no pane

May 8, 08 - 5:10 PM

court ruling/Diamond

Pretty sad commentary of our court system to allow the Diamond Mgt. to receive
anything other than a pink slip. Shame on those judges !! If I was a creditor waiting for my money I would be furious knowing they have not only the audacity to request bonus money but the courts blessing to pay bonuses to the folks that ruined the company. Its legal thievery and I cannot fathom the reasoning behind the decision. Oh well, thats the glass business in a nutshell.

....

May 8th, 2008 - 5:49 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Keep something in mind no pane.
1- The company made money in 2007 under the curent leadership and It didnt in 2006.
2- You dont know what you are talking about
3- The dept and the reason for chapter 11 have nothing to do with the daily practices of the business and its leadership. it has to do with a Bond note that was due from 10 years ago.
Please before you speak about a company make sure you know all the facts.
4- Shame on you for commenting on what you know very little about.

ill be you dont know the diff between chapter 7 and 11.

****

May 8th, 2008 - 5:55 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Well said ....

IOU

May 8th, 2008 - 6:04 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Who cares if they made money last year. I've worked for them for many years, and I don't get get a bonus for helping them make their "profit". And I'm the one with the aching joints and back. I'm the one in the cold all winter long. I'm the one that hopes I get my 40 hours when were slow. How about, just one time, the grunts are shown some appreciation in this industry?

funk u

May 8th, 2008 - 6:24 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

who want to bet there will a massive call out and disgruntled workers from here on out. this is the most absurd thing a judge can do, when a company is BANKRUPT and approve a bonus. what about all the other workers.hmmmmmmmm screw u and O keep having a positive attitude.

if i worked for DT i would not be very happy and do as little as i can and make my bonus up by doing nothing

AGN

May 8th, 2008 - 7:40 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

the two techs around here are about to walk out...people can only take so many FUs.

AGN

.

May 8th, 2008 - 7:49 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Hey .....

If they made money in 2007, And could not pay a note that was 10 years old. Did someone forget that a 10 year old note was due? Most companys would have saved some money every year for ten years and be prepared to pay when it was due. So was 2007 really a profit year? Just wondering.......

Dr. Crack

May 8th, 2008 - 7:54 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

To .... One question for you. What kool aid have you been drinking ? Diamond has been closing shops everywhere, surely not a sign of a healthy company. Secondly, Mr. Levine knew about the bond debt before he decided to sink his own money into the titanic. You can play with numbers all day long but ultimately your/his dream team and their disconnection with the industry and employees is what sank you. Please do not insult no pane and those of us on the forum.

diamond girl

May 8th, 2008 - 7:59 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

just freakin beautiful. and still no raises

funk u horse

May 8th, 2008 - 9:40 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Today I had a review from my DM and recieved a raise. NO I didn't threten to leave or put them in a corner. I have not had a raise in a couple of years, I was pleasently supprised.I went out every day and gave 100% I didn't steal from them or cheat the system, Closing non proffitable stores sounds like good buisness in these difficult times. Home Depot is closing 3 stores in the Northeast because they are not proffitable.

scott

May 8th, 2008 - 9:52 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

wait a minute your saying you did everything right for a couple years and didnt get a raise till now?
WOW i cant even finish what i was going to say. thats just amazing. i would have stuck my foot up someones arse.

?????

May 8th, 2008 - 10:00 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Well this really sucks...they get a bonus for sitting and watching this company go down.That is the court system for you though the rich get richer and the rest get screwed...and then don't forget the Meyer Levine award...this if you are unfamiliar guarantees all employees from one of the branches, a cruise. Not to begrude the branch recognition but since we haven't had raises in years and we are in the situation that we are in this is just not right. Just give it to us straight D/T don't beat around any bush, come end of auction be honest. We are not as dumb as you think. I am sure if we receive an email tomorrow re todays hearing it will pass right over the incentive topic just like the last one did.

Sglass

May 9th, 2008 - 11:47 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

The real fools here are the creditors who allowed D/T to run up such high bills. D/T was given glass at the best price possible, credit was extended beyond anything small indies could expect and BAM…D/T turns around and stiffs them. D/T management is laughing all the way to the bank. The same creditors would probably fall all over themselves to do it again if D/T were to emerge again.

...

