[The Great One]

Hi All

Had a callback from an LA which I was expecting.

I did an emergency clean of a house last week, they had specified certain items to be cleaned with a 'Clean as necessary' written on it also.

My last words to the Inventory Clerk were 'I could easily of stayed for another 12 hours (I was there for 3 1/2 hrs)

So, went and did the clean as specified and did extra, got paid next day (£90)

Now the tenants have moved in and as expected are not happy, and I will admit I missed a couple of things, sideboard (dusty) lights (flys in the lampshade). Although I did extra that wasn't asked for as it was filthy.

Now they have asked me to go back or offer compensation, I have offered a max of £45 back as this will cover my materials, fuel and will cover minimum wage. the reason I don't want to go back is because I will be there about 6 hours plus (the tenant has already spent 4 hours in the bathroom alone) Now 6 hours with materials included means I will be out of pocket for around £200.

So, easier to give the £45 back than to lose 6 hours working for free. Some of the stuff cannot be clean (mould on the bath surround, oven has carbonated food, glass hob has caked on cabonated food).

This LA haven't used me for about 18 month to 2 years and obviously probably won't use me again. they have said that if I go back there will be more work but as they haven't used me for so long, that looks doubtful

Ok, bring it on, thoughts please

Regards

Martin

[richyvezy]

Hi Martin

Is it the LA who is asking you to offer compo or to go back ? I'm sorry but I wouldn't do either, especially as you haven't heard from them for 18/24 months !!

If you did the clean as specified and some extra on top then you have nothing to worry about. We get it all the time from the LA's we use.

We had an urgent one the other week. I picked up the works order and went to view the property. What was on the works order was nowhere near what was needed to bring it up to standard. We had to clean some of the carpets but leave the dirtiest. They wanted the bathroom cleaned but not the stinking en-suite  And so on.
As it was we could only afford the time (tennant moving in) to do what was on the works order. I rang the LA and told them about the state of the rest of the place etc and they tried to get us to do it all. I told them to pull the other one and threatened to walk out. They eventually saw my side and asked me to just carry out what was on the order. This we did and got paid handsomely for it

Why should you be out of pocket for something that was ultimately their fault for not instructing someone earlier ? I would imagine that they probably tried a few other companies first before eventually calling you.

Richy

[Karl Wheeler]

Hi Martin
If you have done all that was asked on the work order why should you go back or pay compensation. In my opinion the fault lies with the inventory clerk who obviously did not do their job properly. We alwayask the letting agents to  specify what cleaning needs to be done otherwise if can be be a minefield with the words " general cleaning". I really don't think these inventory clerk realise how long a property takes to clean if the job is done thoroughly.
If the letting agent only uses you spasmodically i would not bother losing their business. If you confident of the standard of you work they will be back.

Karl

[Art]

Hi Martin,

Bit of a catch22. The clean as necessary we've had loads of times and usually phone the agent and quickly run through what we think needs doing and tell them what the extra will be. Then your covered.
From there point of view, you haven't cleaned it properly.


Inventory companies are a major pain as anyone that does this kind of work knows, but how did they manage to miss so much out on the check out report?

Arthur

[BDCS]

I'd do neither as well, I'd state that the clean was done as per the speci and exceded, the fault lies with the job spec and the person is either covering their bottom or hunting brownie points. These firms have no loyalty to their contractors and end up coming back when the long list cycles back to you. Why work for nowt ? your better off sat at home. I'd say sod off then wait for them to come back in another 18 months and repeat the sentiment !!

[Kevin White]

"You have been paid" "they are probably not going to use you again".

The sun is out !  £90 worth of bud in the garden and wake up with a sore head knowing you done more than enough to justify the payment.

Not proffesional I Know, but the sloppiness was thier doing.

[turneylogan]

Martin,

You are very experienced at this work, so I'm sure you did 90 pounds worth of work.

The only criticism I would make is that you should have called the agent so let him/her know the extent of the work, at the time.

When I used to do this work I would get a call once in blue moon from an out-of-town LA for properties that were trashed, and always at short notice. I soon learned that I was at the end of their list. They were always in a rush to get you off the phone and always hyper critical at the end. Had to say goodbye to them.

They are obviously not important to you so personally I would have said that on viewing the property a team of cleaners would have been required and that it could not have been organised that day and I did the best I could in an attempt to satisfy the inventory clerk. I would state that I have carried out 90 pounds worth of work and request them to kindly take you off your list as you do not wish to be placed in that position again due to their poor check-out procedures.

[The Great One]

Thanks gents

Just along the lines I was thinking.

I have offered the £45 as a gesture, it's a one time offer for them. The thing is, it was the tenants and 'landlords mate' that have taken pictures and complained. Heard nothing from Inventory clerk.

Looks like their other cleaners were either busy or otherwise engaged and so as has been said I was at the bottom of the list. I have done work for them in the past and not one complaint from their 5 full time inventory clerks.

At the end of the day, they are trying to save their face to the client.

