ComplaintsforCintas Corporation

• Initial Complaint

  10/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have been trying to close out our account with Brandon D****, the service manager of our local Cintas branch. I am in the process of retiring and have sold the company to someone who has his own plans for uniforms. I had our office assistant send out a request to cancel our account on September 19th of this year via both email and snail mail to cover our bases, and inquire about the amount we would need to pay to purchase our uniforms outright. We were told the amount we needed to pay to close out and keep the uniforms was $3,449.64, which we paid via check around that same day. We received notification that the check was cashed on a statement that was issued to us on September 30th, and requested written confirmation of account cancellation on October 15th. We haven't received a response yet and we really just want to close this account out.

  Business response

  10/22/2024

  GM contacted ***** to confirm that buyout payment has been received and account has been closed.

  Customer response

  10/24/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I am the Director of a nonprofit organization. A representative from Cintas came to my work to pitch their cleaning products to one of our employees and to see if we would like to try out service. The employee discussed this with me and we decided that we would try out the service if and only if there was no contract obligation. We asked the Cintas rep repeatedly whether that was any contract term and were told that we can cancel at any time without penalty. We started receiving Cintas products on a weekly basis and originally were somewhat pleased. Over time I became less satisfied because the invoices were not descriptive of what we were receiving, we were getting deliveries of items that we didn't need, and we were getting charged a flat rate for refilling cleaning solution even if we used very little of the product the previous week. In short, our expenses for cleaning supplies for our organization doubled what we were previously spending. As a result of this, I called Cintas to cancel service. The rep that I spoke to at that time said that she would go ahead and close our account. Great. But a few days later, our local Cintas rep called me to try to convince me to continue the service. I repeatedly explained that we simply did not want it anymore but he wasn't really taking no for an answer. He asked if he could come to our office to talk about it in person and I said no. I eventually had to hang up on him. A few days later he came unannounced to our office to speak with me about reinstating our account and I asked him to leave in frustration. Now today I received over a $10,000 bill from a collection company. They are claiming that we signed up for a five year contact with Cintas and that the company is requesting the full amount of a buy out. After reading other complaints, it is clear that this company has predatory practices, and they are scamming their customers. Our stance is that we owe them nothing and we just want them to leave us alone.

  Business response

  10/11/2024

  Our Sales Rep informed us that the standard process was followed. All terms and conditions were covered with ***** ********* and customer was provided a copy of the agreement at installation. This account was installed 10 months ago, and this is first we are hearing about any issues. We have serviced this account over 40 times at this point.

  Customer response

  10/11/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *****

  
  I reject the response from the business for the following reasons:

  1. We did not receive a copy of the service agreement at the time service was initiated as Cintas indicated.

  2. In their response they did not address the issue that their employee representative lied to us about there being no service term or cancellation fee. We asked multiple times and were assured that there was no commitment.

  3. They are incorrect in saying there was never a reported issue with our account during the time we received service. I originally planned to cancel service in June 2024 due to the high costs and service fees. As a result they requested a meeting with me to try to work things out. That meeting took place on June 18, 2024 at 9:30am at our business. We ultimately decided to continue the service for a little while to see how it would go. It did not go well on our end, which is why we later cancelled.

  4. There are many documented cases online (with BBB and other consumer rating sites) of Cintas customers having the same issue as we have had -- which is essentially being lied to and tricked into a signing a 60 month service agreement on a tablet. 
  

  Business response

  10/11/2024

  Hello,

  It's hard to say if the agreement was delivered or not as it was back in January. You are correct though on the pricing issue as my Partner does recall stopping out to see you in June.

  I do truly feel our Sales Rep was open and honest but understand where you are coming from.  At this point we are willing to back away from the 10K buyout and wish you all the

  best in your future endeavors.