May 9th, 2008 - 5:59 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

its not high bills THAT CAUSED THE CHAPTER 11 you guys need to pay attention
it was a bond to buy the company back from investors 10 YEARS AGO.

They where current with all their suppliers AT THE TIME OF THE CHAPTER 11 PROTECTION.

THEY DID NOT FILE CHAPTER 11 BECAUSE THEY COUDNT PAY THEIR BILLS YOU FOOLS.
IT WAS BECAUSE OF A BOND NOTE THAT WAS OVER 40 MILLION.

glassking

May 9th, 2008 - 6:13 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

thats there buyout to take a different pos

jlm

May 9th, 2008 - 6:21 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

.......

Is forty million debt not a bill?

MonkeyLove

May 9th, 2008 - 8:49 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Dear ....,

Made money in 2007? Must be CPA logic - sorta green deamon magic (executive management?!?). Let's see, stiff vendors for $6-7mil. Owe Gug (KL's auction financier) $35mil. Don't pay bond debt of $40mil. Get kick in from KL of $25mil over last 2 yrs. Get KL to "turn down" his $500k annual salary. Get out of leases (except for those properties owned by KL?!?). Don't provide a majority of employess raises for the last 3-4 years. Yup, in the business world, I guess that is how you make money.

GG1

May 9th, 2008 - 9:39 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

When I was a dimond dm we were always being told how many millions they were appling to this expantion note to buy it down. where did that money go?

howie

May 9th, 2008 - 9:42 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

We'll go out on a limb here... If you eat HO-HO's, AND , watch Jerry Springer, AND are NOT SMARTER THAN A FIFTH-GRADER, You'll let them; or no offense, their employees, (start your own business), replace your windshield... RE-READ the post before you respond. THANX.

dick hertz

May 10th, 2008 - 9:28 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

its amazing that at one time they thought they were going to have a monopoly on the glass business .they said they were going to be all across the united states by the year 2000 and look at them now,ha ha.

J Armstead

May 10th, 2008 - 11:42 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Diamond's failings have less to do with bad management and everything to do with profit per job.

Is the forty million debt not a bill? Of course it's a bill !! Money from profits should have been put in escrow or an investment fund.

Had anyone at Diamond put pen to paper (10 years ago) they would have come up with a plan where, based upon their abysmally low average of sales per vehicle (a little over $200.00 a unit), they should have determined that it would take 10,000 repair orders per year to be up-sold at least $50.00 more per R.O. to generate an additional $5,000,000.00 per year to both service and pay off the debt when the notes became due.

Any gyrations less than that (from the top management.. KL himself or whoever signed the notes) are just smoke and mirrors. You really can't blame the regular people for failure because the top dog who signed the debt instruments failed to bonus mid-level management to meet the goals of generating $50.00 more per R.O. on 10,000 jobs.

I've said enough about this topic and should let this dog take its flea bath in private.

Mark1

May 10th, 2008 - 1:17 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Armstead, common sense and fiscal accounting sense are not in play.

You must realize that we're speaking of "obstacles to growth", not debts, or bills.

Bankruptcy has become as necessary of a tool to the glass business as powered caulking guns and powered cut-out tools and fast cure urethanes.

The sad part of all of this is, these vendors that are going to be stiffed in all of this have to make up the loss somewhere. In that scenario, I see that as meaning basically that all of us will be paying for another one of the large companies to likely continue to lowball price with cheap glass while we all pick up the tab for their continued operation.

Why the bankruptcy court can't see this, is what I would like to know.

Perhaps that's simplistic, but I don't think so. it goes to the extreme irony or massive oxy-moron of standing before a bankruptcy court saying "WE'RE PROFITABLE!"

JMHO

Big Picture

May 10th, 2008 - 3:57 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

What everyone fails to mention is that the $40mm of a "bill" they did not pay back is related to investors that took a chance that thier expansion would be continued successfully. Investors gambled and lost. What did they loose? Who really knows. First off, these investors were paid approximatley 10% interest for 10 years. If one invested $10mm they earned $1mm a year for 10 years. Most of you could see that they really didn't loose much. Second, they knew that there was risk involved, they have analyts that make decisions every day. These analysts get paid a lot of money to do there job. Not every windshield you install works out perfect, nor did the investor's decision to gamble on Diamond.

