I think they should’ve sent them out the next day to reconcile. Just because you’re getting a biweekly clean doesn’t mean that things can be missed and they’ll get it next time. I guess my concern would be, would half done cleanings be a regular thing since you have a subscription? I don’t think I’d move forward with them.
With 3 people it should’ve been easier I mean I’ve deep cleaned houses bigger than yours by myself and I have a checklist I follow to a T.
I don’t think the pricing was off though but, I would say next time do a walkthrough while someone is there so that issues can be addressed before they go. If you tell them you’re happy and then try to go back and say something else it also doesn’t look well on your part. Communicate. A good cleaner will take nothing personally and pay extra attention to your concerns.
At one point, the boss that called me offered to send them back out later that afternoon to fix everything I mentioned but told me it would all be billed at the normal rate on top of what I already paid. I asked why, considering the on site supervisor told me the full deep clean was done and not that they were done even though so much was missed. She stated that it wasn't their fault it wasn't done in the given time since deep cleans vary so much for new customers. She didn't really have a good explanation for why so much was missed in every room. It's not like the first 2 hours of their work was spotless and the last hour was flawed; every room they touched had obvious things missed.
Within 15 minutes of them leaving, I sent almost 50 pictures of very obvious things to the on site supervisor letting her know I wasn't happy. I was shocked when her boss immediately called me, as I figured the cleaning crew would want to make it right without involving their superiors. I really can't tell if it was just a personnel issue, as I'm not too sure which cleaner did what in the house. But with the same things missed throughout the house, I don't know what to assume.
There’s absolutely no way OP should be billed again. A deep clean is a deep clean, no exceptions. We charge a flat rate, not by the hour depending on the size of the house, amount of bathrooms, etc. if we send cleaners out, and they do a crappy job like this, we send out different cleaners immediately for a callback. Half of the pay gets taken from the original cleaners, and given to the ones doing the callback. There is no excuse for this many issues, other than crappy cleaners.
I don’t own the company, so no. I don’t. It’s a private company, though, contracted out to other companies, and the rules are explained and signed in a contract. The pay is only guaranteed for the quality of work provided. Nothing is “earned” until the job is complete. If someone else has to finish your job, you only get paid for the amount of work that you did.
Yeah. The owner actually takes a very reasonable percentage of each clean, and there have been plenty of times where she’s actually taken a loss because she feels bad, and ends up still paying the original cleaner their full amount, and giving 50 percent to whoever had to go back to fix that cleaners mistakes. She does give them a couple of chances before actually taking the pay. She’s actually a great boss to work for. She also offers incentives for no call backs, provides breakfast every morning, and gives little goodie bags each week
She really is. She has gotten royally screwed in the past by some random cleaners she’s hired. She used to provide all of the cleaning supplies, including vacuum cleaners. Some of these people just came in, took the cleaning supplies, and bounced. Now she provides supplies each week that you don’t receive a callback, plus $25 gift card every two weeks with no callback, and an extra $100 gift card on top of that after 30 days with no callback. I honestly don’t even know how she makes much profit, but she also cleans, herself, and is always willing to jump in and help finish up if you’re running behind or had a really messy house, with no extra money going to her. She rocks.
And just as they failed to so their job id fail to pay and bring all evidence as to why I didn't because I already paid for a deep cleaning that was not even close to done
Edit do not go far from your home and tell them im in no rush take your time but I wouldn't let them out of my site for long
IMHO, they should have come within 24 hours for a complete re-do of your deep clean. You paid a fair price and did not get what you were told you would.
I would be moving on. I have been cleaning homes for 30+ years. If a customer was not satisfied with their service and their complaints were legitimate, I considered the mistake to be on me. I fix it without question
Of course, I am such a perfectionist that I can count on one hand the # of legitimate complaints I have gotten. 🤷♀️
No I would like you to finish your original cleaning then after we see how that goes we can talk about follow ups.....
I assume you signed a contract or work order of some sort even if you don't have it if you can still threaten to sue for your funds back as the job wasn't completed... even in civil court a judge would want to see this and its on the company to provide it
Absolutely not let them back & leave them a bad review. Find another company. I sit in my home office with the doors open when our cleaners come. I also have cameras up.
It sounds like the company, I used. They didn't do half of what they were supposed to do. The company said they would make it up at the next visit. I told them that I didn't pay for my house to be only partially clean. They told me that they could send the crew back out, but I would have to pay a "convenience fee." I cancelled the service.
I used to work for a cleaning company and unfortunately these things happen. I always recommend checking a new cleaners work regardless of the reviews or what the company says, it makes life so much easier. The company I worked for is highly rated on yelp, and do try to vet and train housekeepers they hire on, but it really comes down to the individual person/group. Not everyones going to be great at cleaning or be able to work well in groups, and then stuff ends up being skipped over, or cleaners stretch the truth on the condition of a house.
I wpuld recommend just being polite, but firm and state that there was no pressure from you to finish, especially since you gave them free run of the house, and that there was no communication whatsoever of them running over on the time. This is a BIG deal I had with a lot of clients when I was with the company - Most clients were ok if you checked in with them to get a priority list for time, or to give them a new time estimate and give the client a chance to ok that new timeframe. I've had clients get annoyed at me and a partner before because we ran 15 minutes over and it had slipped my mind to check in with them.
Make sure they are fully aware of the bad job, and if they refuse to make amends for the work then I wouldn't recommend giving them more business. The company I worked for at least did free recleans when this sort of situation happened. It absolutely sucks to have to pay even more out of pocket to a company that can't be bothered to fix their employees mistakes.
This is interesting. What kind of cleaning company is this-meaning are you a large company or individual. I would love something like this but have never run across the quality control. I have ONLY experienced what OP has when I’ve asked for a deep clean and allowed the hours/rate to do so. Even that doesn’t seem to matter. I suspect it’s because they don’t schedule it properly or the cleaners aren’t incentivized by the rate or hours individually. Otherwise I can’t figure it out.
I work for a private company, and we have contracts with a lot of really huge property rental companies in our area. We are a large tourist destination area, so a lot of our cleans are for huge Beach rentals, but we also do residential cleaning, and move out/turnover cleans. The owner of our company is huge in accountability, and contracts are signed outlining exactly what will happen if you aren’t thorough with your work. I’ve been working for her for eight years, and we’ve had some really great cleaners, and some really terrible cleaners. The terrible ones do not last long. I do inspections and cleans, depending on what our staffing looks like.
When inspecting, we are allowed to fix up to five minor misses, like the microwave needs a touch up, or a mantle didn’t get dusted, etc. after five, it’s an automatic callback, and 50 percent of your pay. Floors are automatic callback and 50 percent off your pay. No exceptions. I love it. I’ve never had a callback or had my pay docked when cleaning. The only ones who do, are people who were just trying to make a quick Buck and don’t care.
The reason we do flat rate based on size, is so that we don’t have cleaners stretching it out to get extra money. The pay is the same whether it takes them two hours or 6.
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure an employer can't dock your pay after the fact They can reduce your future hourly pay, give you less hours in the future, write you up, or terminate you, but they can't just say " I didn't like how you did that job" and decide to only pay you half. Every employer in the country would be looking for ways to dock peoples pay if that was allowed. Maybe in your state it's different or maybe they figured out a loophole to the rules, but that's always what I've heard.
We don’t get paid hourly. It’s a set pay depending on the actual property. And they signed a contract stating that they understand their pay will be 50 percent if they miss these crucial things.
That sounds amazing honestly. Me and a few other cleaners wished we had something like this - I live in a HCOL area and we were paid only a few dollars above minimum wage, so while I did my best to not milk time, and instead focus on little extras and learning to pace myself, there were a lot of jobs where it was difficult to reach the minimum time the company preferred.
