Cleaning company trying to charge me full amount for clean I rescheduled

complaintsrus

I booked on Facebook Messenger with a reputable local cleaning company and only provided my name, a description of my property and the first part of my postcode. Due to a change in my diary I have had to reschedule and push the clean back a few weeks, and I also decided to upgrade to their more expensive deep clean service. They have said that they can book me in for the new date but I will still have to pay the full amount for the initial date even though they do not do the clean.

I was not provided a cancellation contract, and have not provided bank details, paid any deposit or provided an address. They said they take cash on the day. Are they allowed to do this - how can they enforce this if I have given them a week's notice, and not provided any details? Is this allowed?

lincroft1710

complaintsrus said:

They said they take cash on the day. Are they allowed to do this 

Yes.


With regard to the rest of your query, the company can certainly ask you pay for a cancelled appointment. Whether or not they could get a court judgement against you if you do not pay is another matter. If there are terms and conditions on their Facebook Page which include cancellation penalties and you acknowledged reading these or these were pointed out to you before you cancelled, then you would be in a very weak position.


A lot will depend on what the FB messages between you actually said.. 

Mark_d

You had only made a provisional booking for the initial clean.  The fact that you had not provided an address backs up this position.
The company can require you to pay for the cancelled appointment before they provide you with any further services but if I were you I'd refuse and I'd take my business elsewhere.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

complaintsrus said:

I was not provided a cancellation contract

Distance contract so you can cancel within 14 days of forming the contract. 

If they haven't given you info listed here:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/schedule/2

it is instead 1 year and 14 days to cancel, heck even if they'd done the clean you'd still be entitled to not pay if they don't give the right info, send them the below link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/36

You'll probably have to find another cleaner for the deep clean but that might not be a bad thing any way. 

As an aside are you sure they are actually cleaners and not just taking bookings and then finding some random person to do cleaning jobs? 

CliveOfIndia

complaintsrus said:

I booked on Facebook Messenger with a reputable local cleaning company and only provided my name, a description of my property and the first part of my postcode.

I was not provided a cancellation contract, and have not provided bank details, paid any deposit or provided an address.

Aside from the legalities, how could they pursue you if they wanted to?  They have no concrete details about you, other than your FB profile, so have no actual way of contacting you (aside from Messenger, which you could block if you wished) or finding you as such.

lincroft1710

CliveOfIndia said:

complaintsrus said:

I booked on Facebook Messenger with a reputable local cleaning company and only provided my name, a description of my property and the first part of my postcode.

I was not provided a cancellation contract, and have not provided bank details, paid any deposit or provided an address.

Aside from the legalities, how could they pursue you if they wanted to?  They have no concrete details about you, other than your FB profile, so have no actual way of contacting you (aside from Messenger, which you could block if you wished) or finding you as such.

There is a site 192.com that with a person's name and part postcode will find possible addresses of that person

pinkshoes

complaintsrus said:

I booked on Facebook Messenger with a reputable local cleaning company and only provided my name, a description of my property and the first part of my postcode. Due to a change in my diary I have had to reschedule and push the clean back a few weeks, and I also decided to upgrade to their more expensive deep clean service. They have said that they can book me in for the new date but I will still have to pay the full amount for the initial date even though they do not do the clean.

I was not provided a cancellation contract, and have not provided bank details, paid any deposit or provided an address. They said they take cash on the day. Are they allowed to do this - how can they enforce this if I have given them a week's notice, and not provided any details? Is this allowed?

If they haven't provided you with cancellation terms, then giving a weeks notice is more than enough, and it's not like you're cancelling, but actually providing them with additional work.

They don't sound very professional, as anyone with common sense would agree to swap. It comes across as rather unprofessional, so although you say they are reputable, that wouldn't fill me with confidence. Especially confirming a booking without even knowing the full address.

I personally wouldn't use a company like this. 

If you don't want to use them at all any more, then I'd contact them again thanking them for getting back to them about your provisional booking date, and say that unfortunately this date no longer works for you, and although you enquired about another provisional date in your last correspondence for a more expensive service, you have changed your mind and are no longer interested. 

If you do want to still use them, then you'll need to negotiate.

[Deleted User]

They said if you want a rescheduled date you'd also need to pay for the one you cancelled. If you don't want that, you don't book another date and that's that. If you do, you go ahead and book it. As to your question, can they 'force' you to pay for both if you agree to this, the answer is yes. You agreed to it therefore it's a contract.

Unless it's the only cleaning company for miles around, or they are so spectacularly efficient that all other cleaning companies seem like amateurs in comparison, then I'd advise you going elsewhere rather than pay twice for one job.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

[Deleted User] said:

As to your question, can they 'force' you to pay for both if you agree to this, the answer is yes. You agreed to it therefore it's a contract.

No as above, consumer contracts concluded at a distance come with the right of cancellation. 

[Deleted User]

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

[Deleted User] said:

As to your question, can they 'force' you to pay for both if you agree to this, the answer is yes. You agreed to it therefore it's a contract.

No as above, consumer contracts concluded at a distance come with the right of cancellation. 

The OP said that payment was cash on the day. So that does not apply, as I'm assuming - not unreasonably - that the OP will not arrange a second appointment then refuse the cleaners entry when they turn up. So the cleaners will turn up and on completion request the payment for that service and for the missed appointment, and the OP will be contractually bound to pay.

Also, if the 14 day cooling off period had expired prior to the arranged appointment they'd need to pay also.

(And even if the OP did refuse them entry, for some reason, they'd still be liable for their out of pocket costs and the work scheduled which the cleaners would be unable to re-book).

powerful_Rogue

[Deleted User] said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

[Deleted User] said:

As to your question, can they 'force' you to pay for both if you agree to this, the answer is yes. You agreed to it therefore it's a contract.

No as above, consumer contracts concluded at a distance come with the right of cancellation. 

The OP said that payment was cash on the day. So that does not apply, as I'm assuming - not unreasonably - that the OP will not arrange a second appointment then refuse the cleaners entry when they turn up. So the cleaners will turn up and on completion request the payment for that service and for the missed appointment, and the OP will be contractually bound to pay.

Also, if the 14 day cooling off period had expired prior to the arranged appointment they'd need to pay also.

(And even if the OP did refuse them entry, for some reason, they'd still be liable for their out of pocket costs which would almost certainly include the appointment at that time).

I doubt it as they don't know the address.