restoration technician

project manager

estimator

carpet cleaning technician

cleaning technician

Rainbow Restoration

I need to preface the remainder of what will ultimately be a blistering review with this - I like, to a person, every individual in the Bel Air office - management and rank-and-file alike. Every individual there is a decent human being, but that unfortunately doesn't mean they know how to run an operation.

I was brought on when a larger competitor started layoffs; the interview process consisted of a phone interview, followed a few days later by a face to face with the person who would ultimately become my direct report, as well as the franchise owner. Following the group interview, I was asked to fill out a background check authorization, during which time the Operations Manager casually mentioned that the company did not offer benefits of any type, and asked if that would be an issue. I don't mind shopping around, so it didn't bother me, but that may bother some people. At least in this area of the country, not offering any type of benefits to full time employees seems to be the exception, not the norm.

A few other key points that don't quite fit neatly into any of the following paragraphs and groupings: as a member of management, I was hourly. That struck me as a bit odd, but the upside seemed to be that, should I spend more than eight hours performing work related functions, I can be compensated for that time. At the moment in the industry, though, it's a slow period, so while overtime can be authorized if necessary, eight hours is pretty standard. A fuel stipend was provided, but given the amount of driving done in a personal vehicle on company time, this stipend hardly approaches anything close to the IRS standard rate of 57.5 cents per mile for the year 2020. A take home computer is not provided, so if you do intend to do any work from home, I hope you have an actual computer, and not just a phone or tablet (on that note, two screens are better than one for some applications). Don't apply if you're allergic to dogs; the company owner enjoys bringing his dog to work everyday.

During my first week of onboarding, the Operations Manager indicated he'd never had to train a Contents Manager before. No worries, I came to Rainbow with a lot of the background needed, I just needed someone to show me the workflow and culture at this specific employer. Still, I was a bit dumbfounded that my direct report didn't know how to train a subordinate. Also during onboarding, I was asked my uniform sizes -a lot of good that did. After a month of no uniforms being provided, I ordered my own outside of the company supply chain. Miraculously, I was compensated for these costs. It took about three weeks to be given door codes and keys to the building, despite repeated requests.

As onboarding wrapped up, I began to shadow teams in the field. I am a direct person, that asks direct questions, and generally prefers direct answers. I tend to tackle problems as they arise, not some time after the problem has occurred. I believe if a standard is in place, the standard is reasonable, and an employee has been properly trained, the employee should be held to that standard. Yet, despite being a straight shooter, none of that quite seemed acceptable at Rainbow. Asking direct questions and attempting to hold team members accountable always seemed to cause headaches. I believe at one point an employee called holding that individual's team to the prescribed standard as unfair.

Besides not offering benefits of any type, the company pays its rank-and-file comically less than competitors, though objectively I, personally, was compensated appropriately. The company does not have a fleet of marked vehicles, and the few Contents-specific vehicles they do have are falling apart, so much so that at least one vehicle was down at least one day a week. Supplies are a constant concern. At one point, the company owner was more worried about the number of pockets (six) on employee's work pants (that the employees have to procure themselves) than soliciting additional lines of work to keep the team working.

For every horror story caused by management at Rainbow, there was a redeeming story of the rank-and-file getting things done, and those employees being good people who cared about what they do, and persevered through all of the nonsense around them. Be loyal to the team, and they will impress you.

After a mere two months, however, I'm looking elsewhere.

Working at Rainbow International Restoration has been a great learning experience. I originally joined the company hoping to provide a means of living while finished graduate school, and had immediate success that allowed me to advanced to my current position as the Operations Manager. 

Rainbow helps homeowners and property managers in emergency situations whenever there is a fire, flood, mold, or other environmental issues. This is certainly a stressful, fast paced work environment where you will not experience the same work day on a consistence basis. 

The workplace culture has been very enjoyable to be apart of. The small business runs like a family. Although conflicts can occur in a very stressful service industry, there is always time afterwards to work out any issue and move on at the end of the day. The management team in place always has an open door for any suggestions from the field technicians or office staff. The ablility to have your voice heard and taken into consideration has been instrumental in my advancement in the company so far.

The hardest part of the job is the ability to adapt constantly to the changes in the schedule. Being a company that is available 24/7 and guarantees to be at the job within 4 hours to being contacted by a customer, you must allows be willing to make changes to your schedule. This can often be very difficult for every position within the company to adhere to.

I would recommend this job to anybody willing to work with their hands in a fast paced, ever-changing environment. No day is the same as the last, and this can very very enjoyable for some.

I started out in late October and it was very good hours and pay at first for training. After a while I was told I’d get a dollar raise and never did. I also never got to finish my training before I left there. My hours started of consistent going from 20-35 hours at one point during the “cleaning season.” Well after December my hours plunged from 20-35 hours one week to 15-20 hours and then a month later after I got back from vacation I ended up only getting 5-10 hours and by the time I left within three weeks I only got 2 hours total. I’d recommend this job to someone who is in college and need a job to work with your schedule. This is not a job for someone looking to get benefits that are good because you won’t get any here at all as I was told from a full-time worker and he only got PTA. But the kicker is that at this job some weekends you couldn’t even make plans because you had to be on call and you could make only an extra 50$ for that weekend. Well what broke to straw on the camels back for me was that I was told they couldn’t afford to put me on call for a week because I received 0 hours for two weeks straight.

