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VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS Franchise Scam Complaints

Vanguard Cleaning Systems is ranked by Entrepreneur magazine as the #7 franchise in the nation.  (Seriously?  Vanguard beat out Subway?  Dunkin’ Donuts? Hilton hotels?)

Entrepreneur magazine also named Vanguard Cleaning Systems its #1 Low-Cost Franchises and #1 Home-Based Franchises.

Wow! Vanguard Cleaning Systems franchise ranking gave us a serious WTF? (Why This Franchise?) moment.  Could it be that Vanguard was an actual legitimate commercial cleaning franchise?

UnhappyFranchisee.com decided to scour the web to find out what was so special about this particular janitorial franchise to receive such high praise when their janitorial franchise competitors were being branded as scams and ripoffs.

Vanguard CleaningOur optimism was short-lived. On a site called Webanswers.com,  we quickly discovered that Vanguard Cleaning Systems franchise owners have the same complaints as other janitorial franchises:  underbid contracts, hidden fees, lack of support, overpriced equipment, and a franchisor that will fraudulently take away your accounts to give them to other franchisees.

If you’ve had any experience with Vanguard Cleaning Systems – good or bad – please share a comment below.

On Webanswers.com, bmorrison wrote:

Yes, they do receive alot of fees. With Vanguard Cleaning System/Services, Besides the high cost of buying the contract through them, they get 15% a month from each contract you get from them, and they don’t even protect you or care for you when there’s a complaint even though it’s not your fault. They’ll pick the client over you any given time. They are even the first one to accuse you of doing something wrong. They seem motivated and/or more interested in you losing the contract maybe it’s because not only they get to keep your money that you use to buy the contract but they can sell the contract again to another franchisee for the same amount you bought the contract for if not more. And they continue to get their 15% cut a month. Sweet huh?! Please do an extensive research first especially the janitorial company. One important advice, DON’T GO AND SIGN UP WITH VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEM !

rusty22 wrote:

Yes 10,000 they give you contracts you have to buy.+ they get 15% off the top on each one.They start you off ok ,then they swamp you with work.And you can’t do a proper job. You can only turn down two. After a time they go around and ask your customer if everything is ok,but they are trying to get them to change to a differant vanguard franchise so they can keep the money rolling in. You will never own the contract. And the mistery deductions never will they itemize.

cleaninglady wrote:

If you can turn away from this company- Do so! Not only the staff are very rude and unprofessional.. their only concern is getting their money. The Vanguard staff are nice in the beginning, until you buy their franchise and they’ll just don’t give a %&^8 anymore. My advice- buy mine! because, I want to get away from their @ss3S! lolz.

MiSTaHTeeZaH wrote:

I’ve been with vangaurd(TAMPA FL AREA) for about 4 years…They arent worth a Sh*t….They’re never on your side…takes them forever to get you to the volume you paid for…They deduct from you even if you dont have your full volume…They sale you CHEAP useless equipment for the most part…And they dont care if you get paid a fair amount on the buildings they bid on…(THEY BID EXTRA LOW)…so if you plan on hiring people on,dont deal with them because you wont be able to afford it…Also after they get your money that you needed to start up the franchise,its hard to catch up with them…i wish i would have stayed on my nine to five and kept my money where it was…I know there other things to invest in..

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEM FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY?  PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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86 thoughts on “VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS Franchise Scam Complaints

  • Kristin Feulner

    Dear Personnel,
    I am the office manager for Colonial Mayflower Moving & Storage Co. here in Hackensack, NJ. About half an hour ago, I received a solicitation call from a female called Margot at VanGuard phone number [redacted]. It’s not the first time I have been contacted by VanGuard; We were in no need of such services, but previous sales calls never hemmed up my schedule before Margot called today.

    The way my office is run is this: Unwanted calls of any kind (the definition of which is mine, as office manager): calls where the caller is cryptic/deceptive, expects to waste my time making me “figure out” what he or she “really” wants, or “assumptively-closes” me or my phone answerer, ALL get “dumped” to a particular voice mail. This is done:
    1)To save us time, which is our right
    2) To try to save the feelings of innocent kids who have to do the despised job of phone soliciting
    3) To enable our office to hear sales proposals at their leisure & without pressure from solicitors & salesmen IF & when we feel a sales call is important enough to US to be listened to.

