Terms & Conditions Definitions
1.1. In these Terms of Business the following definitions apply: “The Company”, “We”, “Us” – means The Clean Company Essex.
“Cleaner”, “Cleaning Operative” – means the person or firm carrying out cleaning services on behalf of the Company.
“Client” – means the person, firm or corporate body together with any subsidiary or associated company as defined by the Companies Act 1985 to whom the cleaning services are supplied by the Company.
“Client’s Address” – means the address where the Client has requested the cleaning service to be carried out.
“Service” – means the cleaning services carried out on behalf of the Company.
“Cleaning Visit” – means the visit to the Client’s service address by the Cleaner in order to carry out the Service.
1.2. Unless the context requires otherwise, reference to the singular include the plural and references to the masculine include the feminine and vice versa.
1.3. The Headings contained in these Terms are for convenience only and do not affect their interpretation.
2. Contract
2.1. These Terms and Conditions represent a contract between The Clean Company Essex and the Client.
2.2. Both parties shall ensure that their respective responsibilities under this agreement are undertaken in compliance with all statutory regulations and codes of conduct.
2.3. The Client agrees that any use of the Company’s services, including placing an order for services by telephone, fax, email, live chat, website forms shall constitute the Client’s acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
2.4. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by a director of the Company, these Terms and Conditions shall prevail over any other terms of business or purchase conditions put forward by the Client.
2.5. No variation or alteration of these Terms and Conditions shall be valid unless approved in writing by a director of the Company.
2.6. The Company reserves the right to make any changes to any part of these terms and conditions without giving any prior notice. Any alterations will apply to new business but not existing contracts.
3. Pricing
3.1. All orders are subject to a minimum £50.00 charge.
3.2. All quotations are given by the Company following a request by the Client and shall remain open to acceptance for a period of 30 days from their date. The Company reserves the right to amend the initial quotation should the Client’s original requirements change or upon inspection of the property by us.
3.3. We use national average room sizes when calculating the price over the
telephone. For bedrooms bigger than 18 square meters and living rooms bigger than 38 square meters the price will increase.
3.4. Any charges like congestion charge, ultra low emission charge and parking will be added to the Client’s invoice unless a different agreement was made.
3.5. If Company personnel need to collect keys from a third party’s address outside the postal code of the premises where work is to be carried out then a £10.00 charge will be added to the price of the service. The charge will cover only the pick up of keys. If said keys need to be returned back to the pick up address or any other address another charge of £10.00 will apply.
3.6. If the Client has a dog, cat or other hairy animal hair slowing down the cleaning process an additional 30% extra charge can be added to the service price at our discretion.
3.7. If the client has booked a steam cleaning service (hot water extraction method) and upon inspection the material to be cleaned or treated are not suitable for cleaning or treatment the client will be charged a £30.00 fee.
4. Access
4.1. The Client must provide electricity and running water at the premises where the service is conducted. Failure to provide these is subject to a £30.00 fee.
4.2. The Client is responsible for providing access to their property at the scheduled time. If keys are provided they must open and close all locks without any special efforts or skills. Failure to provide access to the property is subject to a £30.00 fee.
5. Payment
5.1. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the company, payment is requested on the completion of the work. The Client must make payment by cash, or credit/debit card before the carpet cleaner leaves the Client’s premises.
5.2. If payment of bank transfer is agreed with the customer, it is to be arranged no later than a day before the day of the cleaning. The company reserves the right to cancel an appointment in failure of receiving the bank transfer in advance.
5.3. The Company reserves the right to charge interest on invoiced amounts unpaid for more than 30 days at the rate of 8% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from the due date until the date of actual payment under the Late Payments Act.
5.4. The Company reserves the right to charge £30.00 administrative fee, plus any solicitors’ fees, in addition to the balance due, for any account we must refer for collection.
5.5. All bank charges incurred due to a Client’s cheque being returned unpaid will be passed to the Client at a flat rate of £30.00 per cheque.
5.6. The Company reserves the right to cancel any contract and back charge additional for past services to reflect the balance of the standard rate(s) if any misleading or false information was used to obtain discounted services.
5.7. The Client agrees to and authorises the Company to charge his debit/credit card he has provided to the Company with any outstanding amounts owed to the Company.