I have been working at Rainbow Restoration of Lynchburg for over 2 years and have nothing but great things to say. This is a great place to work and the culture is fun and laid back. Never once have I felt like I was a seat filler but rather that I am an important part of the company and what I do is appreciated which is rare these days. The boss is very fair in his direction and the compensation provided is above average. We take team building company paid outings each year and have a ball spending time with the crew away from work.  I would recommend working here if you want a job that is fun different everyday and appreciate being a part of a close knit group that work together on every project to get the job done right. I have noticed some negative reviews from disgruntled employees that were very fairly let go with cause. That's so unfair that they leave a negative review because they were irresponsible and did things to lose there job. The boss is very considerate when it comes to things like this but some things can not be overlooked All I can say is that I honestly have enjoyed this job more than any job I have had prior and would highly recommend applying if you want to be part of a team that cares 

Horrible in retrospect.The owner does not care at all for their employees or their families.When hired was told it would be 40hr pay weeks as well year round work-these both were untrue as I worked a full week under 5 times and was laid off with no notice and no contact whatsoever with the owner until he needed me over 6 weeks later. No explanation.No reference when one was needed to put food on my table.Mind you I like to think with relative accuracy that I am nothing short off a model employee, this begs the question of why yes everyone but the owners direct family was laid off? Because the owner is just a bad person/ boss and shady person as his other “sister company” Tyler Construciionn-had some Less than ethical dealings. Overall lesson learned and terrible job.

The day starts before the actual business hours of 8:00 am with a morning call while driving into the office. I felt that there was not any respect to my personal time or family time because it was mandatory for all employees respond to phone calls even when on a personal day off or sickness. 

Management would verbally attack employee's to the point that the employee's would suffer from anxiety and stress.  This behavior has caused a huge over-turn in employee's wanting to stay and help the business grow.  

Management do not appear to care for the well being of the employee's, they say they would want to have policies in place, the policy would be short lived and in turn would only benefit them.

There is not any consideration for employee's who work in the field for the time they work.  The could literally work 120 hours per week and weren't properly compensated, the management would constantly make deductions to pay without written permission.

I would not recommend that anyone work for this particular franchise.

I have been working here for a little less than a month, & working here has been a very good experience. It is very easy to go to work every morning, & it's hard to leave in the afternoon. The reason for this is because the owners are very warm, very caring, and overall amazing people. They make it their priority to ensure that you are not overworked, in fact, there have been several occasions where the owners themselves personally made sure that I get sufficient rest.

The way they conduct business makes you care about the company as if it were your own. They do not micromanage, they are direct in the nicest possible ways, & therefore, this makes you genuinely care about what you do. Not just to earn a living, but to ensure that your productivity helps the company. On top of that, they provide you with all of the tools necessary so you are set up to succeed in your position. I cannot say enough good things about the owners of this company. It's definitely a privilege to work for them.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Quiting. Place is terrible, highly recommend to avoid this place.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything, the constantly being watching on cameras. An owner who will yell at you on a whim for no reason other than he can. A poor structural leadership that is ran by people who should really get out of the business.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic. Awful. Horrific. Tremendously bad.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get in, god forbid you are a minute late, maybe get scolded, hurry up and stock your completely unstocked vehicle, before the big boss gets annoyed you are there too long. Do all the scheduling of jobs yourself and get on quick. Don't stop for food or snacks or anything or you will hear about how you cost the company money by people who could care less about you.

Pretty good company. Prefer people who are already strain and know what they’re doing because there’s really no system in place but it’s organized chaos so if that’s something you’re driving in plenty of opportunity there the owner doesn’t like confrontation so sometimes there can be tension in the office there will be times where I would be managing sub contractor and payment would be late or renegotiate once job one done. Or promises of bonus to sub contractors that was never followed through even if subs finished ahead of schedule. 

No benefits. But a 401k that wasn’t worth it to me. Don’t expect a rise so I recommend when you negotiate your wage or salary you should add structure pay or performance base pay increase. 

Positive: the owners are usually hands off and leave choices to your discretion. Just produce profit. You work with amazing customers and great networking opportunities. 




Work here if you want to work for people who never trust you, talk about everyone behind their backs to their other employees, and generally think they're better than anyone else. It's a family company, but don't think they'll treat you like family. The owner's son started working for the company full-time when he graduated high school and literally laughed at me for going to college. Also, the only way you advance is if you are a relation or dating the owner's son (not by skill). Beware, they also constantly threaten to sue people and have taken some employees to court. Also, there are four managers for such a small company and each one will tell you the other one has no idea what they are talking about and then tell you to do something different (which is never good for you). 

I could go on, but I won't.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Restoration technician 328 salaries reported	$21.02 per hour
Project manager 32 salaries reported	$67,109 per year
Estimator 33 salaries reported	$65,239 per year
Carpet cleaning technician 9 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Cleaning technician 40 salaries reported	$18.61 per hour

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