Jani-King International
Reviews and Complaints

I am a jani king franchisee in Orlando, FL since october 2017.
Im having the same problems with then. We are treated as employees and not as franchisee. They control everything and take contracts from you telling the client is not happy. They never do monthly inspections and never send you the scores that the clients supposed to send you monthly to make sure how is your performance .
They always find a way to take your contract and give it to a new franchisee. Also theres some contracts is very underbid, and lots of jobs to do.
And they never replace contracts and they lower your initial business.
They are thieves and just want to get your money.
Im trying to find more franchisees in florida which have the same issue and wants to get money back from jani king and together we can be strong and get a lawsuit against this terrible company called jani king .
right now we are 3 franchisees opening a lawsuit against janki king, join us.
Or if you are not jani king franchisee do you a favor and dont buy a business with then but run away.

Another Judge once again rules against the cleaning franchisors this time against Jani-King. They to like coverall will have to pay back there cleaners there franchise fees. The cleaners are ruled to be employees. I'm only posting a small portion of the article to read the whole article you can go to the following link.

http://www.bluemaumau.org/11679/deja_vu_janiking_workers_are_not_franchisees

Posted Wed, 2012/06/20 - 13:23 by Janet Sparks

Deja Vu: Jani-King Workers Are Not Franchisees

BOSTON – A district judge once again has issued an order stating that Jani-King International and other entities misclassified its janitorial workers in Massachusetts by labeling them as franchisees.

In doing so, the world’s largest janitorial cleaning service franchisor will have to pay damages to the employees, which will include the franchise fees and additional business fees, as well as all insurance payments made by the workers. The judge also denied the company’s efforts to decertify the class action lawsuit, at this time representing approximately 300 janitorial workers

Cheryl Frazine is fun in the sack

I know where the regional R. Frazine lives if anyone is interested. Hint hint its near the wild animal park

The truth about Jani-King, Jan-Pro, etc...