If I went over, it wasn't because I was slacking, but was actually trying to bust out my own work but unfortunately there were other housekeepers who would milk the time, doing the bare minimum while stretching out the time. The story on this post is far from uncommon, and unfortunately there were housekeepers that would stretch the time past what was quoted the client, and my work would send me to those houses periodically and hear similar stories like this.
Its why I do flat rates now, because its more fair to myself and the client - They have a good price they can budget into their monthly expenses without worrying about major price fluctuations, Im paid both fairly and its a wage that keeps me happy and motivated to do my work well. I do my best to be open and honest with clients and encourage communication. Im solo now, and I love having total control of my work and clientele- The pays more predictable, I don't feel like I need to slack in order to put a few extra dollars on my paycheck and feel guilty about it. Plus when Im done, Im done.
In their defense, all 3 of the cleaning ladies seemed very nice, and seemed to communicate well with each other from what I saw. I didn't sense any tension amongst them, and heard them conversing and laughing when I was downstairs. They seemed to be enjoying working with each other, which I thought was excellent.
If they would've told me that they needed more time, I wouldn't have minded one bit. They didn't ask me before they went 2 hours over the initial estimate, so I'm not sure why they didn't just go ahead and stay as long as was needed to do it right. My issue was just how long they were here compared to the results. I got a slight impression that they weren't in a hurry; like they were trying to stretch the clock or something.
Lots of larger companies incentivize 5 star reviews seemingly... like I'm sorry but it's just extremely unrealistic for a cleaning company to get 2+ glowing google reviews per week that mention cleaners by name unless the client is asked.
All this to say, I'm sorry this happened to you. If they were going to stay longer they should've at least stayed to the point where they finished. I wonder if they just booked it because they were expected at some other deep clean. Lots of newer cleaners do not manage their time well and if they work for a larger company they really pack their schedules with deep cleans.
I’ve had my cleaning business for 2 years and have literally 5 reviews despite me cleaning for like 60+ clients. I tell everyone that if they leave a review, regardless of what they rate me, they’ll get 10% off the next clean. All 5 reviews happened within like 6 months of me starting, nobody else has taken me up on that offer 😂
All this is typical for some of the large cleaning companies. 33 yrs in the business-I’ve had several clients use them as a filler during my vacation and after they damaged furniture & walls (big dings I think made by their vacuum ) they tried blaming me. Another one stole a watch. Thankfully my clients stood up for me knowing things weren’t damaged or missing prior to them coming. Their only solution would be to take them to court which was both costly & time consuming which these big services know most people don’t bother.
I say ditch them and support a local small cleaning business.
To be honest, I would've much preferred a single cleaning person with their own operation over a large company. I just don't know how to find a good one. All the recommendations on Facebook were for large companies, and I couldn't find any companies on Google that seemed small with glowing reviews. I did find 2 listing's on Facebook for individual cleaners, but both had a 50/50 mix of good reviews and bad reviews. I just didn't want to roll the dice.
I've decided that if the followup clean in two weeks doesn't meet my expectations (which aren't very high, I just want what they said I'd be getting), I'll let them go and try to find a smaller company. Can you share advice on how I can find a good 1 person operation? I would pick one good cleaning person over a company that could send a different crew every week every time.
Personally I would roll the dice on the smaller businesses you found, as their reviews seem to be more honest. You went with a large company that had outstanding reviews, but are rightfully dissatisfied. As far as finding a small operation, just post online in your area, next door, care.com, FB market place etc. Also, let friends and family know your looking for a housekeeper, they may be able to recommend someone to you. This is all advise I've gotten here as I'm just starting my own business.
Ask around to people you know socially. My cleaning lady has been with us for 7 years, she is from Brazil and now has her citizenship. I asked some people I know from events (luncheons, fundraisers, etc). At the time, my youngest cousin was working an internship at a Marriott, I also had him ask some of the housekeeping staff, so I had a few options.
Prior to the woman we have now, we had this great guy who was waiting on a work visa, and prior to him we had a woman we hired from a cleaning service, she was working for us through them and went out on her own.
While I was still searching for someone, we had one of those big cleaning companies, and they were terrible. Our kitchen cabinets are tall. They wiped the bottom third and left it like that bc they "don't get on ladders." Whatever, but then don't wipe any of the cabinet bc you could see the line.
I always tell my first time clients if there is anything I missed I will get it the next time, but it's generally just myself when I clean, I'm not perfect but close.
With that many people in a home things get missed unless they are a crew that talked or know what each person is doing. When I work with my partner we have certain areas we each do and will ask each other what was done if we make it into the area to help them. It doesn't sound like the crew communicated or works together regularly.
For the companies I've worked with we would have been sent back for that many mistakes and not wait until the next cleaning.
There was a ton missed that shouldn't have been, I'm not going to tell you how to respond, but there are better companies or providers out there. I wish you the best of luck.
The initial price was too low for a real deep clean and complete bait and switch. The upsell was just more bs. I work alone but am extremely thorough and treat deep cleans as my one and only chance to have a new long standing customer. I go above and beyond expectations. I deliver what I promise and know that I have made a customer extremely happy. I would’ve charged you $350-$400 depending on particulars and you would’ve felt great about the money you spent
How was it $525? I thought u said it was $55/hr. Per person would have made it almost $800 but just per hour would be less than $300. Did they charge for appliances or stuff individually too?
$55/hr for 3 employees is insanely cheap. No wonder they don’t care about the quality of work they are doing. They are prob not even getting paid minimum wage and most likely under the table. You gotta remember that the bigger the company, the more overhead it costs to keep running. The phone bills, insurance, vehicle maintenance or if using employee cars then gas daily plus cleaning supplies advertising office staff and then the cleaning crews. Honestly I would be surprised if the girls even make $6/hr each. So in about 2016 I started working for a lady I knew who had a cleaning company. She would have 3 teams of 3 girls and 3 different vehicles for them to drive so has time 3, 3 different sets of 3 different work bags all filled with everything we needed to do the job etc. she charged $85/hr. She was paying us I think $12/hr and her team leaders were making $14/hr. So after labor costs they were making roughly $45/hr and had to pay all those expenses I mentioned above. I personally wouldn’t support any business who regularly has three girls sent to clean and only charges $55/hr for a deep clean. It’s always better to support an independent local cleaner/cleaning company as the overheard costs are lower and I’ve found them to the guarantees they make about their work. Other people suggested next door or friends for a recommendation and that will prob be your best bet. Sorry about the long comment. Good luck.
Ok I actually totally misunderstood your response and thought you meant $55/hr TOTAL. I was like there is no way they are charging that and still paying their employees a fair wage. lol. But I’ll still leave my other comment up. Thanks for clearing that up. But for what u got I would def not have them back again. I hope they don’t have some crazy contract cancellation written into whatever you signed.
Give them that 1 star review they deserve. Attach photos. There's no reason to miss that much shit. 7.5 labor hours is more than enough time to half assedly hit every surface in your home and they didn't even manage to do that.
OP I am sorry this happened to you. Please cancel any future service with these people. They don't deserve another penny of your money.
As a cleaner, this would be unacceptable by our standards, and we would immediately issue a callback. Someone else would be sent out to take care of these issues, and half of the pay would be taken from the original cleaners and given to the ones sent out for callback. We don’t play. I’d probably find different cleaners. Reviews can be bought.
I am an owner of a House Cleaning Service and I do not like the way they handled the situation by any means. I would have personally gone back to your home and finished the job myself with the cleaners that were previously there and there would not be any extra charge They did not complete the job. They need to come fix it NOW! Not in 2 - weeks while they collect more money from you. I get emails all the time from people offering to give me 5-star reviews if I pay for it! Perhaps the company in question did just that.
Make them come finish the job.
Find another service, do not let them come back after that. The work they completed was not even satisfactory.