    Margot didn’t like being “dumped”, so she called back, not unusual for pushy solicitors; I had been polite once already by dumping the call instead of hanging up on her, but she didn’t want it that way; So I told her the truth-that no one was interested in anything she had to say. Her response was “But you never came back-you just switched me to a voicemail”. I explained to her that I didn’t have time for “this shit” & hung up-happens daily here.

    Unhappy with the way I run MY office, which SHE had called, Margot called back. She was compelled to tell me that she found me rude, which was fine with me & I told her so. I explained that SHE had called ME, never the other way around, & that as the official manager in charge here, I owed her NO explanation or courtesy…How did I know I wasn’t running the risk of being rude to someone important? -Her name is Margot & she was harassing me, repeatedly calling, telling me not to curse at her, etc.

    To this, I replied that I had every right. She had the balls to tell me she’d “tell” my manager, “TELL”…like a pussy 5-year old…”You’ll have no job”, she added, not realizing the situation…I explained to her that I AM my manager, & that there was no one capable of taking my job, least of all her…something only MY employees know here, as it IS our office, not hers…But she cleverly & bravely hung up on me. Real sure of herself, isn’t she…

    I was, at that point, completely willing to ignore it & move on with the phone calls I DO want, but her harassment continued; She even sat silently on the other end of the phone when she heard it was me again who had picked up…She asked for John, my Operations Guy (& partial partner, which is why she assumed he would be the one who would fire ME over someone as insignificant in our lives as her.) What she doesn’t know is that MY JOB is to KEEP people like “Margot” from reaching John, who has enough to do during the course of our day, even if he was too polite to say so before she hung up on HIM TOO in mid-sentence; I am PAID to get rid of nuisance calls such as this. Sorry if that doesn’t work for telephone solicitors from who-cares-where who are a dime a dozen. She sat silently on the other end until I asked her if she would “like the owner him self to tell her to go fuck herself”, to which she quietly told me “yes, that would be good”. The owner, however, asked that I “hang up on Margot” instead…She then beat him to the punch, as I guess he left her nothing more to say.

    Before she hung up for good, Margot had a lot of “advise” for me today, much to the dismay of my Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, & Marketing Degrees, regarding her opinion on the manner in which I should run MY office & about MY phone manner (which is perfectly professional until I encounter a psycho self-important, DELUSIONAL caller like “Margo”, at which point, all bets are off-remember SHE called ME); I would like to return this attempted favor of hers by advising HER to know who she’s speaking with before wasting people’s time while attempting to “woo” them into buying something from her; I find it best NOT to aggravate people I am trying to make like me; The fact that I am PAID to speak with ALL OTHERS in any manner I wish is not something I need to explain to anyone, least of all Margot; She can decide that her feelings were hurt by my “cussing” & otherwise abrasive language if she’s really that pitiful, but I assure you that her feelings are of no concern to us, the people she was attempting to impress.

    Please inform her that I happen to be irreplaceable here. Nothing she or anyone like her could say about me will ever change that. I have well over 15 years of management experience & run a very successful company, actively contributing in every aspect of the business, including producing sales; I am in charge of firing people like Margot & sending them straight to McDonald’s. When a customer is angered by the fact that one of MY company’s solicitors has called them, I apologize to that person & take them off of our call-list…If they curse or hang up on me, it is their RIGHT to do so & doesn’t necessarily indicate that they are as “unprofessional” when dealing with professional and/or important calls UNLIKE sales calls; And no matter what, I certainly don’t keep call back, wasting more of their time & harassing them.

    I realize your company must appreciate solicitors who don’t take “no” for an answer, but we have no patience for it. Please note that Margot & anyone like her will continue to meet with hostility & foul language, as it is our prerogative to do so. The fact that it pisses them off & that they find my demeanour cantankerous is impertinent. Thank you for your time. Please feel free to contact me using any information below. My cell phone is free & unlimited, & it will not accept anonymous numbers, in case Margot feels like being cute. Thank you for your time.

