Question relating to employment from QubeGB

The_Rubikon

I'm a Qube Engineer and have worked for the company for 6 months or so and I have to say that most of the negative comments posted here are indeed true.

You will have to work 6 days a week
You will regularly have to leave your house at 5:30 - 6:00am to bet to your first job at 7:00am.
You will regularly not get home until 8pm (sometimes later)
You will regularly work 12 to 14 hours a day.
You will regularly spend £120 a week on fuel (you get about £40-50 back in expenses - the first 75 miles travelled in any one day you have to pay for yourself).
Their job routing system is a shambles with you occassionally having to travel 60 miles through countryside/villages/towns to one job and then having to travel 60 odd miles to the next (at an average speed - if you want to keep your licence - of 35miles or so per hour).
You are self-employed with NO employment rights i.e. no holiday pay, sick pay, etc.
You will regularly work 70 hours a week.
you will get paid approximately £500 a week (which includes any fuel expenses) from which you have to deduct approx £120 for fuel and about 20% for future Tax bills.
You can hardly ever get hold of your QAOs/Managers (but if you're late for a job - they call you every 5 minutes).
If you have a particularly long day and don't get home until 10:00pm you are still expected to be at your first job at 7:00am 60+ miles away.
You will get 6 - 7 jobs a day most of which can take well over an hour (occassionally less).
Your house/shed/garage will regularly be full of Stock!
Most days you will not have time during the day to stop for lunch or for any other break.

If I could find another job - and believe me i'm looking - I would leave tomorrow

Positive points:

I haven't had any trouble with getting paid on time.
Most of the customers i've met are polite and helpful.

rjh1987

Hi guys.

I have been a self employed engineer with Qubegb for over a year now.

I'm sorry to say that a lot of the comments on here ARE true, although not all......

I have NEVER had a day where I have been out past 4pm, unless it was my choice to do so, (from my experience, i can't understand why guys are out till 7-8pm!) I have always been paid on time and have no real worries about the company in that respect.

Could more be done to improve the working conditions of the self employed engineer at Qube? Probably, but tell me a company in the world that couldn't improve on the HR side of things.......

On to QAO's..... I have worked under a few and only have had difficulty with one of them. The guys doing that job are in a thankless task, They are all stuck in between Engineers complaining and the powers above complaining. though, again, I feel more could be done with QAO's in a "support" role. As has been pointed out, a few do take the title they have to their heads. THERE IS AN ANSWER TO THIS! Tell them to !!!! off! lol. (I jest)

This post has the potential to run on and on and on and on as a working diary of my employment with the company, All I'm really trying to say is that there ARE worse ways of making money (and I've tried them). You get out of this company what you put in. It has the ground works of a decent company.


having said all that, If you don't want to stay out late like other post suggest, or work with the public, or swallow the occasional peice of sit that get's thrown at everyone in their working life, regardless of employer......... then sign on.

siler_rocco

some customers are nice...have had champagne, trays of eggs etc
lunch and loads of drinks.
some early finishes if you can route the calls with out !!!!ing customers off lol.
never been out later than 7...if any service job takes 3 hours then you are spending to long on site...fault find and escalate.
been working sundays for extra dosh and was back by 12.

Jimmy_Boy

WOW, I started this thread about 3 years ago, and never got a reply before my interview date with QubeGB, so decided to give the job a miss. Never realised there was one reply let along 2 pages worth!

Anyway, I stuck at my previous job and ended up getting really ill due to the chemicals used at that place, so ended up leaving due to health reasons, and was then unemployed for about 18 months!

Then I got onto this government work programme, and the guy there mentioned this job that might be right up my street, it was a position with QubeGB!!! how strange.

Anyway, I thought "what the heck, what have I got to loose", went and done all the training, and have now been with Qube for about a year, and it's the best job ive ever had. Really regret not applying for it the first time around.

Like any job, it will suit some people and not others. eg, I would not make a good labourer/builder, and a builder/labourer may well not like this job... different courses for different horses as they say.

I have now been taken on as PAYE, so I get the benefit of paid holidays, not paying for fuel etc... etc...

Sometimes my first job is a mile away sometimes it's 60, but so what? im out in my van, doing something I enjoy, no one standing over me monitoring every single second of work im doing, I feel free, and to me that counts for a lot.

