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Coverall review: Getting your money 58

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5:06 pm EDT
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I'm a franchise owner for Coverall for almost two years now in San Mateo, CA and I really regret it joining and starting my business with them because all they did is SCAM me. Coverall Cleaning Concept aka Coverall-Based Cleaning System is where you can start your janitorial business by buying a franchise. You basically starting your cleaning business by using their name and you pay them yet they automatically deducted 15% each month plus insurance other charges. They suppose to guarantee you an account so that way you can start making money right away. They only guarantee you with account just enough that they can take and make money out of you each month and you left nothing. Which what is happening to me. All this time which all I get is headache because I always have to call the office to give me more account but no result. Now their holding my check and their not paying me. I called so may time what happened to my check and they just pass me around and no on knows. I'm ready so sue Coverall all for all my lost. I'm ready take them to court.

Anyone who want to start a janitorial cleaning business do your research. As I tell DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH COVERALL CLEANING CONCEPT aka COVERALL HEALTH-BASED CLEANING SYSTEM because is a SCAM.

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58 comments
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Tomtom1933
Winter Garden, Florida, US
Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am EST
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Three weeks into it's contract in my health care setting and the services are horrid. Examination rooms marked as used by patients with contagious issues were not deep cleaned. Despite being clearly marked as needing special cleaning. Is it likely training was not provided as required for any environmental services staff?
We can dump our own trash in the dumpster outside if that is all the crew is going to do

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Beaoreo
, US
Aug 04, 2020 3:00 pm EDT

Coverall is a money maker for them selves. You buy a franchise and they will guarantee you for one year, what the franchisee didn’t know they made a contract to your customer for one year otherwise they will pay early termination so your customer have no choice to keep you for one year. so genius! After one year you are on your own they don’t mind you loose your customer because they have a chance to sell it again to innocent newbie franchise owner Of course customers always like to do business with coverall for the fact they are the lowest bid...poor franchise owners.

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Lionell Tillman
, US
Mar 09, 2018 1:04 pm EST

The compamy K.K.T.H. I have a problem with..They are 'Alawys' coming in late and if that wasn't all they smell as if they were smoking drugs and if that isn't the half of it the guy thats suppose to run the company has littte kids working for him.I thought that you had to be 16yrs of age to work here in Pittsburgh..ISN'T there a thing call child labor laws and he is hiring people and he doesn't have any medical benefits at all..What type of compamy is Coverall if thier letting the guy do this..Coverall needs to start an investigation in this compamy.

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Marley1369
, US
Mar 23, 2017 1:14 am EDT
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Coverall cleaning of Washington state. Tukwila, Wa. Thinking of buying this franchise? Beware at all cost, this guys are really shady individuals. I called Jennifer front desk many times to talk to Greg or Bo and I keep getting response of they are busy or they are away every damn time. They don't even call you back at all, the least they could do. I mean they charging you on the contract for all these things but don't deliver. I pay these guys for costumer support which is whats on the contract but these people do nothing of support. They don't wanna talk to you, they just wanna email you answers or mail crap to you in the mail. That's all they good for, the only people they wanna stay in touch with is the customers where the money's at. You get nothing, basically when you sign up your in a constant battle with them. As a business owner you should be able to control how your money flows. But with these guys, they control the money all you get is a check! So stupid! Mitch is always on his damn phone when he was training he does not pay attention to anything. I think he's the bosses son, what a lazy ###. They are quick to point out what's your obligation on the contract but can't fulfill a damn thing on there part of the contract. That Greg guy will sugar coat things and talk nice to get you to buy the franchise and once everything is sealed. Be prepared to be thrown under the bus! Luckily I had a meeting with Greg and he said we are not really a cleaning business, we sale, we don't have anything to do with cleaning. Is this ###en guy kidding after I signed in and pay, this is what he tells me! There in the business of scheming people of there valuable time and money. Each and every day for these people is a huddle and meeting on how they gonna take on there victims and destroy them. They quick to point out ### to try and throw the problem on you when in fact it's them. These guys are not there to support your business as a franchise. There only good for collecting there money and dispos of you. I've talked with some customers and it's really not the franchise owners that they have a problem with, it's coverall. They have a very very misleading franchise structure. They say it's your business but if you pay attention carefully everything is about them. They just screw over the franchise owners which in turn they can't provide GOOD SERVICE cause they lowball these contracts so damn cheap. They don't care cause they are not the one whose gonna be doing the work as long as they make something out of you. They steel your contracts and give it to new franchise owners, they recycle this way they can keep luring in more franchises that's payed thousands and after they will do the same to them. It Wont take long and you'll figure it out real quick once you get your feet wet. You basically paying them to employ you under minimum wage with long inaccurate hours which realistically actually takes longer. They make things look good in writing but in reality it's a disaster. These guys are snakes! The only person I keep hearing that's great at her job in there is the financing consultant, but of course she's the collector of these scamming. Dishonesty and scamming is a very lucrative business nowadays. I regretted ever investing in them. I hope many current or would be customers and current or would be franchise owners back away and do not sign up with these people. They do not deserve to still be in busy. They don't even deserve a damn star as an option for review. They keep altering and deleting my review on there washing google website review page and I wonder how many reviews they have deleted to make themselves look good on the web..save yourself and look elsewhere

