One shinny nickel per square foot

[Goomer]

I was contacted by a national floor maintenance co. out of Florida.
The have the service contracts for several large retail store chains in NYC and the surrounding areas, and are looking for a sub-contractor to perform the carpet cleaning.

They are primarily looking to have 16 PayLess shoe store serviced, and may add other chains in the future.

Some 2x per month, some "as needed", HWE ONLY, nothing moved, and no gum removal.

They are offering 5 cents per foot, with a $1oo minumum as follows....

I checked out a few of the stores closest to me, and they were all in similar condition to this..........

I am shocked at they are under the impression that 5 cents per foot will fly under such conditions, and that they expect to find anything other than some brokedick hack operation that will be lucky to still be around after the first few stores, before they are left in limbo looking for someone else as the carpets get worse and worse.

I can only think that with them being a national company, that they think 5 cents is acceptable in a large number of markets, but I find it hard to believe it will fly in anywhere, no matter how depressed the market is.

I'm thinking they may not care, as long as a billable service is performed, which I can certainly play the game and give it a once over, but other than that, I quite honestly don't understand how they can expect any acceptable standard of service and reliability at that rate.

Does a nickel fly ANYWHERE??

 

[dealtimeman]

A nickel might fly for some when you are talking tens of thousands of squares, but a hundred dollars to clean a Payless, is not a joke , it's an insult.

 

[Mikey P]

A guy with a few trucks will take it. He will make $20, his chimp will make $10 to 12 an hour and the rest into hard costs.

Beat up but paid for van with a texasmount and two jugs of Purple Power and a broken Hoover. Maybe some gum remover.

It's twenty he didn't have before and the chimp could care less cause it aint produce field work or or digging ditches

 

[Goomer]

is not a joke , it's an insult.

I am trying VERY hard to formulate a professional response to the offer that does not convey exactly that impression, and that is not offensive, but I have yet to see any logic in their offer to persuade me otherwise, hence this post.

As it stands, I am thinking that this may be an appropriate response...............

 

[dgardner]

Look on the bright side - it's not much money, so when it takes 90 days or more to get paid you wont miss it much...

 

[dealtimeman]

Yes but what is worst for goomer is he is nyc with much higher operating costs and hassle than most of us have to deal with.

 

[Goomer]

A guy with a few trucks will take it. He will make $20, his chimp will make $10 to 12 an hour and the rest into hard costs.

Beat up but paid for van with a texasmount and two jugs of Purple Power and a broken Hoover. Maybe some gum remover.

It's twenty he didn't have before and the chimp could care less cause it aint produce field work or or digging ditches

I'm sure a couple of Chavez's could give it a quick once over, but I doubt it's going to look much better afterwards.

A lack of any close proximity parking means no TM, so it's porty work, and only a 175 is going to make a real difference if they want it done right.

No way they will get a good scrub and a good flush at a nickel.

 

[Nate The Great]

I'm sure a couple of Chavez's could give it a quick once over, but I doubt it's going to look much better afterwards.

A lack of any close proximity parking means no TM, so it's porty work, and only a 175 is going to make a real difference if they want it done right.

No way they will get a good scrub and a good flush at a nickel.

All you need to do is put the letters HWE on the Cimex and BAM!! They wouldn't know the difference...

 

[Goomer]

All you need to do is put the letters HWE on the Cimex and BAM!! They wouldn't know the difference...

The HWE only requirement is just plain silly given the situation and conditions, and further supports how out of touch they are.

Without the HWE requirement, incorporating higher production VLM methods would have been the only saving grace in even attempting to negotiate a higher price.

 

[Nate The Great]

The HWE only requirement is just plain silly given the situation and conditions, and further supports how out of touch they are.

Without the HWE requirement, incorporating higher production VLM methods would have been the only saving grace in even attempting to negotiate a higher price.

We've done a ton of work for Steamway international back in the day.. Most of it was night work and I believed they paid 12-15 cents back in the 1990's... While you didn't get rich off of it, it still was some income.. It's when they dropped it to 10 cents, it wasn't worth the time or hassle..

When you need to pay bills, you do what you gotta do... The nickel is pretty insulting... We would just put them on hold and leave them there... They got the hint...

 

[AshleyMckendree]

I'd swirl it in 20 minutes, it will look amazing and they get to keep most of the dirt.

Throw the Grumpy in the back of my wifes Prius and do 3 or 4 in one night, LOL.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'm sure a couple of Chavez's could give it a quick once over,

I've never priced anything that low and with such little carpet there I would not. 100-200K I might go as low as .075 but that would be with encap only. Fook those guys and their nickle! ig:

 

[Jimmy L]

Yeah I would spray it out and bonnet clean it , 20 min. at 300 rpm

 

[ruff]

As per your response. Since it's Paylesss, world known for the quality of their shoes etc.

