Student Works Window Cleaning

This is a negative review of a StudentWorks Window Cleaning operator in the Newmarket/Richmond Hill/Thornhill area, and a warning to potential customers that the contract is misleading. I've waited 2 weeks considering this. Now I'm going public.

We have been supporters of StudentWorks Painting for the last few yrs. They do a good job and we try to find ways of supporting students. Given that so many students lost their jobs this Summer of '20, we decided to expand our support to StudentWorks Window Cleaning. Wrong. The agreement was for them to wash the outside of our windows. We removed and cleaned the screens. The contract says "Exterior window washing includes only surfaces accessible from exterior when windows are closed." I confirmed in an email to the operator that this specifically included the "grooves" in which the screen sits when it is in place. The operator did not respond to my specific question. I assumed (wrong again!) that, yes, of course those grooves would be wiped out. This is not a huge task.

We never saw the operator. He completely missed an appointment, to the point that I sent an email, a text and left a voicemail thinking something had happened to him. Nothing for 24 hours. Well, I thought - he's new and we'll give him a chance. (wrong - 3 strikes and I was out).

When the students finished the windows and asked for payment I pointed out to them the dirt on the base of the windows at the front of the house. What did they say? "That cleaning isn't included." I was shocked. I asked that they check with the operator since I'd confirmed this in an email. And, that little ledge is a PART of the exterior window - it is part of the window frame and it is a "surface accessible from the exterior when the window is closed." The operator was firm that these grooves were not included, and when I reminded him of my confirming email his response was "I received a lot of emails from you." Oh......ok. So that's how you are going to build a business based on referrals? I said, this will take about 1 minute per window. Oh no, he said; it will take at least 30-60 minutes and I'll need to charge you for that. I told him I'd done 5 windows while I was on the phone with him, as I walked room to room. His attitude was rude and patronizing. Not good for a startup operation.

I contacted StudentWorks to speak with the operator's coach. I told the coach and the operator that this was such a simple fix for them. Had the operator agreed the contract says "exterior", that the 'groove' is part of the window, and had the students taken the 15-20 minutes it would have taken to wipe out the window frames, I would have sung the praises of this little company to all. But no. Nothing. No 'let's make this right' for the customer. No acknowledgement that the contract is misleading. The coach thanked me for my feedback, business and offered nothing else.

By the way, we did see the operator for the Painting business. We all kept our distance, and she checked and double-checked on the details. We were pleased with their work. Window cleaning? Nah - we clean our own windows, and should have this year. To the coaches of the operators: make it clear to these operators that this is a tight economy, and they are in a customer-facing, word-of-mouth business.