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Marley1369
, US
Jan 16, 2017 1:13 am EST
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My advice is do not buy this franchise, it's worst decision you will be making and you will find out very quickly how the tone changes once you've signed all documents. Financially, mentally and physically this will hurt so bad, I just want to save as many people as I can from them. Make sure you have a lot of money saved on the side and I do mean a lot to keep above level for months and months in case it doesn't work out and in most cases it won't work out for the majority and you better believe it when I say that. I regret buying into the franchise, understand that even if your doing fine with your accounts and all reports are great. They will find a way to take it away from you and give it to an incoming franchisee cause this is where they make there big bucks. New franchisee just payed a hefty thousands to get in, eventually they will screw him over and give it to the next new guy in town. Besides that, be prepared to be making below minimum wage, The business structure is very misleading, I went to pick up my check on several occasions and I was so disappointed because I've ran into other franchise owners who looked like they just woke up from there graves. When was the last time you seen a franchise owner looking like he's hit the jackpot, never! Because this is simply a bad business investment period! You. I've been calling in for special cleaning floor jobs and they keep telling me they have no one request for any yet but they will put me on the list and I will be called as soon as one comes in. Come to find out when I was doing a carpet cleaning job, I called another franchise owner if he would like to partner up with me since it was multiple buildings and I needed this job done as soon as possible so it would be dried over the weekend. Me and franchise owner were talking and he told me every month the district consultant and him are really close friends and they would partner up together doing floor jobs for thousands of dollars with the consultant getting these jobs wrapped for him as they split the profit after it's paid to the franchisee. I was furious. The district consultant I worked with is not a very good trainer and is on his phone texting while training you. I seriously did not pay into this business for this kind of product. These are just things for you or whoever is buying into it, beware!...Washington state

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Angry "Owner"
, US
Jun 07, 2016 10:26 am EDT

Coverall are a bunch of RIP OFFS! I will never make money or be able to expand due to the long list of charges and fees and under bidding on the accounts! I am frustrated to the MAX and have had it up to here (hand over head) with them. I brought in over $6500 in the month of May just to receive $2800 as my net pay...PISSED is not the word for the bull that they have pulled...I am in the state of WI does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do, because I have paid lots of money into this business just to get pennies! I can't hire anyone and I still have to work a regular job just to maintain my household and take care of my children...

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Angry "Owner"
, US
Jun 07, 2016 10:17 am EDT

Coverall are a bunch of RIP OFFS! I will never make money or be able to expand due to the long list of charges and fees and under bidding on the accounts! I am frustrated to the MAX and have had it up to here (hand over head) with them. I brought in over $6500 in the month just to receive $2800 as my net pay...PISSED is not the word for the bull that they have pulled...I am in the state of WI does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do, because I have made paid lots of money into this business just to get pennies! I can't hire anyone and I still have to work a regular job just to maintain my household and take care of my children...

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Gregory Coston
, US
Jan 23, 2016 5:21 pm EST

I been a Coverall franchisees since 2006 formally Jani-king frachisees and they both Are The Worst !. Both are in the NYC area . Once you paid your fees you are on your own. Sale mangers always under bids cleaning assigments for new cleints and pass it on you.Never bidding on what the jobs is worth, but on how much they can collect from you and the cleints. i learned a lot from Jani-king about the underhanded bussiness of Cleaning franchise. By the time i left jani-king i took some time off and was told Coverall was a better company ( WRONG ! ). But this time i wouldn't accept all the cleaning assigments they would offer me and that piss them off. i started marketing myself and starting bidding on my own contract and eliminating there finder fees. Garden City office never contact you for nothing. No update training / No update on new personnel.until this day January 23, 2016. i couldn't tell you who's the region manager / sale reps are in the office. i made some money and lost some that's bussiness.Coverall is just a name. nobody care about them, you have to market yourself and i would never buy into a cleaning franchise again. Do it yourself Good Luck !