5.8. Where such alternative arrangements have been made the Client must make payment within 30 days of the invoice date.
5.9. The rates of payment by the Company shall be as agreed between the Company and the Client, or his representative. The Client shall make no reduction or retention from the sum due under any invoice.
5.10. All payments must be made in Great Britain Pounds.
6. Cancellations
6.1. The Client can cancel the scheduled service by giving prior notice 48 hours before the cleaning without incurring any cancellation fees otherwise a fee of £50.00 will be charged.
6.2. We reserve the right to refuse any cleaning job if the condition of the property is hazardous to the health and well being of our operatives.
6.3. The cleaning company has the right to cancel or reschedule a service in cases where an accident or any unexpected circumstances have befallen the assigned cleaner or cleaning team.
7. Claims
7.1. The Client agrees that due to the nature of the service the Company guarantees only to correct any problems reported within 24 hours of the completion of the service. If a problem occurs on a Saturday it must be reported by Monday 12:00 in order to be accepted as a valid claim.
7.2. The Company may require entry to the location of the claim within 24 hours to correct the problem.
7.3.. If the Client or any third party instructed by the Client is not present at the time of completion of the service then no claims regarding any cleaning issues can be made.
7.4. If the Client instructs a third party to inspect the result from the cleaning then the Company must be notified before completion of the service.
7.5. In case of a third party inspecting or refusing to inspect the result from the cleaning then the Company cannot be held responsible for rectifying any outstanding cleaning issues not mentioned by the third party.
7.6. Any refunds or adjustments must be requested to the Company directly and subject to approval by the Company.
7.7. While the Company operatives make every effort not to break items, accidents do happen. For this specific reason, the Company requests all irreplaceable items (whether monetarily or sentimentally valuable) be stored away.
7.8. The Company shall not be responsible for damage due to faulty and/or improper installation of any item.
7.9. Any attempt to commit insurance fraud or any use of false information to commit any type of fraud will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law together by the Company and the Insurance Provider(s). Monetary compensation as well as legal fees may incur.
8. Liability
8.1. The Company shall not be liable under any circumstances for any loss, expense, damage, delay, costs or compensation (whether direct, indirect or consequential) which may be suffered or incurred by the Client arising from or in any way connected with:
8.1.1. Its failure to carry out its services as a result of factors that are beyond its control. Factors beyond its control include acts of god, floods, severe weather conditions, and inability to gain access to premises, lack of appropriate resources, such as water, electricity, and lighting.
8.1.2. Late arrival of Company operatives at the service address. The Company endeavours to be on time on any visit but sometimes due to transport related and other problems which are beyond the Company’s control, the Company operative’s may arrive with a delay or the cleaning visit may be re-scheduled.
8.1.3. Any existing damage to Clients property in the form of old stains/burns/spillages etc. which cannot be cleaned/removed completely by the cleaning operative using the industry standard cleaning methods.
8.1.4. Non satisfactory result from the service due to the Client or third party walking on the carpets during or shortly after the cleaning process;
8.2. The Company shall not be liable for the shrinkage of carpets, rugs, curtains or sofas as a result of natural fibre being wet cleaned.
8.3. The Company shall not be liable for the shrinkage of carpets, rugs, curtains or sofas as a result of poor fitting.
8.4. The Company shall not be liable for carpets expanding or ripples forming during and/or after the cleaning when this is as a result of factors such as fibre content, wear and tear, weak backing and/or poor fitting.
8.5. The Company shall not be responsible for a poor result in cleaning where this is a result of considerable wear and tear and/or staining to the carpet fibres prior to the service being carried out.
8.6. The Company shall not be liable for any odours arising during and/or after cleaning when this is due to factors such as, lack of ventilation, and/or appropriate heating.
9. Supplementary Terms
9.1. If any estimates of how long it will take the cleaning operatives to do the job required are being provided that is only an estimate based on the average time it takes to clean a home or an office of similar size to the Client’s, it being difficult to estimate precisely how long such tasks may take and that a degree of flexibility may be required.
9.2. If any estimates of how long it will take the cleaning to fully dry after a hot water extraction clean are provided, that is only an estimate and therefore a degree of flexibility may be required.
9.3. The Client understands that the price he has been quoted is not for a “package deal” and does not include anything apart from cleaning agreed on the quotation.