Little Picture

May 11th, 2008 - 9:39 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Everyone coming in contact with Diamond gets screwed.

Truth be told

May 11th, 2008 - 10:25 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

I'm not going to weigh with any opinion here, except to say, CPA's make more than auto glass tech's. From the posts I've seen here I'm wondering why all you CPA's are installing auto glass?

Mark1

May 11th, 2008 - 11:18 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Truth, for whatever the reasons for the bankruptcy, the simple fact is that Diamond's liabilities outweighed their assets, and significantly so, fitting the definition of bankrupt being "financially insolvent".

Any way you slice it, for whatever the reason, it means they could not/did not generate enough profit to pay the bills.

One does not need to be a CPA to understand this, nor that we all will be paying for this bankruptcy, one way or another, just as we all did the last time. Possibly not the costs/losses incurred by the investors/lenders, but surely the costs/losses incurred by the suppliers will be borne by us all.

If we don't see it in higher costs, we will see it in lost services, and lost choices (of inventory or suppliers themselves), at the least.

This industry as a whole is pursuing a bankrupt business model, long term, and it shows.

Your post may have been more accurately said that LAWYERS, rather than CPA's, make more than autoglass glaziers. That, I would have agreed with. A lawyer's job is to convince someone that 2+2+3, or 2+2=5.

lol lol

JMHO

potato*

May 11th, 2008 - 12:18 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

CPA's got it tough. Maybe meant CFO or CEO.

xs

May 11th, 2008 - 3:36 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

I guess a good CPA bookcooker could't keep DT out of brankruptcy huh????Despite the 10 year old bond that was due,should they known to increase RPU somehow???Just my thoughts as a good business man,Not a CPA or a Lawyer....lol...............................

Kiss My Glass

May 12th, 2008 - 7:23 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Truth Be Told,
I think it's a bit rude and insulting to assume that people in the glass business don't know anything about the finances of their business. What you fail to realize is that most of these people run their own glass shops or work very closely with those who do. And they seem to have a good grasp on their finances and what it would take, in their opinion, to pay down a 40 million dollar debt. Your comment just shows the condescending, ignorant nature of yourself. Glass Houses my friend, Glass Houses. Take a good look at where you are before you dare talk about others. ;)

truth be told

May 12th, 2008 - 8:16 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

I think you are all going to be in for a big surprise on June 7. There might be new owners, a total re-structure, and your dt nightmare will live on. Speculation is one thing, but most of what is being posted here is fantasy. Why don't you all put as much energy into running your buisnesses as you do here, playing the dt psychic. Our buisness is up and call volume is at an all time high. The reason for that is we worry about what we're doing and don't care about anybody else. Take it for what it's worth, or slam me some more. I don't really care, but I do feel for all of you, wasting you days away just waiting for the latest speculation on dt. Oh yeah, let's slam their tech's and management some more. Real people just like you that have to work each day wondering what is really going to happen. Like how will they feed their families. They're the only ones that should really matter in all of this. I don't see too many kind words going out to them, or even an effort to sympathize with their situation. How righteous and smart you all are. Lesson for the day, " Just because it's your opinion, doesn't make it right", so I'm probably wrong, just my opinion.

fre

May 12th, 2008 - 8:40 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Ya, use guys take heed.

xs

May 12th, 2008 - 9:34 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Yeah,yeah,yeah,But our company ain't filling for bankruptcy.......lol..........................We must be doing something right..........................

truth be told

May 12th, 2008 - 9:41 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Just for you , kmg, how successful would a person need to be, to be able to borrow 40 million dollars. How do you rate that person a failure? Do you ever think about what you say? Could you get a lender to give you 40 million? What does that say about you?

xs

May 12th, 2008 - 9:58 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

How do you gauge a person that can borrow 40 millions dollars and cant pay it back???????I wouldn't need to borrow 40 million dollars so that point is pretty much dead isn't it???????DOA

FRED THE PLUMBER

May 12th, 2008 - 11:49 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

A con atist would be able to do dees kinda tings.

sh

May 13th, 2008 - 8:43 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

hey "truth be told", first of all if things are so up as you say (call volume, etc...) why are you concerned about dt's "real people employees" as you call them and their (your) future and dt's? according to you the future is bright????? you little people with dt will soon see that the only people smarter than dt's upper management was the former dt dm, csr, and two techs that took dt's alabama business in the middle of the night right under dt's nose. why don't you ask upper management about that and the effect that one thing had on the bottom line. you little people are brainwashed thinking you still work for a giant. truth is that you have been shot with a pea shooter! keep believing! all the way to your new job and employer!

nwilagm

May 13th, 2008 - 9:47 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

I am just wondering what part of the country you guys are in to be having record call volumes? Must be nice!

xs

May 13th, 2008 - 5:12 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

There highiest ever call volume in customer complaint and warranty issue's was the complete sentence...lol......................................