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last try
Brisbane, AU
Aug 20, 2014 1:52 am EDT
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New migrant to Australia/Canada/usa people should be ware of coverall-health base cleanig concept thief's

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last try
Brisbane, AU
Aug 20, 2014 1:32 am EDT
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i wont to get out of this baldy contract if any body have any idea please post and save a life hhhhhh no actualiy two life
thank you gys very much.

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Angelo Darin
Grand Rapids, US
Jun 07, 2014 7:17 am EDT
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I am an ex field consultant for Coverall of West michigan dba: NEW DREAMS. They are unethical with no integrity. I am currently going to be a witness for a class action case. I have pulled together franchise owners that were not paid properly. This Master Franchise owns offices in MI, OH and AL. Due to their Ponzi Scheme tatics I believe it is my duty to bring these business issues to court so they do not hurt and oppresse people any more. I have witnessed lies, manipulated funds, holding checks and bouncing payments to franchise owners and employees Every time I would bring wrongful acts to them. They would either lie or try and get me t be dishonest. I have never in all my years working for companies ever seen so much dishonesty in one company with 2 owners? Anyone who has negative experiences with Coveral please contact me at [protected].

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Kem734
Canton, US
Apr 23, 2014 4:40 pm EDT

I own a franchise in out of the Detroit Michigan office. Coverall consistently underbids contracts. They make billing errors, that are amazingly always to their benefit. I lost a large account because Coverall claimed the customer complained. Coverall then told me because the loss was my fault for poor service, they did not have to replace the business owed to me under our agreement. Luckily, when I removed my equipment from the location I also took the sign in book pages which showed no complaints. They eventually agreed to replace the business but I have been waiting five months, and my package still has not been filled.

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Cleangirl
Baltimore, US
May 31, 2013 6:25 pm EDT

I have had a coverall franchise for a year. The same thing happened to me In Maryland that others described. I had been promise $3000 in contracts. I got 2550.
They still owe us $450, but can't seem to find the business. I am down to 450.00 of business left because oddly our Coverall rep called us one day and told us 3 contracts cancelled the same day.Apparently they all became dissatisfied with our work on the same day. I know that two of the contracts I received came from other franchisees that were doing "poor work". Being new, I believed it. Now I think the company is supplying new franchisees by taking business from old franchisees. Is there any legal action being sought in Maryland?

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Golden wings
Birmingham, US
Jan 03, 2023 3:36 pm EST
Replying to comment of Cleangirl

How did you get out of it because they are robbing us without a gun

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Downers Grove-IL FRANCHISEE
schaumburg, US
May 31, 2013 6:02 pm EDT

Thats total BS. I did all my monthly inspection. Than the month I lost my accounts were the the month that coverall sent someone to do the "inspection" which than the person in charge would never return my monthly inspection paper work. Right. Sure. Its all scam.

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trksh143
San Diego, US
Apr 22, 2013 1:46 am EDT
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1st Amendment- send me an email if you would like at trksh143@gmail.com

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trksh143
San Diego, US
Apr 22, 2013 1:45 am EDT
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1st Amendment, areyou still looking to speak with a former or existing Coverall employee in CA.?

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cleancut
Albion, US
Aug 28, 2012 7:04 pm EDT

I am a Coverall Franchise owner and have mixed dealings with this company. People keep saying that people are acting like an employee instead of a business owner, but Coverall treats you like an employee. They underbid jobs--way underbid them just so they get their money, and they will feel fine giving you a bunch of small accounts that you work hard at but make no money. They even charged me a finder's fee on an account I found. It took me 4 months to get it straightened out and they did not refund my back money. I clean one account 7 times a month and the contract is for $150 dollars, its a three hour hour job, that they said should take 1 hour. That's 7.14 an hour, so I can't afford to pay an employee, I have to do it myself. They also took an account away from me that they said the customer complained. I accepted the loss, and later saw my contact person at the store and she told me she was disappointed when our crew left because the other crew was not as good or friendly. She was told I was moving to Wisconsin and would no longer be cleaning. I'm sure they took that account (my biggest one) and put it in a new franchise package. Maybe not all Coverall's work this way, but it seems like a majority of them do.

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John S. II
Hartford, US
Aug 14, 2012 1:22 pm EDT

I agree about the complaint against Coverall. I have been a franchisee for just over a year now. 1st of all the starter equipment they supply is a joke, with the first 2 months I had to replace the toilet brush, the mop bucket, and the extender duster. I stopped using the vacuum cleaner supplied and went with my home vacuum cleaner because it worked so much better.The cost to start plus the monthly fees they charge are outrageous, I started at one of the mid-levels and I just got enough accounts to satisfy my contract. Cover with the fees and loan repayments being deducted, they are taking about 45% of the profits. With the time and travel to my accounts, I am making about $15 dollars and hour. My advise to anyone thinking about Coverall is talk to them and get as much information as you can and then go out and do it yourself. Just price every job you bid on at about $30 - $40 dollars and hour.

