letters and views Posted by: Melissa Jent 3/29/2010 I have two clients who have breached our written and signed contracts. The first one is a restaurant that I have had since 2004. They sent me a letter stating “they can’t afford to pay me anymore” and gave me 30 days. This contract does not expire until August 23, 2010. The second is a doctor’s office I have had since 2003. A new office manager came on board in 2008 and started adding extra duties, but no extra money. I wouldn’t allow the extra duties — they weren't just little things either — to be done without being paid. I did them one night and it added almost two hours to my original cleaning schedule. At the time she was telling me to do all of these things, I tried to get her to do a new cleaning schedule, but she didn’t want to do that. They also sent me a 30-day termination letter. This contract did not expire until July 2, 2010. The new office manager stated she nor the doctor signed a contract, which is true. But, the acting office manager at the time did. I tried to explain the contract was not with her nor the doctor, but was between Precision Cleaning and the property man-ager. She just didn’t get it. My contract does not give a 30-day out; the only way you can get out of the contract is either by not renewing it on the anniver-sary date or for non-performance of work set out in the cleaning schedule that is attached. This portion reads, in short, as: Termination for non-performance can only be done if a detailed written description is mailed certified to us. Then, we have 30 days to fixe any deficiencies. If they are not fixed in 30 days, then a 30-day termination notice is sent, again certified mail. In both cases, none of these procedures was done. The doctor’s office actually took my keys the next day that we showed up to clean. Between the two breaches, I lost roughly a total of $16,000. Can someone help me out here and tell me basically what steps to take and what I should do about this. That is a lot of money and I don’t want to just let it go. Responses: Chaz Townsend 3/29/2010 The best thing you can do for your business is go out and find other clients and make up the lost revenue. There really isn’t anything you can do. Contract or no contract, we can get fired at pretty much any time. It would not be worth the added time, frustration and money to attempt to take it to court. If someone hasn’t or doesn’t pay you, that's one thing. However, this is not some-thing I would try to fight. Image courtesy of ProTeam Inc. The thoroughness of your cleaning should reflect specifications set forth in your cleaning contract. Rick VanderKoy 3/29/2010 We don’t operate in the same way, as our contracts have a 30-day out cancelation. But, you could continue sending them the invoices as usual through the cancellation date and, in the meantime, look for a lawyer to take the case on a contingency. It will probably be too much hassle for them to fight it and they will likely settle with you. A moral victory is better than getting walked on. Editor’s Note: Contracts specifying what work is to be per-formed at what times for an agreed upon compensation are common in the JanSan industry. Contracts provide peace of mind for cus-tomers and act as a fail-safe for contractors in the event that one party does not fulfill the specifications of the document. However, if contracts are to be dismissed and their terms not strictly adhered to, one has to wonder what all of the time and effort are for. Contract breaches can be dealt with in numerous ways, including taking no action to force adherence and taking the matter to court. A recent discussion on the CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management Online™ Bulletin Board served as an open forum to discuss how to handle clients who breach their cleaning contracts. John Markey 3/29/2010 We have a 30-day cancellation clause in our proposal — we do not call them con-tracts because they are not. Our proposals are evergreen, meaning we write them and include small yearly increases for four years. Then, after four years, if we feel that we need to charge additional, we notify them of an increase. Hey, if a client does not want us, why would we want to continue cleaning for 8 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • May 2010
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