# Anyone work for Dentco?



## ROSELAWN

I was just wondering if anyone out there works for, or has done business with Dent Enterprises (Dentco) out of DeWitt, MI. And what your experience with them was/is like.


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## SLC1

We have done work for them in the past, and we did not have any major problems with them, we always got paid it took a little while to get our money but we always did. They were not too pickey or on us about little things, ect. But we didnt like for the landscaping we had to either take or leave the amount of money they were offering us, we didnt give a price they told us how much they would pay us. Over all they were decent to work for.
Just my two cents

www.schmidtlawncare.com


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## ROSELAWN

Yeah, I have done work for them for 3 years and I think they have paid me on time about 4 out of 30 months. Currently they are 39 days late on even mailing it out!!! :realmad: :angry:


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## sonjaab

Dentco may be part of US Maintenance...................

Check out their web site www.theoutsideguys.com

A related story: www.americansweeper.com/News/target1.html

BE afraid............VERY afraid !!!!!!!!......................geo


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## Rooster

The link for the Outside Guys is linked to http://www.usmaintenance.com/

Good Luck

Rick


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## ROSELAWN

Why be afraid, do you know anything about them, cause I don't think they are part of US maint.


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## Mick

The following was taken from the Target article:

More recently, Target contractors received notice that other companies have taken the place of NLS. These include, among perhaps other, one called Dentco (website: www.TheOutsideGuys.com), and another called U.S. Maintenance (website: www.usmaintenance.com). The former Target contractors were also given a fax number to which they could send previous invoices, as well as a mailing address. No one appears to have an actual phone number to call about the situation, though, other than to Target's national headquarters.

Clicking on the Dentco link (www.The Outside Guys ...) takes you to the U S Maintenance web site. Who else are they linked to (maybe in a former life)?

(Edit) - Now that's real interesting. When I clicked on the link from the article, it took me to US Maintenance web site. When I clicked on it from my post, it took me to the Dentco site.


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## wyldman

I think it's just a bad link in the Target article.It's not actually redirecting you to the US Maintenance site,it just the link is set up wrong.

If you go to the link posted in this thread for the outsideguys it works fine.


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## gpin

I steer clear of any "deep discount" clients. At the very best they can be slow pay. Their margins are so tight, it doesn't take much to go from slow to never pay. I lived through this with a restaurant chain. Ever since, I sell service, not price.


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## sonjaab

TTT....................


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## sonjaab

TTT.........For Day


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## JRDabs

*Dentco*

The only problem we had was they are/were very slow pay. Last year Target used 2 main service providers which were Dentco and US Maintenance. There were a few local contractors in the mix as well.

JR Dabravalskie


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## dayexco

don't take them up on their 3% "early pay" discount, there is no such thing


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## BAHRCODE

Dont do it, the more companies ( sub contractors) that they use and manipulate in order to get there work and profit, the more smaller companies will suffer. 

the american sweeper article hits it on the head. these guys 
_ _ _ _.


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## diggerman

I was interested in this article because I currently plow a target store that is handled by dentco, now I am bidding ,after only a year of service, to Us Maintenance. I have plowed this store for 15 years, and in order to keep the level and quality of service that the store was used to, when I was responsable only to the store has really required some hoop jumping. My biggest issue has been I have really looked bad to the store based on the specs that I am contracted for, when before I was able to do what was "right" without the interferance of a middle man.


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## landscapein

*Dentco*

I Also worked for Dentco doing 5 Targets in IL and was told by a target manager. Dentco will no longer be the contract holder we signed a 3 year deal with Dentco now we will be S.O.L after buying loaders for there site's

have you worked for us maint who are they?


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## sonjaab

http://www.usmaintenance.com

There is also a US Maint. horror thread here at PS also.
I brought it up in the Snowplowing Discussion Thread for ya.


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## Level10

*Dentco and National Landscaping*

used to work for Trammell Crow Co. and managed the snow plowing for about 350 ExxonMobil gas stations across the northeast and midwest.

The major retailers were/are being agressively persued by a handful of large property management companies (of which Crow was one). These large property management companies do very little of the work themselves -- if any at all. They rely almost completely on vendors or "sub-contractors." Until just a couple years ago this meant building relationships with small and medium sized local contractors in each market, but that was a lot of leg work.

Companies like Dentco saw the opportunity to "aggregate" the pool of smaller contractors and bundle them to work for the property management companies. Trammell Crow used Dentco extensively on the ExxonMobil account as well as CVS and others and helped them develop the aggregate model and grow their business. Then there were some disagreements over services and of course money -- and a lawsuit. This left me hanging in August of 2001 and we had to scramble to find dozens of snow plowers for the coming winter. Some genius at Trammell Crow knew this guy in Florida who claimed that he could "aggregate" as many snow plowers as we needed and coordinate all the contractual obligations and the billing. My bosses at Crow decided that it was a good idea and would save us a lot of work so we went with National Landscaping. This is how this bozo got his start. Of course, he didn't know the first thing about snow plowing or even sub-contracting and the whole thing was a fiasco! There was another law suit between Crow, National Landscaping and ExxonMobil.

The next year Crow lost the ExxonMobil account over different issues and I along with 350 people was laid off.

I am now running my own little landscaping and snow plowing business in Massachusetts.

Just thought you might like to know a little more background on the whole aggregator thing.

For what it's worth, I thought Dentco was OK. The way they deal with you, the sub-contractor doing the acutal work, depends largely on the contract they hold with the end customer. I would read the contracts carefully before signing up for anything. Since Dentco has been through a couple lawsuits, they are not ignorant to contractual issues and will certainly protect themselves.

David


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## Dwan

nice post, we needed that info to help us all make good decisions.

again thanks


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## ikold

*Great Post*

Thanks for the information... it was very helpfull. I didn't realize there were so many aggregators out there. I thought Snow Management Group had a monopoly.


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## Abominable

*dentco*

This is my second year working for dentco. Last year was ok, except that they always paid late and shorted me some cash because they claim we filled out what they call an "SVT" form "SERVICE VISITATION" late.

This year however, they seem to have a policy of losing SVT's and trying to jack money from us, even though we have the fax confirmations. They are late paying us again, claiming that they have to do site visitations even though there are no complaints that we are aware of from the customers. They have obviously been in some legal actions and covered themselves in the fine print of their contracts. I don't think they are aware of provisions, however in the US bankruptcy code wherein 3 or more creditors can immediately put a company into involuntary bankruptcy by just filing for it with appropriate proof of debt.

That's why forums like these are good in my opinion, and we should strongly consider creating a national association of snow removal contractors to have an advocacy group to represent the interest of the contractors vs. the aggregators and property managers. I would certainly pay a couple hundred dollars a year in dues to create what in effect would be an aggregator snow policy police that would direct it's members to steer clear of certain companies who have usurious terms within their sub-contractor contracts. And would advise it's members to steer clear of companies for which the association has received document-able complaints from it's members. Any Takers?? [email protected]


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