    Sincerely,
    Kristin Feulner
    Administration
    Cell: [redacted]
    Office: [redacted]
    Email: [redacted]

  • Kristin Feulner

    She called around 11am-I was just able to post the above now!

  • ADMIN

    Kristin:
    I Googled the number that you posted. It shows up as belonging to Vanguard Cleaning Systems of Northern New Jersey.
    The management of this Vanguard Cleaning Systems Master Franchisee is listed as:

    Cleaning Services: Sean Gressler
    Franchise Opportunities: Gary Gressler
    Customer Support: Shannon Webber

    115 Route 46 West Suite A-8
    Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046

    A professional telemarketer would never waste that kind of time just to piss off an obviously unqualified local business. If this is representative of Vanguard Cleaning Systems’ sales program, it’s no wonder the franchisees – who are waiting for new accounts – are complaining.

    Thanks for sharing your telemarketer-from-hell story!

  • Kristin Feulner

    Author “A professional telemarketer would never waste that kind of time just to piss off an obviously unqualified local business. If this is representative of Vanguard Cleaning Systems’ sales program, it’s no wonder the franchisees – who are waiting for new accounts – are complaining.” …Well, I don’t know now…We qualified for her to care enough to call repeatedly…If I seem rude, it’s just that I have no time here to coddle nuisance callers. That kind of treatment & warm fuzzy language is reserved for family, friends, co-workers & customers. Alas, we ARE unqualified to extend it past one attempt to nicely avoid the situation. My apologies to anyone who was offended or took this personally.

  • ADMIN

    Kristen:
    I don’t think you owe anyone an apology. Margot & Vanguard certainly owe YOU an apology.
    B2B telemarketers are annoying. I tolerate them because I know people have to make a living and businesses need to promote themselves. But as soon as you make it clear that you don’t need their services, they should hang up and move on to the next person.
    Vanguard needs to get Margot off the phone and get her into either training or counseling. Barraging your company with calls could be called theft, as time IS money.
    And it’s foolish… next thing you know, Vanguard Cleaning Systems of Northern New Jersey is being discussed on the Internet not for their great cleaning service, but for their harrassing phone calls.

  • Vanguard Franchisee

    I am a Vanguard franchisee in Michigan and i would totally agree with the majority. Being apart of Vanguard has made me bitter in many ways. The one that sticks out is how the Master Franchise owner, Carey Winkel, treats you. She has made me feel “like just a worker to bring money in her pocket,” on many occasions. Knowing her has made me see how I will not treat people when I get my own company. I have paid for my package, but I do not see this as anything that I own! I see this as “a job that I am paying to have.” I fully understood the charges and fees, and I agreed to it. I am dissatisfied because of the way that I am made to feel as a person.

  • anonymous

    I want to ask LaShonda White about her experience with Vanguard franchisee in Michigan. Recently, I have meet Carey Winkel and she told me about this bussiness, it sound really good, but me and my husband been research about the company before decide to be a franchisee or not. Please let me know your exprience with her if you could. Thank you very much

  • Vanguard Franchisee

    Hello “anonymous.” First let me say that I am human, and I did my best to follow the rules of Vanguard, and Carey Winkel. “Yes,” I made some mistakes, but I tried to learn from them and move on. I wanted to do things the right way, as well as make my own name, but I do not feel as though this is possible if you are a franchise of any sort.

    At times I felt like even though I was trying to communicate with my contact person and being proactive about certain situations, it still was a mark against me. For instance, if I missed a clean, I would contact them immediately, and I would either give them a credit, or go in an make the clean up. Well this is not acceptable to ever missed any cleans, for any reason. Well, I learned my lesson and I was made to feel like a child and just a regular employee also.

    Carey is a good person with getting contracts and numbers, but for my personality, and from what I have heard from people that have came in contact with her, and some of her staff, they have not been pleased. Being in a business is scary enough sometimes, but to feel like all you have done “is buy yourself an expensive job,” can be a little hurtful.