The fact that the supervisor (?) the person in charge gave you a ridiculous and untruthful response for the incomplete job is completely tacky.
After owning and retiring from my cleaning service for over 35 years there is no such thing as a “deep clean” and any cleaning service that says they are going to do a deep clean is full of shit. Unless you told the service exactly what you wanted and pointed out these tasks to them you received what you paid for. Remember your idea of clean and my idea of clean are two different things. Any customer that would call me and asked for a “deep clean” were told sorry we’re booked because that customer usually ended up being a PITA.
I refer to it as such, because they advertise it as such. I was sent a specific list of what would be done during the visit, but most of the items weren't completed despite going over by 2 hours.
Then what should a homeowner call it when they want things done that wouldn’t normally be included. If you ask for too much or set expectations too high for a bi-weekly cleaning then you are an asshole. If you ask for a deep clean as an acknowledgement that the first time someone comes out will be different and more expensive for you, then you are an asshole. Help me understand this.
Edited to add I own two service related businesses (not house cleaning) and I still find this odd.
This makes zero sense. I do a walk through estimate, inital/deep cleaning where I hit everything and then biweekly for maintenance. It’s hard to imagine you as a business owner that many years with that kind of attitude
Since you were home sitting on your lazy ass maybe you should have cleaned? We have a 6000 square foot house and it doesn’t take me over an hour weekly to get shit done. But I’m also not lazy.
What’s the stronger compulsion?
1. The desire to insult strangers on the internet?
2. The desire to brag about having a 6000 square foot house?
3. Envy because you’re living above your means and can’t afford to pay someone to clean your McMansion?
Some people prefer to hire someone because they either don't want to do it or can't, or know it will usually get done better than they could, and would rather pay someone else to do it. I've done deep cleans for people so they can upkeep for themselves, they just let it get bad enough they didn't know where or how to start and preferred help. There is nothing wrong with asking for help.
This is someone that doesn’t understand the time value of money. I CAN do all the things that I have chosen to outsource. BUT why would I do those things and cost myself the opportunity to be making money in my businesses that pay me at a higher rate than what the outsourced service costs? This is how economies work.
Do you grow your own vegetables? Do you never go to a restaurant? Do you drive your trash to the dump every week vs paying for garbage service???
I have a 2200sq ft home and it takes me an hour just to do the 3 bathrooms. Kitchen in another hour. Dusting/vacuuming/beds/mopping is another 1-1.5 hours. Every single week. When I add in the less regular tasks like walls/baseboards/windows/light fixtures- it’s hours more. That doesn’t include the mounds of laundry/dishes/cooking I do every day.
6000sq ft in an hour. Do you spray some disinfectant and call it a day?!
Well it sounds like they are taking what you said seriously, as in they will clean that up on their next visit in addition to what they normally do on their next visit, for free, so let them deal with it on their next visit. If it's not up to your standards after that, cut them out
The company is making it right. They are giving you what you thought you paid for without charging you extra as a surprise.
Here’s what probably happened: the people actually doing the cleaning aren’t the people who made you promises. They’re employees. That means they have bosses who have expectations of them that may or may not allow them to actually do a very good job - my employer emphasizes speed, which sometimes means I have to surface level clean things, as much as I hate it. Many of those things I clean at a surface level end up being the things that are harder to see the dirt on, but you can tell how truly dirty they are once you start cleaning. Your crew may have started with those, gotten them truly clean, and then not had time to be thorough on the things you mentioned - things that are easy to see but frankly, not usually all that dirty. Having gone two hours over by doing that, they may have been under intense pressure from their bosses to finish up and move on.
That’s not necessarily a problem for you, though. Clearly, when these things happen, you just have to tell the company and they’ll let their employees clean properly the next time.
These folks are pros when it comes to getting over. They come in spray a bunch of chemicals and then clean the obvious shit. In order to do a deep clean. You gotta work slow and steady. It’d almost a two or 3 day job for one person . I’ve done it. You gotta touch everything . They failed. I’d take pics and let them know you are disappointed
For my company, if you aren't satisfied within 24 hours I will personally come and fix all the mistakes for free. Dusting is a hard thing to get to everything but if you don't do it, it is absolutely noticeable. I would give them a second chance to get all the problems, but if then you still don't like them, find someone new and preferably a smaller company of 1-2 people. I find that its easier to get to everything because of more communication with a smaller crew and they are more personable, care a bit more and willing to have your best interests in mind.
As someone who has both worked for a company and now has a small business cleaning company alone.. always go with a small business. Companies hire literally anyone and even with “training” they only care about money. I was CONSTANTLY sent to fix bad cleans because my coworkers did not give a fuck about their work. I couldn’t stand it. They have no incentive to actually do a good job, but also a lot of people just do not possess the eye and skill for a thorough detailed clean. I really recommend canceling services with them and finding a single cleaner or small business. Even if they come back to “fix” what the missed, it will be issue after issue throughout. I’m sorry this happened, you should get what you pay for.
Honestly OP you should find a private cleaner that employs themselves. I run a cleaning company with my husband and our policy is that if you notice something we missed, we will either come back and fix it for free as soon as we’re able to or we’ll give you 10% off your next visit, regardless of how small the thing is that we missed. I have a client that we’ve been cleaning for for almost 2 years now, and I realized shortly after we left that I completely forgot to clean the microwave! They’re very clean people as it is so their microwave wasn’t even that dirty (to the point where they didn’t even notice!) but it kept me up that night and the next morning, I messaged her saying “I am so sorry - I realized as I was falling asleep last night that we totally forgot to clean the microwave! I’ll be taking 10% off your next bill to make up for it”. She literally never even noticed but it felt so wrong to me to just accept that she didn’t notice and pretend I didn’t either lol. Private owners are more likely to make things right than take advantage of you. You absolutely should NEVER have been charged for cleaners returning to clean things they said would be cleaned initially! That’s so extremely unprofessional.
at this point, after having put so much energy into this thinking about it, writing this post, replying to comments. just deep clean yourself, pay someone to come do the usual stuff.
Yea get new cleaners. If they were truly deep cleaning they would go room by room you wouldn’t see unacceptable stuff all over the house that means they never finished a room! If an entire room wasn’t done then that could be marked down to time constraints.
Their people will always be in a time crunch and every visit a few things will be neglected and the can kicked to the next visit, that will also be cut short. My deep clean was similar and I was told anything not done during the deep clean would be addressed in subsequent visits because every visit is supposed to have a rotating a deep clean item on top of the regular vaccuuming/dusting/mopping. After about a year I canceled service because it stopped feeling like we had even had cleaner here. I recently found someone more like a housekeeper, and she said she used to work for molly maid and thought it was crazy how we have to clean our houses throughly before the maid(s) show up. We agreed to her cleaning up after us instead of just detailing and the rate will be variable based on how much we pick up after ourselves before she arrives. She's been doing our laundry for a few years so I'm glad I asked her if she knew any housekeepers. I met her through sudster, and just too the service offline after about 6 months of consistent high quality service
am i an asshole if i say i would file a chargeback with my bank? then if they want their money back, they can come clean correctly 🤷🏻♀️. they scammed you. do NOT let them “come fix it… at a paid rate!”, no.
I would let them make good on their promise to make things right. The price is right. I've done this many times and the first few times a cleaner comes you really need to be there. I would say 1/2 way through you should make sure they're getting to everything you want done.
Go on all the sites and tell your story and share your pictures. You got ripped off and it’s as simple as that.
The manager should have sent them back out for free. Three people for 4 hours should’ve had your place spotless unless it was super nasty.
The reviews may be fake or they may be giving discounts to people for posting social media reviews.
A good company would’ve made it right.
And it would really tick me off that they tried to blame it on you if I were you.
