Complaint Review: Cleaning For Heroes

My advice, which you certainly don't need, is to send all this ingrates 'stuff' back and forget him.  Spend your time and effort on people who appreciate your attempts to help people.

There are always a few creeps around, they just help you appreciate all the good folks.

I also want to add that all phone calls and emails to this client were returned within hours of receiving them up until the time that the client began acting irrationally and threatening to report us to Attorney General for not providing him the free service he demanded.  We have the emails going back and forth to this client, which are time/date stamped, to prove it.

This client requested an application for service on 2/3/2012 and an application was sent to him via email the same day.  His completed application was faxed to us on 2/14/2012 and we finished processing his application on 3/7/2012 as we process all applications in the order in which they are received. 

Also, at no time do we EVER request that a client contact a cleaning company in their area and try to convince them to join our program.  We would NEVER do that and we did not ask this client to do this.  The exact email sent to this client states:

"This is a follow-up email about the application you placed with us for cleaning services through our program.  You have been accepted into the program!  Unfortunately, we do not have a provider in your area at this time.  Our next step is to contact ALL the cleaning services in your area to tell them about Cleaning for Heroes and sign them up as a provider.  Once we are able to get a cleaning service in your area to join Cleaning for Heroes we will coordinate cleaning services for you.  This process can take up to a month and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to get a cleaning company to join as a Cleaning for Heroes member, however, most of the time we are able to find a provider.   We will follow up with you in 2 weeks time to let you know of our progress.   If you have any questions please feel free to give our office a call at 401-732-MAID (6243)"

The client's response to this email:

'ANNE! DO YOU DO THIS TO EVERYONE?? PUT THEM THROUGH WEEKS AND MONTHS OF WAITING AFTER YOU PROMISE THAT YOU CAN HELP FIND SOMEONE THEN YOU CLAIM AFTER MONTHS++ YOU CAN'T FIND ANYONE AFTER YOU CAUSE ALL KINDS OF WORK AND FALSE PROMISES!! THEN YOU TAKE PEOPLE PRIVACY INFORMATION?? IF YOU CAN'T FIND ME ANYONE NOW NOT 2 YEARS FROM NOW OR NEVER!!!! THEN EMAIL ME SUCH RIGHT NOW AND RETURN MY PAPERWORK AND DELETE ME COMPLETELY OF OF YOUR SYSTEM!!! ALL MY PRIVACY INFO MUST BE RETURNED AND DELETED FROM YOUR BUSINESS RECORDS. IF I DON'T HEAR FROM YOU TODAY I WILL BE PURSUING COMPLAINTS TO SEE TO IT YOUR AREN'T A FAKE AS YOU APPEAR! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS BEFORE I AM FORCED TO CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MANNNNNY OTHERS ABOUT THIS APPARENT SCAM!!!??'

Our response:

"We received you application onFebruary 14, 2012 which less than a month ago.  Your application was processed in the order in which it was received.  Once your application is placed into our database we attempt to match you with one of our providers. If we do not have a provider in your area we must work to recruit one for you and this takes time.  If you feel that we are not providing services fast enough for you I will delete your application from our database. Please let me know if this is what you wish me to do.  Cleaning forHeroes is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization and is not a scam."

The client's repsonse:

 "I see. However, you indicated in the email on the bottom. NO guarantees for assistance! NONE! Which leads me to believe you are promising the world EVERYTHING KNOWING ahead of time you can only give ie;,300 people out of the 6 billion help! This would be considered wrong at the very least! Simple question can you find someone out of the MILLION big cleaners all around me or not??"

At this point we stopped returning this client's emails as we felt it was counterproductive at this point.  We then received this email: 

"GUESS YOU ARE NOT ANSWERING MY LAST EMAIL AND WANT ME TO COMPLAIN?!!! YOU CAN'T FIND ME SOMEONE AS I REQUESTED FOR THE 50TH TIME!? IF YOU CAN'T MAIL ME ALL MY FAXES AND INFORMATION I SENT YOU IMMEDIATELY!!! COMPLETELY FOREVER DELETE ALL MY INFO FROM YOUR SYSTEM!!! ADVISE OF YOUR ACTIN BEFORE I CALL THE ATTY GENERAL NOW!!!! "

The client then proceeded to file a complaint with the BBB and the Rhode Island Attorney General's office.  He also is smearing the good name of our founder's cleaning service Ocean State House Cleaning as can be seen here http://local.yahoo.com/info-10318862-ocean-state-house-cleaning-warwick

Again, we are sorry that we could not provide this client with immediate servives, however, the client's response and his attempt at ruining the reputation of both Cleaning for Heroes and the founder's house cleaning service is uncalled for.  

Here is a non-profit outfit trying to provide FREE services to certain qualified people. They state right up front what they can and cannot do.  In your case they couldn't provide the FREE service at this time and asked your help in your area so they could possible provide FREE service for you and others.

so what do you do? You throw a childish tantrum and complain about someone trying to provide FREE service to deserving people.

What an ungrateful creep, if I were them I wouldn't provide you anything even if they do line up FREE services in your are. They owe you nothing! Clean your own mess.

You were not ripped off you jerk.

Cleaning for Heroes is a 501c3 nonprofit organization which provides no-cost cleaning services to disabled and elderly veterans by coordinating services with professional cleaning companies and veterans who need house cleaning help.  Clients apply for services and, once we verifiy that they are eligible for the program, we match them with a provider or work to recruit a provider in their area.  At no time do we ever promise a client that we will be able to provide services to them and this can be verified both on our website's FAQ page and on the application that the client fills out when they apply for services. 

This client was contacted days after applying for services and became irate when we could not immediately help him. We have been nothing but polite and forthcoming about our ability to find a provider to provide him with free house cleaning services.  This client has not paid us for anything nor have we ever promised that we would be able to find a house cleaning service to provide him with FREE house cleaning services.  We were upfront about the time frame that we felt we needed to work on his case and the fact that we were not able to help him immediately enraged him.  We have removed his name and information from our database.   We received his application and supporting documentation via fax, and once the information was entered into our system the fax print-outs were shredded.  There is nothing to return to the client and his personal information has not been jeopardized in any way. 

As a nonprofit organization with a very small budget, we work very hard to provide services to disabled and elderly veterans.  We are sorry that this client felt that we were trying to scam him in some way.  This simply is not true.  Our client application clearly states that "Depending upon funding, and whether or not there is a participating service company in your area, we may have to place you on a waiting list. We are adding new residential service company members every day and we have applied for funding through special grants. We hope that as more people learn of our organization and make donations that we will no longer need to place deserving heroes on a waiting list for services. As with many non-profits, the demand for our services sometimes exceeds our resources. We will make every effort to fill your request as quickly as possible."

Did you qualify?  If you did, was there a cleaning service in your area WILLING to clean for free (donate their services?)

The following is from their website: 

Cleaning for Heroes provides FREE home cleaning services to members of the United States Armed Forces, local police and fire departments who have disabling injuries that make it difficult to clean their own home.  Elderly veterans who are not disabled but are living alone or with an aging spouse are also eligible. 

Once we receive your completed application we will contact you to verify your eligibility, and once verified, we will refer you to a participating home cleaning service in your area.  If we do not have a participating cleaning service in your area we will work to recruit one.  We are thankful for your service to our country and we are humbled to be able to help in this way.

It appears to me that they didn't have a participating service provider in your area and they asked you to help recruit one.  Of course, you would have none of that!