Introduction
Your free weekend often turns into a cleaning spree where you scrub and rinse instead of Netflix and chill. It can be quite hectic and eats away the little “me-time” you have for yourself. To take care of the mess you can always seek help from professionals by searching for “home cleaning services near me”. However, it’s important to sort out the shady companies from the good ones. Let’s check out things your cleaning company won’t tell you:
The Secrets
- No choice in cleaning products – When you hire a cleaning company it’s important to check what kinds of cleaning products they use and make sure they are frank and upfront about it. Some companies may have tied deals with certain brands to use specific cleaning products on every job while others choose to go with the cheapest options on the market. Cheap products may not turn out so well and some may even be toxic. It can be very dangerous if you have pets and children in your home. Don’t hire the services of a company that doesn’t offer you a choice in cleaning products. Ask if they can use non-toxic and eco-friendly cleaning detergents and supplies for cleaning your home. While those companies may charge you a bit more, they tend to be honest about their craft and use safe products.
- You may need to provide cleaning supplies and equipment – The greatest advantage of hiring the services of a cleaning company is that you don’t need to own or store things like buckets, brooms, mops, vacuum cleaners, and other such equipment or cleaning supplies. However, if you’re unlucky enough to hire a company with a bad reputation, you may need to provide your equipment and the surprise hits you when they come to your door. Good cleaning companies will send their professionals along with thousands of dollars of equipment and cleaning supplies so that you don’t have to do a thing.
- Mistakes will be made – Everyone makes mistakes and cleaning companies are no different. While some companies admit it, others try every trick in the book to hide it. Shady companies will try to make you pay for their mistakes. They will charge you extra for sending the workers to your home to rectify the mistakes and otherwise give you a very short window to register any complaints. They will also try all sorts of tricks to deny you the refund or make it a long enough process so that you quit on your own.
Cleaning companies who have been in the business for years and have a reputation to maintain will handle such problems very differently. They won’t punish you for mistakes they make. Instead, they will allow you a fair time frame of two to three days to register complaints and will also have a streamlined refund process in place. Otherwise, they will offer a free second clean for your home.
- Hidden fees – Signing contracts has its advantages and disadvantages. While you know what you sign up for, many things get left behind the fine print and one of them is hidden fees. If you hire a not-so-great cleaning company, you may encounter hidden fees very quickly. You’ll be charged a certain amount if you want to cancel or reschedule the cleaning appointment. Otherwise, you may be charged extra for using a different cleaning product or if your home is too messy. There are many other ways they can charge you extra and the bill can quickly climb up if you aren’t too careful. A decent cleaning company will conduct a consultation session with you where they will be upfront about the fees and assess the condition of your home before quoting a price.
- The schedule can be unreliable – As mentioned above, aside from benefits, contracts also have their disadvantages. When you sign a long-term contract with a cleaning company, you may have to pay in advance for several cleaning appointments scheduled over months or weeks. Even if you can afford to pay that early, you are tied to a company when you sign such contracts. It also means you are stuck with the schedule stated in the original contract. If there is any inconsistency in your schedule caused by a global pandemic or medical emergency, you may be charged an exorbitant amount of fee for rescheduling or canceling the appointment. That’s why you should always avoid long-term contracts. Stick to companies that offer you an easy book and clean appointment and don’t charge you extra for cancellations or rescheduling.
- Outsourced employees – Most cleaning companies, good or bad usually hire full-time employees to work for their company. However, some do outsource cleaning professionals. This means that there is inconsistency in the cleaning work and more importantly it can be very dangerous. Companies that outsource labor rarely have their backgrounds or criminal records. It’s also difficult to figure out if the employees a company sends you are outsourced or full-time hires. Before you hire the cleaning services ask the company if their employees are full-time workers and also ask for their identification papers as insurance.
- No responsibility for damage – Cleaning companies that are starting out their business or just like to save every last penny skimp on a few costs. This cost-cutting measure may include buying cheap insurance policies and setting company policies that may not cover you in case of damage to your property. If a company uses outsourced labor, it’s an even bigger problem since if one of them commits theft, the cleaning company won’t take any responsibility. That’s why you should check the company policies thoroughly and ask for their insurance papers.
Conclusion
Now that you know about all the nitty-gritty details and the cleaning approach of certain cleaning companies, you would be able to choose a better one in the future. You can do the cleaning on your own and if it’s a tough task you can get pros to do the job by searching for “home cleaning services near me”.
