Am I due a refund for a service that was not provided in a timely manner?
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Am I due a refund for a service that was not provided in a timely manner?
I hired a maid service to clean up an apartment I was vacating. When the scheduled appointment came, the maid informed me she had a doctor’s appointment, needed to go to, and asked me if she could clean early the next morning. I told her no, the apartment is being turned over and this was the last day it could be done. I agreed that she could come back that evening after her appointment to clean but again stated it needed to be done that day. I gave her the keys to let herself in and prepaid. She did not come back. The next day, I found out from the landlord the apartment had not been cleaned and immediately called the maid service to complain and ask for a refund. They asked me if I wanted them to send someone over and I told them no, that the apartment had already been turned over to the landlord. They told me they would look into what happened and call me back. A couple hours later, after not hearing anything from the maid service, I called to find out what was going on with my refund. They told me the maid was on her way to clean. I again told them it was too late, I had no need for their service and I wanted a refund. I was told a manager would have to okay the refund and she would call me. They didn’t stop the maid from cleaning the apartment. I was clear from the beginning that it was not to be done on that day and have a witness to that fact. The maid service offered me 1/2 my money back and 1/2 the time cleaning at my choosing. I’ve declined as I have no need for their service as this was to be a one time cleaning. The way I see it is they broke the contract when they didn’t do the cleaning on the agreed upon day. The cleaning was done against my wishes after I asked for a refund.
Asked on January 3, 2012 under Business Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If your agreement was for cleaning of your former apartment by a set date and time and you prepaid for the service but due to various problems with the person who was to do the job the cleaning could not be done by the date contracted for, you are entitled to have a refund of the money that you paid.
Your refund is entitled to be paid to you regardless of the fact that the person who was to do the cleaning was advised that it was too late to do so and the cleaning was done in any event albeit untimely per the agreement.
In your situation you would be entitled to the return of your payment. If the cleaning service refuses to provide it to you, your recourse seems to be small claims court.
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