Spring Air employees treated like lumpy mattresses

To quote Bob Dylan "We live in a land where JUSTICE is a game" Spring Air/American Capital should write a book entitled "How to screw employees and influence your own pocketbooks". Corporate America at it's best.

Dear Sara:
Let me guess you’re employed so it’s easy for you to defend someone WHO knew that the company was going down but continued to telling the story that the company is doing well. My advice to you is read all the Furniture Today articles about ALL the BS that Cumbow was saying up to the day of our doors closing before shooting out your remarks. This one individual help destroy a well known company that took all of the employees hard work and dedication to build. It’s more than apparent that you are an uneducated individual by some of your comments. If any one is an idiot its YOU!
Cordially,
Ex Spring Air employee who was not hourly
Also, I advise you to take some etiquette classes- how dare you try and insult ANY of the employees hourly or not!

Ed Bates...my hero!. What a story, that Ed Bates from Boston, with no college degree or fancy credentials, has now taken over the entire Spring Air Company and is putting people back to work! I recall the arrogant former management, shortly after taking over Spring Air, saying to Ed and other former owners (when offered advice) ¨no thanks! we´ve got it covered!)They had it covered alright! It doesn´t take a Harvard Business degree to run a smart company...like Mr. Bates had done for more than 30 years, always doing what he felt was right, not what the ¨gurus¨ recommended. He has stated that more than anything, he wanted to put people back to work and help all the families hurt by the closings. Cudos to you Ed Bates! God Bless you and may Spring Air rise up to it´s former glory! They´ve certainly left you a mess to deal with!

Carole, even if what you say is true (which I doubt), effort does not trump incompetance

Carol,
I worked at Tampa, but no I didnt really know Steve, but please forgive us if we do not pause to reflect on his efforts. Our benefits were cancelled in April (we worked into May), some of our houses are being foreclosed , cars repossed and worse. But hey, we didnt get our accrued vacation, severence or unpaid expenses., but I am sure hes a great guy

I was never employed at Spring Air but know Steve Cumbow well enough to have observed how he worked his head off to save this company. He poured his heart into that sinking business from the moment he was hired. It saddens me deeply to see how unappreciated his efforts were.

my husband was an employee for 11 years, and on the day of closure, I callled the insurance co. and was informed that the insurance was good til the end of May - I went to the dentist on the 13th and found out on the 15th that the insurance had ended Apr 30th. What a crock or crook no matter how you look at it. Are they still responsible since they (the insurance) told me otherwise? Who knows, but I'm not happy about it.

Please somebody tell me do you think TSAC supplied its employees with the proper materials to follow proper fire loads ?????

I WORKED AT S/A SEATTLE FOR 17 YEARS YOU ALL KNOW THAT IN DOG/SA YEARS YEARS THATS X 7 EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HELL AT TIMES I MISS IT THE PEOPLE THE WORK EVEN THE CRAZY LADY I CALLED MY BOSS I KNOW 90% OF THE PEOPLE WHO I WORKED WITH WILL BE OK IT STILL MAKES ME ILL TO SEE THIS HAPPEN TO SUCH GREAT AND HARD WORKING PEOPLE I HOPE NOTHING BUT THE BEST FOR THEM I AM DOING GREAT W/MY OWN BUSINESS I TOOK WHAT I LEARNED THE FIRST 15 YEARS AND APPLIED IT THE LAST 2 I THREW OUT THE WINDOW IT WAS PURE INSANITY LIES/THIEVERY/DECEIT THATS WHY I LEFT TO THE PEOPLE WHO KILLED S/A HOPE NOTHING BUT POVERTY AND DISPAIR YOU DESERVE IT

Dear Sara: There is no need for personal attacks here. When Larry wrote that blog, we had not talked to Steve Cumbow. Now we have, and my story on that talk is online. Why don’t you look at all of our stories on this subject, and we’ve had more coverage on this topic than any other media outlet, before you jump on Larry?-Furniture/Today’s David Perry

