Placement Cleaning Services
Terms & Conditions
PLACEMENT CLEANING SERVICES TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE BETWEEN THE SERVICE PARTNER AND THE CUSTOMER.
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SKITTERBLINK SERVICES. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF SKITTERBLINK SERVICES SHALL CONSTITUTE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
These terms contain provisions (highlighted below) which limit SKITTERBLINK’S AND THE SERVICE PARTNER’S exposure to legal liability. Some of these provisions limit your rights in law and confer obligations on you by virtue of your agreement to these terms.
Nothing in this Agreement is intended to or must be understood to unlawfully restrict, limit or avoid any rights or obligations, as the case may be, created in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008, to the extent that such legislation is applicable.
Important clauses, which may limit SKITTERBLINK’S AND/OR THE SERVICE PARTNER’S responsibility or involve some risk for you, are reflected in bold and italics or are highlighted. you agree to pay special attention to these clauses.
SKITTERBLINK MAY AMEND THESE TERMS FROM TIME TO TIME. AMENDMENTS WILL BE EFFECTIVE UPON SKITTERBLINK’S POSTING OF SUCH UPDATED TERMS ON THE SKITTERBINK WEBSITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE SKITTERBLINK SERVICES AFTER SUCH POSTING CONSTITUTES YOUR CONSENT TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS, AS AMENDED.
1. The Placement Agreement is binding on both parties for the Minimum Period as agreed upon. Ending of this agreement by any of the parties concerned, after the expiration of the Minimum Period, will be by means of one calendar month's notice in writing by any party, except the Client cannot give notice during October or November for the month of December.
2. In the event of a material breach of this agreement by any of the parties, for whatever reason, the non-defaulting party will give the defaulting party notice in writing of the impending breach. Should the defaulting party not rectify the breach within 10 days, then the non-defaulting party may cancel the agreement and claim costs equivalent to one month's service fee from the defaulting party.
3. Services will be rendered, with the exception of circumstances out of Skitterblink's control, for which it is not responsible, such as for instance, no water supply at premises, power failures and national labour strikes.
4. Although the full Monthly Service Fee will be charged, services will not be rendered or rescheduled for public holidays. Public holidays are those days as marked on the calendars of the Republic of South Africa or pronounced by the government of SA.
5. Skitterblink accepts no liability for washing and tumble-drying of clothes where applicable.
6. Skitterblink will be closed every year from the Annual Closure Date until the Opening Date. The client will still be responsible for Normal Monthly Service Fees during this time.
7. Skitterblink delivers a pet-friendly cleaning service; however, we do need to ensure our safety. If you have aggressive pets, please secure them during our service. If an employee of Skitterblink gets injured due to the client's negligence regarding the client's pet, the Client will be liable for all medical expenses.
8. Skitterblink does not clean animal or human faeces, urine, vomit, or other biohazards, including cat litter boxes and dog kennels.
9. The Client must make provision for easy access to their premises for staff and site visits by Skitterblink's management and should ensure that animals and children do not interfere or hinder employees from carrying out their duties. Provision must also be made for alarms and entrance to cluster homes, security complexes and office buildings where applicable.
10. Non-access (locked gates, etc.) to the premises will be regarded as a completed service. Due to a full schedule, the service team will wait only 15 minutes, which will be considered part of the Client's Service Time.
11. Skitterblink cannot be held responsible for replacing keys and locks in the event of hijacking, theft, or forceful entry into homes/offices. However, Skitterblink will let you know immediately of such an event. In the unlikely event that the keys are lost by Skitterblink due to negligence, Skitterblink will replace them and will let you know immediately.
12. All requests, suggestions, or complaints must be in writing to our office, either by fax or email or submitted to Skitterblink management with site visits as indicated on the first page of this agreement. Skitterblink will not accept verbal complaints or cancellations.
13. It is the Client's responsibility to ensure that the amount payable to Skitterblink is paid on or before the agreed-upon date. Proof of payment needs to be faxed or emailed to the office.
14. The Monthly Service Fee of this agreement will be reviewed and increased with effect from 1 July of each year, irrespective of the date of signing this agreement. The percentage increase will be communicated to the Client during May/June annually. In the event that the Client qualifies for a discount, the discount will be calculated based on the standard service fees effective 1 July; in other words, the Client will not be entitled to receive a discount on Monthly Service Fees that are already discounted.