    Please do your due diligence. A franchise can be great if you need a steady income for you and your family, but be prepared for some “ill feelings” along the way. I have learned to just have an open set of ears, but a stone heart, when I receive any correspondence from Vanguard. They have provided an income for my family, and I really appreciate that, but I wish I could have done my own thing in the end. When I do get my own business, with my own name on the door, I will always remember some key things that Vanguard and Carey Winkel taught me.

    Good luck in all that you do.

  • Mark & Mitzi Fox

    BEWARE OF VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS! In June of 2011, after 2 months of countless phone calls with Mark Heisten VP of Business Development, countless hours of research and a conversation with the owner Ray Lee, we were invited to come out to San Mateo, CA for a meeting at the corporate office to determine if we liked what we “saw” in Vanguard. It was also for Ray Lee and his staff to decide if they liked what they “saw” in us. We were interested in becoming a Master Franchisee for the Greater Cincinnati Area. We spent several thousand dollars for the trip. We were offered the Master Franchise for Cincinnati and they told us we were a great fit with VanGuard. We were impressed by their talk of the great importance that they put on the ethics with which they run the company. We were very upfront that we still had some “homework” to do in regards to having our attorney look at the Master Franchise Agreement, needed to talk with our accountant as to how we wanted to pay the enormous Master Franchise fee due upon signing and how we were going to set up our corporation (s-corp, LLC, etc). Also we explained that Mark would be out of town the following week with his current job and really wouldn’t be able to do much homework for a week. Everyone understood and agreed that we still needed to get a few more ducks in a row. We were in contact with Mark Heisten of VanGuard several times each week and sometimes several times a day. We were always up front with our progress and wher we stood. When Mark Heisten cam to Cincinnati for personal reason we met with him and showed him the place that we were pretty sure we were going to put our Master Franchise office of VanGuard. He completely agreed with our choice. We told him we were waiting to hear back from our attorney about any issues he thought we should discuss during the contract negotiations. Mark Heisten mentions out of nowhere that there is someone else looking into being the Master Franchise for Cincinnati. We were offered the MF for Cincinnati already so we were finalizing our efforts. A couple of days later we told Mark Heisten that we had heard back from our attorney and were ready to start contract negotiations with the owner, Ray Lee. We had a couple of conversations with Mark Heisten about a few minor issues that our attorney mentioned and we were told that he would talk with Ray and get back with us. All of a sudden, we were not getting phone calls, no messages we leave for Mark Heisten are returned and no emails or text messages are acknowledged. Two weeks go by with no contact from Mark Heisten. Finally, Mark Heisten calls us as he is getting on an airplane and says that they (VanGuard Corporate) gave the Master Franchise for Cincinnati to the other person. We were stunned and completely insulted! We were already offered the Master Fanchise! Where were their ethics that they talked so proudly of while we were in California? We were completely blind sided. So obviously the two weeks where we couldn’t get any contact from VanGuard was while they were stabbing us in the back with this other person. We just recently found out that the VanGuard Master Franchise office for Cincinnati is in the exact office space that we had shown Mark Heisten that we were going to be putting our office when we became the Master Franchise. So it seems he was doing some scouting work for the other person while we thought he was trying to help us determine the best spot for our office! Another slap in the face! We are thankful that we found out the true nature of this company before we invested one more penny on VanGuard. VanGuard is not the ethical company they portray themselves to be! BEWARE!

  • WOW! Mark & Mitzi…I am so sorry that this happened to you. When we saw how lengthy your email was we instantly looked and said, “Whoa, this can’t be good!” I hope that you will find another business, or franchise that will be more of a good experience for you. To read this letter inspires me to keep going in my goals. I really feel “funny’ about being involved with the type of people that you have described in this email.

    I want to do positive things in my life, as well as provide a decent living. Vanguard has allowed me to do this, but now I feel like I am useless to them. I sometimes feel not so good about myself, and my job as a cleaner. I just push through it, do the best job that I can, remain thankful for being able to work as a franchisee, and looking for inspiration in tomorrow.