Hi it's "Lucky Me". Never thought I'd say that , but now I realize it's true in that I left Spring Air in 2003 and didn't wait for the current series of disasters- just the original SAPNA-H.I.G one. Cumbow is no different than the other low lives I've seen since a few SA factories formed Sapna-- Dan Sullivan former Sapna ceo and thief, John Black-bottom feeding, greedy know-it-all from H.I.G, Steve Antinori--another inept idiot with visions of grandeur(Steve is not his father who started SA Tampa) and more. I was in a position of upper management and when I saw how these greedy morons treat people and made decisions without any experience in the bedding/furniture industry I got out. BELIEVE ME all upper management knew exactly what was going on as they were telling Furniture Today and others that everything was great. They were making sure they got all their benefits and expenses before they screwed you. ALL these people have histories of lying, cheating and bankrupting companies without any consequences. With H.I.G. and American Capital it's other peoples money just like A.I.G, Citigroup, GM, etc.so THEY DON'T CARE and unlike the old time factory owners they don't care about you and your families. They'll just go on to the next deal. Isn't the new face of America great!

Talk is cheap...If I hear one more time of how Steve C does not treat people this way. I might loose my lunch. Wait, I'm not employed I did not have lunch. Steve you seem to have acted more like the executives from AIG who grabbed the bail out money and left. If you really were the man you claim to be you would have made sure all employees were treated the way you expect to be treated. Furthermore, we should have seen the signs when John B, Mark A and Ron L left...this is when integrity left the building!

Although the entire fault cannot be left to just those in HR, it shows true lack of responsibility and work ethics to be a professional in the position of Human Resources who just because they are "directed" to do something unethical, if not even illegal, simply cowers and does it. This is Human Resources, not Corporate Resources. The entire premise that your company is about to violate the WARN provisions, a legal action you rely upon skilled human resource professionals to be abreast of, they should have take the initiative to report this action to the State as required. It seems to me that we simply have "do-boys and girls" with titles of HR who really have no formal training, nor experience in representing the very thing they were hired to do... protect the employees.

THANK YOU Mr. Perry and Mr. Thomas for getting out the story. I hope this receives even more media attention. The employees are moving on and struggling. They have a right to tell their story. This is an example of exactly what NOT TO DO...

Salary workers are blaming Steve Cumbow too. I dont know where on the ladder the kicking stopped or if it even did? Someone made horrible, distasteful decisions on how to inform employees they had NO job and NO insurance. Does the CEO not have the power to say absolutely not...we dont treat people this way?

Dear Larry Thomas,
Where did you go to journalism school? Did they teach you to write headlines like that?
You are an idiot.
Steve Cumbow is not a bad guy. In fact, he worked his ass off for everyone at Spring Air for months. Dear hourly workers, Do you really think Steve Cumbow personally picked your wages from your pockets when American Capital denied $10 MILLION dollars in funding?
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.

American Capital. Great Job Guys.
Another Example of Big Money Managers who don't know how to run a business.
Spring Air was a great company before the vampires took over.... We miss ya Jim Nations.

I am also a former Spring Air employee. This is so sad and so frustrating. I feel for all of the employees who don't know what to do and were left hanging. This is a great example of how not to take care of employees. It's a sad state of affairs. To be honest I hated almost every minute of working for Spring Air. The top managment was terrible. Good luck to all of the former Spring Air employees.

Informer: If you want to write about feeling sorry for the one person from HR that stood behind fielding questions from employees you should also state the fact that she was well compensated for staying behind and trying to answer questions which by the way are not accurate or are not being answered so you still have 890 scared, worried, desperate employee looking for answers.

It seems like people's feelings are getting hurt and we are forgetting who are really affected by this mess. Let's stop placing blame and instead figure out how we can all unite so that the employees especially the hourly employees who are the ones who are most affected can get what is rightfully theirs. Compliance with the Federal goverment is much bigger than the managers of the Former Spring Air. There is power in numbers.

Why is everyone so shocked?? This has been in the works for 3 years. FYI..it could take over a month for the reps at the Insurance Co to know that your insurance is cancelled. People should have been saving every penny for the last 3 years they worked there, as if they had already lost their job. It was very clear that this would happen at any time over that 3 years.

This is nothing new. It's just business! Responsiblity to your employees went away along time ago. All families affected most will survive and the others will find themselves at the end of a rope. Hung out to dry. Get umemployment claims in and join the rest of the skillfull unemployed and thrive on living just above the poverty line. We can complain all we want to. We can file class action suits and back up the courts even more. Those employees from Spring Air will never see a dime of that money. Ultimately, the consumer looses sitting with a pile of foam, a pile of springs,and pile of cover which will over time and in some cases sooner than later will experience what we are all feeling now no support, no pressure relief and our lives left out of alignment. My hat off to Steve Cumbow I think he and the management team kept it together pretty well. I would of been over long ago if we had a merchant in charge rather than a banker.