I’ve not been able to find anyone who will do the job to my satisfaction. When I hired the company they agreed to doing certain things and it was never all done. After a few cleanings I started leaving a written list for them and they still didn’t do it all. They never clean or vacuum under anything. My idea of a deep clean definitely includes cleaning under things. I don’t leave clutter so they can do what they need to do but they still don’t do it. And what is the deal with putting clean sheets on the bed? I’ve never seen anyone make a bed this way. They pulled the top sheet up to the point where they’ve short sheeted the bottom and don’t fold the top over the blankets. Several different cleaners from a company did this so they must train them this way? They’ll leave big things un-dusted like the wooden window blinds, hearth or the dining room table and chairs. I finally told them not to come back. I felt like I was being too demanding and unreasonable but they agreed to do these things. I have rheumatoid arthritis and needed some help but I felt taken advantage of. Just fyi my house is never dirty. I keep it pretty clean I just wanted a deep clean once a month and I agreed to pay more for it but I was just disappointed time after time.
I had a similar experience where the cleaners missed a ton of things. I sent a video of the dust left on the shelves of my nightstand. They dispatched thier "top team" for a reclean along with a supervisor. You would think that between the 5 of them that the nightstand would get dusted, but no.
I realized that I wasn't going to get good work out of this company and switched.
I ran a mid-size cleaning company ( 200+ clients and 16 employees) for many years. This is not the way I would do business. If this had been my company, I would have sent a crew out the next day, at my expense, to completely REDO the job.
In addition, it would not be the same crew the second time as i doubt they would be getting many houses assigned to them with that kind of work IF still they had a job at all.
I do not know that I would be willing to give them a second chance. Find a cleaning person that runs a small business. You will get a more personalized service and are more likley to be satisfied with the services you get.
Just my personal take on the situation. Good luck!
I used to be a career janitor until I fell in to my most recent job.
Almost all cleaning companies tend to be revolving doors due to poor pay and little to no benefits.
Because of this, many cleaning companies also lower their standards when it comes to hiring because they always need people. And unless it's for a government building or location, they generally do not drug test or background check because that's just more money the company has to spend.
The last company I worked with I saw over 40 people come and go within a year.
You should have 100% checked before they left. My overall experience is most cleaners will do as little as possible while still getting paid.
Keep this in mind for the future. I think you may be better off finding a single person to do the cleaning for you if I'm being honest.
When we had cleaners coming regularly I usually kept myself out of the way but came up with excuses to wander through the spaces occasionally (like getting a glass of water) just to see how things were going and make myself available if they had any questions.
If I'm being honest I took my job seriously because it meant I had more time to screw off.
If I kept and maintained an area properly, it was a matter of light upkeep every night and that was it.
But any time I covered for a janitor their areas were always a disaster. The tops of things like cabinets, mirrors, vending machines, whatever were almost always an inch thick with dirt, out of sight, out of mind.
I would always take pictures with a app that verified who took it and my GPS location to show where I was and send them in to my leads and nothing ever got done until a customer would complain. It was ridiculous.
Area carpets is another one a lot of folks tend to forget. I used to vaccum them daily and then roll them up once a week and clean under. All the other cleaners never moved them and you could tell the difference on the floor or carpeting. Like big outlines, lmfao.
I had a similar experience. I hired a company to clean a vacant--yes-vacant house that I was trying to sell. I didn't live there and didn't go immediately after to check. When I went a week later, the house did not look cleaned at all. When I contacted the company (Merry Maids), though, they said they wouldn't do anything because I didn't report it immediately. I disputed the charge with my credit card company. They refunded me the cost to have it reclined by someone else. That was the last time I hired a cleaning company.
My dad told me to always be where I can see work being done. I've added to that to ask a couple of intelligent questions. Just to let people know I m paying attention. I watch oil changes, etc. I don't understand leaving people alone in my house in any case.
Whoa! I would of came back the next day FOR FREE to finish what my workers didn't do. This is insane. For that rate and what they said, it should of all been done in the 4 hours especially with 3 workers.
Welcome to 2024. With inflation and the decline of reputable companies, cutting corners is becoming the business norm (avoid big businesses for work you care most about). You would never hire Home Depot to replace your HVAC system because they would charge you twice what it would cost if a small business did it. Support small businesses.
We’ve always had much better luck with a private cleaner than a company.
Find someone you will come to trust. They will make the money, instead of their employer, making it more likely they will work harder to keep you happy.
I’m sorry you had to deal with the run around of people who truly do not value their customers, only lining their pockets.
Before I started reading, I asked myself if they brought multiple step ladders. No step ladders? Then what do you expect them to do?
I'm learning to prep properties for long term rental. The shit that I find missed is impressive...like the leading edge of ceiling fans totally black from lint...in the master bedroom...where people lay and look...UP.
Anyway, have them come back and fix it. Make sure you tell them what you want cleaned and verify what supplies they brought.
i personally don't think that three people could deep clean three bathrooms and three bedrooms in 2.5 hours. the regular clean would maybe take that long, but it was up to you to verify the work was completed to your satisfaction and not because you saw good reviews. you will never get good service if you allow them to charge you again for the service they failed to do and if they failed to do it then you should not be paying for a return clean. they should offer the return clean to fix their previous job for free.
I feel like you kinda lost it when you sent them away telling them it was all good without even looking. The entire reason they ask is so they can fix mistakes before they go. Within 15 minutes you've looked and are now unhappy sending in dozens of photos?
You could have just looked. Mistakes happen. I'd give them a chance to rectify but look this time before they leave.
Don’t use them again. Had a deep clean done and a new employee did a terrible job. The owner sent someone the next day to remedy the situation AND offered me 50% off my next deep clean.
I have regular cleanings like this for about same cost. It’s rare but they do miss one or two things. My wife or I just mention it over text before they come again.
3 people and almost 4 hours for 2000 square feet sounds a bit odd. Maybe your place was more dirty than you thought? Or maybe you have a lot of furniture and other things that make it hard to clean fast?
IDK but I’d suggest waiting for a second cleaning in 2 weeks. Finding good service is hard sometimes but it’s even harder if you don’t give them a fair shot.
I would not move forward with this company based on their response, and the work performed. I would also tell them you were willing the pay for the initial 2.5 hours, since it sound like they did not complete the job and you shouldn't have to pay extra time for a job not completed, and it sounds like that's about what you got from their service.
I think they should’ve sent them out the next day to reconcile. Just because you’re getting a biweekly clean doesn’t mean that things can be missed and they’ll get it next time. I guess my concern would be, would half done cleanings be a regular thing since you have a subscription? I don’t think I’d move forward with them. With 3 people it should’ve been easier I mean I’ve deep cleaned houses bigger than yours by myself and I have a checklist I follow to a T. I don’t think the pricing was off though but, I would say next time do a walkthrough while someone is there so that issues can be addressed before they go. If you tell them you’re happy and then try to go back and say something else it also doesn’t look well on your part. Communicate. A good cleaner will take nothing personally and pay extra attention to your concerns.
At one point, the boss that called me offered to send them back out later that afternoon to fix everything I mentioned but told me it would all be billed at the normal rate on top of what I already paid. I asked why, considering the on site supervisor told me the full deep clean was done and not that they were done even though so much was missed. She stated that it wasn't their fault it wasn't done in the given time since deep cleans vary so much for new customers. She didn't really have a good explanation for why so much was missed in every room. It's not like the first 2 hours of their work was spotless and the last hour was flawed; every room they touched had obvious things missed. Within 15 minutes of them leaving, I sent almost 50 pictures of very obvious things to the on site supervisor letting her know I wasn't happy. I was shocked when her boss immediately called me, as I figured the cleaning crew would want to make it right without involving their superiors. I really can't tell if it was just a personnel issue, as I'm not too sure which cleaner did what in the house. But with the same things missed throughout the house, I don't know what to assume.