15. When there is suspected theft or breakages/damages caused by Skitterblink's employees in the Client's home/office, the procedures as supplied by Skitterblink will be followed. (See our website for the Theft Procedure.) Skitterblink, as the Employer, never accepts or can ever be held liable by the client/third party for any illegal act or misconduct perpetrated by one of its employees.
16. An administration fee of R50.00 will be charged for all late payments.
17. In the event of the Client not complying with their financial obligation on or before the date agreed upon and continuing in default after 7 days of being informed in writing of such default, Skitterblink's debtors' recovery procedure will be followed.
- 17.1 A third party is responsible for Skitterblink's bad debt collection.
- 17.2 The Client hereby gives their consent for a credit check.
- 17.3 Outstanding accounts are subject to default listing on a national credit bureau database.
- 17.4 When the outstanding debt is paid, the default listing will be adjusted to read "PAID DEFAULT" until legislation demands complete removal.
- 17.5 Skitterblink reserves the right to provide a national credit bureau database with updated information.
- 17.6 The Client also consents that Skitterblink may use a national credit bureau database for tracing, should the Client abscond.
- 17.7 The Client agrees that should they default on payment, Skitterblink can make this information available to the industry and affiliated businesses.
19. Skitterblink undertakes to act independently at all times during the term of this agreement and after it is terminated.
20. Both parties will not disclose any information to unauthorised bodies. This includes methods, processes, computer software, documentation, client lists, programmes, trade secrets, financial information, or any other information that could be damaging to either party. Such restrictions will apply during and after this agreement.
21. In addition to the further obligations of the Client set out in this agreement, the Client also undertakes to do business or household chores in such a way that Skitterblink can carry out its obligations toward the Client and that the respect and dignity of Skitterblink and its employees are not prejudiced.
22. The Client undertakes to inform Skitterblink in writing of any offences committed and poor performance by Skitterblink employees. The Client accepts that Skitterblink has a Code of Conduct and Labour Procedures that binds Skitterblink and its employees. Depending on the seriousness of the event, the Client may require that the employee be removed from the premises pending the Disciplinary Enquiry.
23. It is an express condition to this agreement that no client or related party (either directly or indirectly) will employ or cause the employment of a Skitterblink employee, especially when that employee was introduced to the client/related party by Skitterblink without express written agreement between the Client and Skitterblink. In the event that the Client wants to employ a certain employee of Skitterblink permanently in their service, the Client must first get clearance and permission from Skitterblink. A once-off placement fee of 12.5% of the annual labour tariff of the Cleaning Agreement will be charged. The exclusion is in force for a period not less than three months from the date of the last service provided.
24. The Client has no input about the remuneration of the employees of Skitterblink and will withhold them from discussing anything of this sort with the employees.
25. Although Skitterblink will do everything possible to learn the details of the Client's requirements through the Client Questionnaire document, Annexure B, Skitterblink is not fully informed about every aspect of the Client's home/business and the way the Client conducts its business beforehand. It will take two to three visits to learn the details.
26. All tasks and communication must be handled via the Supervisor and not directly with the Cleaning Lady/Ladies.
27. The Placement Agreement may not be altered or changed unless an additional agreement is drawn up in writing between the parties concerned. This document contains the full agreement between the parties.
28. If Skitterblink institutes legal action against the Client in terms of the agreement, the Client will be liable for Skitterblink's legal costs on the attorney-client scale, which costs will include collection commission and advocate fees. Such reasonable legal costs shall only accrue to Skitterblink in the event that the dispute is determined in favour of, or substantially in favour of, Skitterblink.
29. The Client gives Skitterblink permission to communicate with the Client via electronic mediums such as SMS, WhatsApp, and Email. This will include communication such as invoices, reminders, newsletters, and specials.
30. The Client chooses the physical address that appears on the first page of the Placement Agreement as its domicilium address for all purposes and all notifications in terms of or flowing from this agreement.
31. In the Placement Agreement, "Skitterblink" means the Skitterblink Franchise that appears on the first page of the agreement and its successors in title or assigns, and "Client" means the other party to this agreement.
32. It is an express condition to this agreement that Skitterblink places an employee at a specific address for the agreed services to be rendered at. No Client may use a Skitterblink employee on a detached service basis at a second address without the prior written agreement with Skitterblink. Any breach of this clause will cause additional fees to be payable and the Client expressly agrees to such additional fees to be levied.4
33. No guarantee of warrantee is implied within the body of the Placement Agreement if it is not specifically so stipulated in writing.