Work Clothes And Cleaning

denick

Has anyone ever used a uniform service for work clothes?

I just got a quote of $ 13.00 a week for each employee for 11 pant and shirt combo's, 2 three season coats. 100% cotton with logo and names. Weekly pickup and cleaning. They repair and replace damaged and worn pieces included. About $650.00 a year per employee. any thoughts? a cheap benefit that makes them look good and is a business expense.

Only problem I see is they don't bring the dirty in on the day they need to!

__________________
Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

eXpatRioteX

I worked in a garage for a little while, that used a uniform service. They usually have someone come in and get everyone's sizes for pants, shirts, ect. Mine never fit right. Their larges were too large, and their mediums were too small. A couple of my shirts said "laremy" instead of "jeremy". As an employee, my uniform was required, but i had to pay a portion of the rental via a paycheck deduction. So you could say i wasn't a huge fan. I also prefer denim pants when it starts getting cold out.

rino1494

Personally, I think that it is a not needed cost. If you want the guys to look somewhat professional, then get some t-shirts made up.

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

dayexco

i agree w/rino........buy some good quality t's....polos, zipped/hooded sweatshirts with your logo screened on back, some carhart jackets with logo embroidered on back, their name stitched on front. etc...650 per employee seems like a ton of money to me.

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

jmic

Nick,
Yeah I have a thought. It's gonna take more than uniforms.

__________________
___"Remember You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression"______________________
Joe

jmic

Yeah but Laremy those are just minor issues.

__________________
___"Remember You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression"______________________
Joe

jmic

Nick,

When you order t-shirts don't forget your pals here. I'll take a large, actually make it three large's. Hey free advertising and no charge to you.

__________________
___"Remember You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression"______________________
Joe

tgeb

I have always worn uniforms purchased from Wear-Guard. (now called Aramark).

After hiring 2 employees and having them show up some days in clothes that should have been thrown out, or used to mop up oil spills. I decided to hire a uniform service. Similar deal about 13 bucks per man per week, and a 9.95 service fee. The fee went up to 15.95 in 2 years, a 60% increase!

It worked out pretty well for a while, but after oh say six months or so the guys would neglect to bring the soiled clothing in, and they were not satisfied with the cleanliness of the garments when returned. And started to do their laundry at home.

So after 2 years of a 5 year contract, here I was paying around 50 bucks a week to have MY uniforms cleaned, as the others were not using the service.

We contacted them to see about getting out of the contract and they wanted 4 grand!!!!

I think I have found a way out though. We stopped paying and after about 2 months they stopped servicing us, it got their attention and we negotiated the termination of contract without penalty for the amount owed for the past due service.

To me it was the single biggest mistake I have made in 20 years of self employment.

My intent at this point is to purchase 5 pair for each guy and let them do their own laundry.

I did not do any type of payroll deduction like most companies do and that may have been the key part of my problems. But I thought (like a nice guy) it's less than one hours pay a week as a benefit to each employee, should work out great.

But it seems that unless they have an investment in the system they won't use it, or they abuse it.
If you do decide to do it, do payroll deduction is my advice.
And make sure they cannot escalate the service fee on you.

When I told the rep that my fees had increased 60% he suddenly stated "Oh that should not have happened, we will reduce that back to 9.95." Thanks, but no thanks.

Well, that's about all I have to say about that!

__________________
Tom

www.gebcon.com

LNG24

In my Real Estate business I use Tee Shirts . Costs about $5.00 per shirt for a one color screen on both sides. I plan on doing the same thing this Spring for both the Construction and Real Estate business. The other thing I have done in the past is to sponser Kids Sports teams and camps. I supply the tee shirts (with my name and number on them) and the kids love it.

Dirtguy

I offered shirts and pants from a uniform service to my mechanics, service truck drivers and haul truck drivers. I did not think the other employees would be interested. Wow, was I wrong. After the other employees saw these guys in uniforms almost all of them wanted to participate. I told them that I was only offering the service to these chosen employees because of the wear that their positions had on their clothes. The other employees did not seem to care and all said they would pay out of their own pockets to have the uniform service. I agreed and most every employee now has uniforms. I can say it makes our company look much more professional.

rino1494

The one guy that works for us, his one kids name is "Eric". He worked at a plant and they had a uniform service. He got his first uniform and the name tag said "Paul". So he was going around and everyone was calling him Paul. He would correct them but it didn't work. So, with his uniforms he wrote a letter stating that his name is Eric and could they please correct it. So the next week, he gets his uniforms and again, it says "Paul". Again, everyone kept calling him Paul. So he got really mad and wrote a really nasty letter to them asking them what the fu** kind of people work there. They must hire a bunch of fu**ing retards to work there, blah blah blah. So, the next week he recieved his uniforms and sure enough, they change his name. Only this time, the name tag said "Dick".

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

Dirtguy

HA, that's funny!

Double-A

Having been in service plumbing for a long time, I can say I like the rental uniform from an owner's stand point and the 'guy's in the field'.

Only downside is they forget, they wash their own that week AND they can't take a deduction for clothing if the company is paying uniforms. The guys get used to bring in their uniforms on time and its not a big deal.

Plus, if you have any drug users, the guy that picks up your uniform will bring you whatever he finds in the pockets as he goes through them. We let several folks go over this.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Nac

I like the idea. In Europe most construction companys give there guy's a company jumpsuit this way all the guys look like they work for the same company. When I worked for Ferrari North America the same thing we all had company uniform/jumpsuit and when they flew over mechanica and enginners from italy they wouls bring there jumpsuits with them. I like the idea. I give all my guys T-shirts, long sleave shirts, sweatshirts and hats and they still do not always where them. Just had saftly lime green shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and safty vest made for the guys they will all be recieving 5 each of each style so they have clean clothes for all week.

mdshunk

I do the uniform thing now. If you forget to bring them in for washing, you just need to wash your own. One thing that I do find is that you need to keep on the uniform company to replace articles that are stained such that the stain will not wash out. Also, you need to keep on them if an article is "worn out". I find that they don't automatically replace worn or stained articles until somebody speaks up.

The uniform company rep will provide samples in every size for the guys to try on if there's some douby about whether a certain size will fit them well. That avoids excuses for a guy wearing sloppy baggy uniforms.

There's no way I would make a man suffer by giving him a uniform with another person's name on it. That fundamentally just wrong, in my opinion. It's a respect thing.

A dirty trick it to sneak a pair of woman's underpants into a fella's laundry bag. Often, the uniform company will return those underpants the next week, on a hanger, along with that man's washed and pressed uniforms. It's really embarrasing for a guy.

Double-A

Granny panties? If not, some of the guys I've worked with would see them as a badge of honor.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006