What do you think??

[ron markam]

Did a job friday night for a jan company 6000 sq ft took us 3.5 hours.From the beginning the floor supervisor has been a pain .At first he told us we could come sat morning then called us at 4:00 pm fri and said we needed to be there no later than 8:00 pm fri.So we did out thing and when we were loading up he said i will be here all night tomorrow working on the other 10,000 sq feet. I get up this morning and there is a message on my phone from 9 pm last night saying some spots reappeared and we needed to come out right now and deal with them. Well I called the owner of the jan company and told him we would be willing to post spot it today.So he says why did'nt you answer your phone or cll us back last night I said cause it was my family time and my phone was OFF.Well we work all the time we NEVER turn our phones off.Then he proceeded to tell me how he felt we ripped him off cause we were there only 3.5 hours and his normal labor cost is only 10 to 20 per hour.My response was I can come post spot it today.Well my floor supervisor said you did not spend enough time in the building. My response was I can come post spot it today. What do yall think??

 

[Contemporary Carpet Clean]

Ron,

Tough spot here, but manageable. A couple of questions I have for you are: How many vans or portables did you have cleaning with how many men?(The more cleaning trucks and employees there the better in this situation) Before you agreed to do the job did was how much time it was going to take to clean the job ever discussed?(not that it matters b/c you are giving a price and in that price you have estimated all the factors in the job) In my opinion how long it takes to do a job does not matter (it can take 3 hrs to clean 1000 sq ft or 1 hr). What matters is if it was done right and or done to the customers satisfaction. This guy that called you claiming he got screwed sounds like the type that would have complained if it took you 10-12 hrs to do the 6000 square with just you alone with one TM going. He would then proceed to say that he had to pay his SUPER overtime or additional pay b/c it took you too long to clean all the carpet. You said the right thing for the reason why your phone was off, and anyone that can't understand that shame on them. If the job were a flood or an absolute emergency (if you do that type of work) then I am sure you would have responded accordingly. But calling back the next day is reasonable, besides you agreed to come back and post spot when you called the guy back. There is nothing wrong with going back the next day to post spot. Besides you should tell the guy that before we come back to post spot(if ever needed) we like to have the carpet completely dry first just in case any other spots wick back or appear. You do not want to make multiple trips for post spotting, especially when you are most likely going back free of charge to do so. Explain to him that sometimes spots do reappear and if they do we will do our best to come back promptly to fix them. With the spots reappearing, does not necessarily mean that you did not do the job properly. We have all done a job that was relatively clean before any cleaning takes place and then the next day the custy calls back and says that there is a brown spot in the middle of the room and nothing was there prior.
Lastly, the 10 to 20 bucks an hour rate is a joke. Heck your employees which from the post sounds like you have at least one makes 10+ bucks an hour especially for a Friday night job that late. Then what about you the owner, you get paid too. So just in help and paying yourself you have at least 80- 160(rounding) bucks into the job according to the janitorial comp owner. Assuming 10 bucks for 8 hrs or 20 bucks for 8 hrs (2 men everything gets doubled). What he said with the rate per hour is that your price for the job should be 80-160 bucks(6000 sq ft) which just pays your help and you. Besides I am sure he does not pay you as a sub by the hour. If he does then your rate should be at least 100/man hour. I would not suggest ever working for an hourly rate for anyone!!!!!

 

[The Great Oz]

Not enough hours in one lifetime to work for someone like this.

Be calm, look at the areas they're complaining about, and let them know what you can do. Let them know what to expect from you as far as responsiveness after regular business hours. Your rates are your rates, and if the rates or your way of doing business does not match their expectations they may be better off partnering with another firm in the future.

I would guess that this style gets them a rotation of cleaning companies, as most cleaners will put up with this for a short time and quit working with them. If there are enough start-ups in your area there is a regular supply of people they can bully into doing extra work or get away with not paying if they complain enough.

Most in-house staff understand that we make their day to day job easier, but we get called in to do a bit of work for janitorial companies that can't handle a particular job, and their staff thinks we're showing them up so will cause whatever trouble they can.

Good luck.

 

[Jeff Madsen]

First off - I think you're handling this professionally.