The HR department didn't great this mess. I feel for that 1 person who was left to answer 890 scared, worried, desperate employee questions. As I mentioned earlier, these decision were made by American Capital and Steve Cumbow. HR was told what to do. I believe the only Spring Air employees that were not stepped on were the folks that were sitting on that golden board. Steve have you asked American Capital for another job or are you on assignment to wreck another company?

Umm "Not the right fit" sounds like somebody has a case of sour grapes because they got canned...God bless you and god bless your right to free speach..please please...cont. to shoot your mouth off about what you believe and who you believe to be the problem...please if your going to place blame...don't use K.S use the full the name. You really think the H.R dept. lead to this problems. They did their job..a lot better than you did i might add. If your gonna try to throw some under the bus. Do two things first...one make sure you have your facts...and two back sure there isn't another bus coming behind to flatting you into the pavement.

Lots of blame to go around to all. Steve Cumbow, acting CEO, is a paranoid person who is incapable of picking talent that can help him. He is more worried about what is in it for him as opposed to what is good for the employees. You could say he almost single handedly sunk the ship. Just ask the investors and the investment firms that they were talking to.

A good American. A good American ending.
www.wbur.org/2009/05/13/chelsea-factory

I believe American Capital holds the responsibility of canceling our insurance. They stopped funding Spring Air on the April 28th. They are the money behind this mess that could care less. I'm pretty sure they could afford to pay us severance pay. Checkout their portfolio on their website.

I believe Marc Anderson was referring to Spring Air as the executive management team getting what they deserve not the employees.

Here is the lawsuit information for the class action case filed by Jared Azzata here in Tampa. Please contact this lawyer to be included in the lawsuit.
William C. Guerrant Jr
Hill, Ward & Henderson, P.A.
101 E Kennedy Blvd; Suite 3700
Tampa, Florida 33602
(813) 221-3900

This message is related to the comment from Marc Anderson. What does Spring Air deserve? Are you saying that the 850 people that lost their jobs overnight deserved it?

I too am a former Spring Air employee who was hourly.We were never told of cancellation of insurance nor that COBRA is not available.I feel this should be a class action matter on behalf of all former employees,and I applaud Furniture Today for keeping us informed as we have no one else to contact.Please keep the information coming.If anyone knows how we can be contacted about the law suit, please advise all of us.

Programs of the week. That is what the inept management team at Spring Air resorted to in an effort to seem like they knew what they were doing. Layoffs were the solution, then consolidation, then new sales territories, new sales functions, etc., etc., etc. Truth is, they could not manage the company in such a way as to remain competitive while retaining customer trust and loyalty. To the contrary, their best talent seemed to be finding ways to be kicked out of major accounts and angering others. Their final act of ineptitude, the closing of the factories, was simply the latest in a series of bad decisions the "brain trust" has come up with since they took over. Maybe Steve will buy some of the remnants and start another successful venture as he and his family has done before.

I am an X Spring Air employee. This article gave me more info than anyone I could get to answer a phone. This is fraud and corporate greed at its finest. Letters were mailed to us. Do any of you remember reading a damn thing about our insurance being cancelled in the letter? No! CEO Steve Cumbow in an article on April 20th praised the company and how well it was doing? What changed so much in 10 days? Steve if you're reading, who was your previous employer Spring Air? Oh, that's right you were a VP at American Capital. The money behind Spring Air was American Capital. Conflict of interest maybe? I wish the best for all the hard working employees. I wonder if you can sleep at night Steve?

may spring air get what thet deserve

It is so sad to see how poor management can affect so many people. How did they think they could survive with the way they were spending money. What organization do you know of has their whole executive team live out of state but commute weekly to their office spending money on hotel, food, rental car, etc. Those expenses alone were over $25,000 weekly. This could have been a salary for one of the employees. I am not surprise that things reached this point. The writing was on the wall. I wish all the employees well and hope they get what they rightfully deserve. But for the management team that are so called “professional” and “experienced” I hope they remain unemployed forever. I’m sure KARMA will get them for what they have done to so many employees from Spring Air and other organizations. And remember what was said by the comment below from “An Observer” Be warned all when you see this group of executives surface again in any positions. Make sure you tell them HELL NO we don’t hire your kind here. You’re not a fit.