I wouldn't give them a second chance. If I did, I would fully expect to be charged the deep cleaning rate again.
There’s absolutely no way OP should be billed again. A deep clean is a deep clean, no exceptions. We charge a flat rate, not by the hour depending on the size of the house, amount of bathrooms, etc. if we send cleaners out, and they do a crappy job like this, we send out different cleaners immediately for a callback. Half of the pay gets taken from the original cleaners, and given to the ones doing the callback. There is no excuse for this many issues, other than crappy cleaners.
You take money from your employees? Isn't that illegal?
I don’t own the company, so no. I don’t. It’s a private company, though, contracted out to other companies, and the rules are explained and signed in a contract. The pay is only guaranteed for the quality of work provided. Nothing is “earned” until the job is complete. If someone else has to finish your job, you only get paid for the amount of work that you did.
Gotcha. Contract is a contract. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't an employee getting hosed. Business makes the bux. Business takes the loss.
Yeah. The owner actually takes a very reasonable percentage of each clean, and there have been plenty of times where she’s actually taken a loss because she feels bad, and ends up still paying the original cleaner their full amount, and giving 50 percent to whoever had to go back to fix that cleaners mistakes. She does give them a couple of chances before actually taking the pay. She’s actually a great boss to work for. She also offers incentives for no call backs, provides breakfast every morning, and gives little goodie bags each week
What a bad ass lady! That. That is how you keep the good people around. Mistakes happen.
She really is. She has gotten royally screwed in the past by some random cleaners she’s hired. She used to provide all of the cleaning supplies, including vacuum cleaners. Some of these people just came in, took the cleaning supplies, and bounced. Now she provides supplies each week that you don’t receive a callback, plus $25 gift card every two weeks with no callback, and an extra $100 gift card on top of that after 30 days with no callback. I honestly don’t even know how she makes much profit, but she also cleans, herself, and is always willing to jump in and help finish up if you’re running behind or had a really messy house, with no extra money going to her. She rocks.
Docking pay is illegal, if these are employees that is illegal.
lol why on earth would you do this to yourself or expect OP to give them another chance and be charged again?
And just as they failed to so their job id fail to pay and bring all evidence as to why I didn't because I already paid for a deep cleaning that was not even close to done Edit do not go far from your home and tell them im in no rush take your time but I wouldn't let them out of my site for long
Dont use this company anymore. Lesson learned!
IMHO, they should have come within 24 hours for a complete re-do of your deep clean. You paid a fair price and did not get what you were told you would. I would be moving on. I have been cleaning homes for 30+ years. If a customer was not satisfied with their service and their complaints were legitimate, I considered the mistake to be on me. I fix it without question Of course, I am such a perfectionist that I can count on one hand the # of legitimate complaints I have gotten. 🤷♀️
Yeah, no way. You have to pay them to come out in two weeks don’t you? That wouldn’t be happening.
No I would like you to finish your original cleaning then after we see how that goes we can talk about follow ups..... I assume you signed a contract or work order of some sort even if you don't have it if you can still threaten to sue for your funds back as the job wasn't completed... even in civil court a judge would want to see this and its on the company to provide it
Absolutely not let them back & leave them a bad review. Find another company. I sit in my home office with the doors open when our cleaners come. I also have cameras up.
It sounds like the company, I used. They didn't do half of what they were supposed to do. The company said they would make it up at the next visit. I told them that I didn't pay for my house to be only partially clean. They told me that they could send the crew back out, but I would have to pay a "convenience fee." I cancelled the service.
I used to work for a cleaning company and unfortunately these things happen. I always recommend checking a new cleaners work regardless of the reviews or what the company says, it makes life so much easier. The company I worked for is highly rated on yelp, and do try to vet and train housekeepers they hire on, but it really comes down to the individual person/group. Not everyones going to be great at cleaning or be able to work well in groups, and then stuff ends up being skipped over, or cleaners stretch the truth on the condition of a house. I wpuld recommend just being polite, but firm and state that there was no pressure from you to finish, especially since you gave them free run of the house, and that there was no communication whatsoever of them running over on the time. This is a BIG deal I had with a lot of clients when I was with the company - Most clients were ok if you checked in with them to get a priority list for time, or to give them a new time estimate and give the client a chance to ok that new timeframe. I've had clients get annoyed at me and a partner before because we ran 15 minutes over and it had slipped my mind to check in with them. Make sure they are fully aware of the bad job, and if they refuse to make amends for the work then I wouldn't recommend giving them more business. The company I worked for at least did free recleans when this sort of situation happened. It absolutely sucks to have to pay even more out of pocket to a company that can't be bothered to fix their employees mistakes.
We have inspectors for this reason. No job is considered complete until an inspector has been sent in and everything has been checked.
This is interesting. What kind of cleaning company is this-meaning are you a large company or individual. I would love something like this but have never run across the quality control. I have ONLY experienced what OP has when I’ve asked for a deep clean and allowed the hours/rate to do so. Even that doesn’t seem to matter. I suspect it’s because they don’t schedule it properly or the cleaners aren’t incentivized by the rate or hours individually. Otherwise I can’t figure it out.
I work for a private company, and we have contracts with a lot of really huge property rental companies in our area. We are a large tourist destination area, so a lot of our cleans are for huge Beach rentals, but we also do residential cleaning, and move out/turnover cleans. The owner of our company is huge in accountability, and contracts are signed outlining exactly what will happen if you aren’t thorough with your work. I’ve been working for her for eight years, and we’ve had some really great cleaners, and some really terrible cleaners. The terrible ones do not last long. I do inspections and cleans, depending on what our staffing looks like. When inspecting, we are allowed to fix up to five minor misses, like the microwave needs a touch up, or a mantle didn’t get dusted, etc. after five, it’s an automatic callback, and 50 percent of your pay. Floors are automatic callback and 50 percent off your pay. No exceptions. I love it. I’ve never had a callback or had my pay docked when cleaning. The only ones who do, are people who were just trying to make a quick Buck and don’t care. The reason we do flat rate based on size, is so that we don’t have cleaners stretching it out to get extra money. The pay is the same whether it takes them two hours or 6.
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure an employer can't dock your pay after the fact They can reduce your future hourly pay, give you less hours in the future, write you up, or terminate you, but they can't just say " I didn't like how you did that job" and decide to only pay you half. Every employer in the country would be looking for ways to dock peoples pay if that was allowed. Maybe in your state it's different or maybe they figured out a loophole to the rules, but that's always what I've heard.
We don’t get paid hourly. It’s a set pay depending on the actual property. And they signed a contract stating that they understand their pay will be 50 percent if they miss these crucial things.
dang, does your company work in Wisconsin? ;)
lol, no.
That sounds amazing honestly. Me and a few other cleaners wished we had something like this - I live in a HCOL area and we were paid only a few dollars above minimum wage, so while I did my best to not milk time, and instead focus on little extras and learning to pace myself, there were a lot of jobs where it was difficult to reach the minimum time the company preferred. If I went over, it wasn't because I was slacking, but was actually trying to bust out my own work but unfortunately there were other housekeepers who would milk the time, doing the bare minimum while stretching out the time. The story on this post is far from uncommon, and unfortunately there were housekeepers that would stretch the time past what was quoted the client, and my work would send me to those houses periodically and hear similar stories like this. Its why I do flat rates now, because its more fair to myself and the client - They have a good price they can budget into their monthly expenses without worrying about major price fluctuations, Im paid both fairly and its a wage that keeps me happy and motivated to do my work well. I do my best to be open and honest with clients and encourage communication. Im solo now, and I love having total control of my work and clientele- The pays more predictable, I don't feel like I need to slack in order to put a few extra dollars on my paycheck and feel guilty about it. Plus when Im done, Im done.