To be honest they all virtually run the same. Going with one over the other is just a matter of how much more fees you will pay because of their "name brand recognition". The reality is this. They will take almost all of your profits every month (20% of the contract you will be servicing or higher ) and leave you with pennies at the end of the month. Not only that, but they make you purchase a franchise. They actually make you pay thousands of dollars for training & "guaranteed contracts", the more you pay the more business they will provide (allegedly). They should be paying you to take on these awful accounts they give you! Mostly, they prey upon poor families looking to own a piece of the American Dream and trick you into believing it is a good investment. People invest their entire savings into this dream (more often nightmares). But, the only way these franchises can be profitable is if you have slave labor (you will be the slave in most cases). Working 5-7 days (mostly graveyard shifts) a week, with no vacation. Sound like fun? Not to mention what the work actually requires you to do. It is extremly hard, smelly, grotesque work. Not for the wimps that for sure.
Here are some facts:
1) Regardless of the lies you will be told, they are struggling to get new accounts to give new franchise owners. You will be told stupid taglines like "the dirt doesn't stop at the door, businesses need to be cleaned". Although it is true that businesses need to be cleaned, but unfortunately there are more cleaning companies and franchise owners then businesses that need cleaning. Most of the profits that you would like to make are taken away from you in order for them to get the contract in the first place. The margins are so thin that you will be working for minimum wage just to stay "profitable". They don't stop taking in peoples money to buy more franchises just because they don't have business to give them. The reality is that you will most certainly get an old account that is being transferred from another franchise owner. These accounts more often than not have business owners that are ready to terminate the agreement due to poor service, complaints, irrational business owners that are impossible to please. They are so fed up that it is impossible to save the account. They are simply waiting for the contract to expire in most cases (although you will be told if you work hard, you can save the account, which can happen but is not the norm). A lot of time they come from other franchise owners that turn in the accounts because they are unprofitable. Reminds me of a pyramid scheme to be honest.
2) They purposefully offer you accounts that you will not be able to service because it is too far away (by offering you an account which you don't except regardless of your reason, it meets their contractual agreement to offer you an account within their set time frame, once they have offered you an account, they are no longer obligated to get you more business within any set period of time. Meaning they still owe you more accounts, but there is no time frame in which they have to get you the business once they have offered you enough contracts to cover the amount you purchased (if you are promised $3k a month and are offered a $1500 which you can't service for what ever reason, now they only have to get you $1500 within the time frame that was promised. So if you accept another account they offer for $1500, they now have as much time as they like/need to get you the remaining $1500 they still owe you. Which you may never see! So knowing this, they will purposefully offer you accounts hundreds of miles away that they know you will decline just to fulfill their "end of the bargain". Doesn't sound like too good of bargain for the franchise owner though. Not only that, they will offer the same account to as many franchise owners as possible before it finally gets assigned after they receive as many no's as possible. You will be lied to and told that this doesn't happen. This is a fact though, it happens every day.
3) Labor Costs account for 50-70% of the accounts that you will be servicing. Equipment rental/payments account for roughly another 15%. If you have any financing when you purchase your business that will account for another 10-15%. You will always have 20-22% of your contract value going to the company every month (for example, Jani-King is 22%) You will most likely have to pay off your equipment/supplies that you recently purchased that will account for pretty much the rest of the contract leaving you with nothing. It will take you about 20 hours a week (4 hours a day, 5 days a week) to service every $1000 in contracts that they offer you. Meaning that 1 person can do a maximum of $4000 a month. This is assuming you can work a 16 hr grave yard shift everyday. Which usually isn't possible since most businesses are usually open 7am-5pm. They want to show up to a clean facility and don't want cleaning people there during normal business hours. Which means you normally have from about 6pm - 6 am to clean (only 12 hours). There are some exceptions (restaurants, bars, etc..), but this is generally speaking... So the reality is you can probably service about $3k by yourself, then you will need to hire people to help you (costs go up tremendously at this point). You need to buy more equipment, more expenses, more management... Thinner margins. At the end of the day, you will probably see about 10-15% profits if you are an excellent franchise owner. That means if you want to make about $4k a month, you need to be billing about $30k a month. You will need multiple crews with lots of equipment and supplies for each crew. Not to mention, what are they going to be driving? Who pays for fuel, insurance, etc.?
4) New large accounts will not go to a new franchise owner. They do not want to take a chance on losing new accounts, so they will assign them to existing franchise owner with a good work history (or the one that greases the wheel the best). So if you fork out the money to buy a franchise that guarantees you over ten thousands dollars in monthly contracts you will most likely have a bunch of small accounts. They will offer you accounts all over "your territory". Imagine starting a new crew just to service $1000 a month! Or a $500 contract for that matter! In fact, they will give themselves over a year to fulfill their contractual agreement to get you that business. They can offer you contracts that only bill $195 a month. Imagine the logistics in trying to manage 20 of those! They say this will never happen and most the time it wont, but it could. In fact, they might just keep offering you small accounts because they know you will decline them. They will add up and eventually their "contractual agreement" will be fulfilled.
5) The Director of Franchise Sales job is to make this investment sound as great as apple pie. If you work hard you can succeed like all these other franchise owners (most franchise owners are not happy nor have they succeeded. Although there are some!). They will show you Entrepenuer magazine or what ever their highest ranking is and say "look here, see we ranked #7 out of all franchises to own"... We are the best low investment franchise, these people think we are so great.. Blablabla. They will tell you that you will be offered new accounts that are close to your home. "We always try to find the nearest franchise owner to the business. If they don't want it, we offer it to the next closest, etc... Now technically we can offer you business anywhere in our territory." They most likley fail to mention that some territories are hundreds of miles from one end to the other, covering multiple counties (It's in their FDD so that's how they get around it) . If you take traffic into account, you could be several hours from your home. Refer back to my point #2. They do this on purpose because they are lacking new accounts! You will be told that there is plenty of business and you can always bring in new accounts or you can buy more contracts if you want to expand your business (which of course you will be paying 22% to the corporation every month, regardless of if you bring in the business or if they provide you the accounts).
6) You must purchase and operate under an LLC or Corporation. Sounds great right? Well, this is just one more expense. You will pay about $800 a year on top of the money it takes to file the paperwork with your state. Figure another $500. You will have to file separate business taxes which is also an additional expense every year if you use a CPA.

