Cleaning company taking me to court

Johnandabby

bris wrote: »

The day difference will make no difference in the event of the claim as this was just a minor alteration to the contract which had no significant impact on the service provided, this is allowed for in law.

I don't see how you can claim a change in day is a minor alteration, particularly when they haven't attempted to contact the OP on Saturday. They can't just turn up on another day without notification.

pinkshoes wrote: »

Rubbish! An hourly rate is an hourly rate. If it was 2 people, then they would have quotex double the hourly rate!

Unless it was quoted as an hourly rate per person...

If I was the OP I would tell them to take a running jump, and that I would be happy to see them in court....

arcon5

Pay them £75 for 6 hours at £12.50.

Although it was an estimate.. so can vary. But any material difference would not be seen in a good light by a judge. If it over ran significantly they should have got approval first.

Your offer of £100 is reasonable imo.
Their demands are ridiculous.

Pay them the money, don't just offer it to them. Send them your final response in writing and see where they go from there.

whitewing

Who gave them the keys to let themselves in?

photome

Confused8 wrote: »

Hello all,

first post, apologies if it's not in the right place.

Just wanted to get some opinions on a matter that's getting me slightly worried.

I moved out of my flat recently, and in order to get my full deposit back, I wanted to have the place thoroughly cleaned.

I hired a cleaning company (recommended by the estate agent I went through to rent the property) who called me to arrange the clean.

They said I could have a fixed rate of £285 for the day or go for the hourly rate, expecting it to take around 6 hours. As you can imagine, I went for the hourly rate. It's £12.50 + VAT.

I have a written email from them stating that they would be there on the Saturday of my moving out, and the inventory inspection was that evening.

So basically, the cleaners never turned up! Tried calling several times, emails, nothing! No response.

I was pretty annoyed, but the inventory people understood and told me to just get it cleaned before the new tenants moved in.

The following week, I get an invoice from the cleaning company for £270! They tell me that they went the following day (Sunday) but used 2 cleaners who took 9 hours each.

I wrote back saying there was no way I was paying that as I was quoted 6 hours and they never mentioned anything about more than 1 cleaner (not to mention the fact they were booked for Saturday not Sunday).

They told me that they did show up on Saturday (which I know isn't true as I was in the property all day and the estate agents confirmed that they did not collect the keys so had no way of entering the property). They are claiming that the place was too dirty so the cleaner left to get backup for the Sunday.

Surely, this can't be acceptable as a. the contract was for the Saturday and b. any additional work must be confirmed with the customer first.

They are threatening court action if I don't pay the full amount by next week.

Any advice? (sorry for the long post)

Disregarding the wrong day for a moment there is an anomo;ly in the prices

It couldnt possibly be £285 for the day or £12.50 an hour as even if 1 cleaner was there for 10 hours it would still only be £125 so it stands to reason that there would be 2 cleaners

I do wonder if somewhere it did say £12.50 per hour per cleaner

Having said that if they didnt turn up on the saturday and that was when the contract was for i wouldnt pay them anything.

BUT how did they get in

Confused8

Thanks for your replies everyone!

They gained entry by getting the keys from the letting agents (who were holding them for their entry on the Saturday).

Only recently has the cleaning company started stating 'per hour per cleaner' in their correspondences, however all communications with them before the clean (including the confirmation) makes reference only to one

photome

Confused8 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies everyone!

They gained entry by getting the keys from the letting agents (who were holding them for their entry on the Saturday).

Only recently has the cleaning company started stating 'per hour per cleaner' in their correspondences, however all communications with them before the clean (including the confirmation) makes reference only to one

In that case as the keys were left with someone for them to gain access and they did the job IMO you owe them the whole amount. But it is only my opinion

Thats only based on the hourly rate having to be for more than one cleaner otherwise no one would choose the £285 option as one cleaner would have to work more than 22 hours in a day

brendon

I don't see how it could possibly take 18 hours to clean a flat, particularly for somebody who cleans for a living. What sort of mess did you leave the place in?

frugal_mike

brendon wrote: »

I don't see how it could possibly take 18 hours to clean a flat, particularly for somebody who cleans for a living. What sort of mess did you leave the place in?

When I moved out of my 2 bedroom apartment a few years ago I received a quote of about £500 to clean it. I don't remember the exact breakdown, but that for example included several hours for cleaning the hallway skirtingboards.

Needless to say that company didn't get the job. (And no, the apartment was not especially dirty).

Confused8

brendon wrote: »

I don't see how it could possibly take 18 hours to clean a flat, particularly for somebody who cleans for a living. What sort of mess did you leave the place in?

fairly standard condition to be honest, how often do you vacuum your skirting boards?

keyser666

Think a lot of people have detracted from the OP.

Personally OP, I would pay the 6hrs x £12.50, nothing more and nothing less. You have emails to show that they did not say 2 people, they should have been clear about this imho and as for rocking up when they feel like it, deffo not paying more than that.