I had a disastrous experience with Urban Company (UC, formerly Urban Clap). I booked them for the Platinum Cleaning Package for a furnished 4 BHK apartment. Per UC’s website and app, it includes all of the features of the Premium package, plus wet vacuuming of upholstery, among other things. The experience was quite challenging from the beginning, although the staff with whom I interacted were polite:
- UC was incommunicado between my booking and service time, a period of four days.
- The team was two hours late.
- The team was inadequate, too young, and poorly equipped.
- Their idea of the cleaning contract was different from the UC website and app.
- The team requested cancellation. My refund from UC fell short of the amount I had paid.
Here are the details:
1. I attempted to book UC’s service in October 2022. In my first attempt to book cash-on-delivery, the required up front payment of ₹1, 000/- was successfully deducted from my bank account, but not credited to my UC service. It was eventually refunded, but I was asked to rebook using a payment method different from Net Banking.
2. When I rebooked, the payment options required full upfront payment, in excess of ₹10, 000/- which I made.
3. The service date was four days after the booking date. Yet, there was no contact on my mobile, email, or app until 45 minutes before the service time, on the service date.
4. Also, during this period, there was no way for me to contact UC via email, app, or telephone.
5. The service was picked up by Prabhas Mukhiya, a team leader. I called him up immediately to ascertain whether the team would be on time, given that the scheduled time was only 45 minutes away. He initially assured me that they would. I had a total of 6 telephone calls with him. During that time, he indicated that he was in touch with the team, and that they would be no more than 30-45 minutes late.
6. It turns out that he did not really communicate with them during this period, as he acknowledged.
7. Eventually, at one hour and 45 minutes after the scheduled time, he promised that the team would be there in 10 minutes. And they were. The team was nearly two hours late.
8. There were only three of them, although the website indicates 6-8 professionals. They had only a dry vacuum, and no wet vacuum as required in the Platinum service.
9. They were very young boys, ranging in age from about 13 to about 20.
10. The eldest among them, Deepak Mukhiya, a cousin of the team leader, said that he could arrange for a wet vacuum, but only five seats could be wet-vacuumed. For seats beyond the first five, I would be charged extra. There is no such specification on UC’s website or app.
11. I showed them the 4 BHK apartment, and they agreed that the three of them were insufficient to do the job within the promised 8 hours. The eldest among them began calling other teams. His calls would either not be picked up, or he would be put on hold. Eventually, he requested that I cancel the service.
12. I did so, but did not receive a full refund. It was short ₹299/-, which happens to be the annual price of ‘Plus’ membership. I have requested a refund of this amount, but have not received it.
13. I posted multiple feedback items on UC’s website about my experience, including my request for a refund of ₹299/-. There was no response. Eventually, I posted the observations up to Item #12 above. Within half an hour, I received a call from UC’s representative, Mr. Gaurav.
I re-outlined my bad experience, and requested the remaining refund of ₹299/-.
1. Mr. Gaurav initially said that no refund is possible.
2. I pointed out that the website and app does provide for refund.
3. Then Mr. Gaurav changed his position, and said that the only refund is of the whole amount, at the end of a year, provided the service is not used at all.
4. I pointed out that the website and app does provide for partial refund, of excess of membership fee over the total discounts availed. For example, if total discount of ₹200/- is availed through the year, then the remaining ₹99/- is refunded at year-end.
5. Then Mr. Gaurav changed his position again, and acknowledged that a partial refund is possible. At this point, he spoke with his senior, and returned with an offer to refund ₹150/-, while keeping my membership open. He said he could not refund the remaining ₹149/-.
6. Unfortunately, the refund cannot be made in the same way as the original refund, into my Amazon Pay balance. It can only be done via UPI or Net Banking. I do not use UPI. For Net Banking, I have to provide my NEFT details.
7. I indicated to Mr. Gaurav that this partial refund did not address my need, as I desired a full refund with a full cancellation of Plus membership.
