Cleaning Service Referral

[Great Northern Cleaning]

I believe what Codeman is referring to...is he wanted to hire us to perform rental turnover service on Saturdays in the middle of summer to his island cottage by boat. We do offer rental turn over service on the mainland on Saturdays. We service over 60 properties each Saturday. This is done by 8 separate crews of between 3-6 employees each. We have a short window to perform these services...usually between 10 am and 3 pm. It's is a logistal nightmare to coordinate all this....I do not possibly have the time to go to the marina, load my boat up, drive 30-45 minutes out to codemans island camp, perform the cleaning, 30-45 minutes back to the marina, this would be with 3 employees would tie up 3 hours of my Saturday. We do services islands during the week. My Saturday rental turnover service on the mainland is a $14,000 every Saturday business....I do not have the time to get out on my boat to go service one island job....it seems to me that the arrogant one here is Codeman. I tried to explain to him that it just wasn't economically feasible for me to service his island rental turnover on a Saturday. And I did mention it would cost $250.00 to perform this service...let's break this down for our arrogant Mr. Codeman...it would be 30 bucks in boat fuel...3 employees for 3 hours that's 9 man hours,..plus myself to drive the boat...now not charging for myself as I am on the phone constantly on those Saturdays coordinating everything...that comes out to $24 bucks an hour...and that doesn't include the drive from my office to the marina....so as far as i am concerned the $250 would be quite a deal as we charge $30 per hour on the mainland. And it may have been Codemans own arrogance on the phone, his failure to understand my business logistics that lead me to be curt with him on the phone. If Codeman wanted to change his rental turnovers to a week day...when we are already out servicing other island properties by boat...thus bringing our profit margins up..then we could lower the cost of this service to something I am sure he could afford. For the record, we do not service any island properties by boat on Saturdays.

We are very proud of our customer service and the service that we provide. We will not jeapodise our quality of service to any customer to make an extra buck, hence we occasionally, but reluctantly, have to decline providing to service to new customers. We enjoy a very solid reputation in the Lakes Region.

Have a nice day. Frank

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Great Northern Cleaning

I believe what Codeman is referring to...is he wanted to hire us to perform rental turnover service on Saturdays in the middle of summer to his island cottage by boat. We do offer rental turn over service on the mainland on Saturdays. We service over 60 properties each Saturday. This is done by 8 separate crews of between 3-6 employees each. We have a short window to perform these services...usually between 10 am and 3 pm. It's is a logistal nightmare to coordinate all this....I do not possibly have the time to go to the marina, load my boat up, drive 30-45 minutes out to codemans island camp, perform the cleaning, 30-45 minutes back to the marina, this would be with 3 employees would tie up 3 hours of my Saturday. We do services islands during the week. My Saturday rental turnover service on the mainland is a $14,000 every Saturday business....I do not have the time to get out on my boat to go service one island job....it seems to me that the arrogant one here is Codeman. I tried to explain to him that it just wasn't economically feasible for me to service his island rental turnover on a Saturday. And I did mention it would cost $250.00 to perform this service...let's break this down for our arrogant Mr. Codeman...it would be 30 bucks in boat fuel...3 employees for 3 hours that's 9 man hours,..plus myself to drive the boat...now not charging for myself as I am on the phone constantly on those Saturdays coordinating everything...that comes out to $24 bucks an hour...and that doesn't include the drive from my office to the marina....so as far as i am concerned the $250 would be quite a deal as we charge $30 per hour on the mainland. And it may have been Codemans own arrogance on the phone, his failure to understand my business logistics that lead me to be curt with him on the phone. If Codeman wanted to change his rental turnovers to a week day...when we are already out servicing other island properties by boat...thus bringing our profit margins up..then we could lower the cost of this service to something I am sure he could afford. For the record, we do not service any island properties by boat on Saturdays.

We are very proud of our customer service and the service that we provide. We will not jeapodise our quality of service to any customer to make an extra buck, hence we occasionally, but reluctantly, have to decline providing to service to new customers. We enjoy a very solid reputation in the Lakes Region.

Have a nice day. Frank

Without wasting too much time picking apart Franks email I will point out a few quick flaws. We were not requesting Saturday turnovers, we did not arrange oir rental schedules to EVER flip on a Saturday. I planned this so that if we had renters in, they would be out before the weekend so we would have time to clean up and use it ourselves if it was vacant. They typically would be in and out on Mondays or Fridays. He was supposed to meet me on a Saturday to discuss and view the property. That's it.

I was an islander for 9 years, typically have a boat in the water before ice out is called and stay in until November or December. I think that gives me a solid grasp on costs, time frames for making the trip to and from the island, etc. I am also a business owner and can handle profit margins and do a cost analysis to determine what makes sense. I am also smart enough to know that a min charge of $250 is ridiculous to do a basic cleaning on a house our size with no linen washing or bed making needed. Anyone on the islands paying that much is paying too much, or maybe it was just me getting the special treatment.

He went into his arrogant rant on the phone about pricing before he ever saw the place. All i replied with was that it was too much for me. He called me to tell me this before taking a ride out, basically at the last minute instead of telling me this the few times we spoke before about meeting, before being blown off. How quickly he forgets...In fact I tried to hook up with him the previous season only to be blown off then too. Bet he forgot about that too.

His reply shows who the arrogant, unprofessional one is in this situation. Good luck with your business.

[Great Northern Cleaning]

....you were specifically asking for Saturday service for your island camp...but there is more to this story.....i happened to remember something this morning......may I remind you of an estimate a few years ago, at your mainland house in which you were appalled that I charge $30 per hour per person. You went on a small rant about that being more than your wife makes as a nurse or something. Since that day I have had no desire to work for you....

Have a good day sir!

[dragonfly03246]

I recommend Bon-Ton's Housecleaning Service, she's been in business for over 25 years and has many customers and excellent references.

She has many customers in the Lakes Region area and she's very fair on price. She can do weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, to your schedule. Give her a call, her name is Bonnie Wabble and her phone number is 603-387-6708

Let her know her daughter sent you

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Great Northern Cleaning

....you were specifically asking for Saturday service for your island camp...but there is more to this story.....i happened to remember something this morning......may I remind you of an estimate a few years ago, at your mainland house in which you were appalled that I charge $30 per hour per person. You went on a small rant about that being more than your wife makes as a nurse or something. Since that day I have had no desire to work for you....

Have a good day sir!

Wrong once again. I never owned nor do I now own a mainland home in the lakes region. I think you are confusing me with someone else. And you are incorrect about the Saturday flip. Every rental I had this summer came in on a Friday, with the exception of one that came in on a Monday for a midweek stay. I would know, it was my house, I booked and handled all rentals and I was the one driving up and bringing my cleaners out. I have worked with a bunch of different contractors in the lakes region and I think all would concur that I am certainly not arrogant, demanding, and am not afraid to write a check for quality work.

For the record I pay $35 an hour to my cleaner on my home in the seacoast, 1 person 4 hours on a much larger home. And my wife makes more than that anyhow...

Getting back to the original thread and poster, I have the name of two different cleaners (individuals) that are very fair, thorough and reasonable. I used both of them on the island, and would be happy to PM their info if you like.