The bottom line is that they feed on people coming in with the dream of being business owners. They make it sound great because you can invest as little as $3000 and own your own business (not true by the way). You have to buy equipment, start an LLC, etc... What eventually happens is that people will be offered small accounts. They will start to service them and be offered more accounts (most of which are impossible for them to service since they are so far away). So here they are sitting on a $1000 a month contract that they service every month. Almost $700 a month of which is being taken to pay your fees to the corporation leaving you with about $300 a month. It cost you more in fuel to get to most of the business than you make in cleaning them! You will continue to ask for more accounts which they will never give to you (unless you are very lucky, it does happen from time to time). You will be told to go out and get your own accounts if you are sick of waiting. "We already offered you this account and you turned it down. We met our contractual agreement. Go get your own business!" So you continue struggling to service the small account you are given, most of the time working for less than minimum wage in hopes that one day you will get the additional business that you were promised. Eventually, you tire of waiting for the account and turn in the account you were servicing. Which then gets transfered on to the new sucker and the viscous cycle continues. The fact is, the people that are making money in this business are the ones that take 22% of your blood and sweet every month. They sit in their mansions, yachts and fly around on their Gulfstreams laughing at all the money they are rolling in, as people pour everything they own into this industry to try and put food on their tables. It's really sad if you think about it.
If you still want to invest in this industry knowing the facts, I wish you the best of luck. Not too many people have what it takes to make it. It can be done, but you will need a lot of luck on your side. When all else fails, you may need to bribe someone to get you the extra business you need! :)

Gary Borisy, CEO of the world-renowned Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA, has rejected a request to meet with eight veteran MBL housekeepers whose jobs are slated to be outsourced to a controversial Texas firm, Jani-King Intn’l, Inc. Jani-King is facing class action lawsuits in multiple states for violating workers rights and labor laws.

As a result, several of the housekeepers came to New York City on February 5 in hopes of meeting with members of MBL’s Board of Overseers, Board of Trustees, and possibly with Borisy himself at a posh cocktail/dinner party for MBL executives. MBL has recently raked in major federal stimulus money intended to create quality jobs in Massachusetts. Housekeepers say MBL executives are flaunting the intentions of that government support by destroying existing living wage jobs with healthcare benefits and by targeting their lowest-paid staff members. Outsourcing the jobs to Jani-King Int’l, Inc. would also likely be a cost-shift to taxpayers and the state, forcing Massachusetts to pick up the tab for Jani-King/MBL employee health care benefits.

Since Borisy will not meet with them on Cape Cod, the housekeepers will attempt to attend the cocktail/dinner party for the MBL Board of overseers and trustees at the luxurious University Club of New York. The housekeepers will also seek an audience with the overseers and trustees at their meetings scheduled for Saturday in New York.

The University Club event will include a lecture from John W. Rowe, M.D., chairman of the MBL Board of Trustees, on the topic of “Myths and Realities of an Aging Society.” The housekeepers say the title of Rowe’s lecture seems ironic. Three of the housekeepers threatened with layoffs are in their sixties and now face the prospect of unemployment on the eve of retirement.

All eight of the affected housekeepers are women and each has individually served MBL for at least 10 years. They are among the lowest-paid workers of all MBL staff. Since the housekeeping work is a year-round function at MBL, executives have released no estimates publicly on what the outsourcing and cost-shift to the state for employee health care might save the lab. Regarding the dependability and quality of the work provided by the current housekeepers, Human Resources Director Susan Goux wrote to employees in a letter dated February 3, 2010 that, “The housekeepers have shown a dedication to their tasks for a long time.”

According to media reports, Jani-King Int’l, Inc has allegedly been labeling employees as individual “franchisees” to skirt laws and labor regulations in several states pertaining to minimum wages, unemployment benefits, and overtime pay.

