This company found us on the web, and asked us to perform some service calls at various retail store locations they were in the business of doing property management for. Since they were a fairly large company that our research found no negative information on, we acted in good faith, and got the HVAC (heating & air conditioning) back up and running for several of their clients in good faith, without asking for the usual deposits towards work to be rendered we require for most of our new "cold call" customers.
Along the way, our office was overwhelmed with all extra paperwork required in order to perform work at the various malls the stores they service are located. (Proof of liability insurance, access codes to roof hatches, limitations on when work can be performed, various contacts with store managers & the mall's business office, etc..) On top of this, anything more than a simple repair had to be submitted via a written estimate that they would not pay any more than—even if unforseen contingencies arised.
If all of this was not bad enough, they also insisted on a 8.5% "marketing discount" being deducted from any invoices sent to them, plus they were not due & payable until 15 days after having recieving them (while our policy is 10 days). And of course, none of the work could be performed before the stores were open, which meant a two hour lag time in our crews being dispatched. On top of this, if we did not recieve a "store stamp" from the retailer (many of which had none to provide, nor knew what we were talking about)—they had a clause in their contracts that allowed them to legally not pay for the services rendered, even though everything is now back & running perfectly!
Bottom line is that we had to fight with them constantly to get paid anything at all, and in many cases, got nothing at all for our efforts & parts bought. Meanwhile, they are charging these retailers a hefty fee for "managing their properties", who are getting very little in return. At times, American Services would refuse to approve the work needed, AFTER we had the HVAC unit is all torn apart, and not functioning at all—while before, it was working to some degree. This company does a great disservice to both the clients they serve, and the contractors they use to effect the repairs needed at the various sites; making us ALL look bad!
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