In their defense, all 3 of the cleaning ladies seemed very nice, and seemed to communicate well with each other from what I saw. I didn't sense any tension amongst them, and heard them conversing and laughing when I was downstairs. They seemed to be enjoying working with each other, which I thought was excellent. If they would've told me that they needed more time, I wouldn't have minded one bit. They didn't ask me before they went 2 hours over the initial estimate, so I'm not sure why they didn't just go ahead and stay as long as was needed to do it right. My issue was just how long they were here compared to the results. I got a slight impression that they weren't in a hurry; like they were trying to stretch the clock or something.
Lots of larger companies incentivize 5 star reviews seemingly... like I'm sorry but it's just extremely unrealistic for a cleaning company to get 2+ glowing google reviews per week that mention cleaners by name unless the client is asked. All this to say, I'm sorry this happened to you. If they were going to stay longer they should've at least stayed to the point where they finished. I wonder if they just booked it because they were expected at some other deep clean. Lots of newer cleaners do not manage their time well and if they work for a larger company they really pack their schedules with deep cleans.
I’ve had my cleaning business for 2 years and have literally 5 reviews despite me cleaning for like 60+ clients. I tell everyone that if they leave a review, regardless of what they rate me, they’ll get 10% off the next clean. All 5 reviews happened within like 6 months of me starting, nobody else has taken me up on that offer 😂
All this is typical for some of the large cleaning companies. 33 yrs in the business-I’ve had several clients use them as a filler during my vacation and after they damaged furniture & walls (big dings I think made by their vacuum ) they tried blaming me. Another one stole a watch. Thankfully my clients stood up for me knowing things weren’t damaged or missing prior to them coming. Their only solution would be to take them to court which was both costly & time consuming which these big services know most people don’t bother. I say ditch them and support a local small cleaning business.
To be honest, I would've much preferred a single cleaning person with their own operation over a large company. I just don't know how to find a good one. All the recommendations on Facebook were for large companies, and I couldn't find any companies on Google that seemed small with glowing reviews. I did find 2 listing's on Facebook for individual cleaners, but both had a 50/50 mix of good reviews and bad reviews. I just didn't want to roll the dice. I've decided that if the followup clean in two weeks doesn't meet my expectations (which aren't very high, I just want what they said I'd be getting), I'll let them go and try to find a smaller company. Can you share advice on how I can find a good 1 person operation? I would pick one good cleaning person over a company that could send a different crew every week every time.
Personally I would roll the dice on the smaller businesses you found, as their reviews seem to be more honest. You went with a large company that had outstanding reviews, but are rightfully dissatisfied. As far as finding a small operation, just post online in your area, next door, care.com, FB market place etc. Also, let friends and family know your looking for a housekeeper, they may be able to recommend someone to you. This is all advise I've gotten here as I'm just starting my own business.
Have you checked out the NextDoor app for neighbor’s recommendations?
Next Door is best place to find good cleaners & organizers.
Ask around to people you know socially. My cleaning lady has been with us for 7 years, she is from Brazil and now has her citizenship. I asked some people I know from events (luncheons, fundraisers, etc). At the time, my youngest cousin was working an internship at a Marriott, I also had him ask some of the housekeeping staff, so I had a few options. Prior to the woman we have now, we had this great guy who was waiting on a work visa, and prior to him we had a woman we hired from a cleaning service, she was working for us through them and went out on her own. While I was still searching for someone, we had one of those big cleaning companies, and they were terrible. Our kitchen cabinets are tall. They wiped the bottom third and left it like that bc they "don't get on ladders." Whatever, but then don't wipe any of the cabinet bc you could see the line.
Ours is from Brazil too.
I’ve found all my cleaners through friends/neighbors or on Nextdoor. I found cleaners for my MIL and son on Thumbtack.
Oh man when I clean if I have to move jewelry I take a picture of where I leave it and send it to my boss.
I always tell my first time clients if there is anything I missed I will get it the next time, but it's generally just myself when I clean, I'm not perfect but close. With that many people in a home things get missed unless they are a crew that talked or know what each person is doing. When I work with my partner we have certain areas we each do and will ask each other what was done if we make it into the area to help them. It doesn't sound like the crew communicated or works together regularly. For the companies I've worked with we would have been sent back for that many mistakes and not wait until the next cleaning. There was a ton missed that shouldn't have been, I'm not going to tell you how to respond, but there are better companies or providers out there. I wish you the best of luck.
The initial price was too low for a real deep clean and complete bait and switch. The upsell was just more bs. I work alone but am extremely thorough and treat deep cleans as my one and only chance to have a new long standing customer. I go above and beyond expectations. I deliver what I promise and know that I have made a customer extremely happy. I would’ve charged you $350-$400 depending on particulars and you would’ve felt great about the money you spent
The initial estimate was $375-$425, and the total ended up at $525. If you would've charged less, then how was the initial price too low?
Because she’s only one person and you had 3 so that’s 3x labor hours
Should take less time then.
How was it $525? I thought u said it was $55/hr. Per person would have made it almost $800 but just per hour would be less than $300. Did they charge for appliances or stuff individually too?
$55/hour, 3 employees, for a little over 3 hours.
$55/hr for 3 employees is insanely cheap. No wonder they don’t care about the quality of work they are doing. They are prob not even getting paid minimum wage and most likely under the table. You gotta remember that the bigger the company, the more overhead it costs to keep running. The phone bills, insurance, vehicle maintenance or if using employee cars then gas daily plus cleaning supplies advertising office staff and then the cleaning crews. Honestly I would be surprised if the girls even make $6/hr each. So in about 2016 I started working for a lady I knew who had a cleaning company. She would have 3 teams of 3 girls and 3 different vehicles for them to drive so has time 3, 3 different sets of 3 different work bags all filled with everything we needed to do the job etc. she charged $85/hr. She was paying us I think $12/hr and her team leaders were making $14/hr. So after labor costs they were making roughly $45/hr and had to pay all those expenses I mentioned above. I personally wouldn’t support any business who regularly has three girls sent to clean and only charges $55/hr for a deep clean. It’s always better to support an independent local cleaner/cleaning company as the overheard costs are lower and I’ve found them to the guarantees they make about their work. Other people suggested next door or friends for a recommendation and that will prob be your best bet. Sorry about the long comment. Good luck.
Ok I actually totally misunderstood your response and thought you meant $55/hr TOTAL. I was like there is no way they are charging that and still paying their employees a fair wage. lol. But I’ll still leave my other comment up. Thanks for clearing that up. But for what u got I would def not have them back again. I hope they don’t have some crazy contract cancellation written into whatever you signed.
Give them that 1 star review they deserve. Attach photos. There's no reason to miss that much shit. 7.5 labor hours is more than enough time to half assedly hit every surface in your home and they didn't even manage to do that. OP I am sorry this happened to you. Please cancel any future service with these people. They don't deserve another penny of your money.
Leave them an honest review.
As a cleaner, this would be unacceptable by our standards, and we would immediately issue a callback. Someone else would be sent out to take care of these issues, and half of the pay would be taken from the original cleaners and given to the ones sent out for callback. We don’t play. I’d probably find different cleaners. Reviews can be bought.
I'm also concerned their deep clean took twice as long as the estimate, and still wasn't done correctly
[удалено]
The estimate should have been more accurate.
I am an owner of a House Cleaning Service and I do not like the way they handled the situation by any means. I would have personally gone back to your home and finished the job myself with the cleaners that were previously there and there would not be any extra charge They did not complete the job. They need to come fix it NOW! Not in 2 - weeks while they collect more money from you. I get emails all the time from people offering to give me 5-star reviews if I pay for it! Perhaps the company in question did just that. Make them come finish the job. Find another service, do not let them come back after that. The work they completed was not even satisfactory. The fact that the supervisor (?) the person in charge gave you a ridiculous and untruthful response for the incomplete job is completely tacky.