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killer bee
Plymouth, US
Jun 26, 2012 7:52 pm EDT

Took an outside sales job at Coveralls Detroit office a few years ago. The regional director was sniffing every woman hard. At the training in Boca the company President Ted Elliot was hanging in the back looking like he'd been on a week long bender. He surprised the lead trainer by interrupting him and asking him pointed questions leaving everybody scratching their heads. That trainer was fired that day. I was leading the office sales board after only my second month in the field. I had noticed many people in my traing class of 75 had been terminated by that time. My mannish new woman boss told me to stop by Monday morning. Heck, I thought she was gonna congratulate my performance. Nope, she said I was fired because of a business decision. Told her it was a bad idea to fire the guy leading the sales board, DUH! They had fired a huge portion of my training class quickly as I assumed the company is/was in financial trouble. I be been doing outside sales since with a major security company very successfully since. Coverall people were idiots.

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1st Amendment
Bloomington, US
Oct 27, 2011 3:24 am EDT

If you have worked for coverall in California in the past or are working for them right now please give me a call as soon as possible.

Jerry
[protected]

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1st Amendment
Bloomington, US
Sep 02, 2011 10:07 pm EDT

Coverall LOST ! Hit HARD By The Supreme Court !

The Supreme court on wednesday August 31, 2011 SMACKS Coverall !

Awuah WINS !

Cleaners Win !

Here is the link

http://www.bluemaumau.org/10644/franchisor_hit_hard_pretending_employees_are_franchisees

BOSTON – Today the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court smacked Coverall janitorial franchise system with a huge bill for labeling its employees as franchisees.

The high court ruled that the franchisor must pay back franchise related fees, including franchise fees, promissory note payments, additional business fees, and payments for insurance.

Experts think the ruling that franchisees can be disguised employees will ripple down to other franchise systems and other states.

Coverall argued that the franchisee should only be allowed to collect fees directly related to the misclassification. Because the additional fees Pius Awuah sought were the result of his contract agreement with the franchisor, Coverall asserted that they should not apply to the damages he sought.

Coverall SJC Decision
U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young ruled (pdf) that the misclassified employees could collect wages, insurance premiums and other employment benefits, but the attorneys for the franchisees weren't satisfied. Shannon Liss-Riordan of Lichten & Liss-Riordon stated that her clients should also be paid all fees. She said, "By requiring companies to fully reimburse employees for all the fees they incurred as a result of misclassification, the court will send a message to employers that wage law violations will not be tolerated."

The judge then certified the Awuah v Coverall case to Massachusetts highest court after determining that state wage laws require employers to cover certain statutory costs of doing business, and that shifting such expenses to a misclassified worker constitutes damages incurred. Because the Supreme Judicial Court had no controlling precedence, Judge Young submitted pertinent questions to give the court the opportunity to set a precedent in defining the damages that should be available to the employees misclassified as independent contractors.

On one pertinent question addressing whether Coverall could deduct franchise fees from the employees' wages, the state's Supreme Court concluded, "No. . . the Wage Act forbids the deduction."

Prior to the decision the case had brought criticism from the franchisor community. Coverall attorney Michael D. Vhay of Boston's DLA Piper stated that broadening the damages beyond wages and benefits would produce a flood of litigation and drive franchisors from the state because they would be unable to collect fees from franchisees.

Steve Calderia, CEO of the International Franchise Association said, "On behalf of the franchise industry, we urge the court to fully take into account the unique attributes of franchising and the federal regulatory oversight of the franchise business model."

Following the court's decision, Liss-Riordan said, "Today's ruling from the SJC is a long-awaited victory for potentially thousands of cleaning workers throughout Massachusetts. The court determined that Massachusetts wage laws and public policy prohibit employers from selling jobs to employees." Liss-Riordan added that the commercial cleaning industry has been plagued by companies such as Coverall that claim to be franchisors but are really employers who make their money by profiting off of their own workers. She said, "This ruling will allow commercial cleaning to be performed in Massachusetts by legitimate employers who do not charge their workers for their jobs. The ruling will have huge ramifications on the commercial cleaning industry, as well as potentially other industries, and the ruling will likely have ripple effects in other states."

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little phoenix
Melbourne, AU
Aug 08, 2011 3:03 pm EDT
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Mina Essa: In VIC you're not alone, there're many (Coverall) franchisee encountered the same or even worse unreasonable treatment as you are, there're considering taking legal action against Coverall, & now they fomed as a group. It's easy for you to join them, how to contect you?

