubt that it's the case.

Then there's the idea that cases should on average take a particular amount of time, and those with averages higher than these times are inefficient. For one thing, the averages they cite are much too perfect to be real averages (e.g. 30 minutes for an exterior and 45 min. for interior/exterior), and they haven't changed despite the fact that case requirements have increased. Those who take their statistics seriously and fear that they might get fired for having above-average times are all the more likely not to report times taken to do office work unrelated to individual cases, such as communicating with managers, buying paper and ink, shredding old forms, etc. There is pressure to be fast, but admitting there are minutes you didn't report will get you in big trouble - I got a Written Final Warning for asking how to report such times because I said I hadn't reported every minute in the past.

I believe they are careful enough that their practices are legal because they are very wary of being sued. That doesn't mean they are interested in treating employees fairly.

Anyway, thanks for your support and kind words, Carlos and Garry! It means a lot to me.

While I cannot obviously speak for everyone, and certainly wouldn't try- I can say that my time with Mueller reinforced what many on this forum have stated: they are somewhat deceptive, and without a doubt their "managers" sometimes lack any practical field experience (which led me to think- why are they managers in the 1st place?). I had a field manager that knew not how to draw a complex diagram- and when I "disagreed" with the way they wanted me to draw it (which, I should point out- I drew it precisely as their own online diagramming showed)- I was let go.
There are much better companies to work for, in this field. I would never recommend Mueller to anyone, and honestly I do not hold a grudge. It is tough to work for any company when their requirements seem to change weekly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

Hi...This is my first post here. As a pioneer in the message board world with over 1 million posts since 1993, ..................

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Carlos,
Possibly a provocative question. Do you bill Mueller for the time you spend in their defense or is it a flat rate payment like a "Occupancy Verification" ?

The point is, Garry, when you talk about alleged mishandling of payroll done purposely to cheat people, you are suggesting that the over 1700 people who work there are being fooled, and only you know the real deal. Many of us are professionals who do this as a retirement job, or accomplished business people who do this for supplemental income. Some of us are accountantants. Here are some questions for you: What makes you believe that all those people are dumb enough to be fooled? What makes you think a corporation this large would actually do this and if so, could get away with it without a class action suit? How much money do you think people are supposedly being cheated out of without their knowledge?

Your assertions are ridiculous.


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Carlos,
"The lady(Carlos) doth protest too much, methinks".

Is it that a nerve was struck??? You seem to be fixated on the 1700, but then what if it were 200 that were effected, or the 1 ?

Hey all sorts of employees get scammed or employers negligently misrepresent conditions of employment, work, vacation time, et ceteras. Then comes a long a whistle blower and, - ba da bing ba da boom - the whistle blower gets shown to the door. Sorta like some of the associations and the way they operate!

Ok so you think 200 people were scammed because a corporation picked 200 of us to change a fraction of a percentage point of their general ledger, and 200 people (or any number) didn't notice? Ask the bartender to call you a taxi.


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No; 200 folks don't have to get scammed, it can take one employee who was told something and given a contract based on those facts, but then the employer changes the equation, and that is what is referred to negligent misrepresentation. A contract is a contract is a contract.

So how plausible is it that a corporation with revenues in the millions hand picks one (or more) employees and decides to pull a scam to save a few bucks?

Lmao.


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It has happened.

Ok. I'll keep an eye on my pay stubs.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

So how plausible is it that a corporation with revenues in the millions hand picks one (or more) employees and decides to pull a scam to save a few bucks?

Lmao.


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The Grand Pooba of the company tells his minion managers below him to cut their budgets and increase revenues. The word goes down the feeding chain of managers, each wanting to look good in the eyes of the manager above them and each pushing the envelope of propriety to show increases. Eventually it reaches the bottom managers who are now going home and kicking their cats ( a Zig Ziglar story, look it up). The managers at the bottom will try anything to get their numbers up. Then the Kristi's of the world are told like it or leave when the manager commits fraud or a term of your choice. The Kristi's go over the managers head and the manager above worrying about law suits and unfair work practices that will bring the government down on them, reverses the lower manager position.

