Clean 2 wing chairs, 2 love seats, 1 fabric headboard 5 cushions
I live in Calgary and hired Service Master to clean all my parents furniture in Victoria prior to them moving into a private assisted living facility. I called Service Master because living in Calgary I did not have any referrals and I did not yet know about Homestars but I knew the Service Master name. The furniture was quite old and the 2 chairs were stained - all I wanted for them was to be clean, we knew stains would not come out.
The furniture was "cleaned" and then moved at the end of May. When I arrived to help with the move the 2 chairs clearly had not been cleaned or even vacuumed. There was obvious debris under the cushions. In fact it was the retirement home cleaning staff that pointed it out. I had to pay for them to clean it properly that day since it can be moved in dirty. We called alan the owner at Service MAster that Saturday at about 5 pm and he was on his way home and not interested in helping us even though we explained we were in the middle of moving my elderly parents - we could not wait until Monday. Not only did they not help, Alan was rude. I was told they were closing and we were out of luck and I could wait until Monday. . When I got back to Calgary I called the owner "Alan" who said he would get back to me and of course never did. I called again today and sounding impatient and irritated he said the technician insisted it was done. They offered to clean them again which at this point is not necessary - they had that opportunity the day we discovered the problem but were not interested in fixing it then.
I feel my parents were taken advantage of because they are in their eighties and basically I was ripped off. In addition Alan said my parents retirement home - Sunrise - was a client. Sunrise used to be a client but told me they are no longer because of problems exactly like this one. All I wanted was a credit for the 2 chairs not all the furniture. I hope it was worth it because I will be telling everyone I know never to use service master. AS a business person I could not imagine doing this. The only positive out of this experience is that my carpet guy here in Calgary told me about Homestars and I now use it for everything!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $620.00
- Company Response
We are very concerned the experience was not a pleasant one. We try very hard to please. We also try to understand the stress that siblings face when dealing with the care of elderly parents and when denial and dementia are involved.
It is our policy to try to please our customers. In this case, the daughter of the customer felt it necessary to get involved. Since we could not respond immediately at 5pm, on a weekend, the offer to re-clean the items the following week was rejected. After conferring with our technician we did, in fact, follow up the next week (May 27) and reported that the chairs were indeed well beyond cleaning, but were cleaned as best he could due to the extreme nature of soils and debris.
To clarify, Sunrise Assisted Living remains one of our many customers, and is fully aware of the difficult strains caused by this family's situation. Another fact not stated was that our technician was made to wait 1 full hour before being able to start the job due to the customers confusion.
In this case, we feel that the complainant was unnecessarily combative and now attempts to discredit our reputation. Although her facts are wrong, she is, of course, entitled to her opinion. Our reputation, however, is our main asset and will be fiercely guarded.
As a gesture of good will, we will arrange a credit upon retraction of this review.