I never leave home before 7:30am and im normally home by 5 at the latest. Another engineer I know is ALWAYS finished by 1:30-2pm.

It's a job I get satisfaction from as it fits me perfectly - im out in my van in a different place every day, im out in places I would never normally see, I meet some really nice people and I get job satisfaction from trying to do the job to the best of my ability.

Maybe the people with negative comments are in bad areas (concrete jungles) whereas im out in the sticks with nice scenery!

It's just my 2 cents, but I wouldnt look back, im really happy, the money isnt bad for down here, and just re-emphasises what I already knew - I NEVER want another desk/office job!!! (Same place all the time, same people (yes the annoying ones too), and the feeling of being overly monitored)

DARKMOUNT1515

Jimmy_Boy wrote: »

WOW, I started this thread about 3 years ago, and never got a reply before my interview date with QubeGB, so decided to give the job a miss. Never realised there was one reply let along 2 pages worth!

Anyway, I stuck at my previous job and ended up getting really ill due to the chemicals used at that place, so ended up leaving due to health reasons, and was then unemployed for about 18 months!

Then I got onto this government work programme, and the guy there mentioned this job that might be right up my street, it was a position with QubeGB!!! how strange.

Anyway, I thought "what the heck, what have I got to loose", went and done all the training, and have now been with Qube for about a year, and it's the best job ive ever had. Really regret not applying for it the first time around.

Like any job, it will suit some people and not others. eg, I would not make a good labourer/builder, and a builder/labourer may well not like this job... different courses for different horses as they say.

I have now been taken on as PAYE, so I get the benefit of paid holidays, not paying for fuel etc... etc...

Sometimes my first job is a mile away sometimes it's 60, but so what? im out in my van, doing something I enjoy, no one standing over me monitoring every single second of work im doing, I feel free, and to me that counts for a lot.

I never leave home before 7:30am and im normally home by 5 at the latest. Another engineer I know is ALWAYS finished by 1:30-2pm.

It's a job I get satisfaction from as it fits me perfectly - im out in my van in a different place every day, im out in places I would never normally see, I meet some really nice people and I get job satisfaction from trying to do the job to the best of my ability.

Maybe the people with negative comments are in bad areas (concrete jungles) whereas im out in the sticks with nice scenery!

It's just my 2 cents, but I wouldnt look back, im really happy, the money isnt bad for down here, and just re-emphasises what I already knew - I NEVER want another desk/office job!!! (Same place all the time, same people (yes the annoying ones too), and the feeling of being overly monitored)

I also work for QubeGB - out in the country too,

That said, my experience, - even as a PAYE is mixed, - some days are great, and you do get back early compared to the office jobs,

other days you start out at 6am, and you dont get back till gone 8pm

and whats said about the "managers" or supervisors the QAO's as they are known is also true, they are a real mixed bag. My QAO is great but i know that some of them really are full of themselves.

Its not the greatest pay, but its not the worst either. Training is pants. - seriously. and you will find your colleagues are mixed because of that, - about 2 jobs a month seem to be putting right what my colleagues did wrong. but others are brilliant, very IT savvy and as accomplished as other telecoms engineers outthere, - certainly a better proportion compared to other telecoms companies!

So, I recommend trying it out. see what your experiences are. But go in with open eyes as well as a open mind.

I have tagged this thread so i get replies, - feel free to ask me any questions regarding them, I will answer as honest as I can.

qubeslave

Since I started this BT contract for qube instead of the talktalk contract my hours worked have gone up easily by 30% a week. . also. My. Mileage is now nearly 1000 miles a week and I am expected to pay for this out of the money I have earnt. I put fuel claims of average £250 per 2 weeks and have to wait nearly a week to be reimbursed. (Monthly wage after tax is £1480)
Having a family/rent/bills I can't afford to put fuel in and when I request we are given fuel cards the reply is we should budget more. !!!!!...

I am looking for another job now and hope to be free from this slave owner AKA qube .... We are contracted to 48hrs= 8 hours. - 6 days
Qube say they will look at extra hours worked every 17 weeks and give you days in leiu but I don't expect to be paid for extra hours by qube as there is no time sheets done !!!

