My day was crap. This is a personal rant.

Today was just crap. I show up for a regular cleaning job. I have cleaned for them at least 4 years. It is a business, a huge warehouse space. Never raised their price, they get charged the least for the hardest job, but they have been very lenient with me rescheduling/changing days. I am am an independent contractor though and they have said any day but fri or sat is fine.
I show up today, right time, regular day. They happen to be doing a project that has things all over the floor. They tell me sorry, they didn't check their voicemail where I confirmed when I was coming, but today won't work, can you come back tomorrow? I had just ridden a bike there in the beating sun.
If I were a regular employee, under the law, they would have owed me 4 hours or a regular shift, whichever is smaller and not toward future hours, just owed it (NYS law). I do charge 4 hours minimum, it is in all ads, has always been. I don;t have a written contract with them, but I know I owe an electrician or plumber trip charges or charges they note in their ad or over the phone when they come to my house- even if I send them away.
Being a contractor,
I know an electrician or a plumber would have said fine, invoiced them for a trip charge-whether on the spot or by mail/email and gotten back into their air conditioned van.
So i say to them, can you pay me in advance of tomorrow or give me half? That I did make the trip out and that I don;t have any money. They say they don't feel good about doing that, but out of the goodness of their heart, on good faith as well, they would give me half. That's $32 toward tomorrow. Not a trip charge. Probably would have been nicer to say "Here's $20 for your effort, time and travel", but that was not the case.
I have a good relationship with them and don;t want to cause a problem, but it made me feel like nothing.

Sorry for ya!
Sometimes miscommunications just happen? Would you have been as pissed if the weather was cooler, about the wasted trip?

originally posted by: Caver78
Sorry for ya!
Sometimes miscommunications just happen? Would you have been as pissed if the weather was cooler, about the wasted trip?

I dunno, maybe. It is a bit of a ride. About 25 min each way.

Sorry to hear about your problem. Hope things work out for you. a reply to: reldra

a reply to: EnigmaAgent ty

a reply to: reldra

That really sucks. I can see how that would make you feel like nothing. I've had that happen to me too on cleaning jobs. I worked for a company, rather than being a contractor though. Lack of communication is not good. They should have let you know. Do you do general cleaning or specialized, like waxing floors or whatever? If you'd rather not say in a public forum,. that's okay. I'm just curious.

a reply to: reldra

That's the whole thing with being a self employed contractor.
Same for me, but I'm general building and property maintenance. Weather can affect me a lot and has this last week or so. Then there is the knock-on effect with rescheduling other jobs.

I would only go back to being an 'employee' in absolute desperate circumstances though. I love my freedom even with the insecurities, no sick/holiday pay and all the rest of it.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: reldra

That really sucks. I can see how that would make you feel like nothing. I've had that happen to me too on cleaning jobs. I worked for a company, rather than being a contractor though. Lack of communication is not good. They should have let you know. Do you do general cleaning or specialized, like waxing floors or whatever? If you'd rather not say in a public forum,. that's okay. I'm just curious.

I mainly clean houses. I do offer specialized services. I do organizing and home staging, floor waxing, cleaning of outside 2nd floor windows with a special windex hose, minor computer maintenance, laundry and bed making extra....a long list of things. Some are extra. House keeping is more expensive than house cleaning.

The business I talk about has all concrete floors. Thousands of sq feet. I vacuum them instead of sweep- the work they do needs to be almost dustless. I wash the vacuum filters. I treat it like a house, use Mr Clean w/ febreeze on the floors. Clean the desks of the few employees..a bunch of things not usually included in industrial cleaning. I have done weeding/leaf clean up in their lot. I am extremely thorough and particular, when they mainly expect surfaces and floors, I do so much more for them.

a reply to: reldra

How magnanimous of them to balk at compensating you for doing your job. I'm not on a high horse, I just have little tolerance for rude behavior. As a business owner, if I'm at fault or miss-communicate with a supplier or support company, the onus is on me.

You offer a service and your talents are fiscally of worth--being devalued isn't good business practice, and an unnecessary slight. I hope your day gets better...

a reply to: Boscowashisnamo TY I am feeling a little better.

Such is life in the 1% ivory towers !!!

a reply to: xuenchen

Well, they are a small business, technically. 2 ft employees, 1 pt + me. Owned by a father/daughter team. But I know they take in twice as much as when I started with them and moved to a more expensive area and twice bigger property while I have been with them. yes, I am cleaning twice the space and still at the same rate. sigh.

a reply to: reldra

Hey Reldra, sorry to hear about your day! To say their response was poor would be an understatement

But, I'm a great believer in every cloud having a silver lining...

Perhaps this is actually a great opportunity for you to formalize things with them. Consider getting a contract prepared and approaching them from the "look, these things happen, but I'm sure you appreciate that what happened the other day meant I turned down work and lost money" perspective.

I'd also consider putting in there what's included in your fee and what's "extra".

At the moment, it sounds to me that they're taking advantage of your good nature. Perhaps now's a great time to introduce a degree of parity into that working relationship

All the best & don't let them grind you down!

a reply to: reldra

Have you not attempted friendly renegotiation of your contract?
It is my experience that folk generally don't voluntarily offer to pay me more until I say my fee is going up.

a reply to: reldra

If they want to operate that way, do a written contract, or charge them for the trip. Your time is worth as much as that of any other professional, scheduled to come out.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes I really should. My mother suggested I add an extra client before I confront them that way, so I won't be out money if they are not amenable to that. ty

a reply to: lizziejayne

Yes, I will do that. Great advice, similar to LadyGreenEyes. I will add one client to replace in case they don;t like that.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: reldra

Have you not attempted friendly renegotiation of your contract?
It is my experience that folk generally don't voluntarily offer to pay me more until I say my fee is going up.

True, but they know the real cost if they were to hire someone else. So it is sort of 50/50 in fault and I have a little anxiety. I do have to put on my big girl pants and have a talk. I have cleaned their personal homes a few times. I have participated in trade shows there. I should have a little leeway for this kind of talk.

a reply to: reldra

Totally understand with the anxiety thing and I'm a rough bloke in the construction sector, I get the same feelings negotiating deals myself, it is my least favourite part of being self employed.
I've messed up estimates ending up working for less than minimum wage, and I've seen the eyes of people when we've agreed a price and I knew they looked pleased because they would have paid more.
Hardest bit of business to me, regardless of the product/service.

a reply to: reldra

If it were me I wouldn't rely on an email knowing I've got a 25 minute bike ride ahead of me. I would make sure they need me before I make that trip (and I'm sure you will too from now on).
Cost of doing business.

What I want to know is how you manage to do what you do with no vehicle. Do your clients typically provide the tools and materials?