   

  Thank you

  Customer response

  10/14/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Complaint Against Cintas Corporation – **** ****** Location Company Name: Cintas Corporation Location: *** ***** ********* ******, **** ******, ** ***** Complaint Summary: We have been a customer of Cintas for years but have faced ongoing issues that disrupt our business operations. Cintas has consistently failed to provide transparent and reliable service, leading to the following concerns: 1. Frequent Personnel Changes and Poor Communication: • We rarely have a consistent service manager, resulting in poor communication and unresolved issues. 2. Unexpected Contract Signings: • Cintas often requires us to sign contracts during busy hours without explaining they are binding, trapping us in unwanted agreements. 3. Unjustified Price Increases: • Our prices increase without notice, despite assurances they would remain stable. 4. Missed Meetings: • Cintas has missed scheduled meetings to address our concerns, without any follow-up. 5. Driver Misconduct: • We’ve experienced drivers making inappropriate comments to our staff, causing discomfort and necessitating driver changes. Despite maintaining good relationships and taking care of drivers, these incidents have created a hostile environment. 6. Threats and Unreasonable Cancellation Fee: • Despite poor service, Cintas is demanding a $25,000 fee to cancel, which jeopardizes our small business. This approach feels aggressive and unfair. Desired Resolution: We want to terminate our account without penalty and move on peacefully.

  Business response

  10/07/2024

  We have worked with this customer to resolve the issues.  Thank you for allowing us to work together on this.

  Customer response

  10/16/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In summer of last year I contact cintas to inquire about cleaning solutions for my gym. I needed a good floor cleaner and disinfectant to use on our floors and equipment. A salesperson named Eric T****** came to my gym and advised me on what I would require. We set up my order and he had me sign an order form. I explicitly asked him what I was signing and that I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a contract as I didn’t have my glasses and could not read the print. He told me it was to approve auto billing on my credit card for the order and that there was no contract I could cancel at any time. I first of all come to find out that the cleaning solutions he sold me are not meant for the specific material of my floors and equipment so they do not actually disinfect and I also come to find out that the document I signed was a 5 year contract… I have been emailing back and forth with a representative named Eric S****** who apologized for the original sales rep not having enough knowledge and recommending the wrong cleaning solution… his resolution was to charge me for a more expensive cleaning solution and to add microfibre towels to my order… he also ignored and refused to answer my question as to why his sales rep would lie to me and trick me into signing a contract…. They are trying to take me to small claims court to have me pay almost $7000 to terminate my “contract”. I would like them to leave me alone and never contact me again. They are a terrible company with a subpar product and are heavily commission based so they lie and cheat to get paid.

  Customer response

  09/30/2024

  Hello, Cintas has handled this matter directly with me and my complaint can be closed as resolved. Thanks for your help.

• Initial Complaint

  09/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have been scammed by Cintas ******. I have some weekly services with Cintas, when we setup the services they did not show me any contract. Now when I am planning to sell the business the company is showing me some contract and threatening me to pay about 9000$ just to terminate the contract. When we setup the services they did not send me any paperwork. After requesting the finalize invoice multiple time they did not provide me with anything but when I asked for termination they just send me a contract. I was not aware of anything about this. Even the person(***** *****) whos signature is on the contract is not even a part of the business. He was there just to open the door for the rep so that the sales person can look at what we need and give us quote accordingly. ***** asked the rep a couple of times that if you need to sign anything just email the document but the representative assure him that Cintas does not have any contract, you can cancel the services any time. Then he finalize what the business needs and showed final list to ***** and asked him to confirm. ***** asked the rep again that if this is finalize iternery email this but the rep assured him that this is just for them to check whether they have enough stuff for the business or not. Once Cintas check their inventory they will reach out to the business owner to finalize the things. Nobody contacted the business directly and now I have a contract that clearly signed by someone who is not the part of the business. Now they charge me randomly each week. I have so much extra stuff at my store from Cintas that I clearly do not need but I am paying for it regardless. I am super frustrated about this.