    Good Luck in all that you will do! :-)

  • Mitzi Fox

    Vanguard Franchisee,

    Thank you for your kind words! I would have loved to put more information on my previous post but felt that it was already pretty lengthy! So many more facts to tell. Mark and I didn’t give up on our search for a franchise that would be a good fit for us. It does require intensive, thorough research, however, we felt that as unethical as VanGuard was to us we were confident that we would find another franchise that does run their business with strong ethics. I am happy to say that we did find a franchise opportunity that was completely different than VanGuard and is a perfect fit for our personalities and lifestyle! I encourage you to be proud of yourself for trying to improve your life and provide a good living! Learn from past mistakes and make it better! Do NOT let some company or any person make you feel less about yourself. Being a cleaner is important! Be the best cleaner there isin and be open to new opportunities! You can achieve anything you want through hard work and determination! We didn’t let VanGuard defeat our efforts to start our own business and don’t you let them defeat you in any way either! Hold your head up high! May God bless!

  • Brandon Johnson

    I am very glad I did my research because I thought Vanguard was going to be a perfect franchise until you guys told me otherwise. What was the cost to get vanguard started?

  • Mark & Mitzi Fox

    Brandon,

    We were going to be a Master Franchisee with VanGuard and our franchise fee was going to be between $150,000-$200,000. After that there was the additional costs to get the business up and running which was probably another $75,000. We probably would not have made a salary for 18 months to 2 years so you also need to have living expenses set aside to cover that time. For a Unit Franchisee (which is who a Master Franchisee sells cleaning packages to) there are different levels of packages you can purchase with the lowest one costing around $8,000 and buys you a small number of accounts for you to go and clean. The top package was around $35,000. Hope this helps you.

    Mitzi Fox

  • Roger Rouse

    After reading these complaints-I am shocked to hear about some of the situations. I am a franchisee here in the Rochester,NY area andnhave been with Vangaurd for two years. I lost two accounts because they went out of business but they were replaced with two new ones. I always have the option of buying new accounts or extra volume. Vangaurd in thisarea is good. I am shocked to haer about some the compalints. I work closely with my master franchise owner Jadon and he isnexcellent. He knows how to ruin a business and is very business savy. Remeber!!!!!!! the clean is up to you!!!!!! You must do a good job at it.. I work three jobs, this job alone brings me in after deductions about 1,144.00 a month. Because I financed it. Remeber again!!!!!!!! it is a partnetship you have with Vangaurd and the master franchise. You need to do a good job because they are selling a service. if you found your own accounts , again, it is your business , you stilL !!!! need to do a good job or you will lose the account and the customer will go to someone else. Yes the bids are low but that is how it is in the business world. A high bid will get you few accounts if any. Even if you did it yourself (find accounts). The lowest bid always win in business especially for services!!!!!!!Remeber that.

  • Roger Rouse

    Correction about Jadon:he knows how to run a business and is buisness savy.

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  • Valerie

    I am very interested in becoming a Franchisie with Van Guard Cleaning Systems in San Antonio Texas. Does anyone know or heard of anything? Still doing research. Please let me know. Thank you.

  • Mark & Mitzi Fox

    Valerie,

    BEWARE OF VANGUARD!

  • I live in Rochester, ny and interested in a Vanguard franchise in the area. I have heard nothing but good things about the Vanguard franchise in the area. Does any franchisee have any bad experience(s) with the master franchise in the area?

  • cato jennings

    Just want some help in starting up a bussiness,in office cleanig.

  • cato jennings

    Need advice on starting office cleaning business. Cato n.c.

  • Mitzi Fox

    BEWARE OF VANGUARD! See comments from January 2012 posts! Seriously….BEWARE!

  • Mark Miller

    Hey Mitzi – move on with your life you loser!!

