Girsh Alarm in Philly, PA lousy treatment of potential employee

[apartmentcade@xxxxxxx]

In late October I was looking around on Monster.com at which time I
came across Girsh Alarm Company, a local Philadlephia company serving
mostly commercial accounts and offering potential earnings of 75-100k
per year.

I knew Girsh from passing their offices in my travels. At the time I
was employed by another security company which catered to mostly
residential customers. My work experience has been predominantly with
commercial Fortune 500 companies so I jumped at the chance to apply.

I was quickly contacted by their headhunter/recruiter who asked for my
resume, references and information for a background check. Everything
cleared and I was asked to meet face to face in early November. At the
initial meeting with the headhunter I was asked to take several
personality and aptitude tests. I was also informed that the position
carried a draw of $52k along with a $500 car allowance, $100 cell phone
allowance and full health insurance for my family totaling
approximately a $65k compensation package. I was also told the
commission rate would be 40% of the profit for each sale. After the
face to face meeting with the headhunter I was set to meet with Harry
Girsh, the owner of Girsh Alarm.

Harry and I met mid-November and the meeting went fine. I was told I
had very high scores on the personality and aptitude tests. We
reiterated the $65k compensation package and he told me he would get
back to me in a few days and left for vacation in Florida. The
headhunter said that whoever is chosen to work there will start in
early December. The headhunter also said that Harry was going to hire
three people and that there were 6 candidates though he felt I was the
best fit for Girsh. Before I left Harry requested that I fill out
another entire employment application of Girsh's design and submit to
a further background check.

I got a call from the headhunter the first week of December at which
time he told me that I had again passed the background check and that I
was being offered the job. He also said I was the only one offered a
position which made me feel great.

I reconfirmed that I actually had the position and got a start date of
December 14th. I gave notice to my current employer the next day.
December 14th came & went with no further movement toward my employment
at Girsh. I waited patiently.

The headhunter began to get frustrated with Girsh and their lack of
communication. Finally, I was told to meet with Jodie Girsh, Harry's
wife and office manager on Monday December 26th, a national holiday. I
met with Jodie and I felt the meeting went great. We talked for an
hour, laughed a lot and she introduced me to all the employees as their
new salesman.

Then we discussed the contract. It seemed that Jodie's idea of the
compensation package was extremely different then what was discussed
with Harry and the headhunter. She offered a $30k draw, itemized car
miles, cell phone allowance and no health insurance for six months.
This was not even close to what had been discussed prior.

I stood my ground at what I was offered, expressed dismay that I left
my previous employment and was not yet being paid by Girsh although I
was told I had the job. Jodie said me she would have to talk it over
with Harry and that we would talk the following morning.

Tuesday the 27th I called Jodie 11AM at the office and per her
instructions. She did not answer and I left a voicemail. I tried again
at 3PM on her cell phone again leaving a voicemail. The headhunter did
not hear from her or Harry either.

By Wednesday morning I wondered if I had a job at all and called the
headhunter. I was told at that time the Girsh's were no longer
interested as they felt it was too much money to risk on a new
salesman.

The headhunter and I tried to salvage the situation to no avail. Jodie
never did call me back though I did manage to get Harry Girsh on his
cell at 7PM, Wednesday the 28th.

Harry reiterated that my employment there was no longer an option. He
said they were no longer going to invest in a professional salesman and
were considering hiring someone out of college at a much lower rate.

I pointed out that they were going to hire three people and ended up
with only me. How could they have possibly paid three people if they
couldn't even pay me what they promised? In addition, Harry himself
noted the $65k when we met face to face and if it was a problem why did
they call me back to finalize a contract!

I lost my job, I lost weeks of job hunting and I lost weeks of their
promised salary right at the holiday season. My entire family
anticipated this new position and we all sacrificed over the last month
based on knowing the job was starting.

I can't tell you how Girsh Alarm is toward their clients but I can only
imagine how it must be if this is how they treat potential employees...