A few weeks ago, a crew from my cleaning service came to my house, I gave them instructions and left. My husband was in the house, working. When I returned, my iPad was missing. It was plugged into a charger next to my bed – a charger that never moves. The charger was missing, too – the real sign that I hadn’t just misplaced it.
I called the company, who told me to call the cops. A detective was assigned to my case. He interviewed the 2 employees (who were suspended) a total of 7 times, but doesn’t have enough to charge them.
The detective told me the cleaning company refuses to reimburse me. They no longer return my calls, and even refuse to accept a certified letter that I sent to them.
Yes I’ve tried Find my iPad and yes I’ve locked it. And I changed the locks in my house.
Here’s what I plan to do. I’m open to suggestions – especially on how to word reviews and social media, and timing. Like, do I hold off on negative reviews until the court process is finished? Any thoughts on handling Small Claims?
– File in Small Claims Court.
– File a complaint with the Consumer Protection Office in my state and the Better Business Bureau.
– Write negative reviews on Angie’s List, Yelp, Next Door and any other sites I can think of and you can suggest.
– Post on Facebook and Twitter and encourage friends to repost my negative comments.
Does a local TV station have a Consumer Problem feature. Some will investigate and do an on air feature about your situation. they usually have a segment with the owner of the business telling the reporter and cameraman to get off their property. Best negative advertising for a business!
This can vary by state and small-claims court adjudicator, but be prepared for aggravations of filing paperwork, having to make repeated appearances because the adjudicator overlooked the complete lack of preparation of the other party, being yelled at by the adjudicator at times, and even after winning…the possibility of never getting paid back because defendant(s) fled across state lines as the Feds rarely feel it’s worth it to get involved if the amount/value involved is below the minimum threshold of ~$5000.
Saw all this as a witness for a friend who was suing a former roommate for back rent and for compensation for some missing items in the early-mid '00s. And unfortunately, that jerky roommate did end up fleeing across state lines so while the state/local government has issued a warrant for his arrest, it’s only enforceable if the roommate is dumb enough to return to that state because the amount involved was far below $5k.
I wouldn’t pursue the iPad. Instead, I’d make sure every single one of my friends and colleagues knew to avoid that particular cleaning service. And I’d complain about the company’s refusal to honor your claim on social media, not out of revenge, but to prevent others from getting ripped off and to shame the owners into doing the right thing. Only do this if you have made every effort to deal with the owner directly, and still aren’t being heard.
Small claims court is time consuming and still has costs associated with it so unless you want to do it solely as a matter of principal, I probably would not bother.
If I make a claim on homeowner’s insurance, will my rates go up?
Look, I know the chances of my getting any $ is slim. I’m retired, so it’s no biggy for me to spend time at Small Claims and if it bugs them, I’ll get some satisfaction out of it.
But spreading the word on how lousy they are is my main goal. There are a couple of local list servs of neighbors that I can use, too.
Really, I think they are very foolish to ignore me. If they lose just one customer because of a bad review, they lose more money than if they gave me the money for the iPad.
When we hire a cleaner, our biggest fear is if they would steal from us. We could deal with them not doing a great job, breaking things, being late, but stealing is big. If I read a review about a cleaner stealing from a customer, there is no way I would hire them.
Hold off on negative social media reviews if you are still pursuing recovery or restitution. You can’t unpost something from Yelp. Once the negative review is out there, the cleaning company will have no incentive to cooperate with you.
Also, try to look at it from the business’s point of view…they only have your word for it that the device was stolen. They don’t know if you are hustling them or if your teenager stole it or if you just misplaced it. What would you do in their place? Would they be able to stay in business if they paid off any time someone made a claim like this? Under what circumstances should they pay out?
I think you’re right to file a police report and try to recover the merchandise but unless the business made some sort of guarantee about their workers’ honesty (bonded?), I don’t really see them as being unreasonable or vindictive.
Yes, oldfort, they should. Their website says they are “fully insured.” Which is why I didn’t think I’d encounter this wall from them. I think it is unbelievable that they are treating me like this in today’s social media climate, where I can tell thousands of people about their rotten treatment so easily.
I would not claim the ipad through your insurance. Ive learned the hard way to save insurance claims for the big things.
I would not bother with small claims court either, but social media seems like a good outlet.
But I think you need to be careful with your wording, bc they haven’t been found guilty, so to speak.
Good luck.
And I totally agree with @oldfort - we kept a cleaning lady for years when she really didn’t clean our house that well. But she was honest, let us know if she broke anything, etc.
I’m like 1214mom, I keep my gal cuz she is honest I think she skips hours and does the minimal, but she has a key and never steals or breaks things. She’s a lovely person
Is the cleaning service not insured and bonded? If so, then they shouldn’t have a problem reporting it. If they however said they were but are now avoiding you, then they probably have lied on their website. Can you show up at their office? Perhaps have the police officer go with you?
I disagree with this. If they’re insured, their responsibility is to report it to their insurer and allow them to investigate.
@fireandrain Yes, it will count as a claim, and if you have “enough” of them over a period of time your rate will go up–or your carrier may even drop you. I had a horrible experience with a major insurance company. In my 20’s I took out renters insurance. My car was broken into and cameras and a briefcase were stolen. They were covered under my renters policy and I put in a small claim, netting maybe $600. About two years later I lost a pair of earrings and called the insurance company to say I may have lost a pair of earrings and wanted to know what coverage I had for lost jewelry (without a rider). In the end, it didn’t seem worth it to put in a claim.
A year later, my husband and I purchased a new home–our first. I went to the same insurance company to change my renters insurance to a homeowners policy. They gave me a rate and we paid the initial fee. A day or 2 before we closed on our house, I received a registered letter cancelling our policy. It seems that they considered us too high a risk because of my TWO prior claims. So I had to scurry to find insurance and get the paper work for it in less than 48 hours. Otherwise, no closing.
I was seething mad. It turns out that they were considering my inquiry into my policy the same as if it were a claim. For all they knew I could have found the earrings 10 minutes after asking about my coverage. And the insurance company had the legal right to do that. (I pursued the issue to check on the legality–and insurance companies can consider you enough of a risk whenever and however they please.)
So I only save my claims for major issues at this point.
Either make a claim on your homeowners and let them deal with it through subrogation or let it go. Even if you win in small claims(a big if), you still have to collect. The legal costs involved in trying to collect on a judgment will end up exceeding the cost of a new iPad.
Otterma – Technically you are correct, I could be lying to them. I’ve been using them for almost 5 years, and this is the first complaint like this I’ve made. There are no teenagers to steal things in my house. I might have misplaced it – but then explain the missing charger? And it’s still missing 3 weeks later? My husband was home – no one else came into the house. And if they did, I doubt they’d know to go straight to the second floor bedroom, take an iPad on a bed, and leave the house with nothing else.
They should have insurance to cover this sort of thing. This is a risk they take as a business. They should weigh the cost of giving me the money vs. my writing negative reviews everywhere. I would have accepted any level of reimbursement – a couple hundred dollars – but they have been unwilling to even discuss it.
But your point – do I pursue legal remedies first and then write negative reviews – is what I’m trying to figure out. Any other thoughts?
I would call them to let them if they didn’t reimburse you then you would leave a negative review on Yelp. It would give them a chance to do the right thing. I wouldn’t put it in writing.