  Business response

  09/28/2024

  The Service Manager has been in contact with ******* ***** via email, as per the customer's preference, and have reached an amicable solution.

  Customer response

  10/01/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We signed a contract with them for rugs and rug cleaning service. Originally we were charged $87.76 per week. In just about 2 years they have increased that weekly price to $175.31. Their salesman indicated at signing that the price was good for the term of the contract. I have only ever been notified of an increase this most recent time which is why I took a closer look at what’s been going on for the last 2 years. Their contract is vague at best but seems to require me to agree to any price increases, which I have never done. Their business practices are very poor and unethical. I would like the pricing returned to the original pricing if they wish to continue the contract. I would like reimbursement for what I view as serious overcharges due to these unethical price increases. Now I do understand that costs go up, but their representation by their salesman should count for something. As it stands right now I would advise everyone to steer clear of Cintas! I am hopeful that we can come to a reasonable resolution.

  Business response

  09/23/2024

  The customer was contacted and the issues have been resolved.

  Customer response

  10/02/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ******** and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me provided that they follow through with the changes and refund that were promised.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  No Signed Contract by Business Owners: We began using Cintas' services on an as-needed basis, with the understanding that no formal long-term contract was required. However, without any authorization from me or any other business owner, a contract was later presented, allegedly signed by one of my staff members. I was completely unaware of this. The employee, who has not worked for us since April 2023, did not have the authority to sign on behalf of our business, and we would never have agreed to a five-year contract. Misrepresentation of Business Name: Cintas placed this contract under our fictitious name, "******* ****." However, our official business name, which is on all of our legal documents, including food permits, alcohol permits, and other official city permits, is "*** ******** * ******** ** ***** *****." Using our fictitious name instead of the legal name under which we conduct business is improper and adds further confusion and invalidity to this contract. Unresponsive and Aggressive Actions: After falling behind on payments due to severe financial hardship, I requested that Cintas pause our services until we could catch up. Once we had paid all outstanding balances, I informed them that we would no longer need their services due to our inability to pay. Despite several emails explaining our situation, Cintas failed to respond and instead involved their attorneys without any attempt at resolution. Additionally, after I made it clear that we were no longer using their services, one of their staff members showed up at our business without prior notice and attempted to force my employees to accept their products, stating that we had a contract. This unexpected visit left my employees feeling extremely uncomfortable, and it also caused unease among our customers who witnessed the interaction. I am a veteran and a female business owner with health issues, and I believe Cintas is exploiting small businesses through unethical practices.

  Business response

  09/24/2024

  After several attempts to collect past due balances by our collection dept., Adam contacted customer (3 months ago) due to lack of payment. *****, the owner, paid the past due balance in full and the disclosed the would be closing which later evolved to a new management company taking over.
  
  Adam revisited the agreement highlighting that the agreement moves with the business. Once we learned that the ******* was still operating under that name we discussed reactivating service offering to stop when they closed or discuss different options that better meet their needs.
  
  We went to legal counsel when they customer explained their fictitious name vs. the name they use for legal contracts. Our legal counsel advised that we could absolutely enforce the agreement which we chose to do given the lack of response around our efforts to resume service.

  Customer response

  09/24/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.

  A.  I, ******** *******, not *****, had informed Cintas that we needed to pause services this past spring since we were behind on payments and need to pause service until we were profitable.  So they were NOT chasing after us for payment, I informed them of the status and told them once I could pay I would pay off our account - again having no contract in place (again, as stated before, they secretly without any approval by business owners to sign a five-year contract) and just hoped to pay them off and end our business relationship while I searched for a buyer for our business.  When I then paid in full, I was happy to have paid them for their services but couldn't afford to keep going with them and when I informed them of that - thats when I was told they were going to enforce my contract - which again, was signed a year and half prior by an employee who is no longer with us and had ZERO authorization to sign.  

