Office staff say Surrey-based cleaning company Scrubbi has shut down
When Scrubbi operations clerk Harley Thompson got a text Tuesday morning saying the Surrey-based house cleaning company was shutting down, he wasn’t surprised.
“If you have issues with not being able to pay people to do the work for your company, it’s not a shock to me at all that it fell apart,” Thompson said.
For months, CTV News has been reporting on Scrubbi cleaning contractors who aren’t getting paid for work already done, issues the company’s owner blamed on a new payment system and problems at the bank.
“This has been going on for a while, and it was super stressful to have to try to help these people, because there wasn’t anything we could really do about it," said Thompson, who began working as a scheduler and liaison between the independent cleaners and head office last November.
"It was all the time, there were angry people who, rightfully so, were talking about how they weren’t getting paid. And it was tough because no one in my team could do anything about it.”
When he returned to headquarters to pick up his things after learning the company had folded on Tuesday, Thomson says he spoke to company CEO Daniel Deckert.
“He pulled me into the boardroom and gave me the talk, and said basically we are just shutting down business operations. It’s been 10 years but there is not a lot they could do to sustain business,” said Thompson.
While he’s out of a job, he says he’s more concerned about the cleaners who are still owed money.
“I don’t know if they’re going to get an apology from the company, but I would love to apologize to the cleaners. They put in so much hard work,” said Thompson. “I want them to know that the people in the office who they were talking to did genuinely care, and we did really try to make sure everything worked, but the pay stuff was out of our control.”
Former contractors aren’t the only ones who will be left chasing their money from Scrubbi, which had B.C. operations in Metro Vancouver, Victoria and the Interior.
“There are people that have weekly appointments pre-paid for a whole year ahead of time, and I don’t know what going to happen for them,” said Thompson. “It looks like the company doesn’t have any money to make them whole this point.”
CTV News wanted to ask Deckert how he will make contractors and clients whole, and why the Scrubbi website still appears to be accepting new bookings. He did not reply to an email, and the company’s toll free number went to voicemail.
“From the sounds of it, the money issues have been going on for a while,” said Thompson. “I would be surprised if everybody that is owed money is paid.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton dead following prison attack
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
2 children among 5 people hospitalized after head-on crash on Hwy. 417 in Ottawa's west end
Two young children and three adults were seriously injured in a major collision on Highway 417 between Palladium Drive and Carp Road in Ottawa's west end Friday afternoon.
DND moving 1,000 employees out of Ottawa office building due to safety concerns
The Department of National Defence is moving approximately 1,000 employees out of an office building in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood, citing safety concerns for its employees.
Baby dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to woman who was in police custody
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.
Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama, dies at 86
Marian Shields Robinson, the mother of Michelle Obama who moved with the first family to the White House when son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, has died. She was 86.
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour: 'I am completely heartsick and devastated'
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
These are the recalls in Canada this week
Health Canada recalled various items this week, including more unauthorized products, counterfeit drugs and bassinets.