Decided to give College Pro Windows Cleaners a try, and regret it as a waste of time and money. They mimic bells and whistles of a real business, trying to get real bucks for fake job. We were lured by ads in our mailbox, and natural desire to help students. After a call to the office we were redirected to Tyler, their representative in our area (Barrie, ON). He answered immediately, quickly came to our place for estimate, and was super nice. The quote for cleaning windows both inside and outside of our 1800 sq. ft. back-split, including screens and frames, was $200. The price seemed attractive. Usually it takes two of us a full day to do the job. Assuming 16 man-hours at $12 rate for a student, and faster/higher for a skilled team, this looked reasonable. We asked to come after 1 pm so that my wife is back from work. Tyler suggested 3 pm, which still looked feasible, and we agreed. So far so good. A team of two arrived an hour late, at 4 pm, without any specific equipment except a ladder, which they did not bother to use. Unfortunately, my wife had to leave, and left money to our daughter just in case. Coming home from work at 7:30 pm, I found nobody working. My daughter told the job was finished around 6:30 pm, when they left with the money. Meaning 2 guys cleaned windows of entire house in just 2.5 hours, making $40 per hour ($200 in total). Not bad for a summer job, wages in line with those of a licensed contractor with years of experience! Of course, the results did not meet any standards. Dirty frames, some untouched with all dead flies intact. Dirty screens with cobwebs all over the place. The windows were cleared, however corners and tough spots were not done. Apparently kids did not know how a clean window looks like. The office, however, assured that they went through proper training, and - yes, screens and frames are included. We called Tyler, he did not pick up the phone (of course!). We left a voicemail, he called back at a time we were not home and left a message, we replied, he did not answer, this line of communication apparently was useless. Instead we received a super polite email with a survey about our experience with College Pro. I filled it giving 1 star out of 10, and asking to finish the job. Reply was quick and super sweet as expected. Of course, Tyler would be only happy to come and fix spots they had probably missed. We made it clear it was not about just spots. They appeared in front of the house uninvited next morning when only my mother in law was at home, and left without ringing a bell. We exchanged e-mails for some time, which ended up with Tyler complaining about his tough schedule, and finally blaming us in ‘not giving him flexibility’. It became clear that was it. We have washed the windows ourselves. Later I have checked online reviews and communication between students themselves, which revealed that our experience was not unique. The kids look at their work at College Pro as a sort of a school project in running own business. It includes managing their fellow students, selling services, and getting money for signing as many contracts as possible. The job itself and its quality is left outside of the equation. Sort of a modern classroom where everyone gets the highest marks (money in this case) for just making efforts. Nice try, Tyler and College Pro Windows Cleaners! You left me no choice but report you to Better Business Bureau. Thank you for experience, never again!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $200.00