What happens when your valet services go wrong?
3 Steps to Getting an Airtight Valet Contract
Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save
How Valet Services Overcharge You - And What to Do About It!
Let’s face it, no one likes taking out the trash, right?
In the past few years, valet services have become increasingly popular. No longer do multifamily residents have to haul their own trash to the dumpsters - they can just leave it outside their door! A valet employee collects it and disposes of it. Sounds dreamy, right?
Trash valet services are a fantastic amenity to offer to your residents. But they aren’t always fantastic when it comes to pricing.
As with so many other areas of the waste industry, vendors will often increase prices because they can - or charge fees way above market level!
How can you make sure this doesn’t happen to you?
In this post, we’ll go what valet services are, some ways you might be overcharged, and what you can do to prevent overspending.
Psst! Ever wonder why you should care about waste in the first place?
What exactly is Trash Valet Service?
Valet services are a really fancy way of saying “doorstep trash pick-up.” In most situations, it happens exactly as is described above. Residents leave trash outside their door, and a valet employee picks it up and disposes of it.
Different locations will have different frequency needs. Some will only offer valet waste once a week; others offer it every day during the week.
Most vendors will service your location at night so that your residents aren’t disturbed - and so they have time to place their trash outside their door.
How You’re Overcharged for Valet Waste Services
Your trash pick-up provider can be sneaky - just like waste haulers, unfortunately! In fact, valet services are one of the top ways that multi-family complexes overpay on their waste expenses.
Providers often overcharge you because they think they can. Most multi-family management companies don’t evaluate the valet invoices they receive, or they just don’t know how to ensure their contract is in their best interest.
What you don’t know can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars over time - but it doesn’t have to!
Your rates may suddenly increase. Every so often, you’ll see an uptick in the rates listed on your invoice. It can be as little as 5%, but it can also be much more. But even a 5% increase compacts over time! If you’re charged an extra $20 each month, during the term of your contract you may overpay by hundreds of dollars.
Rates can increase as much as 1-2 times a year! Your fees can raise whenever your vendor feels like it. Not all vendors will take advantage of this - but some undoubtedly will.
We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties. The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!
Rate increases compound over time. Before you know it, you may be significantly overpaying.
Because there’s so little information out there about valet services and how they do what they do, you may think it’s normal. Or even something that you should expect.
But just because everyone else is paying at these rates doesn’t mean you have to as well.
Make Your Waste Valet Contract Airtight
The two best ways to prevent overpaying? Get a feel for the market, and then evaluate your contract.
Find out:
What are other area trash valet services are charging? Get at least one or two estimates.
What are other area multi-family complexes being charged? Get in touch with a contact, or just make a cold call - you’d be surprised how far a friendly voice and cheerful attitude can get you!
Then, take a good hard look at your contract and answer the following questions:
Are price hikes capped or eliminated?
Are rates locked in?
How easy is it to get out of my contract?
Are there provisions for poor service?
It can be expensive to stay in a bad contract - or have continual service issues with no recourse!
In the end, you may need to weigh your options. If you have a terrible valet service provider who is not interested in lowering their prices, it may be worth it to break your contract and get a cheaper service provider.
Protect your bottom line!
Fix your valet contract, and you’ll not only prevent overspending - you’ll know how to budget for years to come because you’ll have fixed rates.
You can have peace of mind knowing that you’re not going to be trapped into paying outrageous prices. And you’ll have a contract to protect your best interests.
Don’t wait until a price spike hits to worry about your valet services!
Do you use valet services at your multi-family property? Thinking about getting them at some point in the future? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save
How Valet Services Overcharge You - And What to Do About It!
What Are Valet Services ( + 2 Ways to Save on Them!)
Trash valet service is when trash and recycling get picked up outside your door.
These services are typically performed at multi-family residences, or apartment buildings. Residents simply put their trash outside their door and the valet service employee picks it up. Then, they either deposit it at your on-site trash receptacle, or they take it to the dump themselves.
This service can be very attractive to potential residents since so few people enjoy taking out the trash. It’s something that can make your apartment complex stand out to potential leasers.
But like trash services, valet trash services can be overpriced. How would you know? Below, we’ll show you three ways you can save on your services.
Check out other vendors.
The easiest way to see if you’re overpaying is to ask other area vendors what they charge for similar services. If other area vendors charge way more or way less than what you’re currently paying, you’ll get a good baseline for how fair your prices really are.
Keep in mind, though, that rates are not the only thing you should compare. Some vendors may have certain clauses in their contract that would impact their overall pricing. Be on the lookout for auto-renewal clauses and language prohibiting price hikes. If vendor A includes rate caps in their contract, and vendor B doesn’t, vendor B will likely cost you more in the long run.
It’s also wise to ask vendors for references. Asking pointed questions of these references can help you understand what potential shortcomings may be. (See the video below for an example of why getting references is such a good idea!)
Rates should not be the only thing you compare! The cheapest service provider may have a terrible track record. You can also google their business and see how their clients rate them.
2. Scour your contract
It’s critical to your bottom line that your contract does not include:
auto-renewal terms
the possibility of additional fees and price hikes
zero provision for bad service
Auto-renewal terms will ensure your current contract renews. Not all contracts have the provisions you actually need to make sure you don’t overspend. You don’t want to be stuck with a bad contract!
You don’t want surprise additional fees on your invoices. And you certainly don’t want price hikes. You must have language on your contract that limits the possibility of this happening to you.
Valet services are an excellent amenity, but they’re not perfect. You need to make sure that you contract specifies that you have recourse in the event that service is not performed well, or inconsistently.
We audit our client’s valet services precisely for these reasons. It’s easy to have a bad contract and not know it. It’s easy to employ the most expensive service in town and have no idea.
Take some time to review your services to make sure they’re actually working for you.
Do you have valet services at your locations? Have you run into any waste service issues in the past? Sound off in the comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts.