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CB Employers Review of Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc
Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc

Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc review: non-payment of wages 4

H
Author of the review
3:48 pm EST
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hi, my name is Lily. I'm 2 and a half years old, and I'm hungry.
My daddy worked for Mr. David and Mr. Brian at Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc making really neat websites, but Mr. David and Mr. Brian won't give my daddy his paychecks. Now I'm hungry and my bottom is wet because mommy and daddy can't go to the store to get me some dry pullups. Daddy told Mr. David that my belly hurt and my bottom was wet but Mr. David still won't give my daddy his paychecks.
Mr. David gave our landlord a check for $1500 to help us move from Montana all the way to North Dakota, but the bank said that the check Mr. David and Mr. Brian gave him wasn't any good. Now our landlord is angry at Mr. David, Mr. Brian and my daddy. Mr. David promised my daddy and mommy we would get lots of money and have a nice life, but we don't. Before my daddy talked to Mr. David we had a big house and I had lots of toys, now daddy says we might not have a place to live soon. I'm not sure what that means, but it makes daddy and mommy cry a lot. Daddy said that Mr. David gave him a check that the bank didn't like once too.
My daddy keeps asking Mr. David and Mr. Brian for his paychecks but they keep not talking to him. I get in trouble if I don't talk to mommy and daddy when they ask me too. Mr. David should get in trouble too.
My daddy said that the car people are going to take our car away soon if he doesn't get his paycheck from Mr. David and that if they take his car away that he will have trouble getting to work when he gets a new job and that his boss there would be mad at him for that
Since Mr. David and Mr. Brian won't give my daddy his paychecks, mommy and daddy cry a lot, and that makes me very sad so I cry too. Mommy and daddy argue now too and that makes me cry too. I love my mommy and daddy and don't want them to fight. Fighting isn't nice.
Please tell Mr. David and Mr. Brian to give my daddy his paychecks; I'm hungry and my bottom is wet, and my kitty cat is hungry, and my mommy and daddy are crying

Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc.
348 N 35th St.
Bismarck, ND 58501
David Stavig, President [protected]
Brian Beckers, CEO [protected]

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

4 comments
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Blue Spark
Bismar, US
Apr 10, 2010 10:24 pm EDT

Blue Spark of Bismarck would like to offer our apologizes to our clients and future clients. Some things in business cannot be helped or halted. A few individuals decided to take an above the normal attitude towards the work they produced, and the income needed to maintain a business. Some are proud of the small amount that they produced for the company. Some even prouder of the level of quality of their work. As an owner of a business, one comes to realize that in starting a new business the hardships involved are enough without such downfalls as these. Excitement in the beginning along with the enthusiasm to get the company up and prospering. Well, the company opened, and in a few months staff was added. Some were there to get the job done right the first time, others felt that they were one of the best, and the pace was to their setting. True, it was. But with the expense of other families. Not just theirs, all families. Employees hired for their abilities reflect, yes, heavy on a company's reputation. Providing the tools and the support is the responsibility of not only the owner, but that of the employee also. When a system breaks down this is what one can expect. All of us have been "employees" in our lives. We have all worked hard for good and bad wages. But good employees don't have to take the time to post things like we have seen. A few employees that took the time and the efforts and yes, the courage to come on board a new opening will be missed. We offer our apologizes for putting you through this. We will strive to disconnect you from the words of a few, and make the appropriate moves to getting you on with your lives. To the few that hung in and pushed to help with keeping things going...we thank you. You are the ones that spoke up and tried to make awareness of things like these. Some of the above comments we also agree with, but not that we all are low paid, hard working individuals. Wages superior to the last place of employment were being paid, and yes they were expected to produce the "profits" to keep not only their salaries, but that of their fellow employees paid with as minimal help from outside sources as possible. Help and tools to produce were given at a fast as possible rate. In the long run, tools and support were not going to solve the main issues. So in turn, many conflicting stories arose, and generated the "fear" into the "new" or "good" employees that believed in us. Now after the smoke cleared, and the damage done, they too have voiced their opinions. We thank them again. A few spoke for the crowd, and kept a fire burning. Well, wonderful things come to life after a forest fire too. In some ways the fire is a blessing.

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Rob Parn
St Paul, US
Mar 27, 2010 3:06 pm EDT

I agree with you Kristal. Having worked for another company in the same part of town. Small Business owners think "they have a right" to delay paying paychecks, take advantage of their workforce, have you come out (not on the clock) and open locked out doors for them.

While, they will tell their bill payers, "the check is in the mail, " and still blame you for business is bad & they are broke. Even though, I was never management, never in charge of anything, and regularly waiting to be paid.

My advice, in the future, "the MOMENT" you are over two weeks due wages! Call the ND Labor Department. Talk to someone and don't be afraid of being fired.

ND & MO people are the hardest working people. We all make so little, you can easily make what you were once working, here, over there, and just move on. Although references are a bit sticky. However, think outside the box.

--
2009 was a hard year for workers. We all took pay cuts & "the lucky ones, " left, leaving us stay behind-ers with their extra work, too.

I just had to move on, after "finally getting too tired" of doing the work of 3 people, too.

Good luck

K
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Kristal Rowland
Bismarck, US
Feb 26, 2010 8:16 pm EST

The original post was written by my husband, Charles Rowland. I would like to inform everyone that the story was a small exaggeration of our situation. But it is the situation we will be in in a few weeks without any paychecks coming in. We are not going hungry (thanks to a family that does not know us) and Lily does have clean diapers. We are not yet facing eviction, as our landlord is trying his best to be understanding. I have become employed as a cashier at a grocery store. I do not start until the end of the week though, and do not know when I will get my first paycheck.

We did in fact plan our move as best we could. This "opportunity" that was provided to my husband by David Stavig of Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc. came up right before Christmas, when we had spent our extra money on christmas presents for our families and our daughter. No, we did not have the extra money to pay for the first month of rent or the security deposit at that time, but we knew we would have money coming in shortly after moving. And it did, but it was not money from Blue Spark or David Stavig. We brought food and diapers as we have moved several times and are not bad parents nor are we idiots. David Stavig agreed to pay the $1500 to help us move to Bismarck as he wanted Charles to be working from the office as soon as possible, not from our current home in Glendive.

So we agreed to move quickly. We happened to find a house that would suit our needs. It was not out of our price range in rent, as we had spent countless hours calculating our bills and the pay rate that David Stavig told my husband he would be paid. Things seemed to be going well at first. Charles’ first paycheck came due and there were many excuses from David as to why it was going to be late. It was understandable to us that the business was having some cash flow issues due to lack of production since the last developer had left. After about a week, David did give him $200. And a few days later, when it was time for his next paycheck, David did give him $1000. We thought everything would be fine from this point on, as Charles was developing sites, that the cash flow problems would have been solved.

Next paycheck comes due, and Charles again has to beg and nag and pester just to get his paycheck, which he gets late. It later turns out that that paycheck was written on insufficient funds from Blue Spark. David did go out and get cash for it and give it to Charles that day or the next, but he did not apologize for the error. Since then (2/5/2010) Charles has not received another paycheck from Blue Spark even though he continued to work there. As of today, 2/25/10, he is owed two paychecks from David Stavig and has not received them.

I did not procure employment before we moved as it was impossible for me to come up and do interviews in the middle of January, as I worked in a tax office as the Payroll Administrator and January was my busiest month. We decided that with the wage rate he was to receive, that we would be okay with this situation and that I could begin looking for work as soon as we moved here. And I did. Our plan was for Charles to work full time at Blue Spark and then I would be able to work part-time as I am also a full-time student going to school to get a degree in Accounting. I also have my own art/photography business that I am trying to get rolling (which I have been working on since August of last year at great length, but really since about 2005, well before David Stavig ever came into our lives). To say the least, between our family, school, my business and working part-time, I would have been one busy lady. Now I am taking care of my family, in school full time, starting to work full time and trying to run my business (which is starting to take off!)

So here we are today. No paycheck since February 5th. All of our backup money has run out. Yet David Stavig feels he has done nothing wrong. He did NOT inform my husband that he may not get paid due to "cash flow" problems. Had he done that, we would never have taken this opportunity that we thought would be great for both of us and our family as a whole. Now we are behind on our bills. We worked very hard to keep our bills up to date and paid on time. What we had spent years working on, is now starting to fall apart.

Hopefully, we can both find sound employment that will enable us to stay in the house we are in and stay in Bismarck, as we do still feel that it is a better place for us to live, as a family and as career artists. We have taken responsibility for our actions in this situation. We are doing our best to get our lives back on track. We are only asking that David Stavig of Blue Spark IT Advantage, Inc. pay his employees the wages they have earned and take responsibility for HIS own actions.

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Is this for real
Bismarck, US
Feb 24, 2010 1:18 pm EST

Waa Waa Waa. Sounds like daddy likes to hide behind his little girl, Lilly. Can't he speak for himself? If mommy and daddy had a big house and Lilly had lots of toys in Montana why did you move?
Don't all employers promise money and a nice life as long as you WORK for it, as long as you show up for work and is steadfast? Maybe you didn't work for it, maybe your attitude and production was below par, maybe it’s not your employer's duty to front you money for your move. Then when you move out to North Dakota and it’s not what you thought it would be like, it turns out to be your employers fault.
Try being a man and take blame where it deserves to fall. Try being a father and quit hiding behind your daughter. Do you think you should have had your "ducks" in a row before moving? Have money in the bank? Bring food and diapers for your family with you when you moved? Does mommy have a job? Sounds like maybe Lilly should get a job.
How does all or any of this become Bluespark's fault or responsibility? You are suppose to be the man of the family, the husband and the father. Be responsible and stop blaming everyone else for your woes and problems.