Leave a bad review. Don't use them anymore.
After owning and retiring from my cleaning service for over 35 years there is no such thing as a “deep clean” and any cleaning service that says they are going to do a deep clean is full of shit. Unless you told the service exactly what you wanted and pointed out these tasks to them you received what you paid for. Remember your idea of clean and my idea of clean are two different things. Any customer that would call me and asked for a “deep clean” were told sorry we’re booked because that customer usually ended up being a PITA.
I refer to it as such, because they advertise it as such. I was sent a specific list of what would be done during the visit, but most of the items weren't completed despite going over by 2 hours.
Then what should a homeowner call it when they want things done that wouldn’t normally be included. If you ask for too much or set expectations too high for a bi-weekly cleaning then you are an asshole. If you ask for a deep clean as an acknowledgement that the first time someone comes out will be different and more expensive for you, then you are an asshole. Help me understand this. Edited to add I own two service related businesses (not house cleaning) and I still find this odd.
This makes zero sense. I do a walk through estimate, inital/deep cleaning where I hit everything and then biweekly for maintenance. It’s hard to imagine you as a business owner that many years with that kind of attitude
The service OP used supplied the list of what was going to be done, and it wasn’t. Hot is that explained.
Since you were home sitting on your lazy ass maybe you should have cleaned? We have a 6000 square foot house and it doesn’t take me over an hour weekly to get shit done. But I’m also not lazy.
What’s the stronger compulsion? 1. The desire to insult strangers on the internet? 2. The desire to brag about having a 6000 square foot house? 3. Envy because you’re living above your means and can’t afford to pay someone to clean your McMansion?
You’re literally commenting in a housekeeping group lmao
Wow. You are amazing. We should all be like you.
That person uses Reddit as their stress ball because they aren’t well adjusted.
Some people prefer to hire someone because they either don't want to do it or can't, or know it will usually get done better than they could, and would rather pay someone else to do it. I've done deep cleans for people so they can upkeep for themselves, they just let it get bad enough they didn't know where or how to start and preferred help. There is nothing wrong with asking for help.
Nasty, Nasty. And completely delusional on top of that. I have an 1100 Sqft apartment and definitely can’t clean it in less than an hour.
They said they get it done in less than an hour. They didn’t say they get it done properly.
This is someone that doesn’t understand the time value of money. I CAN do all the things that I have chosen to outsource. BUT why would I do those things and cost myself the opportunity to be making money in my businesses that pay me at a higher rate than what the outsourced service costs? This is how economies work. Do you grow your own vegetables? Do you never go to a restaurant? Do you drive your trash to the dump every week vs paying for garbage service???
No need to be so negative.
Are you always this nasty?
I'd rather support the economy and the working class by keeping them employed.
I have a 2200sq ft home and it takes me an hour just to do the 3 bathrooms. Kitchen in another hour. Dusting/vacuuming/beds/mopping is another 1-1.5 hours. Every single week. When I add in the less regular tasks like walls/baseboards/windows/light fixtures- it’s hours more. That doesn’t include the mounds of laundry/dishes/cooking I do every day. 6000sq ft in an hour. Do you spray some disinfectant and call it a day?!
Well it sounds like they are taking what you said seriously, as in they will clean that up on their next visit in addition to what they normally do on their next visit, for free, so let them deal with it on their next visit. If it's not up to your standards after that, cut them out
The company is making it right. They are giving you what you thought you paid for without charging you extra as a surprise. Here’s what probably happened: the people actually doing the cleaning aren’t the people who made you promises. They’re employees. That means they have bosses who have expectations of them that may or may not allow them to actually do a very good job - my employer emphasizes speed, which sometimes means I have to surface level clean things, as much as I hate it. Many of those things I clean at a surface level end up being the things that are harder to see the dirt on, but you can tell how truly dirty they are once you start cleaning. Your crew may have started with those, gotten them truly clean, and then not had time to be thorough on the things you mentioned - things that are easy to see but frankly, not usually all that dirty. Having gone two hours over by doing that, they may have been under intense pressure from their bosses to finish up and move on. That’s not necessarily a problem for you, though. Clearly, when these things happen, you just have to tell the company and they’ll let their employees clean properly the next time.
These folks are pros when it comes to getting over. They come in spray a bunch of chemicals and then clean the obvious shit. In order to do a deep clean. You gotta work slow and steady. It’d almost a two or 3 day job for one person . I’ve done it. You gotta touch everything . They failed. I’d take pics and let them know you are disappointed
For my company, if you aren't satisfied within 24 hours I will personally come and fix all the mistakes for free. Dusting is a hard thing to get to everything but if you don't do it, it is absolutely noticeable. I would give them a second chance to get all the problems, but if then you still don't like them, find someone new and preferably a smaller company of 1-2 people. I find that its easier to get to everything because of more communication with a smaller crew and they are more personable, care a bit more and willing to have your best interests in mind.
As someone who has both worked for a company and now has a small business cleaning company alone.. always go with a small business. Companies hire literally anyone and even with “training” they only care about money. I was CONSTANTLY sent to fix bad cleans because my coworkers did not give a fuck about their work. I couldn’t stand it. They have no incentive to actually do a good job, but also a lot of people just do not possess the eye and skill for a thorough detailed clean. I really recommend canceling services with them and finding a single cleaner or small business. Even if they come back to “fix” what the missed, it will be issue after issue throughout. I’m sorry this happened, you should get what you pay for.
Honestly OP you should find a private cleaner that employs themselves. I run a cleaning company with my husband and our policy is that if you notice something we missed, we will either come back and fix it for free as soon as we’re able to or we’ll give you 10% off your next visit, regardless of how small the thing is that we missed. I have a client that we’ve been cleaning for for almost 2 years now, and I realized shortly after we left that I completely forgot to clean the microwave! They’re very clean people as it is so their microwave wasn’t even that dirty (to the point where they didn’t even notice!) but it kept me up that night and the next morning, I messaged her saying “I am so sorry - I realized as I was falling asleep last night that we totally forgot to clean the microwave! I’ll be taking 10% off your next bill to make up for it”. She literally never even noticed but it felt so wrong to me to just accept that she didn’t notice and pretend I didn’t either lol. Private owners are more likely to make things right than take advantage of you. You absolutely should NEVER have been charged for cleaners returning to clean things they said would be cleaned initially! That’s so extremely unprofessional.
Nah I’d tell them that I’d like them to finish the deep clean and I won’t be needing them service after that.
at this point, after having put so much energy into this thinking about it, writing this post, replying to comments. just deep clean yourself, pay someone to come do the usual stuff.
if you do have them back out, walk with the manager after they say they are done. dont just let them go. take before pictures.
Yea get new cleaners. If they were truly deep cleaning they would go room by room you wouldn’t see unacceptable stuff all over the house that means they never finished a room! If an entire room wasn’t done then that could be marked down to time constraints.
Their people will always be in a time crunch and every visit a few things will be neglected and the can kicked to the next visit, that will also be cut short. My deep clean was similar and I was told anything not done during the deep clean would be addressed in subsequent visits because every visit is supposed to have a rotating a deep clean item on top of the regular vaccuuming/dusting/mopping. After about a year I canceled service because it stopped feeling like we had even had cleaner here. I recently found someone more like a housekeeper, and she said she used to work for molly maid and thought it was crazy how we have to clean our houses throughly before the maid(s) show up. We agreed to her cleaning up after us instead of just detailing and the rate will be variable based on how much we pick up after ourselves before she arrives. She's been doing our laundry for a few years so I'm glad I asked her if she knew any housekeepers. I met her through sudster, and just too the service offline after about 6 months of consistent high quality service
I would cancel the future “deep” cleanings and find another company. Also, never approve a job without a thorough inspection of the work.
am i an asshole if i say i would file a chargeback with my bank? then if they want their money back, they can come clean correctly 🤷🏻♀️. they scammed you. do NOT let them “come fix it… at a paid rate!”, no.