Consequently the bottom manager will conspire to create a situation and use any cause to get rid of what is seen to the manager as a trouble maker. Especially since the manager has had to eat crow.

You ask; "So how plausible is it that a corporation with revenues in the millions hand picks one (or more) employees and decides to pull a scam to save a few bucks?"

For the fill in the blank answer.________ Can you spell Walmart????? Just to name one company.
Carlos you stated in you first post in this forum and in this thread;
""Hi...This is my first post here. As a pioneer in the message board world with over 1 million posts since 1993,.."

1 million posts in how many years, 1993 to 2012, that is 52,631 posts per year or 1,012 per week, or just 145 post per day. Dang when did you have time to work, and you think I should "Ask the bartender to call you a taxi." I want to know what you have been drinkkking?:biggrin:

Then maybe Mueller paying you to post here may not be such a stretch of the imagination. Wounder if it is by the word or the post?:confused:

Carlos, at the time that the mileage "reimbursement"/tax change happened, there were several people here discussing it, but I have yet to see anyone but me point out (here or on glassdoor.com or elsewhere) that there can be actual changes to take-home pay as a result. To me that suggests that there are people being fooled out there.

Wow. A lot of dirt being aired about Mueller on this thread. But I have to ask--who in their right mind would work for any outfit that pays peanuts, has incompetent managers, and constantly changes "rules", all while cheating the help to maximize profit? Must be a lot of desperate individuals out there.

I think flipping burgers at the Golden Arches would be preferable. Comparable pay, and there the only slime you'd be dealing with is the pink stuff in the meat you're frying.

BridgeMan,

C'mon, seriously? Flipping burgers? The reason people stay is because they like the job. It's flexible. You get to go to a lot of houses and meet some interesting people. Many of the houses have been occupied for years, and sometimes you'd run across interesting interiors. I enjoyed most of it. I didn't want to lose my job...but maybe it was time.

I have a question for past and present Mueller employees only, please. If you see a main breaker that has two small switches joined together, with a number stamped on each one, do you add the numbers to come up with the amperage? Or just report whatever number is there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

The point is, Garry, when you talk about alleged mishandling of payroll done purposely to cheat people, you are suggesting that the over 1700 people who work there are being fooled, and only you know the real deal. Many of us are professionals who do this as a retirement job, or accomplished business people who do this for supplemental income. Some of us are accountantants. Here are some questions for you: What makes you believe that all those people are dumb enough to be fooled? What makes you think a corporation this large would actually do this and if so, could get away with it without a class action suit? How much money do you think people are supposedly being cheated out of without their knowledge?

Your assertions are ridiculous.


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Corporations never do anything unlawful or unethical :crazy: List of corporate collapses and scandals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kristi,

As they say... sometimes a disappoint is a blessing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

Hi...This is my first post here. As a pioneer in the message board world with over 1 million posts since 1993, I can easily say that MBs can be a timesuck. I have hesitated to post here for that reason, but now I'm finally jumping in. I will just shave some FB time down to accommodate IN, lol.

I have been a FR with Mueller for about 6 months. I love my job. From what I have read in this thread, I can divide the posts two ways:

GLASS HALF EMPTY PEOPLE:
1. Pay is low
2. Mileage isn't paid
3. QAs only have bad news
4. Photos take too long to process

GLASS HALF FULL PEOPLE:
1. Pay is fair
2. Mileage is actually accounted for in your pay
3. QAs are teachers
4. Photo time is part of the job.

To expand on that...

1. People who complain that their pay is low should get another job and quit complaining. Mueller backs up what they promise, which includes adjusting your pay to make your time worth at least what they said they would pay you by the hour. If you are still not making enough money, complaining here will not increase your pay.

2. I average about 10 miles a day when I shoot houses.. If you're not making enough, it doesn't matter how many miles were recorded, you just need to make more money to be happy, and that's probably working for someone else.