THIS JOB IS ONLY SUITABLE IF YOU ARE SINGLE PERSON WITH NO BIG LIVING EXPENSES --- NOT A HARDWORKING FAMILY MAN WORKING TO SURVIVE

andre8525

Hi to all,

I can see there are few old messages but i would like to write my experience which i had with the one of the worst companies in UK. I am from Greece and i came to UK in 2008, i searched a lot for work and apparently i found QubeGB (bad luck). I stayed for 3 years until 2011 and the last year i was a Supervisor for London and also i send jobs to all the engineers in UK (except Scotland and midlands).
Everything they write for the money is true, they charge for everything including tools and damages. I lost tools, they smashed my window and stole items from the van, i had traffic speed penalties, parking penalties etc. All these because i was receiving 8 to 9 jobs and to control the amount of the work i was speeding or parking illegally (once i got 15 collections in London). Sometimes i got jobs to Wales (from North London ) and i left the home at 05:00 and i return 01:00 next day !!!!. Only the driving was 10 hours about.
Most of the money i was spending was for the diesel and parking (the diesel was between 8.000 and 10.000 pounds a YEAR !!!), at that time (2008 - 2009) my wife was unemployed so we couldn't pay the rent (because the money was almost nothing from Qube) and we moved to share house until i found a new job.
The last year was better because i was a supervisor (also install access points for The Cloud and other companies) but i was still paying a huge amount of money for diesel and parking. The company asked us (all supervisors) to give no less than 7 jobs to all engineers and if someone had 4 or 5 we should take them and give a day off to the engineer. Mane times i met engineers on the field and tried to help them and of course to listen all the problems similar to what the previous members wrote.

In conclusion, if you need (some) money right now then go and you will get a small salary for beginning but if you looking for something with less problems then don't bother. You need to be very active and good driver (for your own good) because everything happen you will pay the bill (and sometimes is BIG).

I thank God that i found another job and i develop my experience and career and of course earning more money.

Also consider that every year you will need to pay accountant (about 400 pounds) to submit your tax return or you can do it by your self (i did the last 2 years) to reduce one of the costs !!!

Sincerely
Andrew

James125

Drink beer while playing , really comfortable

davidd_ma

Hi All, I know it's not for here, but I should warn you!!! Here is my story with MJ Quinn.

I should have written this earlier, but I could not find time to do it.
In August 2013 I have signed up for MI training with MJ Quinn, the biggest mistake I have ever made!!! To be honest I was very happy I am going to start working for them, because what they were promising sounded very good. Long contract and good money, they were promising 6 jobs a day, that’s the only reason I have started, what more can I want!
But that was far from the reality! I was never to be given enough work, although I have called every day asking for extra work the answer was always the same “We don’t have any more work, unfortunately there is short spell!!!” That “short spell” continued for month and half, for that time my average complete jobs was below 4, which worked out below £80 a day, money before tax and fuel! Try surviving on this when you are the only person providing for a family, I have a wife and a baby at home!
I need to mention this, it’s not that I was not able to do the job, it’s that I was never given enough work!!!
So after month and half I have decided to leave. What they did after I have explained the reason for me leaving (the reason is “Not enough work and I was not able to support my family”) is to not pay my earnings for the last 2 weeks (£595), because I have signed training agreement, which states that if you leave earlier than 6 months you have to cover the expenses for the training! I have checked it with a legal adviser, does not matter the reason one has to pay for the training if leaves early!
So for two months with MJ Quinn I can say they are the worst company. Also I have wasted my time and pretty much I didn’t earn anything for 2 months.
I need to mention this as well: my mate completed the training with me, although they keep telling you that they will help you during your first week alone that was not the case with my mate! His first day alone he rings Controls to ask for assistance, they didn’t even know who his manager was! So he is out on the field until 8-9 p.m. that day and manages to complete 1or 2 jobs. The next day he quits, went back to Liverpool to return the van and he met one of the chaps we did the training with, that chaps is returning the van too and guess why same reason “ NO SUPPORT”. I had same sort of problems too, no support, tried to get through to Controls no one is answering!
STAY AWAY FROM MJ QUINN!!! THE WORST COMPANY!!!
Sorry for the long post!

Dent1973

Hi guys I am starting with Qube on 1feb just wanted to now wot r the good points and bad points of the company they now have a new contract with BT and as an engineer is there any work that involving heights any feed back would be helpful
Thanks