VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS Franchise Scam Complaints

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• Please stay away from the cleaning franchise scam sysyem 4 in charlotte NC is a spin off of Coverall the fonder of System 4 use to be the top guy over at Coverall. They all take advantage of the poor the unemployed the minorities and yes they all bid low . Why do good companies want to be involved with these franchise cleaning companies knowing they have figure out how to get around the minimum wage laws and are grinding the face of the poor and taking there money 80 percent of companies that use these franchise companies don't renew their contract because of poor service. The reason service is poor is these people are making very little and have to wait 60 days to be paid these franchise companies pay on a 60 day delay. These poor people don't know how to run the numbers when they get their little check from the franchise company they need to deduct their gas car insurance cleaning supplies equipment they may find they work very hard for a month and do not make anything it is a scam the states should shut them down. There is so many of them now they keep cutting the price lower and lower and promise the world and lie to the franchise about the size of the building everyone of system 4 contracts have a low square footage I have look at over 100 contracts and everyone is low so if your a victum of the cleaning franchise game contact a attorney alot of class action lawsuits are going on.

• To Scott A.: You have conveniently failed to mention the significant amount of fees that Vanguard takes out of your check. After deducting fees, taxes, gasoline, laundering your cleaning supplies, and replacing equipment when it goes bad, you cannot be making over $21 an hour, which would be more than 3 times minimum wage. Sorry Scott--you sound like a Vanguard owner, not a franchisee. I have friends who bought into this scamming company and they can't begin to support themselves on what they make at Vanguard. And they are not lazy--they spend many long, hours at this business, most of it in the middle of the night. The only people making money here is the Vanguard ownership and management. If it is so great, why don't the managers quit their jobs and become franchisees???? Hmmm???

• I am very thankful to everyone who submitted comments and encouraged others from making a bad career decision with the cleaning franchise.

• Please please don't buy into Vanguard. The accounts are all ridiculously under bid, it's impossible to make a living on the little bit of money you will make. In the tampa area, you're looking at 15/hr before all your fees. After the fees come out it's more like 10/hr. Don't be fooled into thinking this will be like running your own business. You are not allowed any say in the pricing of the services that YOU perform, the fees are outrageous, and they try their hardest to set you up for failure so they can re-sell your accounts and double their money. Don't fall for this scam!!!

• to the tampa bay guy can u give me more reasons to stop thinking about buying?

• The fact of the matter in my opinion and experience is that people start a business so they don't have to work. They can just pay someone else to do the work. In the janitorial business it is all about sweat equity. The accounts are underbid? says who? the people with no experience in the business who think its underbid because they can't pay someone enough to clean it. From what I have seen first hand Franchisees get an account and then have someone else clean the account with out properly training them to do so. There are no hidden fees. The accounts don't appear out of thin air. The Regional office has to pay telemarketers to get the appointments to try and bid the account and a sales person to close the account,. They handle all of billing and collections and pay the franchisee even if they havent received the money from customers. The whole purpose of paying for your accounts is so you have skin in the game and have to care cause nobody wants to lose money. A lot of regional offices let you pay off your additional volume over up to 12 months. Finanancing? expensive supplies? I as an ex-employee of vanguard in which i hated working because of dealing with unruly franchisee with childish complaints and unprofessional attitudes. Arguing with customers? it is a service industry. Vanguard doesn't just take away accounts from franchisees unless it is at the customers request. On rare occasions there are times when a franchisee is in gross violation of there contract with vanguard and they will lose accounts. Things that are illegal and violation of state and federal guidelines. I have found chemicals unlabeled in pop cans milk cartons with no MSDS sheets at all. I have seen videos of people franchisees have hired going through customers drawers and taking all types of stuff from candy to money to electronics. Why is it that some people can't manage $1,500 a month in volumes and others can handle $10,000.

  Here is my analogy or comparison:

  Just because someone can play an instrument doesn't mean they would make a good teacher. Just because you can cough up a few grand to buy a franchise doesn't mean you can run a business.

  I have sat through franchisee pitches and training classes... There is no hidden anything, People think its just going to be easy and the treat it like a job not a business and the fail miserably.

• PLEASE DONT BUY FRANCHISE IN VANGUARD EAGAN MN !!!

• i was thinking of buying a franchise with vanguard in los angeles are but im affraid to spend $9,000 and then they wont give me accounts, and also how long will they take to get me accounts? please i need some advice

• Vanguard Cleaning System Suck. Our company hired them. They never cleaned the ladies bathroom, failed to restock the toilet paper or mop.

  that's disheartening and disgusting.

  needless to say they were hired for one month then dumped.

• To Donald Doty: Vanguard preys on people who are looking to own a business. Most of the people going into this business have to borrow the money to get started. There is no way that you can hire a crew and make any money because the company bids the jobs too low. I have been in business for myself and I put the pencil to the contract my friend has with the company. There is no way she can make money at it. You make it sound like all a person has to do is sign a contract and go out and hire a crew to clean buildings and then rake in the money. It just doesn't work like that. And who wants to pay people nothing for all that hard work? My friend works her butt off every night and she comes out with about $2/hr on some buildings and maybe a little more on others. After she pays for supplies, laundering rags, vehicle costs, and of course the exorbitant fees to Vanguard, there's not much left. How in the world would she pay a crew a decent wage (some people do have ethics, you know) and still have anything left for herself? There are better ways to make a living than this company.