Problems & remedies · updated August 2026
Your Cleaning Crew Didn't Show up. Here Is Exactly What to Do.
First, get the building's badge log. The access system will show objectively whether anyone entered, and a surprising share of “no-shows” are actually access failures — a lapsed Certificate of Insurance deactivating badges, or an unavailable freight elevator. Then invoke the cure provision, demand a make-up service and claim the service credit your contract owes you.
Tonight
- Ask the building for the badge log for last night. Objective evidence, and almost nobody thinks to request it.
- Contact the account supervisor directly, not the main office line. If you do not have a mobile number for a named person, that is itself the underlying problem.
- Document with timestamped photographs. Bins, restrooms, floors. Date-stamped evidence is what converts an argument into a claim.
- Establish whether it was access or absence. Expired COI, deactivated badge, freight elevator unavailable, or a security policy change are all common and none is a no-show.
Tomorrow
- Written notice invoking the contract's cure provision, citing the specific clause.
- Demand a make-up service within 24 hours.
- Claim the service credit. If your agreement has one, it should be automatic. If it does not, that is the gap to close at renewal.
- Request a written root-cause explanation. The answer tells you whether this recurs.
The SLA Clauses That Should Have Been in the Contract
| Clause | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Make-up window | Re-clean within 24 hours of a missed visit |
| Service credit formula | 1/21.7 of the monthly fee per missed nightly visit; doubled after a second occurrence in 30 days |
| Named backup crew | Pre-badged into your building, named in the agreement |
| Escalation tree | Named people with mobile numbers: supervisor, account manager, owner |
| After-hours dispatch | Staffed during the service window, with a response time |
| Cure period | 10–15 days after written notice of material failure |
| Substitute-and-back-charge | Right to engage another vendor and deduct the cost |
| Termination trigger | Defined pattern — e.g. inspection score below threshold two consecutive months |
Why It Happens in New York Specifically
Turnover — 41% of contractors report above 50% annually, and a vendor with no bench has a single point of failure on every account. Subcontracted crews with no direct accountability. Expired certificates of insurance causing badge deactivation, which nobody notices until the crew is standing in the lobby. And building access changes that were never communicated to the vendor.
Every one of those is preventable with a named backup crew, current insurance and a supervisor who checks badge-in. Ask a prospective vendor how they prevent it, not whether it happens.
Last reviewed August 2026. Figures for prevailing wage and regulatory schedules change on 1 January and 1 July — we re-verify this page each cycle.
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