I AM ALSO AN EX EMPLOYEE. WHEN HIG BROUGHT IN THESE 2 CLOWNS TO RUN SPRING AIR, MANY OF US SAW THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL. IT TOOK THEM ABOUT 3 YEARS TO RUN SIMMONS INTO THE TOILET BEFORE CHARLIE EITEL DUMPED THEM. IT ONLY TOOK THEM LESS THAN A YEAR TO TAKE SPRING AIR RIGHT TO THE SEPTIC TANK. THEY APPARENTLY GET BETTER WITH TIME. I AM SURE THEY WILL BE BACK. THERE MUST BE ANOTHER MORONIC INVESTMENT BANKER OUT THERE WITH MONEY TO THROW AWAY. WAY TO GO B.H. & K.D.

I was in the NJ plant when they let a successful team go. Thank you Antonori. They deserve what they get.

I was a Spring Air employee at the time of the closing and unfortunately I have a child with severe medical issues requiring constant hospital and doctor visits. While I am confident we will all find jobs, the insurance factor is a different story. How many expenses will I and others like me have to absorb during this time? What ever happened to the human element in things like this?? How do they sleep at night??

This type of action appeares to be a violation of the WARN Act. A similar situatiion happened in July of 2007 to 1,300 enployees of Quaker Fabric Corp in Fall River, MA.The employees found out about their job losses by reading about it in the citys local news paper. A law suit was subsequently filed and the court ruled in favor of the employees.After the assetts were liquidated each employee did receive a check, not large, but justice was served.

I am no attorney, you all know this, but... The April 30th insurance cancellation shows intent. Then again, you said retroactively, so they may have called on May 5th and said "Cancel it as of April 30" Hopefully if there is a buyer, some of these people will have their jobs back.

Why is anyone suprised the closing was handled this way. Management lied all the way down the line from making money to turning the ship around. Be warned all when you see this group of executives surface again in any positions

Hi Not the right fit! You said it! Their decision maker in HR must have thought "Like... I have no one to delegate this task to and I don't know what to do in a situation like this. UMMMMM let's do a Bennigan's"
Seriously, this is sick. How are you gonna do this to so many families? At least have the decency to warn people.

I hate to see all the employee's affected because there were good hard workers however was this not expected? Seriously, some individuals (decision makers) in HR was clueless, a joke. So does it surprise me they sent emails after the fact, no. It doesn’t surprise me they cancelled employees insurance coverage without notice. (this is spring air we’re talking about people) this sounds like someone in HR hard at work (k.s). Again, i hate so many good hard working people were affected however at the same time I’m glad the doors are closed. Spring Air has done too many of their employees wrong so how i see it...THE BUCK STOPS HERE! HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!!

If you are uninsured and does not have insurance, you should check out the website www.UninsuredAmerica.blogspot.com - John Mayer, California

It should be mentioned that the above email from the Board of Directors was sent to all Spring Air email addresses after the closure on May 5th. I wonder how many employees had access to company email after that date. It is clearly evident that HIPPA letters are not in process if the insurance company has not been informed of the April 30th cancelation. I wonder how long that will take and how many claims will be rejected and end up as another unexpected expense for the employees.

JAM 3:16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you
find disorder and every evil practice.

Its a damn shame the way this happened. Employees deserve much more than a pat on the back and a kick in the a** on the way out the door.

I am one of the workers who was laid off by Spring Air and let me tell you something...it really sucks to wake up early in the morning expecting to put in a full day's work as usual only to find out that not only did I waste both time, but I also wasted gas going there only to find out that I was out of a job. Further, I have a family (wife/children) to provide for and all of us had medical insurance through Spring Air. Prior to reading this article, I had absolutely NO IDEA that my insurance has been cancelled as of April 30. Further, when I contacted the insurance company a couple of days ago, they had no knowledge that Spring Air closed down and, according to them, I'm still insured. Hopefully what they told me rings true, as I just had to rush my little girl to the doctor yesterday. Spring Air will reap what they sow, as I have absolutely NO problem with suing them!

How funny is that. Furniture today, Bedtimes and a couple of other mags were drooling over the change in course at Spring Air. Smoke and mirrors my friend :o)