I almost never have to deal with this, but on the rare occasion when it comes up we have two responses. The first is to ask if they are offering to contibute to our retirement and are they offering us health insurance? When they sit there silently, or respond "no", I then tell them that however long we are or are not there is none of their concern. Secondly, if they are going to "watch the clock" they absolutely will need to find someone else. I do not possess enough breath in me to tell someone like that to KMA enough times.

Lastly, and I know this is delicate when dealing with our clients, but - someone is always in charge, if you're wondering if it might be you, it's not. Make a choice. Sometimes it costs you money but at least you can sleep at night.

 

[TimP]

I say I understand you're not happy with the Job and I will come fix the problems. In addition I would let them know that I have an overhead and equipment to pay for in addition maintain, insure, and pay for the fuel to run and move our equipment also deal with employees if you have some. And that I charge enough to cover my expenses and make a profit. I bid your job and you agreed to the price, if you're not happy I will do what it takes to fix the problems....and how does it make you feel cheated for me to come do what it takes to make sure your carpet it clean. And that he is of course welcome to shop around for someone else to do the job next time and that I bid things very competitively and I'm not in the business to rip people off just do a job for what it's worth.

People like this gripe me majorly. Just cause you make more money per hour doesn't mean you get to keep it. Also it makes you a better business man cause you understand what it takes to make a profit. Good luck with the situation, just don't burn the bridge because chances are he will come around and see it your way one day, and if not you'll be the better man in the end.

 

[Guest]

I think that the complainer is showing his ass and you should fire him if he cannot come to terms with the facts. Life is too short for such people. Also when they changed the job dates/times is a major red flag that this guy is an asshOle.

AND WTF does it matter how long it took for you to clean it?







If you used an OP machine you could've cleaned 14,000 SF in thirty minutes and only used one half a gallon of juice.
I forgot who said they did that.

 

[Jeff Madsen]

O.K. - Odin's answer is the best, but dammit, my way can be cathartic!

 

[ron markam]

Well the end of the situation is his floor care guy said since I did not answer my phone last night he took care of the areas so they want to adjust the invoice.MY response was that's fine your invoice will be in the mail tomorrow but I do not like the fact that I was not given the oppurtunity to straighten this problem out.Win some lose some but never with this character again.I do think it is strange that the owner never saw the areas he took his guys word for it.I have worked for the owner before with absolutely no problems that's why he called me.Oh well.

 

[Guest]

THey do NOT have the authority to adjust or alter you invoice without your consent. Who's to say that a dog didn't shit on the floor or somebody spilled a coke.

 

[Kevin B]

I think it is somewhat comical when people complain about how much you made AFTER the job is done. My advice to them, start a cleaning company, let the competition begin, then you'll see why I charge what I charge.

I generally point to my truck, my equipment, my phone, my invoices, my business cards, my uniforms, etc, and explain to them that EVERYTHING costs to be in business, I need to make more than just the "going" rate for hourly wage.

 

[Kevin. McCreary]

I always tell people "we charge by the job not by the hour".

 

[Spurling]

Give the guy a card to a good therapist ..

 

[cu]

well he showed you who's the boss
.........................................ya limp dick broke rug sucker

 

[steve r]

i would hand deliver the invoice with out an adjustment.i wouldnt explain why i charge what i do,none of their business. i would ask to be shown where the problems were.if you did the work you will know if its bull or not.id also be ready to fix anything they did to show you are a professional and you stand by your work.

there is obviously something going on you are not being told about.politics.shake his hand thank him for the chance to help him and let him know if he ever needs anything to call.

it could turn into a nice account at a later time.

jmo

 

[Bob Foster]

Steve's on to it. His bad attitude probably came from the crap that comes down on him in that place.

A response to paying too much is they asked you for a price not how much you charge per hour.

I bet this guy has been through a few different carpet cleaners.

 

[Fon Johnson]

RON! Hey buddy!

Bottom line is you are between a rock and a hard place. I would just go have a heart to heart. To have "spots come back" 3 or 4 hours later and to expect you to run right back over and take care of them is a little much. It all depends on how much you value your relationship, and how much money they are worth. I had someone do that to me years ago, and I still get red in the face if I dwell on it. They just deducted it from my check (no, we don't work for them anymore.) The only problem there was they sub contracted enough work to me to keep 2 guys busy 5 days a week..

I'll try to call you Monday.