After several years of bi-weekly service, I am not the least bit sorry to say goodbye to Merry Maids. Their service has always been OK, but not great. It's very common for them to miss items, like not cleaning all the way into the corners of the floor and missing cobwebs. Once, I realized they hadn't been cleaning the ceiling fans for several weeks. The only times I actually complained were when they missed an ENTIRE room, and when they broke something and hid it. There was a time when we canceled service for an extended period of time. When they returned, they increased my contract by $55, claiming that I'd been under charged before. Apparently, they failed to account for there being no carpet in my house, making the floor cleaning a 2 step process. They stated they'd been spending more time than contracted in my home. That didn't seem accurate. Nonetheless, I kept them because they the maids were nice, and trusted them in my home.
Recently, I had unexpected medical expenses, and had to suspend services. I called immediately, and notified them I needed to cancel my next 3 cleanings (a total of 6 weeks). They were very gracious, and scheduled me for the first week of August. They even called last week, to ensure I was ready to reinstate. The day before they were scheduled to return, they called and told me they wouldn't come back out unless I paid for an additional fee for "thorough cleaning", since they hadn't been here in so long. While this is common practice, I was taken aback for a few reasons. First, we previously cancelled services, because my husband was going to stay home with our daughter. After six months, they sent us an offer to reinstate our contract at our original fee, with NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR "THOROUGH CLEANING". They could do it then, after 6 months, but not now, after 6 weeks? Additionally, I ship a lot from my home, and frequently have clutter on surfaces as a result. Cluttered surfaces do not get cleaned, and I've never had a problem with that. Additionally, I do not have them clean the children's bedrooms if they aren't tidy. There is one room in my house they haven't cleaned in months, because every time they were here happened to be a day my daughter's room was a mess. The last time they actually cleaned everything I pay for was probably 6 months ago. I've been extremely gracious in continuing to pay my full contract, in spite of them almost never spending the contracted amount of time in my home. Additionally, when Maria called to tell me this, her tone was much more abrupt than normal, almost snide. I asked to speak with Maureen, the manager. Even though I've received great customer service from her in the past, she was equally ungracious. In fact, she basically accused me of lying twice. First, she stated she couldn't imagine they were actually not cleaning my daughter's room regularly, as that's not normal practice, and the team lead never reported it. I actually told Maureen, myself, about it on one occasion. I asked her to speak with the team lead to verify. She informed my team lead actually left a couple weeks ago (I wonder why!). Then, she told me that this was happening because I kept repeatedly canceling. I clarified that I suspended service for a defined amount of time, I didn't cancel each appointment as it was scheduled. She said that wasn't true, because my file didn't indicate that. Kinda funny, considering someone called me last week, to confirm that my SUSPENSION period was over! Then, she told me that they had a price increase, and my regular fee would be going up from $165 to $180.
Two hours after firing them, I had a new company in my home giving me an estimate. They pointed out several things Merry Maids had been overlooking, and will be charging me $112 for each visit, bi-weekly. So, I give a genuine thanks to awful company that is Merry Maids, for saving me $116 a month. I'm also pretty certain I'm going to be much happier with my new cleaning service. Unlike Merry Maids, they've got GREAT Yelp reviews!
Regardless of what they say when they answer the phone, don't be fooled. It is not "a great day at Merry Maids". And, I feel sorry for their underpaid cleaning staff. read more