3. QA people aren't the bad guys. If you don't want so many rejections, stop goofing up so much. One of the great things about this job is that you are not judged by some manager's subjective opinions. Your error % is...what it is. If you have all green stars, you are fine, management leaves you alone, and that's that. If not, Mueller offers training and support to lower your score. It's pretty academic, very supportive, and relieves you of the stress from subjective evaluations that happen other lines of work. The QA people teach me stuff all the time, which allows me to do my job better and make more money.

4. If you keep the resolution way down in your camera, you will still get great shots, and the photos will upload in seconds. Nobody is shooting waterfalls. Lower the quality setting and the entire time issue goes away.

I have enjoyed the almost contact of other FRs here, and appreciate the advice I got from reading some of your posts. Thanks for reading this long, first post. I look forward to returning to IN and having more inspection fun. -Carlos

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Thought I would use Mr Peabody's WayBack Camera:::: :-):photo:

Carlos, you are quite a person. Were you trained by Al Gore right after he invented created the Internet? Must have been great work, Government???
You state: ""As a pioneer in the message board world with over 1 million posts since 1993".
The mumblers interest me. :pop2:

1 million posts between 1993 and 2012. (19years)
That's 52,631 posts per year,
1,012/week,
145/day or
18/hour working 8 hours/day 7 days a week. No time off, no breaks, no sick days.
25 posts per hour at 8 hr day and 5 days per week with a 40 hour week ( no overtime)
Which means that you were making a post every 2 min while you were at work.
Smells like a government job to me :typing: Then you retired and went to Mueller May 2012 ????

Figured that you had to be doing it as a business or on your employer's clock because you wouldn't have time to work and post.:thumb:

Which makes the supposition that you are paid to post here by Mueller plausible. Not conjuncture. :hand: Your facts support the theory.

Your original post(8/2012) was after 3 months working for Mueller and you had it all figured out then.:first:
But then if one looks at your postings past to present there seems to be a commonality across the postings. Leading to a potential conundrum of are you a real employee, an employee wanting to get into management, a manager wanting to market the company :welcome: in a more favorable light than what others post :bounce: or possibly management setting the tone for what the employees should prescribe to for fear of what they may expect from management :mad2:.

""1. People who complain that their pay is low should get another job and quit complaining. Mueller backs up what they promise, which includes adjusting your pay to make your time worth at least what they said they would pay you by the hour.""

""2. I average about 10 miles a day when I shoot houses.. If you're not making enough, it doesn't matter how many miles were recorded, you just need to make more money to be happy, and that's probably working for someone else;..."

""3. QA people aren't the bad guys. If you don't want so many rejections, stop goofing up so much..."

1,2 and 3 above was after only 3 months ?????? :clap2:

Now if this is not an advertisement::::Carlos -"" Many of us are professionals who do this as a retirement job, or accomplished business people who do this for supplemental income. Some of us are accountantants. "" :wink:


Are there a lot of those European accountantants working for Mueller????:confused:

Garry, you obviously have a lot of time on your hands. You also have a vivid imagination. You also think that people can be fooled easily enough not to see inaccuracies in their pay checks. In your mythical world, mueller is doing some slight of hand, and all of us are getting shorted pay and none of us have caught on so far.

Obviously, you have nothing better to do with your time than. To troll people on message boards and make up fantastical baseless stories about people and nefarious companies who nickel and dime their employees.

I have done over 5000 houses, farms and businesses for this company. I have been paid exactly what they said they would pay me. I have audited my payroll many times, just for the hell of it, and they have never missed a house or a mile. I have filed income taxes 3 times. Everything else here is just you making stuff up so you can sound like a smart guy. I'm 56 years old, and yeah, I've been posting daily since 1992 so I have plenty of experience addressing trolls on the web who like to imagine things...like you. LMAO. Have a nice day imagining all the people who get wrong pay checks out there.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

Garry, you obviously have a lot of time on your hands. You also have a vivid imagination. You also think that people can be fooled easily enough not to see inaccuracies in their pay checks. In your mythical world, mueller is doing some slight of hand, and all of us are getting shorted pay and none of us have caught on so far.

