“CleanNet of New England target Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking franchisees by selling commercial cleaning franchises through misrepresentations, breaching the agreements, interfering with their businesses, and overcharging them for services, a class action claims in Middlesex County Court.”
Complaint courtesy Courthousenews
Tags: CleanNet, franchises, Lawsuit, Linkedin
Reading Tea Leaves by Randy Wilson 
May 19, 2009 at 12:34 pm |
Anyone who wants to hear the otherside of the story, is welcome to contact me anytime.
poliveira@cleannetusa.com
Paul Oliveira
President
CleanNet of New England, Inc.
May 19, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
Thanks Paul. I believe there are always two sides and if you want to send a link to a press release or explanation about this suit, I will post it.
May 19, 2009 at 10:06 pm |
CleanNet of New England, Inc. does not target any particular ethnic market. We advertise in local newspapers and through our website, available to all ethnicities. It should come as no surprise, to anyone, that the majority of service workers in the USA are immigrants from all over the world…including Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. Furthermore, the New England Regional office has been in operation for over tens and has helped many many Americans and immigrants start and maintain their own commercial cleaning businesses. These business owners are so pleased with the results, that over 75% of new franchise owners, start their business as a result of a referral from a friend or family member.
As a result of the dedication and hard work, of the New England franchise operators, the New England Regional office has consistently earned customer satisfaction scores of over 98% – every year for the last 10 years.
This suit is the result of one disgruntled franchise owner who was given inaccurate information from an ex-employee. The other two parties to the suit, have no outstanding issues with CleanNet. But someone seems to have advised them they may “get rich” by joining in the case.
We did have a preliminary meeting, on April 15, 2009, in an attempt to negotiate the matter, without going to court. Since then, we’ve been waiting for a list of demands from the complainant’s attorney…instead they decided to file suit. We can’t consider settling the matter if we don’t know what it is they want. We are still open to discussions with these complainants.
Finally, in the last ten years, this is the first time that anyone in the New England office has been sued by anyone. We’ve always been able to sit down and work things out to everyone’s mutual satisfaction. In this case, although our door is, that opportunity has yet to materialize.
May 19, 2009 at 11:34 pm |
Thanks Paul, I hope people will consider both sides of the issue.
May 20, 2009 at 4:07 am |
I am the attorney representing the CleanNet franchisees who claim CleanNet of NE has sytematically ripped them off over the past several years. Their complaints are not new to CleanNet. If you do a google search of CleanNet and complaints, you will see that CleanNet franchisees across America have raised the same complaints as my clients. Indeed, in a lawsuit in Michigan a few years back, a jury found CleanNet liable for many of the same infractions that are raised in my clients’ complaint. In response to Mr. Oliveira’s claim that he has been waiting for a “list of demands” from me, that is categorically false; in fact it is the other way around. In April, he and his lawyer promised to provide me with certain information so I could prepare a settlement demand, but they failed to provide the promised information. Also, Mr. Oliveira’s statement that two of the parties to the suit have no outstanding issues with CleanNet is simply not true. Indeed, I have been contacted by at least eight franchise owners who all tell the exact same story; how their accounts are taken away without justification, how they are overcharged for insurance coverage, how they are charged for cleaning days when a client mistakenly locks the cleaners out of the site, how they are charged for cleaning products they never ordered, how they have no recourse but to accept lower cleaning fees after Cleannet unilaterally offers accounts concessions and discounts, how they are conned into buying so-called “upgrade packages” when CleanNet doesn’t have the accounts to meet its obligations…the list goes on and on and on.