A United Servicers Association article on "Background Checks/Drug Screening" appeared in the April issue of Appliance Service News and the May issue of the Retail Observer.  Below is a clarification statement from USA.

This article has created quite a stir and USA would like to clarify our position. Two statements in the article were not independently verified by USA and were found to be inaccurate after publication.  USA apologizes for these mistaken comments. USA believes strongly, as does Whirlpool and PlusOne Solutions, that all independent service companies should perform background checks on all their in-home service professionals.

The first concern stated that PlusOne was "High priced at $49.95" against a competitor offering "the same service for $14.95". Unfortunately, USA acted on information provided by a USA member and USA did not investigate to verify the price or the competitor services. When we compared background screening components line-by-line to the competitor, USA now feels PlusOne Solutions' flat rate for the country is competitive. After checking the facts, we no longer believe that PlusOne is "High Priced".

We haven't talked about technician compensation plans for some time. I thought it would be interesting to compile a number of various plans from all over the country so that everyone can see the unique approach appliance service company owners have regarding tech comp plans. As you will see, many are multi-layered and some are very simple. I did not provide any information about geographical location or anything else in order to insulate the companies from being identified.  They are not listed in any particular order. I will tell you that even if you had a detailed outline of each company, you would not be able to glean any common threads between them. I tried and I could not gather any relative commonality to the methods employed in developing these plans. It is capitalism at work in small business!

There are many seemingly small additional factors not included in this outline relative to each company. These factors include, but aren't limited to, employing family, very small service areas, rural and/or city service areas, heavy warranty call volume, and tons of other influences. One thing I can say with consistency is that technicians are well paid and well cared for!

After reading these over, share with me what your methods of tech compensation are. Also let me know if you have any questions regarding this issue in general.  

Email me at dean.landers@unitedservicers.com.

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