Obviously, you have nothing better to do with your time than. To troll people on message boards and make up fantastical baseless stories about people and nefarious companies who nickel and dime their employees.

......., I've been posting daily since 1992 so I have plenty of experience addressing trolls on the web who like to imagine things...like you. LMAO. Have a nice day imagining all the people who get wrong pay checks out there.


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Carlos very cheeky response. A supposition might be that you would know about being a Troll. Which would explain how you were able to generate:
1 million posts between 1993 and 2012. (19years)
That's 52,631 posts per year,
1,012/week,
145/day or
18/hour working 8 hours/day 7 days a week. No time off, no breaks, no sick days.
25 posts per hour at 8 hr day and 5 days per week with a 40 hour week ( no overtime).

" Obviously, you have nothing better to do with your time than..." And you question my allocation of time ?
Just in case we are not using the same understand of term :::
Wikipedia : Troll
In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,^[1] by posting inflammatory,^[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.^[4]

""To troll people on message boards and make up fantastical baseless stories about people and nefarious companies who nickel and dime their employees. "". Is far from accurate. I have been on this forum since 2008. I didn't come looking for you or Mueller. Mueller was and is still an active topic within this forum. I was not my "deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response" yet it seems to have had that effect on you.

Carlos, you seem fixated on two points that are wrong.
First is that I think Mueller employees are stupid, absolutely not the case.
Second, that my comments, opinions and statements are non fact based, which is incorrect since it is the Mueller employees that bring the facts to the forum for discussion not I.

If my questioning the veracity of a company that works hard at maintaining a low compensation package for its employees (as stated by others) causes you consternation on your view of the company, may be a good thing. It may be that you you are not really that in love with Mueller and my thoughts on why an employee was terminated threatens you emotional connection with Mueller. Yes it is difficult when you start to have encodes in the corporate religion and maintaining your personal faith in the company. You tend to lash out against those that cause your question of faith.

It is evident that you must not comprehend what you read or you are selective on what you focus on as you seem to not realize that in the resent discussion on Muller has been the result of our forum's member being terminated by Mueller. Furthermore, discrepancies in Mueller's employment practices that have been stated by others are far from me having a "vivid imagination" as you state. I have made a few posts in this thread though have for the most part just followed the discussion.

Your issue seems to revolve around the thought that Mueller management could not act fraudulently or with malice in connection to their employees. It is evident that they have in at least one case. Could there be others? Very possible. To what degree may be the real question.

The assertion that this company cheats people is nonsense. People, by en large, aren't so stupid not to notice such implausible activity. If you come here to bash a company with baseless accusations, you must either be a disgruntled former employee or just someone with a very negative view on things. I challenge you to post any proof that payroll wrongdoing has occurred. Your posts are silly accusations and are baseless. Your online assault at me, taking the time to exhume old posts and make fun of someone you don't know shows that you have nothing better to do. Go look for a job and stop bothering people on the Internet.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

The assertion that this company cheats people is nonsense. People, by en large, aren't so stupid not to notice such implausible activity. If you come here to bash a company with baseless accusations, you must either be a disgruntled former employee or just someone with a very negative view on things. I challenge you to post any proof that payroll wrongdoing has occurred. Your posts are silly accusations and are baseless. Your online assault at me, taking the time to exhume old posts and make fun of someone you don't know shows that you have nothing better to do. Go look for a job and stop bothering people on the Internet.


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As I head off in to the real world for the day.

I don't think that I have made fun of you unless you think that by wondering(questioning) how you were able to make 1 million posts over 19 years is making fun of you then explain. I just thought that the numbers were interesting and really wondered how you did it. I do differentiate Posts from Tweets.

Again you seem fixated on trying to say that I think people are stupid, which I do not.

The assertion that a company can not cheat their employee is a fallacious argument.
Ergo:
Do all companies cheat their employees, NO.
Is it possible for companies to cheat their employees, YES.
Do all management conspire against their employees, NO.
Can management conspire against their employees, YES. Be it a group or singular employee.
and so goes the arguments....