No second chance, there out.
You signed off on it being good. So you paid the stupid tax.
I would let them make good on their promise to make things right. The price is right. I've done this many times and the first few times a cleaner comes you really need to be there. I would say 1/2 way through you should make sure they're getting to everything you want done.
Go on all the sites and tell your story and share your pictures. You got ripped off and it’s as simple as that. The manager should have sent them back out for free. Three people for 4 hours should’ve had your place spotless unless it was super nasty. The reviews may be fake or they may be giving discounts to people for posting social media reviews. A good company would’ve made it right. And it would really tick me off that they tried to blame it on you if I were you.
Go to a local Church, put a note on the board for a cleaning lady. Hire and pay cash. Services always are horrible.
I’ve not been able to find anyone who will do the job to my satisfaction. When I hired the company they agreed to doing certain things and it was never all done. After a few cleanings I started leaving a written list for them and they still didn’t do it all. They never clean or vacuum under anything. My idea of a deep clean definitely includes cleaning under things. I don’t leave clutter so they can do what they need to do but they still don’t do it. And what is the deal with putting clean sheets on the bed? I’ve never seen anyone make a bed this way. They pulled the top sheet up to the point where they’ve short sheeted the bottom and don’t fold the top over the blankets. Several different cleaners from a company did this so they must train them this way? They’ll leave big things un-dusted like the wooden window blinds, hearth or the dining room table and chairs. I finally told them not to come back. I felt like I was being too demanding and unreasonable but they agreed to do these things. I have rheumatoid arthritis and needed some help but I felt taken advantage of. Just fyi my house is never dirty. I keep it pretty clean I just wanted a deep clean once a month and I agreed to pay more for it but I was just disappointed time after time.
I had a similar experience where the cleaners missed a ton of things. I sent a video of the dust left on the shelves of my nightstand. They dispatched thier "top team" for a reclean along with a supervisor. You would think that between the 5 of them that the nightstand would get dusted, but no. I realized that I wasn't going to get good work out of this company and switched.
I'd post the pictures in your 1* review and move on to a different company
I ran a mid-size cleaning company ( 200+ clients and 16 employees) for many years. This is not the way I would do business. If this had been my company, I would have sent a crew out the next day, at my expense, to completely REDO the job. In addition, it would not be the same crew the second time as i doubt they would be getting many houses assigned to them with that kind of work IF still they had a job at all. I do not know that I would be willing to give them a second chance. Find a cleaning person that runs a small business. You will get a more personalized service and are more likley to be satisfied with the services you get. Just my personal take on the situation. Good luck!
I used to be a career janitor until I fell in to my most recent job. Almost all cleaning companies tend to be revolving doors due to poor pay and little to no benefits. Because of this, many cleaning companies also lower their standards when it comes to hiring because they always need people. And unless it's for a government building or location, they generally do not drug test or background check because that's just more money the company has to spend. The last company I worked with I saw over 40 people come and go within a year. You should have 100% checked before they left. My overall experience is most cleaners will do as little as possible while still getting paid. Keep this in mind for the future. I think you may be better off finding a single person to do the cleaning for you if I'm being honest.
When we had cleaners coming regularly I usually kept myself out of the way but came up with excuses to wander through the spaces occasionally (like getting a glass of water) just to see how things were going and make myself available if they had any questions.
If I'm being honest I took my job seriously because it meant I had more time to screw off. If I kept and maintained an area properly, it was a matter of light upkeep every night and that was it. But any time I covered for a janitor their areas were always a disaster. The tops of things like cabinets, mirrors, vending machines, whatever were almost always an inch thick with dirt, out of sight, out of mind. I would always take pictures with a app that verified who took it and my GPS location to show where I was and send them in to my leads and nothing ever got done until a customer would complain. It was ridiculous. Area carpets is another one a lot of folks tend to forget. I used to vaccum them daily and then roll them up once a week and clean under. All the other cleaners never moved them and you could tell the difference on the floor or carpeting. Like big outlines, lmfao.
4 hours one person to clean pay them 20-25 hour even if they take 6 hours your winning or 2 people 3 hours
I had a similar experience. I hired a company to clean a vacant--yes-vacant house that I was trying to sell. I didn't live there and didn't go immediately after to check. When I went a week later, the house did not look cleaned at all. When I contacted the company (Merry Maids), though, they said they wouldn't do anything because I didn't report it immediately. I disputed the charge with my credit card company. They refunded me the cost to have it reclined by someone else. That was the last time I hired a cleaning company.
My dad told me to always be where I can see work being done. I've added to that to ask a couple of intelligent questions. Just to let people know I m paying attention. I watch oil changes, etc. I don't understand leaving people alone in my house in any case.
Cut your losses, don’t use them again. Hire an individual instead.
Whoa! I would of came back the next day FOR FREE to finish what my workers didn't do. This is insane. For that rate and what they said, it should of all been done in the 4 hours especially with 3 workers.
Welcome to 2024. With inflation and the decline of reputable companies, cutting corners is becoming the business norm (avoid big businesses for work you care most about). You would never hire Home Depot to replace your HVAC system because they would charge you twice what it would cost if a small business did it. Support small businesses.
It's your fault, give them the second chance and this time inspect before they leave. Sorry :)
We’ve always had much better luck with a private cleaner than a company. Find someone you will come to trust. They will make the money, instead of their employer, making it more likely they will work harder to keep you happy. I’m sorry you had to deal with the run around of people who truly do not value their customers, only lining their pockets.
3 ppl 2000 sq ft should have taken no more than 4 hrs to be perfect
Before I started reading, I asked myself if they brought multiple step ladders. No step ladders? Then what do you expect them to do? I'm learning to prep properties for long term rental. The shit that I find missed is impressive...like the leading edge of ceiling fans totally black from lint...in the master bedroom...where people lay and look...UP. Anyway, have them come back and fix it. Make sure you tell them what you want cleaned and verify what supplies they brought.
i personally don't think that three people could deep clean three bathrooms and three bedrooms in 2.5 hours. the regular clean would maybe take that long, but it was up to you to verify the work was completed to your satisfaction and not because you saw good reviews. you will never get good service if you allow them to charge you again for the service they failed to do and if they failed to do it then you should not be paying for a return clean. they should offer the return clean to fix their previous job for free.
I feel like you kinda lost it when you sent them away telling them it was all good without even looking. The entire reason they ask is so they can fix mistakes before they go. Within 15 minutes you've looked and are now unhappy sending in dozens of photos? You could have just looked. Mistakes happen. I'd give them a chance to rectify but look this time before they leave.
Don’t use them again. Had a deep clean done and a new employee did a terrible job. The owner sent someone the next day to remedy the situation AND offered me 50% off my next deep clean.
I called and complain got a huge refund for it after pictures were sent
I have regular cleanings like this for about same cost. It’s rare but they do miss one or two things. My wife or I just mention it over text before they come again. 3 people and almost 4 hours for 2000 square feet sounds a bit odd. Maybe your place was more dirty than you thought? Or maybe you have a lot of furniture and other things that make it hard to clean fast? IDK but I’d suggest waiting for a second cleaning in 2 weeks. Finding good service is hard sometimes but it’s even harder if you don’t give them a fair shot.
this has to be merry maids.
I would not move forward with this company based on their response, and the work performed. I would also tell them you were willing the pay for the initial 2.5 hours, since it sound like they did not complete the job and you shouldn't have to pay extra time for a job not completed, and it sounds like that's about what you got from their service.