  • Mitzi Fox

    Mark,

    I appreciate your concern, however, none is needed. With the experience my husband and I had with Vanguard we want to warn people of our experience. Had we been so forwarned when we were in the process of becoming a Master Franchise e for Vanguard we could have saved months of research and planning as well as saved us thousands of dollars! My comments are made to be helpful to those seeking information and answers. You should be thrilled to know that my husband and I moved on from Vanguard immediately and once again spent several months researching other franchise options and are now very successful and happy in our new business! Hopefully, you will post more positive, helpful and professional comments in the future. Best wishes to you. Mitzi

  • What people need to know is, they can get these accounts without Jan Pro helping them. This is the whole reason people walk into this nightmare. They use the fact that you don’t have any know how against you, then take full advantage of you. There is plenty of courses on the market that give the what and how to do this thing without selling your soul to a franchise! One that I came across once I finally got the franchisers claws out of me was the your clean future cleaning course. Gives you what they don’t and teaches you how to really bid accounts and market. Cleaning franchises are soul-less and need to do a real heart check period. How do they sleep at night?, you got me. You guys will survive this and move on to be better business men and women than you otherwise would have been, I believe that!

  • Anonymous

    Well said Todd. “Thank you,” for saying that.

  • Todd A. Peterson

    Why would Mark Miller, who is an Account Manager at Vanguard Cleaning Solutions of the greater Chicago Area, calling people losers who voice their own opinions and experiences about their franchise experience so that others might not make the same mistake. Does Mr. Miller lose profit when people voice their opinions and experiences?

  • Future Franchise Owner

    Wow! I am really surprised to hear so many negative comments about Vanguard. I’ve been researching them now for a couple of months and I was 99.99% sold on purchasing this franchise.

    Truthfully I still believe that the area that I am contemplating buying is in good standing and can be trusted. It’s unfortunate that a few bad apples can spoiled the entire corporate name “Vanguard Cleaning Systems”.

    Going forward for the people who are experiencing negativity with Vanguard – they should mention the specific geographic areas. I don’t believe all of their cities operate the same, I have had a great experience with the Garden City, New York location.

  • Todd A. Peterson

    Future Franchise Owner,

    I bet all their F.D.D.’s are the same. Read one and then tell me how excited you are about opening any franchise. Chances are they are members of the IFA International Franchise Association. The organization responsible for safeguarding the franchisors against court lawsuits and soon to come responses from franchisees on social media websites. Please tell me you went to the IFA Legal Symposium so you could learn how to handle yourself when your franchisor has you sign over your rights to speak on social media as part of your contract. I don’t know if this is how the new F.D.D.’s will read of franchisors who are members of the IFA but I bet it is coming!

  • Scott A.

    I actually love the company, it’s been the greatest business I’ve EVER invested in (what other biz can you think of that will guarantee what your paycheck is going to be and has overhead so low)??? I came into this having just lost $250k in another business and was very skeptical. It took me about a year to decide to make the jump.

    I’ve been a “unit owner” (Vanguard really sells only “Master Franchises” which are regional. Anyway for almost 3 years. The franchise I’m under “Inland NW” is the #1 Vanguard region in the country. It shouldn’t be given it’s markets within this region, but it is extremely well run from sales staff to everyone in the office they are top notch.

    I started at the lowest investment (at the time was $3500 for $1000 a month in volume) just to try it out. My first account came in 2 weeks and a month into it I was above my volume actually. I basically got my own equipment off craigslist for next to nothing!

    I will say this… Janitorial is an awesome business. If you can sell and consistently get accounts on your own, you like accounting and billing, than that’s the way to go. If you are like me, and just want to clean and get a paycheck that is 3 times more than the guy working for a company and can control your own schedule, than Vanguard is actually better than anything out there. I researched for a YEAR! Talk to other unit owners first before signing on and do your diligence to make sure the master organization you are under is solid and has everyone’s best interest. Message me if you have any questions.

  • B BROWN TJS

    To Scott A.. Your total cost was $3,500.00 and that was for $1,000.00 in volume? You made out better than I did. I bought into it 2 1/2 years ago in South/Centeral New Jersey. It was $9,000.00 for $600.00 (yea that was Six Hundred) in volume. The Sales Reps & Office workers for the Southern/Central New Jersey office are the WORST, MOST UN-PROFESSIONAL, RUDE AND IGNORANT MONEY SUCKING PEOPLE I have ever meet. Some states may have good MF owners and office personel, but the southern New Jersey Vanguard isnt one of them. BEWARE if New Jersey Vanguard.