How about: We'll provide you with a cleaning to match both the quality and longevity of your shoes.

Truthful, short, diplomatic, honest.

 

[NobleCarpetCleaners]

If you remotely want the work, counter offer these folks. What can they say in the end, no?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'd just give them a flat fee for each store.

We have a $250.00 minimum on after hours commercial work. Less than that and it just doesn't seem like the return is work the effort.

 

[Old Coastie]

We get those sort of offers where we drive 180 miles and they pay us $45. I ask if that foolishness would fly up there in Yankeestan or if they think an Alabama mile isn't 5280 feet long.

Then I tell 'em to have a blessed day...

 

[Goomer]

I have been pondering who is more responsible for this situation, but I think that both the corporation and maintenance management company may be equally at fault here.

As a large corporation in the shoe business, with so much attention at the flooring surface, and with so much direct contact with the flooring surface, I am surprised that it has been so neglected.

Has the corporation failed to allocate a realistic budget necessary to properly maintain their floors?

Has their regional market manager or corporate representative, if there even is one, failed to inspect, notice and address the conditions?

As for the maintenance co., what quality assurance procedures are in place to inspect, and or to be aware of the unacceptable conditions that expose their failure to deliver what they are being paid to do?

Hard to believe a company offering carpet maintenance services is familiar enough with the necessary cleaning processes and the time involved to properly maintain carpet under such conditions, but yet have entered into such an agreement at such a low rate that it is practically impossible to uphold their responsibilities.

Is the maintenance co. taking advantage of the corporations lack of oversight and just going through the motions to maintain the revenue stream as long as they can until it is addressed?

If I wanted to be a scumbag, I could just jump on the bandwagon too and just go through the motions to make a few bucks since nobody else seems to care, but it's hard to think 5 cents a square even warrants a quick once over with some Fabuloso.

 

[Mark Saiger]

I love when places like this call....then I go look at it and give them a price....(maybe .28 -30 cents per sq ft my lowest price I will do it depending on situations)...

Then they keep calling and begging us to consider .12 cents per sq foot....because they cannot find anyone to do the cleaning....

So at that point I tell them, my price is going to remain the same for 2 reasons....

1) .12 cents per sq foot is where my family would have started for a rate 45 plus years ago....

2) You just indicated you cannot find someone to clean for you and pretty soon, my rate offered for you is going to increase on the next phone call.

And then I love it when they tell me the guy who agreed to the price Never showed up!

I don't always get the jobs, but I am also not working for rates from 45 years ago....AND....I can do a lot less work and get my regular rate of .38 cents per sq foot all day long!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Has the corporation failed to allocate a realistic budget necessary to properly maintain their floors?

I would doubt it. My guess would be the management company is keeping a large share that should be going towards that cleaners. I think the corp recognizes the facilities need cleaning but fails to have checks & balances to see what the results are.

Is the maintenance co. taking advantage of the corporations lack of oversight and just going through the motions to maintain the revenue stream as long as they can until it is addressed?

This would be my uneducated belief.

If I wanted to be a scumbag, I could just jump on the bandwagon too and just go through the motions to make a few bucks since nobody else seems to care, but it's hard to think 5 cents a square even warrants a quick once over with some Fabuloso.

You're already a hack. Don't lower yourself beyond the darkside.

Its just not worth the effort Frank.

 

[Desk Jockey]

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Then they keep calling and begging us to consider .12 cents per sq foot....because they cannot find anyone to do the cleaning....

We could do it for .12 and make money doing it butt its still not much sq/ft and if I'm going to fish I'd much rather go fish for the big one.

I'd send two guys with (2) Cimex's. I'd want it pre-vacuumed but I'd make sure we took a backpack just in case. I'd want each guy to have (5) gallons of solution ready to pour in and they would hit the ground running, one unit running on each end of the building and meet in the middle. 1/2 hour -45-minutes.

 

[Nate The Great]

@Goomer I think you're on the right track... Just right a well formulated letter to the corporate head quarters of this situation... This shit has gone on too long with the Management Mafia...

Then again I wouldn't clean it for x3 the rate... But I really don't think it'd hurt... Heck you might even bring change with the letter.. Maybe not, but you'll never know without trying...

 

[Desk Jockey]

Doubtful but if it makes Frank feel better there is nothing to lose. A couple of years ago Dan spent 30-minutes on the phone with a phone rep. Dan said he was a nice guy but his hands were tired as to what they could pay.

Like them, we owe it to ourselves not to spin our wheels. If we are putting forth an effort its needs to be beneficial to the company and our employees. This type of work just doesn't allow that.