[wilclean]

hi all

      About 3 months ago I started a new office contract in which we did a months trial just to prove to them we could do the job. At first everything was going alright untill they started bringing in a little puppy into the office which began tipping plant pots over braking cleaning equipment and p*ssing on the carpet - now here's problem, we havent had the contract for long and dont want to upset them. I like dogs but not around the work place and I have told them on the same lines but not in so many words if you know what I mean. I need advice on how to put it across to them without upsetting them.


kind regards Paul

[Bertie Boo]

How did the dog break cleaning equipment? 

Stephen

[Mrs Nicholls]

are dogs insured to be on office premises?, is it a health and safety issue?

[Bertie Boo]

Who knows but the office i cleaned had a dog.

Big dribbly boxer thing, absolutly thick as a brick. I could never do any vacuuming without him wanting me to run the hose over him.

Obviously people have dogs in the houses i go to. Part of the job i 'spose 

Stephen

[garyj]

I would use it as a way of telling them they will need their carpets cleaning and you could also suggest having the carpets protected.

What are you using to clean the dog wee? If it is the supermarket type foam cleaner it's probably doing more harm than good AND it'll still be in the carpet which will resoil quicker. Dog wee is notoriously difficult to get out of carpets and should be a specialist job if you don't have the equipment.

If it's a hard floor, just mop it up, the dog should be trained soon anyway.

All cleaning equipment should be stored safely away, if the dog is getting hold of any equipment and destroying it then tell the customer you'll have to bill them for the replacement, they can hardly say no can they?

[wilclean]

hi

  The puppy chewed some of the equipment - with him wetting on the carpet, I've told them I would have to buy some special carpet cleaning chemical to clean the carpet and to get rid of the smell. All our equipment is stored in a cupboard next to the toilet which they use aswell for files and the door gets left open . I will of course be informing them of h&s and that it does not cover dogs on the prenises. A couple of days ago they offered me 2 houses to clean but had to turn it down as we only do office and commercial cleaning. I did reccomend d g cleaning services but they said they didnt want anyone else only me . I dont want to upset them as they may offer other jobs later on that they may want me to do.

Paul

[Bertie Boo]

. I dont want to upset them as they may offer other jobs later on that they may want me to do.

Paul

Paul

You answered your own question there m8. It  is a dog, i dont mean to be rude because i'm being light hearted, yes, were it a rottie or something that was scaring your staff pooless (even if it was a kitten in disguise) i could see your point BUT its just the inconvienience of it being around that you are taking issue with....maybe i'm not seeing it from your point of view BUT as a domestic cleaner i dont have the 'luxury' of being able to dictate to the client...i have to put up or leave the job.

Having equipment lost, stolen, or damaged, is a real pain in the ass, that happened when i did an office. Par for the course really though, happens all the time and i agree with Gary when he said you should ask the client to pay for it if neccesary.

Stephen

[Robert Parry]

Hi Paul,

Somewhere in your contract with the client, there should be a clause stating that your equipment should be secured, and not used by the client's staff, also that they should insure the equipment at their own expense to cover any damage caused by them using it, (this would cover the damage done to your kit by the dog, not sure if the dog would count as staff though  ).

We also have 2 clients who take their dogs into the workplace, we just charge a premium for these sites, explaining to the client that it takes us longer to vacuum, removing dog hairs, and more frequent bag and filter changes.

Just bill them for the repairs as GaryJ suggested.

Regards,

Rob