In addition to the New York event, the housekeepers and their supporters have scheduled a vigil and press availability in Woods Hole at noon on Friday, February 12 at the town dock on MBL Street.

“We have given many years of hard work and proud service to MBL and MBL has received a lot of taxpayer stimulus money that is expected to be used to create good jobs, not destroy them, ” said housekeeper Noreen McNamara. “We think it’s reasonable for Mr. Borisy and his board to meet with us face to face and answer some of the questions that workers and the community have about this plan. We hope a closer look at the situation will help MBL executives make a decision that lives up to the reputation of MBL and the values of the community.”
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Jani King are Scam, they get cleaning staff together uses them for contract and don't pay wages, when you call the payroll no one seems to answer you, the system should be queried and brought to justice. the situation in the country should not give room for this kind of company to operate, it is extremely unjust to work for 45 to 46 days before getting payed, this is a system Jani King is using on people. I think if this rip off continues. when you call the managers they dont respond or answer your queries, this is a scam

jani king just lost a large contract where i was working as site supervisor for the same wages as a entry level cleaner so far my wages are a week late when i phone head office i just get passed around not getting any information and it feels like they are keeping me hanging till the weekend when there shut i dont see how the can expect a job to be done without simple motivation like um money.

This is a question for TravT77. Hey Travt77 how many Lawsuits does janiking have? Oh let me take a guess 20 0r 30 or 40 or 50. Do you know the awnser Travt77 ? How many have they settled out of court ? Or maybe you can tell us why they have Class Action Lawsuits in Minesotta, Pensylvania, Massachusets and California. Hey Travt77 how many more do you think will get filled? Hey Travt77 and lets not forget about England how many Lawsuits does janiking have over there. Maybe if you stoped ripping of people you wouldn't have so many Lawsuits.

join the law suit

http://www.llrlaw.com/

http://www.llrlaw.com/

join the class action law suit

WOW! Thanks to all who've opened my eyes concerning investing in Jani-King. I will never, never consider this company. I was getting ready to retire and open a franchise with them, now I will stick to investing elsewhere..thanks to all for you true comments of Jani-King!

I was working at Jani-King Austin as inside sales and they are a huge scam operation. Of course they are trying to crawl out of this now. If the franchise knows how much money the company takes compared to what they are getting I bet we will hear a different song and dance.
Example:
I have worked for Jani-King of Austin aka as Stocker management for a little over a year and it is the only company I have ever worked for that actually rips off their employees payroll. Besides our hourly rate we are told as a bonus we get 3% of all the sales listed on the board and once we reach $15, 000 in sales we get a $125 kicker and then additional $125 kicker for every $5, 000 dollars in sales thereafter. This month we put over $80, 000 in sales on the board and now they won’t pay us all of the money earned and have kept $1000 from each of us.
Prior to this month I didn’t keep up with my pay but just trusted them, but now I have to believe if they will do this to their inside sales representatives look out if you’re a franchisee and don’t keep up with your bookkeeping.

This company sucks, unfair to employees, dont always pay on time, bouncing checks, poor equipment!

JANIKING does not pay their workers! I worked over two months for a "franchise owner" and never received a check, when I got in touch with the main office they told me they would talk to the owner and that this was not the first time he had not paid his employees. They told me to come back in 3 weeks and pick up my check. I called back in 3 weeks like she said to get my check and now they are telling me that they are not responsible and I have to contact him... This is outrageous and how can it be legal, just because he is a franchise owner, he is still using the name Janiking. This whole ordeal is absolutely ridiculous, and I'm only one out five others I know of that have not been paid! SCAM!

i work for jeni king, i clean about 5000 square feet, this is big property, i work 7 days, they only pays 4 hours to do the whole building, plus they only pays 950 dollars per month, sometimes the months is 5 weeks i lose money, this property is located in orlando fl, jani king be reasonable with the workers

To DutchGroup Why are fighting with some one who has been there explaining the way things went. It seams he is telling the truth and you guys want to cover it so the other people will not see it. Are you a share holder of Jani-King or the other company? There must some truth in to what 1st Amendment is saying otherwise you guys would not jump on him like you own Jani-King. I was trying to buy an account from Jani-king but checked before I become the next disappointed franchisee and I found there are a lot of unexplained dealings on their record. I thank 1st Amendment for putting his complain on the net because I am not going to buy an account from Jani-King now.
If you want to defend Jani-King's record you will fail because there are a lot of people who are crying fault with their dealings.
Even the uneducated can see their account biding or reselling methods. Do not take me there, or i will keep going on.