  B.  You still did not address that you attempted to BULLY my staff into taking the products when I had told them we would be doing the work ourselves since we didn't have the money to pay for that - we just wanted to keep our employees paid!  

  C.  Also there was no response regarding having a random service industry employee (they transition constantly) to sign a 5-year contract.  That employee never had our approval and no longer works for us.

  D.  I had been in email contact continuously with Adam and whoever else he added on to the email and as I attached previously in the BBB complaint, they never responded even when I went back and asked the status.  They did NOT try to work with me at all....they ignored my emails and then I get a letter from their attorneys trying to force me back into the contract, which would mean I agree that it is an actual contract.

  E.  Regarding our name, all of our legal documents and permits are for *** ******** * ******** ** ***** *****.  The fictitious name was not used, but we had considered doing a DBA but had decided that it made sense that everything be under the same business name and kept all the permits as they always have been.

  F.  Business sale - I do have email proof and text proof that I was looking to at first have another company take over the business but they were going to come in with their own name, products, and employees and this deal was in discussion for over two months, until it fell through a week before. 

  G.  Right now, my husband and I have made 0 money from the business since spring due to financial difficulties, I am actually working a full-time job.  We are paying our employees on time and trying to set the business up for a better sale.

  CONTRACT SHOULD NEVER be pushed upon an employee at a business - in this day and age with email, anything can be sent and e-sgined.

  And again - this business practices this horrible tactic to force business owners to use their services and then surprises the owners with enforecement of a contract they would never sign.

  
  Regards,
  
  ******** *******
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against Cintas regarding ongoing issues I have encountered while attempting to cancel services for a building I manage. These services were initially contracted by a previous property manager, and I have experienced significant difficulties in resolving this matter with Cintas. Below is a detailed account of the situation: Non-Delivery of Supplies: Cintas claims that supplies have been delivered to the building on multiple occasions. However, I have never received these supplies. Despite my repeated notifications to Cintas about the missing deliveries, the issue remains unresolved. At one point, I was informed that the supplies were delivered to my office, but this is not accurate as no deliveries were made. Misleading Information on Service Cancellation: Upon contacting Cintas to address the missing supplies and to cancel the services, I was told by their representative that there is a contract in place that supposedly carries over with the building. Cintas asserts that this contract cannot be canceled, which contradicts my understanding of standard service agreements, especially when services are not being rendered as claimed. Unjustified Rate Increases and Contractual Rights: Additionally, Cintas has raised the rates for the services without proper notice or justification. The existing contract explicitly states that I have the right to cancel the agreement if there is a change in pricing. Despite this clause, my attempts to cancel the service have been consistently blocked by Cintas representatives, citing the contract’s alleged permanence with the building rather than with the property management. These issues have caused undue frustration and inconvenience, and I believe that Cintas is not upholding their contractual obligations nor are they allowing me, as the current property manager, to exercise my rights to cancel services that are no longer desired or effectively provided.

  Business response

  09/18/2024

  The customer has been contacted and the issues have been resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We were approached by Cintas to provide uniforms and cleaning products such as toilet paper, paper towels and soap. We shared with them our current products we used and they said they could match our products and the current prices we were paying. They did not provide us a signed contract. Right from the beginning we had problems with quality of products and delivering products on time. We could not get access to our invoices on their website and as soon as we could we complained about the prices and fees we were being charged. They were giving our clients the delivery sheets. we refused to pay invoices until they are corrected. We have been threatened by their lawyers with a lawsuit totaling more than $85,000.00

  Business response

  09/06/2024

  Good afternoon

  This customer was serviced for 13 weeks. There was one discrepancy with the initial invoice and pricing was rectified the following week.  Attempts were made to collect payment however no payment was ever received. We are willing to drop the breach of agreement if payment is made on all past due invoices in full.

  Thank you,

  Customer response

  09/07/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.