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little phoenix
Melbourne, AU
Aug 06, 2011 2:34 pm EDT
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The feelings of stress, headache & nightmare 'd start once you've bought a package from this company "Coverall"

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Mina Essa
Melbourne, AU
Jun 21, 2011 6:19 pm EDT

about 7 month ago I owned a franchise from Coveral, I just filled my backage less than 3 month after calling 100s for times. Now, I lost my account. They never paid me on time. By the way I am in Australia and they are doing the same thing in here as well. I am planning to take them to the court but I want people to join me to strength position. I am sure they scamed many in Australia as well.

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Visalia
Visalia, US
May 04, 2011 11:54 pm EDT
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Has Anyone bought a Building from Coverall to clean, than a year waiter was told not to return because they don't want you there?
I live in Ca. and a year ago after working a building for a year, was told that my work was not good enough. Just today was told I lost another office, never complain, never wrote ANYTHING down, and all of sudden was told not to clean it anymore.
Has anyone ever retrun to the building that they were cleaning to see you had replaced you?

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cna scam
San Diego, US
Apr 27, 2011 4:47 pm EDT

There is no way you are a business owner as Coverall says if you do not own your customers. They are just selling you a job. In this country you should not have to pay to get a minimum wage or lower job.

There is a Class Action filed against them in Ca. If anyone wants to talk about filing in another State you should call the attorneys for the "Franchisees" in Ca. Maybe they would go after Coverall for you too.

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1st Amendment
Bloomington, US
Mar 29, 2011 1:05 am EDT

To cleanerpaallday I guees you spend all your time following me around or are you someone from corporate trying to stop the truth from coming out. What hapened you Can't handle the truth ?
1. Awnser this why does coverall have so many lawsuits last time I conted I think I saw over 30 lawsuits ? Maybe I should post them here.
2. Why did a judge recently say that coverall was like a Ponzi Scheeme?
3. Why did a court rule a cleaner not a franchisee business owner but an employee who ended up geting uneployment?
Finally why are you so afraid of me or anyone else posting articles that have come out in the New york Times, Franchisetimes.com, Television or any other place? . Is it that all you can do to defend your coverall company is get mad and attack me on posting something? Are you trying to shut me up and take away my 1st Amendment Rights. Tough luck because I will keep sharing these articles when I see them.

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melissa602
Imperial, US
Mar 13, 2011 9:51 pm EDT
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WOW! I was going to sign on with cover all. So glad I found this site before I acted on anything! They can shove their contract!

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cleanerpaallday
not gonnatell, US
Mar 07, 2011 7:06 am EST

To first amendment, you are a negative person there is not one cleaning franchise you have not bad mouthed on one site or another. Also you seem to have owned each one of them also so if you are so rich you can buy a new business each year, fail at it and try a new one the next, do your self a favor and go to collage and take business management . You have to work hard to start a franchise and yes they can fail and as for your mouth dialect about immigrants failing at this if they are illegal as you state how do they pass the background check. And ps anyone can cut and paste articles penned by others with a mind of their own so try originality and get a real job try McDonald's not much smarts needed there .

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tova11
, US
Jan 27, 2011 8:19 pm EST

Coverall is full of lies. I own a franchise in Houston Tx and it works exactly the same as others have said, they're liars, unprofessionals, treat you like an employee and don't care about you. I'm hoping to get FOs that want to sue them as well. I'm tired of their scams!

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Mr. Entreprenuer
Dallas, US
Dec 09, 2010 10:48 pm EST
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Do anyone have any complaints about Coverall Health Based Cleaning Systems of the Dallas Fort Worth Texas area, or good things to say about them I am looking into being a Franchisee and I understand all the bad issues former Franchisees have had, but these people are still selling Franchises so theres got to be some good about them and to my understanding all Commercial Cleaning Franchises all operate the same so I would like to know who has the best system, could anyone say something good about any of these Franchises because people are not just having bad experiences with these Franchises if they are still operating. Could someone please post a comment or e mail me @ micheal.harris10@yahoo.com with pros, cons, good, and bad experiences.

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1st Amendment
Bloomington, US
Jul 12, 2010 4:32 pm EDT

You can read the following article on the coverall scam by going to the following link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/your-money/27haggler.html?_r=1

The HagglerIn Search of Work,
but at What Cost?
By DAVID SEGAL
Published: December 26, 2009

STILL in holiday peace-and-goodwill mode? Aww. How sweet!

Just a quick bit of advice: Read something else.

Seriously, beat it, O.K.? Because Christmas is so two days ago, and in this episode we are going to dive into the dark heart of the janitorial franchise world — which turns out to be really, really dark.