The arguments that I have posed in the postings are based on fact as seen in this thread's postings. Possibly you haven't read them or are not willing to recognize them. Go back and reread the postings made by others from which the facts(statements/conditions/situations) are presented. I challenge you to reread the postings.

Frankly you contention that I have made an assault on you is only in your mind. Then again if by questioning a position, statement or thought is deemed by you an assault I am guilty. It seems that there are some people that equate being confronted with a question is an assault. Being questioned on how something was accomplished or will be accomplished is deemed an assault. I do not subscribe to that mentality. I take exception with your conjuncture that I have " assaulted " you or anyone else in any thread or posting within this forum. I may have a little fun and quipping at times but that is all in a good nature discussion. This is a forum not a tribunal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlos Pineiro

The assertion that this company cheats people is nonsense. People, by en large, aren't so stupid not to notice such implausible activity. If you come here to bash a company with baseless accusations, you must either be a disgruntled former employee or just someone with a very negative view on things. I challenge you to post any proof that payroll wrongdoing has occurred. Your posts are silly accusations and are baseless. Your online assault at me, taking the time to exhume old posts and make fun of someone you don't know shows that you have nothing better to do. Go look for a job and stop bothering people on the Internet.


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Carlos,
I'm not going to post it, but just yesterday or the day before I found the 2012 email I'd written to my manager complaining that she had lowered my base pay by $2/hr, to which she responded that she would talk to me on the phone about it (less chance of there being a record of the conversation that way!). Either she wasn't aware of company policy (hard to believe, since she was by no means new), or the company policy wasn't enforced. Things may have changed in the past couple years, but managers once had significant latitude in how much FRs were paid. For instance, some of them gave extra for cases that took extra long or were far away, and some didn't. This latitude may have contributed to a company-wide laxity in oversight that led to policy abuses by managers. To say that they didn't occur is to question the veracity of what I and others have reported here. Any suggestion that they (I) were foolish to do something like accept a pay cut presupposes that they have been educated about payroll policy, and that is not a fair supposition. The whole hiring process is not conducive to transparency, since you can go through the process of interviewing, and being hired and trained before you even get a manager to tell you the minimum you will be making...and that may not be what you were told to begin with. I never got any piece of paper saying anything about pay rate, did you? I went through my personnel file, and there was not one record there from the time I was hired besides those I filled out (application, etc.), my I-9, and my background check. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

Likewise, whether the company could be accused of legal wrongdoing or not, they were not transparent in their disclosure of the effects on wages of the change in mileage taxation.

From Carlos's post #228 in this thread:

Quote:

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"change in non-taxable mileage gives us the illusion we're making more" [quoted from a post of mine]

Nothing about payroll is illusionary. The payroll tab shows any rep the miles, wages, and time involved in black and white. We are not salaried people. Our pay is a little more complicated since it involves three factors (fees time, and miles) ...

I agree the mileage rate being lowered sucked, but who likes making less money? It wasn't a popular move, but it was formally announced and not sneaked in, so at least they are consistent.

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The change in taxes was itself not sneaky, but they left it to us to figure out that it could affect our wages. Any apparent increase in gross wages (per hour worked) as a result of the change in taxation was, in fact, illusory. FR pay depends not only on fees, time and miles, it can also depend on the proportion of mileage paid tax-free. Come tax time, I worked out that I could have made over $200 more if they hadn't changed the tax rates - and I get no mileage reimbursement.

Perhaps the change was so that they didn't have to pay as much to those who actually did get mileage reimbursement, but the change had the potential to lower pay across the board. Judging by your posts, you didn't seem to see this, and I'm pretty sure it slipped by many others.

One thing that was blatantly deceptive is the supposed "average" completion times that I mentioned before. They are laughable.

You, Carlos, seem to think that everyone has had the experiences you've had. You dismiss others' experiences as if they didn't happen or were the fault of the FR for not confronting their manager. I did so, and it did me no good.

