Cleaning service - too picky?

GMH1183 · July 2014

I finally took the plunge and hired a cleaning service. It is a small(ish) local company. Nothing as big as Molly Maids, but not a single person either. Anyway, they came out to do the initial clean last week. At the time, my house was in pretty bad shape. My bathrooms were getting kind of gross, but I didn't want to spend my time cleaning if I was going to pay someone to do it anyway. I came home after work on the day they were here and the "superficial" stuff looked pretty clean. Floors were mopped, counters wiped down, baseboards dusted, etc.

But when I started really looking, things weren't really very clean at all. The edges of my kitchen counters were still dirty, the low hanging light fixtures were still dusty, out of sight window ledges were dusty, there were crumbs behind my toaster on the counter, etc. The bathroom was the worst, though. I have shower doors in the master bathroom and the bottom track still had mold/mildew on it. The toilet looked clean, but then when I put my head closer and looked up inside the toilet it was still really gross. Do you clean that part of your toilet?

I was really disappointed with the whole thing. I took pictures, called the company, and had them come back out today. I got home this evening and a lot of the dusting had been redone. But the bathroom still had mold/mildew in shower and toilet. Am I being too picky? Honestly, does your cleaning service (or yourself) get all the nastiness out of the rim of the toilet bowl? DH thinks its nbd, but I think it is gross and not worth my money if that is the level of service.

Mustardseed2007 · July 2014

My biggest irks that have been stewing with me as far as my housekeeper goes is she doesn't usually get the baseboards and window ledges, but there is never mildew in the shower or toilet. Maybe if you don't have one issue you have another? This is just my experience though and she's the only housekeeper I've ever had.

ETA: I wanted to add that when I first hired our maid, I emphasized to her that my main priority is the getting animal hair off the floors and furniture and having clean bathrooms and kitchen areas and that is true. She always takes care of that.

krose0713 · July 2014

I'm in the process of hiring a service myself, so I can't speak from experience, but I wouldn't be ok with that. You are paying a substantial amount of money to have your house cleaned, if they do not perform the service to your standards especially after having the issues pointed out, I'd move on.

jellybean529 · July 2014

I'd definitely look elsewhere. I'm maybe a tad OCD about bathroom cleanliness but yeah...that wouldn't fly with me.

SunAndRain · July 2014

Maybe you need a deep clean before having a regular clean? My housekeeper misses stuff but she also does other things really well. And we have no mold. And everything she does is one less thing I have to do!

welly01 · July 2014

I wouldn't have them come back. You told them you were unhappy with the initial service and they STILL didn't get the problem area clean. We just hired a housekeeper and the main reason is because we can never keep our bathrooms clean. So I've told her the bathrooms are the most important. They better be spotless when we come home.

You're paying for a service and you should be 100% satisfied with it. Don't apologize or feel bad to taking your business elsewhere.

VOR · July 2014

Yes, I'm curious what you paid for - a regular clean or a deep clean. Or did you may more for an initial visit w/ lower "maintenance" fees expected?

ss265 · July 2014

tbumzlover said:

I wouldn't have them come back. You told them you were unhappy with the initial service and they STILL didn't get the problem area clean. We just hired a housekeeper and the main reason is because we can never keep our bathrooms clean. So I've told her the bathrooms are the most important. They better be spotless when we come home.

You're paying for a service and you should be 100% satisfied with it. Don't apologize or feel bad to taking your business elsewhere.

This!

I have had minor issues with my cleaning service (I use an individual) but anytime I mentioned something to her, she always addressed it and I haven't had to repeat myself. Regardless of whether you paid for a deep cleaning or not doesn't matter, at the very least, the toilets should be clean. You gave them a chance to address the issues and they still didn't completely address them. I would take your business elsewhere - maybe ask around and see if friends have any recommendations.

litzo27 · July 2014

I would not use them again! Sometimes you have to try a couple of times before finding a good match. I tried a local Maids service and one individual before I found the cleaner I love. Now I use a lady with a helper and they do a great job. No, they probably don't get the baseboards and the window railings, etc. (things I would only deep clean a couple of times a year anyway). But the bathroom, including the sink/shower/toilet looks brand new when they are done. As does the kitchen. And they always address if I ask for something.

In fact my biggest issue with them is that they are too thorough

They clean behind the bed and move my nighttables and they move all things around on my bathroom and kitchen counters. And because I'm a little OCD and need things in the EXACT same place I have to spend 15 minutes after every clean just moving things back. But I'm not going to complain

[although sometimes I think they do that just to make sure I see how thorough they are]

ss+el · July 2014

casey78 said:

I agree that context matters. It sounds Like you needed an initial deep clean. If you paid for it, what you got is not ok. If you declined or didn't discuss it, it sounds like you probably got a regular quality clean.

I agree with this. I am going to assume you paid for a regular clean. If you really should have had a deep clean first, that's something they should have pointed out when you called to complain, not sent someone out to half-ass it again. You either got a crappy cleaner, or "got what you paid for" and they made no effort to sell you a deep clean, so I'd move on, because either way it doesn't sound like they are managing their services very well.

GMH1183 · July 2014

I paid hourly for a deep clean. They were to do an initial deep clean before I would have them start biweekly maintenance cleanings.

To the poster who said my house was in bad shape. It isn't. If I don't scrub my bathroom every 3 to 4 days then mildew and mold start to form. There just isn't adequate air exchanges in my newer home. This is the number one reason I wanted a cleaning service.

Superficially the bathroom looks clean. But up under the rim of the toilet is not. The shower looks clean, until I squat down and see the mold on the bottom of shower door. I freaking hate cleaning in those places and was hoping to never have to do it again. Since this service missed it twice with two different crews, I wonder if my expectations are simply too high.

welly01 · July 2014

@GMH1183, I still don't think your expectations are too high. It's totally reasonable to expect your house to be CLEAN when you pay for it to be cleaned.

Also, even if you wouldn't normally clean that part of the toilet every single time, they're a cleaning crew. They should be getting the nooks and crannies that are normally skipped over.

I guess we'll see how high my expectations are. My housekeeper comes for the first time tomorrow.

ss+el · July 2014

If you paid for a deep clean, your expectations are definitely not too high. I'd cut them loose.

Mustardseed2007 · July 2014

Well, your expectations are also not too high if you say "the most important thing for you to do for me is XYZ". If they then don't do XYZ...well...not worth it.

skibunny59 · July 2014

No, your not being too picky at all. One of the reasons we don't have a house cleaner right now is because I tried a company and didn't feel like they did a good enough job. The first cleaning was great but then the second and third time they came out they forgot to clean the fans, clean the mirror in the bathroom, etc. If I'm going to pay money for someone to clean our house, it better be CLEAN. I do expect them to get it cleaner than I do when I'm rushing around and doing a quick cleaning job.

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