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View Full Version : Contracting companies who hose the gov't, insurance companies/others


Iamme
1st May 2008, 03:48 PM
Back in the 70's I worked for a reknownerd international engineering construction company. We built this power plant on a "cost-plus" basis. What a hosing operation THAT was. Employees were hired as journeyman who probably weren't really real experienced journeymen. Horseplay went on with grown men, like taping cone-shape drinking cups to hard hats and writing dunce on it. Or nailing through boards with objects so the wrecking crew would not be able to remove the objects. Stuff like that. Or some guy sitting up on some scaffold perch eating a sandwich. One guy was sleeping in some pipe vessel. Employees though were told to LOOK busy in case inspectors came around. Stuff like that. And we got paid double-time on Sunday. I made more on a weekend than most other workers then made all week.

In the mid 80's I hired a national cleaning company to clean my carpets in a rental. They sent basically 2 kids (late teens/early 20's) to do it. They never got the carpet clean, yet we got a hefty bill. I ended up renting a machine and got the carpet clean myself. Spotless!

This very same company is now cleaning my friends apt. A crew of 5. Five! In 2 days they have done a medium sized bedroom, small bathroom, small hall and part of a kitchen. The walls they did are still orange from cigarette smoke. I took some cleaner minutes ago and cleaned where they went over it, and I got it all clean. Under the stove after they took out the drip pans, there is still goo under the stovetop, that they supposedly cleaned. Everything is half-arsed work. My friedn said that today they were standing around a lot, talking and laughing. They also have been playing rock music on the radio they bring with.

All the employees are like in their early 20's. Half guys and gals. They go out on breaks and sit in the yard in a circle and tell stories and giggle the way guys and gals do when they are looking to mate.

I am sure all they care about is getting their check and not doing a real nice job. And I bet the company is billing out the state (working on disabled persons apt.) like $25-30 per employee/hour. I wouldnt doubt it.

This kind of crap has been going on for years, fellow taxpayers,... where these companies exist who specifically intentionally try to land gov't jobs just so they can make big bucks. And the gov't is as guilty by allowing this. So in essence, not only are companies like this stealing from the gov't, but the gov't is stealing from YOU, by ordering you to pay your taxes and wasting it on crap like this, which makes them keep your taxes high.

And please share stories YOU have, so we can all really start getting in a dither over this. (Couple ideas: Military contracts and the medical field.)

balrog666
1st May 2008, 08:53 PM
Why bother? Do you think you can keep the tide from coming in?

Why not complain about wasted welfare payments or inadequate VA hospitals or poorly designed bridges or inadequate urban housing or ...

DevilsAdvocate
4th May 2008, 09:37 PM
Back in the 70's...Maybe that happened 30 years ago, but I don't see it now. If contractors are hosing the gov't today on cost-plus contacts, it usually comes from unneeded products or services, oversized administration, and inefficient processes and software development. Lucrative government contracts are not only overseen by the government, but also by competitors. Competitors are quick to jump in and report and possible waste or abuse. Any intentional significant waste or unnecessary costs by a contactor are an invitation for scrutiny and loss of future contracts.

Government contractors can make more money in the long run by providing excellent products and services at reasonable prices than they can by cutting corners and racking up unnecessary charges.

I’m confused about why you included the story about carpet cleaners. There are people and companies that provide shoddy products and services. There always have been, and always will be. I expect the decision to hire these carpet cleaners was based on not much more than picking a company from the phone book. The process of obtaining a U.S. government contract is not particularly easy and can be very competitive.

So, your evidence of “companies like this stealing from the gov't” is one wasteful government contactor from 30 years ago and a cheap shoddy cost-cutter carpet cleaner service that you and a friend have used with no specific ties to the government in any way.

Somehow I’m not getting in a dither over this. Where’s the beef? :confused:

bigred
5th May 2008, 01:10 PM
Oh it still happens; all a question of degree. I think it's probably better today than the 70s, but that isn't saying much. I recall one year I worked as a DoD contractor and did almost literally nothing for an entire year. More amazing still was about mid-year I got an unexpected raise. :) (we found our counterparts in other companies were better paid so the gubmint threw us a chunk of change). And don't even get me started on civil service....(ie the "you couldn't fire me if you tried" group).

Iamme
6th May 2008, 04:06 PM
Why bother? Do you think you can keep the tide from coming in?


Yes. The Army Corp of Engineers does just that very thing.

Iamme
6th May 2008, 04:07 PM
And don't even get me started on civil service....(ie the "you couldn't fire me if you tried" group).

Oh...pretty please, pretty please?.....

balrog666
6th May 2008, 06:43 PM
Yes. The Army Corp of Engineers does just that very thing.


True. And we have a Government Accounting Office which is supposed to audit all this - take your complaint there and see what happens.