  • jeff b

    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.

  • Ciara Roots

    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???

  • T.Lane

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

  • Unhappy

    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?

  • Donald Doty

    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.

  • 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

  • Venus Carpenter

    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.

  • Ciara Roots

    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.

  • frank

    Don’t buy any vanguard franchise,they are gonna take away your account ,sayin you are no doing a god job ,thas suspicious ,you know they sales accounts. you loose accounts ,they sales you accounts to another people for the same money you pay, they are happy when someone loose the accouns that’s means more money for they.also the fees are high,

  • Vanguard Franchisee,

    I am a Vanguard Franchisee here in Atlanta, Ga and I am trying to sale my current accounts. Is anybody out there looking to becoming a franchisee in the Atlanta area? I have seven accounts left which produces $1,100 after vanguard takes their %15.

  • Interested in the Atlanta market

  • Here is the bottom line……CLEANING FRANCHISES are a RIP OFF! Everyone of them will have their “marquis” franchisees, who make good money, so that they can lure many others into their “ponzi scheme”. 1 or 2 out of a hundred franchisees will make good money, the other 98 out of hundred will be made into janitors. That’s right most cleaning franchisees will be the ones cleaning the buildings. With the way the mother company bids and after they deduct their fees, there won’t be enough left over (on most contracts) for the “franchisee” to actually hire and pay employee’s to do the actual cleaning. I don’t know how they sleep at night! I have built two cleaning companies from zero to six figures, each one in under two years. I am now starting my third one, have had it for 4 months and currently have 9000.00 per month in business with a 35% profit margin. I state this only to validate that I know the cleaning business and I know that cleaning franchises are a complete rip off! RUN….RUN VERY FAR AND FAST

  • Also, don’t listen to the remarks about how the franchise in this market is OK or in that market. Just because there are some of the markets where the franchisee’s have had a good experience, the bottom line is that they are still apart of a system, that in it’s entirety is a “SCAM”. Just as I stated before….every cleaning franchise program will have the franchisee’s that they allow to be successful….these are the ones that they use to prop up to other potential franchisee’s and use them as a selling tool. It is just like a ponzi scheme.

  • I can not speak for every vanguard location and how they work but I know that the ones in canada actually care they don’t take contracts away they work very hard to keep you happy as you are partners and they don’t want to over work you because it looks bad on the company if the franchisees are doing a bad job. They offer you accounts and yes you can only say no twice but in canada it’s only no at the walk through I can say no over the phone to contracts as much as I want… However the more I say no the longer it takes to get the contacts. They have your best interest in mind and teach you a lot . I say that this is one of the best company’s I have worked for. And for all you people complaining about it when you have the franchise maybe you should go in and talk to the owners and have a sit down face to face maybe there is something you don’t understand rather then ranting about the company you choose fix it ….

  • Michael Manocchio

    I have a franchise on a part-time basis. What I can tell you is that yes the jobs are all underbid so you have to sue Vanguard for quasi criminal fraudulent business practices in the court of law that is where you will be reimbursed for your money paid to these vultures. It is important to get a high powered lawyer who specializes in franchise law and has big balls to sue the shit out of them in Court. When suing their ass in court make sure to sue for fraudulent business practices, mental distress, mental anguish and pain and suffer the same way you would do so when claiming Worker’s Compensation… Go for their throat and jugular and make sure that you sue them and they never get back up on their feet.
    The most important thing is to know that the Law is on your side and you can get blood from these idiots at Vanguard Cleaning Systems, THE LAW WILL BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN ILLICIT AND SCRUPULOUS ILLICIT AND FRAUDULENT BUSINESS PRACTICES… THEY ARE THE MADOFF OF THE FRANCHISE CLEANNG INDUSTRY…..