Q. I am writing on behalf of my housekeeper, Jagoda Walczak, a Polish immigrant who has been cleaning homes for years. She thought she could find new clients by investing in a franchise called Coverall Cleaning.

She borrowed $17, 600 from her brother and friends to cover the franchise fee, and Coverall guaranteed that it would send her $5, 000 worth of commercial cleaning business — basically janitorial services for offices — every month. They assure people that they can make $18 to $20 an hour with these accounts. More than three months later, she had been offered less than $2, 500 worth of business, and the monthly payments for these jobs were so low that, calculated at an hourly rate, they were minimum wage.

She tried to get her money back, but Coverall will not send her a refund. Is there any way the Haggler can help?

Channa Steinberg

New York City

A. The commercial cleaning franchise world is a new one to the Haggler, but it’s been around since the mid-1970s, and Coverall is just one of several national players.

It works like this: You give Coverall a big fat check and it provides training, some start-up supplies and initial leads to companies in need of cleaning service. The goal is steady income from cleaning gigs that are serviced, ideally, with your own employees.

In theory, it’s not a bad idea, and the company, which is based in Boca Raton, Fla., says it has 8, 000 franchisees servicing 50, 000 customers in the United States. It also has a pretty lengthy record of settling lawsuits brought by former Coverall franchisees — more than two dozen suits since 1998, according to its 2008 franchise disclosure document, with one settlement as high as $450, 000. In every instance, the company denies wrongdoing.

Read through a summary of the complaints, and themes emerge. Again and again, franchisees allege that Coverall presented them with a job at a set fee that required so much time and/or additional employees that the income, per hour, was a pittance.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer in Boston who has filed a class-action lawsuit against Coverall, says that this is standard operating procedure.

“Companies like Coverall are competing for commercial cleaning contracts against regular janitorial companies that pay their workers as employees, which means they pay worker’s compensation and have to abide by minimum-wage laws, ” she says. “Using the independent contractor model, Coverall doesn’t have to worry about any of that, so they underbid for contracts and obviously the person who gets hurt is the worker.”

Ms. Walczak says she was offered a job cleaning a Vidal Sassoon salon — six nights a week — for just over $1, 300 a month. A Coverall manager gave her a tour of the premises and said the whole job should take two and a half hours an evening. It took five hours, minimum, Ms. Walczak said she discovered. After three weeks, she told Coverall that the job was financially unfeasible.

When she demanded her money back, Coverall refused and suggested that she sell her franchise. Ultimately, she was paid less than $700 for all of her Coverall-related work, including the three weeks at that Sassoon salon.

A spokeswoman for Coverall, Jacqueline Vlaming, sent a lengthy e-mail message in response to the Haggler’s inquiries about Ms. Walczak. In it, Ms. Vlaming says that the company doesn’t guarantee $5, 000 worth of cleaning jobs a month, but instead promises an initial set of jobs worth that sum of money, after which you’re basically on your own.

She also said that Ms. Walczak declined nine perfectly good cleaning gigs — worth $7, 000, altogether — and that the Sassoon salon is now serviced by another Coverall franchisee for the same fee that Ms. Walczak found inadequate.

“Ms. Walczak was difficult to work with from the outset, ” Ms. Vlaming wrote. “We tried repeatedly to explain to her the methodology inherent in bidding commercial accounts. She simply did not want to hear it.”

For a competing perspective, we turn to Steven Cumbow, a former chief financial officer at Coverall who has left the company and was recently deposed by Ms. Liss-Riordan as part of her class-action lawsuit.

“Coverall has built its business around charging individuals — many of whom are non-English speakers — thousands of dollars in exchange for a promise that it will provide paid cleaning work, ” a court document says, paraphrasing Mr. Cumbow’s deposition. “Instead of supplying this business, however, Coverall utilizes a ‘churning’ model whereby it offers business to workers who, Coverall knows, will be unable to accept or to adequately service the account, or revokes business for pretextual reasons.”

Ms. Vlaming called Mr. Cumbow a “disgruntled terminated employee with a grudge.”

The Haggler spoke to Ms. Walczak last week, and she described her struggles to make a living and provide for two teenage children. “I called the company and I just cried, ” she said. “I told them: ‘You lied to me. You said I could make money and I can’t and now I’m borrowing money and I’m in a worse situation than before.’”

See? The Haggler warned you that this is not a feel-good story. But in the e-mail message, Ms. Vlaming said Coverall would be willing to discuss Ms. Walczak’s situation with her and to “work toward a solution.” The Haggler will follow those discussions and report on their outcome in a forthcoming column.