James Runion

May 13th, 2008 - 6:42 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Screw all you haters
jokers and people who put down others.

Any tech who is on here who is in dept up the A--
is struggling to make it should not throw stones at a multi-million dollar company.
nor- should you claim to understand big business, not until you get yours and make it work for 85 years.
85 years
tell me what you have in your life that will be around and running in 85years
you better respect the time they have been in the glass biz.

again its easy to knock them when you hid behind a clever or stupid name. i doubt if any of you would write your junk if you used your real name and put your home phone and address here.

xs

May 13th, 2008 - 6:54 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

WWWWWWWaaaahhhhhh.......lol........................

Kiss My Glass

May 13th, 2008 - 6:55 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Isn't borrowing 40 Million that you know you can't pay back really just stealing? So the question is could I steal 40 Million...probably. But I'll do it the honest way and work for mine.

Dr. Crack

May 13th, 2008 - 7:03 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

To James Runion --- The glass business was extremely lucrative at one time, and insurance companies paid and paid. Almost any fool could have made tons of money during the heydays of the eighties and nineties. I did !! Case in point D/T's growth during this period. Well the insurance companies smartened up and the pendulum began to swing in their favor. Now they have us on the ropes, ready to finish us off. You see Diamond has been poorly run for quite some time. Its just reaching a head now because their exec. mgt. team sped up their demise. Your obviously a D/T loyalist. Based on the number of posts about D/T on this forum, they are widely hated by most of us in the industry. I wish you the best of luck after the June auction/liquidation.

Brad Glazer

May 14th, 2008 - 9:21 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

Steal, steal, steal.

THE INSTALLINATOR

May 14th, 2008 - 10:41 PM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

I HAVE WORKED FOR D/T 8 YRS,READING THIS FORUM MAKES ME GRINN FROM EAR TO EAR.THERE ARE DEFINITELY A BUNCH OF PROBLEMS CORP. DOES NOT SOLVE, BUT.... IF EVERY EMPLOYEE WAS TREATED THE SAME THEN IT WOULD WORK BETTER.BUT D/T TREATS TO WHO THEY THINK DESERVES(TEACHER PETS) AND STICKS IT TO THE REST!!!!! TREAT EVERYONE THE SAMEFOR RAISES AND SO ON HAPPY PEOPLE!!!THEY BROUGHT THIS ON THEIRSELVES JUST HOPE I DONT HAVE TO TAKE IT ONE MORE TIME...PS.WELCOME TO D/T.

Nunya

May 15th, 2008 - 12:01 AM

Re: court ruling/Diamond

I don't know who these fools are protecting about DT and about know what you say and getting facts right. Bond, Bill, debt. It does not matter. I remember when Paul Gross(at the time vp at Safelite) used to make fun of Harmon when they were going through financial troubles just prior to Safelite's Cahpter 11. And then bam! Safelite files chapter 11 and all of their "Captains" of the Titanic also got bonus options for staying. I am sorry to burst your bubble but no upper mgmt deserves to stay but someone has to be around until Belron Takes over. I saw people from safelite enjoy the great merger with Vistar and was greatful for all the changes that Vistar brough to the table. But slowly and surely Vistar mgmt started to say hell no and either quit or got fired and the old Safelite emerged. DT has always focussed on nothing but price and it bit them in the rear 10 years ago, last year and all the way to April Chapter 11. "WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD" in all the phonebooks. In 16 years I have seen a lot of great employees (previous independents gobbled up from Vistar) leave Safelite and NEVER come back. Everyone needs to keep an open mind but please don't sugar coat DT or tried to put perfume on a tirdd. It still stinks and most upper mgmt in most companies ruin the lives of the working man/woman for a shiny nickel and debt.