To try and answer some of the comments you have made, but lets for just a moment forget that you are involved with either Jani-King, Jan-Pro, McDonalds or any other franchise business, lets look at the situation openly and honestly.
1. No name calling please it just clouds the issues and stops us being able to look at the issues.
2. I beg to offer the opinion that no matter whether law suits go through or not isn't the issue, but rather how many franchise owners jump on the back of the law suit and how many stay on board with the franchisee. As I understand it, with each of the law suits mentioned around 20% of the franchisees (past and present) are looking to jump on board. Isn't that the same as the 20-60-20 rule that everyone understands.
Now when you see that 20% fail is this s surprise? Well yes actually it is, simply because business failure is usually greater than this and in the words of the courts franchising is no more successful than that of a start up business. I can therefore only surmise from your data that they all these business's are a success, certainly not to some individuals but on the whole a success.
3.You ask if it is OK for a franchisor to not give you all the work you wanted or indeed was agreed when signed and started. let me ask you how many that found themselves suffering this were not putting the time in and not delivering what their customers needed, a little bit of a rhetorical question as I know you don't have the answer, but surely some and do you take this into your argument?
4.is it a ponzi scheme? We must of course look at the failures and from this you may say it is, but then you have to look at the success's and say they still have their contracts and these are not being recycled and sold on again so for them it is not.
You also state that a franchisee is not trained to sell, but what puts most people away from purchasing a franchise, the mear fact that they have to sell. Surely you can't have it both ways.
5. On this fact I completely agree with you, but if the franchisee accepts these accounts then he too must be insane. But, as I understand it there is a recourse to a solution if a franchisee can prove this. On this point I may be wrong, but do ask yourself if it is only the franchisees that fail that get these accounts or both failures and success's and how do the latter manage to make them work.
6.I have no knowledge so cannot comment
7.There is no business the size of any of these franchise's that can make this many decisions on an individual franchisee basis. I rather suspect that these decisions are made by individuals within the local region that are simply appling the franchise agreement and or operations manual to their understanding and if there is a mistake these can be challenged. The fact that neither of us know how many challenges were made leaves us wondering who is right and who is wrong.
8. Name calling gets us nothing and isn't something that you can forward as part of a legal argument.
9. I also bought a franchise that didn't work, but I did put myself in a position where I knew what I had done wrong and what they franchisor had done wrong and was able to win my argument.
The problem with arguments put forward here is that you get other people on board and they look atb the argument in the same angry one sided view and this will only ruin their chances of getting the right redress that they deserve.

Another Judge once again rules against the cleaning franchisors this time against Jani-King. They to like coverall will have to pay back there cleaners there franchise fees. The cleaners are ruled to be employees. I'm only posting a small portion of the article to read the whole article you can go to the following link.

http://www.bluemaumau.org/11679/deja_vu_janiking_workers_are_not_franchisees

Posted Wed, 2012/06/20 - 13:23 by Janet Sparks

Deja Vu: Jani-King Workers Are Not Franchisees

BOSTON – A district judge once again has issued an order stating that Jani-King International and other entities misclassified its janitorial workers in Massachusetts by labeling them as franchisees.

In doing so, the world’s largest janitorial cleaning service franchisor will have to pay damages to the employees, which will include the franchise fees and additional business fees, as well as all insurance payments made by the workers. The judge also denied the company’s efforts to decertify the class action lawsuit, at this time representing approximately 300 janitorial workers