E-mail: haggler@nytimes.com. Keep it brief and family-friendly, and go easy on the caps-lock key. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

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daddyo23
mt.holly, US
Jul 08, 2010 12:24 am EDT

i know about coverall and there evil garbage...

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Cleaners
Tipp City, US
Jun 24, 2010 12:45 pm EDT

We hope no one else has to endure the horrible experiences described on this site from a cleaning franchise! For a business opportunity for honest hard working entrepreneurs, visit: www.cleanteamunlimited.com - no B.S.- no broken! promises! Innovation for the cleaning industry! www.cleanteamunlimited.com

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tina marie1234
LaPlace, US
Jun 22, 2010 7:55 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

cover north america is full of crooks we all need to file a clash action suit. lets get started

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SRB2010
, US
Jun 16, 2010 3:32 pm EDT

I am a current Coverall franchisee in FL. My marriage to Coverall Health-Based Cleaning System has not been as harsh as others. With Coverall in particular, your initial package includes start-up supplies, contracts up to the specific monetary value of the package purchased and hands on training. Additionally, when I have any questions, I have access to the adminstrative side of the house as well as other franchise owners in my area.

As the saying goes, "it cost to be the boss!" I believe many people confuse being a business owner with being an employee. As a franchise business owner, one should automatically prepare their self to pay royalties & management, insurance, workers compensation, Coverall loan paybacks and additional business purchases to name a few. As an employee, one just picks up their paycheck on payday. Anyone notice the difference?

I cannot speak on the matter of things I do not know but what I do know is that WARJON, INC dba Coverall of North Florida is one of the BEST franchising territories. After purchasing my franchise, my country sent me to serve beyond its borders. Meanwhile, Coverall paused my training, payments... basically halted my entire process until I returned. I wasn't asked to make any payment of any sort while I was absent. In fact, my first deductions weren't until I received my first FULL Franchisee Statement after returning.

As with any business, honesty is not on everyones agenda but with my territorial office there is a great relationship between Coverall and its Franchisee's. Is everyday good? No, not at all. Does the good outweigh the bad? Certainly. As a franchisee, all that's asked of us is to complete our monthly inspections, clean to the standard of Coverall provided training and promote your business. If your business doesn't grow, then Coverall doesn't grow and vice versa. So, PLEASE stop blaming COVERALL for the mistakes of a particular territory.

SIDE NOTE: Coverall has a certain amount of days upon completion of training to fill initial packages. My business owned package was filled within 2 wks of completing training AND I purchased additional business within one month. I have employees and franchise obligations to pay but not all is lost. Rome wasn't built in a day. It's NOT all of Coverall that has fell short of the bar and left bad taste in the mouths of many. Unfortuantely, it still a branch of Coverall but as a solution one should lodge their complaints at a specific territory.

BE BLESSED,
THANKS!

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Where is the honesty
Surrey, CA
Jun 13, 2010 1:05 pm EDT

This statement below is Wrong and misleading, because you do not as a franchisee own the contract so the head office can come up with any concocted story such as the customer is not happy with the service therefore you are losing the account. Whether they resell it to another person is hard to determine but i have had high rating in my accounts and still lost them. My advice to anyone who want to get into the cleaning business is do it on there own all these franchisees are SCAM Artists who are only interested in new Franchisees who pay x6 and not the older franchisees who pay less.Finally to let everyone who reads know the Company only guarantees the contract for ONE YEAR and are not responsible if they feel its not cleaned properly which is subjective.There is alot of information online Do you Research carefully.. Good luck

Franchisee's is DO YOUR MONTHLY INSPECTIONS, if you do and you follow the agreement, you will be covered by the replacement of business, you will not have any reason for the company to take the account away from you, and you will not have any service issues, because you will have direct contact with your customer.

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1st Amendment
Bloomington, US
May 24, 2010 3:18 am EDT

I read the following article at Bluemaumau.org

Federal Judge: Franchising Sounds Like Ponzi Scheme

Posted Thu, 2010/04/01 - 19:12 by Corbin Williston

Is franchising "a modified Ponzi scheme?" Last week, a federal judge said it might be.

Janitorial franchises have long been a source of embarrassment for the franchise industry, and frequently attract purchasers with few assets and poor command of English.

A 2001 report by the GAO on FTC enforcement of the Franchise Rule found that from [protected], Coverall violations had affected 2591 investors, and JaniKing violations affected 900 investors.
A 2005 news article in the NY Times noted complaints by Brazilian immigrant franchisees of Coverall in Boston, and a settlement of Coverall litigation in Los Angeles in which franchisees alleged fraud.
An August 2009 interview with Franchise Times quoted Coverall making this claim:
Jacqueline Vlaming, Coverall’s general counsel, said, “Every franchise owner who runs it like a business can make money.”