9.4. The quotation excludes the clearing of debris created by tradesman or building work unless otherwise stated.
9.5. Our cleaners are happy to move lightweight furniture. Due to Health and Safety regulations the cleaner will attempt to move only furniture that requires no more than one person.
9.6. All fragile and highly breakable items must be secured or removed before any cleaning takes place. Items excluded from liability are: cash, jewellery, items of sentimental value, art and antiques.
9.7. The Client shall ensure that all valuables are stored away when work is carried out and that the property is supervised by the Client or his representative at all times during the course of the work. The Company shall not be responsible for the Client’s failure to comply with this obligation.
9.8. The provisions of this contract are not intended to confer any benefit upon Third parties and the provisions of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, are hereby expressly excluded from this agreement.
9.9. All services shall be deemed to have been carried out to the Client’s satisfaction unless written notice is received by the Company with details of the complaint within 24 hours of the work being completed. We will fully investigate any complaint and attempt to resolve it to the satisfaction of the Client, or alternatively to a reasonable standard.
9.10. The Client agrees to allow the Company back to re-clean and inspect any disputed areas before arranging a third party to carry out services.
9.11. The client accepts and understands that poor service, breakage/damage or theft must be reported within 24 hours from the service date. Failure to do so will entitle customer to no refunds or recovery cleaning’s.
9.12. The Company requires the presence of the Client or his/hers representative in the beginning and at the end of the cleaning session so an inspection can be carried out and if any corrections are needed, should be made on the same day. If a Client is not completely satisfied with the cleaning services, the Company will re-clean any areas and item/s before the completion of the service on the same day.
9.13. The company may take up to 5 working days to respond to a complaint.
9.14. Complaints are accepted in writing (letter, e mail or Fax). Complaints must be reported on completion or in the following 24-hour.
9.15. Client should appreciate that carpets often will not have a consistent appearance after cleaning by reason of differences in wear and tear. Sunlight will sometimes cause fading in areas of the carpet and cleaning cannot rectify this. Stains are not always visible before dirt is removed and it may not be possible to remove those stains
completely. The Company will use its best efforts to provide a good result but Clients are asked to be aware of these limitations which are common to all cleaning operations.
9.16. In the case of damage the Company will try to repair the item/s if it agrees that it caused the damage. If the item/s cannot be repaired the Company will rectify the problem through its insurance company by crediting the Client with the item/s if it is proven to be by our personnel.
9.17. The company reserves the right not to be responsible for: delay for a cleaning visit due to a traffic congestion, postponed service due to broken equipment, job not complete due to lack of hot water or power, third party entering or present at Client’s premises obstructing the cleaning process, accidental damages worth up to £100 or less.
10. Client Satisfaction
10.1. The client understands that he/she is not entitled to any refunds.
10.2. If the Client is not satisfied with the cleaning service provided and a complaint has been placed in the stated 24 hours after the job has been completed, the Company reserves the right to return a cleaner and re-clean any areas to Client’s satisfaction. Therefore the Client must allow the cleaner to be returned and he/she should be at present at all times during the re-clean visit.
10.3. The Company reserves the right to return a cleaner not more than once.
10.4. The Company may require entry to the location of the claim within 24 hours to correct the problem.
10.5. We shall not be responsible for any damage caused as a result of the Client placing furniture on a carpet which has not completely dried.
10.6. The Company shall not be liable for the shrinkage of carpets as a result of poor fitting.
10.7. We are not responsible for any existing damage to Clients property in the form of old stains/burns/spillages etc. which cannot be cleaned/removed completely by the cleaning operative using the industry standard cleaning methods.
11. Insurance
11.1. The Company shall insure all work it undertakes. The Company’s public liability insurance covers damages caused by a cleaning operative working on behalf of the Company and includes Treatment Risk and Fidelity Risk covers as standard. All claims are subject to an excess of £500.00.
12. After The Cleaning Service
12.1. By entering into a service agreement with The Clean Company Esse, the Client agrees that after the completion/termination of the cleaning service he/she will not hire or use any services provided by a present or past cleaner introduced to the Client by the company. If the Client wishes to hire or use services provided by such a cleaner then he/she must pay a referral fee of £1200.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by the relevant United Kingdom law, and by agreeing to be bound by them the customer agrees to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the relevant courts of the United Kingdom.
13. Telephone Recordings
Calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes.