Managers, in my experience, vary widely. I had 4 in the time I was there: Manager A, then B, then C, then B, then D, then B again. Manager B was the worst, and I was stuck with her for the last 1 1/2 years (I'm sure she had no good feelings for me, since she's the one who decreased my wages and would presumably have gotten in trouble for it. The upper manager I ended up complaining to was not happy about having to go through and calculate by hand that which was owed me).

I can only speak from my experience, of course. If some managers gave bonus pay, that might have been their prerogative to do so. If you were shorted pay, maybe a manager was doing that on their own, illegally. As far as the company wide policy goes, if anyone thinks there is purposeful cheating going on, the labor board in their state can be contacted, and people can post here. So far, I haven't seen or read anything like that. I'm sorry if a manager messed with your pay, that could happen in any company, and does, but I don't see any evidence of a company wide scam going on, and if there was, it would be in more than a couple of message board posts.


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No one said anything about a company-wide "scam." It's a particular corporate mentality that enables bending the rules on a small scale and a lack of transparency on the large. But hey, who expects them to tell their employees that a change in their taxation rates could also affect their wages? It's a brilliant business move.

"Scam" made me think of "SPAM" which then clued me into how someone could have 1 million posts over 19 years.

Create 1 post and spam it to 20,000 people 50 times and you have sent 1 million posts . :hail:

Sorry, :focus:

Thank for the positivity .. I a just getting in t this field

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mueller Employee X

Hello,
A lot of this stuff is true, but a lot of it is based on region. The more densely populated regions have higher volume, and those field inspectors make SIGNIFICANTLY more work. They hold onto field inspectors in certain areas just to cover their work load to make sure time requirements are met for certain insurance companies. Training is fairly detailed, and can be over-whelming for some people, but if you are smart, there are ways to get around stuff and make the job "work for you". Also, throughout this feed, people have raised the question about cost of materials type topic..Some cheaper equipment is sufficient, and a lot of it can be used as write-offs (You are not expected to run out and buy a computer JUST for this job, and not expected to run out and spend $500 on an Ashton Kucher Nikon camera. There are other things to pick up as time goes by and experience occurs (sentence may not be accurate :) ).
When you start the job sucks, and it feels like it's a waste of time, but in some cases, once you "get your feet wet" things start to look better.

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[QUOTE=Kristi Silber;253430]Carlos,
I'm not going to post it, but just yesterday or the day before I found the 2012 email I'd written to my manager complaining that she had lowered my base pay by $2/hr, to which she responded that she would talk to me on the phone about it

Hi Kristi I was just called on Friday to tell me I would have a $1 base rate reduction and this was all of the state of Virginia. due to work volumes. HMMMMMMM and I know I am a top performing FR due to never getting calls or emails about performance what the heck is going on?

Oh please don't chime in Carlos

Hello:

Can anyone tell me if the position of "Field Inspector" is a good job? I was offered training for the position, but the reviews seem mixed.

Any information or advice would be helpful.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Luke S

Hello:

Can anyone tell me if the position of "Field Inspector" is a good job? I was offered training for the position, but the reviews seem mixed.

Any information or advice would be helpful.

---

If you're looking to gain some entry level experience in the industry (inspections, land surveying, etc.), it's not a bad option. However, in terms of pay, advancement, wear and tear on your own equipment, etc., it's not a great job. It's probably easier to make money if you're in an urban area with a dense population.

Thanks for the great info, looking to work there. What do you do with all the case paperwork that you have to print out. Do you then scan and upload? Just wondering if you could keep most of it online with editing software.

Advice to anyone looking for reasonably current feedback on Mueller:

I strongly suggest checking out the reviews on Glassdoor. The feedback and overall rating speaks volumes...I had extensive experience with Mueller, currently perform contract surveys for ten vendors, Mueller was by far and away the most poorly managed experience. Still is apparently...

Here is a Link if some one is interested.:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Mu...ws-E272289.htm