  We are pleased to hear that Cintas wants to resolve the matter. We will explain one more time to Cintas what the issues have been right from the beginning. The products they offered did not match what we negotiated and they agreed to supply. We shared with their sales representative the exact size of each role of toilet paper and paper towels we were currently using at the time we negotiated. The sales representative said we will match the product size and the pricing. They did not do that. The products they provided were less in the feet per roll of each, the toilet paper and paper towels. The smaller rolls led to costs increases of more that 60%, if not more, than  what we were paying before. Our janitorial contracts have very thin margins for profit and any costs increases eradicate our profits. We disputed this right from the very first invoice, which we could not access on their website for several months.
  

  In addition, they added delivery fees and other fees we did not agree to. We have never paid deliver fees for our products, they are always free shipping from our other suppliers.

  In addition, they did not deliver the products timely and our customers were very upset. They then overloaded our customers warehouse with product and there are pallets of product that is owned by Cintas that need to be removed immediately.
  

  Finally, does Cintas want to us to remove the dispensers from our customers sites or do they want to sell them to us and we will pay the going rate for these dispensers.

  We will pay what we owe and what we agreed to pay in our negotiations with the sales representative from Cintas.
  

  
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *****
  

  Business response

  09/17/2024

  We have called and left voicemail every day for ******* ***** since Wednesday September 10th and have not heard back from him. We are trying to schedule a final pick-up and collect on past due invoices for services performed but need to speak directly to him to complete this task.

  Customer response

  09/27/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *****

  The complaint is not resolved. The business(Cintas) did respond with what we thought was a reasonable offer to settle. We paid them an agreed upon amount and their attorney sent us a signed release.   Since then we were contacting Cintas to pick up their supplies and materials. We were told that we owed an additional $6,000 plus. We said after they have picked up all their materials and supplies we will pay the difference if we agree with it. Now their attorney is saying we owe $11,000 dollars and they will not honor the release their attorney sent us.
  
  We were just giving this a little time to play out and that is why we had not responded.
  
  *******
  
  ******* *****
  Contract Manager/Owner
  ******************
  

  Business response

  09/27/2024

  The GM finally was able to speak to ******* and they have agreed to meet to speak in person about the account and resolve any discrepancies on the account the week ending October 13th. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I've been trying to cancel our Cintas service due to multiple price increases without notice, repeated service issues like missing items and unusably damaged items, and poor customer service. I haven't gotten any response from Cintas and they continue to drop off a bill every week. Per the requirements of the service agreement, I sent a registered letter on August 9 to the general manager to cancel our service. Prior to that I spoke with four separate Cintas employees by phone and email and submitted requests online. Each time they said they would get back to me and never did. The service agreement clearly states that we need to be notified of any price increases. We have never received any price increase notifications. In 2022, our weekly payment was $64.85. Since then it has gone up multiple times and is now $87.00 - over a 30% increase. For example, one uniform shirt was $1.74 in August 2022. On our most recent invoice the same shirt is now $2.104. Again, we were never notified of any price changes. Every time we have needed to communicate with Cintas about our uniform service, it has been a frustrating experience that required numerous messages, phone calls, follow ups, and months of waiting. On numerous occasions, the ‘clean’ uniforms were delivered with stains, holes, and badges coming off. Several times we attached large notes to the uniforms being picked up to show the damaged areas and submitted repair requests online, yet the uniforms were still returned without being fixed. Cintas has frequently failed to deliver our full number of uniforms but still charged for them. It has taken many phone calls and messages, up to two months of waiting, and an enormous amount of my time to finally get all of our items. In each case our monthly bill remained the same despite missing several pieces. I would prefer to purchase the uniforms we have but no one has gotten back to my request for a price quote. I could also return all the uniforms.

  Business response

  09/09/2024

  The General Manager spoke with ***** and will be getting her the totals to close her account out. The SSR will pick up the shop towels and we will bill out the garments per her request.

  Customer response

  09/10/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******* ******** ********* ********
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