  • Michael Manocchio

    SEND THEM A LETTER OF SERVING THEM FOR ILLICIT BUSINESS PRACTICE FROM A LETTER THEY WILL BE SHUT DOWN SOON OR LATER….
    A LAWYER WILL HAVE THEM SHUT DOWN!!!
    VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS IS A CHOP SHOP AND A BOILEROOM
    VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS IS BERNARD MADOFF IN THE CLEANING INDUSTRY
    SEND THEM A LETTER OF SERVING THEM FOR ILLICIT BUSINESS PRACTICE FROM A LAWYER
    THEY WILL BE SHUT DOWN SOON OR LATER….
    VANGUARD ULTIMATE GOAL IS THE SAME AS MADOFF TO LEAVE THEIR FRANCHISE THE SAME WAY MADOFF LEFT HIS CLIENTS… PENNILESS
    EVERY FRANCHISEE OF VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS STAND UP AND BE COUNTED AND SUE THEIR ASS JUST LIKE THE CLIENTS OF BERNARD MADOFF DID IN A SUPREME COURT OF LAW FOR RESTITUTION FOR FRAUDULENT BUSINESS PRACTICES… VANGUARD IS LIKE BERNARD MADOFF WAS A FRAUD
    MY LAWYER MR. KUMAR HAS JUST FILED PAPERS IN A COURT OF LAW TO HAVE VANGUARD SEVERED FOR FRAUDULENT BUSINESS PRACTICES ALONG WITH HIS LAWYER MR. GOLDMAN
    I HAVE A PARALEGAL AND LAWYER TO SUE KEN KOPKE GENERAL MANAGER OF VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS GTA WEST SHUT DOWN INDEFINITELY
    KEN KOPKE WILL CLAIM BANKRUPTCY
    JUST LIKE ALAN GREENBERG HIS BUDDY FROM GORDON DALY GRENADIER SECURITIES BROKER DEALER TORONTO WAS SHUT DOWN FOR FRAUD SO WILL KEN KOPKE
    JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL

  • Vanguard Franchise

    The most important thing is that if you join Vanguard you won’t make enough money as you think. because you have to pay from 3000 – 35000 dollars for your package. Then you have to pay for your supplies which is 10 percent of your total from there you have employees to pay and that brings your profit margins low and chews into your gross income. So from there you have 18 to 23 percent off of your cheque on a month to month basis which again chews into your profit. So you are out a lot of money from joining, supply fees, employee fees, and financing fees the cost to you to join are exorbitant just like going to a casino, or buying stock from a boileroom stock scam… Vanguard makes promises but they are pitching you just like a politician pitches his bull shit to win election and gain a seat in government the promises are high they will feed you so much shit to get your money and then they do not care cause you have been fucked out of your hard earned money and being fucked hard means you have to work twice as hard to gain what you lost same as going to the casino or getting an advance from a wise guy who wants more and more money and if you don’t pay they use illegal business tactics to make sure that you pay what you owe them… So, the best thing to do is hire a telemarketer yourself and get a professional telesales person to call for you and get the business yourself that is the best thing you can do to not get fucked hard by Vanguard, Jan-Pro, Coverall, Jani King and every single franchise cleaning company in the business…. Stay Away from investing your money in ANY FRANCHISE CLEANING COMPANY they are MADOFFS all they do is screw their clients large just like Bernard Madoff did and was locked up for 150 years for FRAUDULENT ILLICIT BUSINESS PRACTICES…. THE FRANCHISE CLEANING INDUSTRY IS DEAD!!! AND THEIR TIME OF DOING BUSINESS IS UP!!!
    DO NOT INVEST!!! STAY AWAY!!! TAKE IT FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED FOR ALAN GREENBERG AT FORMER SHUT DOWN BROKER DEALER PUMP AND DUMP SCHEME BOILEROOM A CHOP SHOP
    GORDON DALY GRENADIER SECURITIES BROKER DEALER COKE SNIFFERS AND ALCOHOLICS WHO FUCKED EVERY ONE OF THEIR CLIENTS FOR OVER 31 MILLION DOLLARS AND ALL THE INVESTORS WERE FUCKED ROYALLY LARGE FROM THEIR BROKERS AND VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS IS THE SAME THING A BOILEROOM, CHOP SHOP AND A PUMP AND DUMP SCHEME ONLY IN THE CLEANING INDUSTRY SAME SHIT DIFFERENT INDUSTRY

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