I have to agree that in hindsight I should of recalled them back and said look, it needs another 8-10 hours which will be X amount, but obviously thought saying that to the inventory clerk would be sufficent.

They even thought I was going to take the oven apart for the £90!

Thanks for the inut & support.

Regards

Martin

[cml]

Hi Martin,

Having seen a number of your posts I agree you are experienced at what you do and £90 worth of works is not in dispute.  What is in dispute as highlighted above is that you did not point out key issues that would take longer to resolve or bring to your clients attention that certain works  you may not be able to do because they  would benefit from a specialist in those areas. 
Say for instance the Bathroom may have been reported as an issue for the LA to deal because there could  be other underlying problems and your only there to clean.  The oven may need a specialist oven cleaner to deal with the carbonated foods etc. 

The client gave you a specification of works and some discretion where necessary not clean items but you admit that the sideboard was dusty and the lampshade/lights had a dead fly in it.  Generally I believe you would have cleaned these but did the fact that this LA called you after nearly 2 years cloud your judgement and your heart not completely in it?  This was an opportunity to try and strengthen your relationship with your Customer and offer them more services keeping you at the forefront of their minds.  It quite easy for LA to forget suppliers when they have so many to choose from.  Call them up, try and arrange a meeting and discuss how you can assist them further and if there is anything you can improve about your service which has lead them not to give you as much work as  they used to.

In terms of returning to do the job, I think you need to explain that what remains is outside your scope and would need a specialist to attend to.  The client has already spent 4 hours in the bathroom trying to remove mould which sounds as if it needs antifungal treatment and who knows what else.  Sometimes you have nothing to go on but your reputation so above all try to maintain that.  You do not want to be seen as the company who does poor quality work.




 

 

[The Great One]

HI All

Got a call yesterday, saying they accept the £45 back.

Everything was left nicely but we all know they won't call again. My thoughts are they wouldn't of no matter what the outcome.

The main reason for not being called during the last 18-24 months, is that when they moved offices and introduced new paperwork.

In fact one of the managers left and he called me when he set up in another office. I do a fair bit for him.

Although I missed a couple of things, reason being is I got distracted with the Invenory clerk with her constant what about this, this, that & this. It was a rush emergency clean with the inventory clerk there when i was, which means that things couldn't be checked as I was still working and as they were moving in the next day.

It wasn't really a worksheet as such, just some notes handwritten on a scrap of paper. I priced up on a what was asked for basis with some extra thrown in. As it turned out it needed another 8-12 hours, but for those that do EOT, the odds of the Landlord paying me £360+ are slim and none, although a call to the LA would of covered me, but I feel they still would of complained.

Anyway, all sorted.

Regards

Martin

[Robert Parry]

Hi Martin,

Not a dig, but this happens in nearly all aspects of the industry, we, as professionals should educate the client in the realities of life.

Most, so called cleaning contracts are poorly written, and few, even those in the "Trade" so to speak have any real idea on how to write a cleaning specification!

As I understand it, you do an awful lot of EOT cleans, perhaps you should write up a generic form to e-mail/fax or hand your prospective clients, they would then be solely responsible for deciding on what is and isnt included, this would, in my opinion, serve 2 very important purposes:

1.   There would be a written record of what the cleaning specification ordered was, this would mean an end to claims for re-doing work or monetary compensation.

2.   On receipt of the signed specification sheet, a quick call to the client to ensure that they understand the specification, and your professional opinion on what they have decided to leave out, would enable you to complete the work to the required standard/budget.

Regards,

Rob

[Art]

Hi Martin,

Not a dig, but this happens in nearly all aspects of the industry, we, as professionals should educate the client in the realities of life.

Most, so called cleaning contracts are poorly written, and few, even those in the "Trade" so to speak have any real idea on how to write a cleaning specification!

As I understand it, you do an awful lot of EOT cleans, perhaps you should write up a generic form to e-mail/fax or hand your prospective clients, they would then be solely responsible for deciding on what is and isnt included, this would, in my opinion, serve 2 very important purposes:

1.   There would be a written record of what the cleaning specification ordered was, this would mean an end to claims for re-doing work or monetary compensation.

2.   On receipt of the signed specification sheet, a quick call to the client to ensure that they understand the specification, and your professional opinion on what they have decided to leave out, would enable you to complete the work to the required standard/budget.

Regards,

Rob

Rob,

In an ideal world that would be fantastic, but that's what inventory companies get paid for, even though they cause more problems than they solve at times.

It's threads like this that convince me i made the right decision to get away from most of my EOT work

Arthur

[The Great One]

Good points Rob but most of them have their own work orders that are numbered with all details.

When you do a full EOT then it's easier as you start at the top and methodically work your way out the door.

This one was itemised with a generic 'clean where necessary thrown in, basically wanted it both ways.

Anyway i feel whatever the outcome they wouldn't of used me again as they have head office covering the whole of east & west Sussex.

Just lot a communal hallway today (£12.50 p/m only) looks like the freeholder is cutting costs.

Regards

Martin