An interview with Andy ‘Vape’ Sung, the face of Sung and Doyle Services Co.

“Guess how much money I had to my name last Sunday. Guess. Thirty Dollars. How much do I have now? Six Hundred.”

Sung and Doyle Service Co. is more than just a new cleaning service for students in Isla Vista. It’s the college-level manifestation of the American Dream.

Two months ago, Sung and Doyle took off as Isla Vista’s first and very own cleaning service company specializing in ending passive-aggressive dish feud dilemmas, wiping up your ‘what happened last night’ stains and scrubbing the shame out of your couches.

Andy “Vape” Sung, a sophomore at UCSB, started this company with the pure hopes of alleviating the already stressful lives of students and making some cash. With what started as a mere Free & For Sale post to see how people would react, Sung’s services became celebrated and sought-after by desperate Isla Vistans. Sung and Doyle currently caters to around three to five customers per week and is open for booking by the public.

Andy’s archetypal rags-to-riches riches story not only serves as an inspiration to broke, struggling college students but also reveals to us the ugly reflection of our lifestyles in IV.

The Beginnings

“I understand that people don’t have the time to clean their own places” he said, sitting amidst the sea of half open food containers and stray clothes that was his living room. “I know, me myself, it’s hard to keep a place clean because of shitty roommates”

Andy had always empathized with struggling students, having been through his own emotional and financial setbacks in the past year. He saw the creation of Sung and Doyle as something that would help these students while simultaneously helping himself stay afloat.

“I understand that it’s really expensive out here just to live, pay rent or eat every single day. It’s for me to pay my rent too, for me to get by. I’m trying to make more money than ten dollars an hour at some on-campus job” 

He prides himself on the incomparably low rates that he offers to students, which can be found on his site.

The Messes

Between massive, unearthly hits from his vape, Andy recalled his experiences with various messes around IV.

A solid portion of his customers are merely students who want to want to maintain the cleanliness of their home. A couple of those customers are regulars that ask for weekly service or customers that only call during midterm season. Sororities are also often regulars. He says that in those cases he’s mainly only washing dishes and cleaning restrooms because “People just don’t want to wipe their own shit”.

However, the biggest percentage of his customers are students desperately asking for day-after-the-party assistance. In the case of these homes, Sung and Doyle adds a ten-dollar charge for any bodily fluids found outside of the toilet. He’s talking about things he’s actually seen like urine, throw-up and the occasional, indistinguishable smear.

The award for most atrocious clean-up according to Andy, goes to that house on Sabado that was previously inhabited by IV’s very own Jack Johnson. It was the half-living, hungover Thursday morning after a wild, sticky Wine Wednesday night. He dealt with a bottomless supply of stained red cups, puke that was sprayed across various rooms and the worst part: the floor.

“I didn’t have a mop so I had to get down on my knees with a rag. They made this disgusting, jungle juice with monster or something. The smell was ridiculous”

The Lesson

Andy has been invited to witness some of the lowest moments in IV homes. He’s seen more things than the average student and has met more people than some students ever will. From his experiences with entering into some of the most intimate spaces in IV, how does he feel about the state of IV?

“It’s not sad but it’s disappointing to see that people aren’t on top of their game, cleaning their houses. I mean, it’s good business for me, and it helps me out, but from some of the messes I’ve seen it’s like, if there was never a cleaning service would you ever have cleaned? Would your place be like this all year round? It’s unsettling.”

Sung and Doyle is currently hiring new employees. For more questions contact Andy Sung on Facebook.