Pros
In hindsight nothing, I thought that flexibility in completing assignments was a "Pro" but this is an illusion will explain below.
Cons
After calculating drive times, time spent reporting service orders and cost of paper ink, wear and tear on vehicle you will find that it cost you money if you don't coordinate service orders based on location. I intended to do this but the company had other ideas. They decided that instead of the due date on the service order being the due date, everyone had to complete the day before it was due Leaving you only 4 days to do it, also you often received emails stating you were not to do your stores until your POP material arrived by ups or post office. After measuring this trend for 7 weeks all my work had to be done on Tuesdays and Wednesdays leaving me unable to coordinate my visits forcing me to drive to my most remote service order at least twice a week. I decided to see just how much I was actually making over the course of 5 weeks and found that out of 5 weeks I had only made $85.67 after working 65.75 hours once I deducted gas, printer paper for required instructions and sign off forms that had to be signed by store management. There is so clocking in or out, they have a predetermined number of hours for each service order ranging from 1 hour to 2 hours. What they don't take into account is that the stores can be uncooperative and just not care so when you are sent to this location and are told they have a box in the back with a display you are to assemble they say I can't find it or oh we threw that out ect. Then like two weeks later they did find it and they report that the job was never done. You then have to go back and repeat the job and hope they actually will look for the materials this time. This happened to me on a weekly basis. Since the client relationship is so important to PRS I felt that it was best not to second guess whether the client actually looked for it. Once the client does find it, it is always (cant emphasize that enough) your fault in their email to PRS (they forwarded me the actually email from client once). After this I wanted out. In their handbook they threaten to sue for false reporting so you just telling both PRS and their client to shove it seemed risky but I was in a situation where I was doing a job that actually cost me money (after their policy of SOs had to be completed the day before due dates). They would also add stuff to your list of jobs that were already past due and my favorite the SOs that only paid $10 but was a 136 mi round trip. Once I mentioned this to manager he became angry and said that now he'll have to "eat" it because I didn't mention it earlier. I mentioned it the very day they added it because I took screen shots of the SOs every day to prove to myself I wasn't crazy. Weekly emails along with threats of termination. One of the first weekly emails I got that was sent to every one who worked in my managers territory when I started was an email stating the excuses why people couldnt do their work this week, listed was "child was sick with flu", "car trouble" and other things that would be legit at any reasonable place of employment. Emailed ended with threats of termination and a "strike system of 3 strikes your out" nonsense. I found it very distasteful. I ended my career with them by just not going to work anymore, no more answering their calls, deleting their emails unread. Tried resigning once over the phone but they promised that it'll get better but it never did. I didnt like doing it that way but I don't regret it. I myself in the unique position of making as much not working for them as I did in working for them.