In the most recent lawsuit, Pius Awuah and 10 other franchisees relate similar stories:

1.They paid Coverall North America a "franchise fee" in exchange for which
2.They were promised a minimum dollar amount of client accounts to service each month.
3.Coverall entered into the contract with the clients and billed the clients.
4.Coverall assigned the franchisees to clean the client premises, and
5.Coverall would remit money to the franchisees after deducting various charges.
The franchisees alleged in their Complaint that they were never given the amount of business they had been promised, and that the degree of control which Coverall exercised over them meant that as a matter of Massachusetts law that they were really employees of Coverall.

After filing suit, the franchisee attorneys uncovered damaging information and Coverall moved to seal court documents. In an interlocutory appeal, a 3 judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals said in October 2009:

Coverall has been charged--it has not been found liable in this case--with activities that could be viewed as highly unattractive[cite omitted]

It is not necessarily the disclosure to competitors that makes the district court's order a matter of concern. Others, including enforcement agencies and potential plaintiffs, may find the disclosures of interest in ways that would not serve Coverall's interests. [emphasis underlined in original]

The lawsuit continued and on March 23, 2010 the District Court ruled in favor of the "franchisee" plaintiffs, holding that they are in fact employees.

What has attracted attention within the franchise community is the Judge's comments about Coverall's assertion that its business was actually the sale of franchises. Traditionally industry trade groups such as the IFA have maintained that franchising is not an industry but rather a business model (although the IFA has on other occasions defined franchising as an industry).

Judge Young stated:

Describing franchising as a business in itself, as Coverall seeks to do, sounds vaguely like a description for a modified Ponzi scheme – a company that does not earn money from the sale of goods and services, but from taking in more money from unwitting franchisees to make payments to previous franchisees.

The Judge went on to say that he believed that in fact Coverall was in the business of janitorial services and that under Massachusetts law the "franchisees" were really employees of Coverall. But the use of the term "Ponzi scheme" and the interlocutory ruling have caused this case to gain wide attention.

An interesting issue raised by franchise law firm Nixon Peabody is the impact of the Massachusetts statute and case law on post-term non-compete clauses.

The IFA issued a press release criticizing the ruling as a threat to franchising in Massachusetts. As far back as 1998, the IFA took the (then) unheard-of step and filed an amicus brief opposing a janitor who filed for unemployment after being fired from his job at West Sanitation Services. (Matter of Francis, 688 N.Y.S.2d 55)

A bigger threat to Coverall might be the bad publicity which has caused it to lose contracts with Boston-area clients such as Legal Sea Foods and Cheescake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE). Both restaurants paid Coverall, but the mostly Hispanic cleaning staff did not get paid.

Coverall said it had properly sent money to the Boston "franchisee" and that it bore no responsibility for seeing that the workers were paid. After media reports, Coverall paid the wages. Legal Sea Foods terminated Coverall due to concerns about worker mistreatment, Cheescake Factory terminated Coverall due to a number of concerns, and the Massachusetts Attorney General is investigating the janitorial industry, according to the Boston Globe.

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zaezae
Sunrise, US
Apr 21, 2010 5:05 pm EDT

Kermit do not leave any messages on this board you are a former coverall franchise manager, get it a former that means that you are no longer employed there. That is typical of coverall they normally change their employees as often as they go to the bathroom. I was a former franchise owner that blew about 200, 000.00 on buying accounts and where am i now struggling to find accounts on my own. everything that is said negative about them is totally true. I have enough invoices and billing information to drop a law suit on them out of this world i just need a few people along with me to do it. they are criminals and theives and you too mr Kermit who no longer is employed by them let that be a lesson to you as to what they will do to their employees and their franchise owners. They are also located in south fl and they are the biggest set of crooks. Warning do not buy into their bull*****

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Loonylady
, NL
Mar 31, 2010 4:21 am EDT

I invested into coverall in 1996. Being very young and ambicious my ex hubby and saved up all our savings and invested in coverall of southern africa.
We packed up all our goddies in the netherlands an moed to south africa.
We had done an enormous amount of research looking into the back ground of coverall. And we couldnt fid anything bad about the company.
We invested an enormous amount. The regional owner at that stage started of OBVIOUSLY very nice. After signing the contract he started acting up and charging us for the funniest thing. Eventually we wanted our money back ... A long court case etc . We lost everthing ! had to move back to the netherlands with our last money and borrowing from folks we knew. They are still a dodgy business!
And Charles if I ever see you again ... I will spit in your face ( Sorry that man robbed us, he was the regional manager back then)

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