Ella's Maid Service

Called for a quote about four days before and found that they were available on the day and time that I would be at the house. This was to clean an empty house that we had just purchased which had only been very roughly cleaned by the sellers.

The cleaners arrived about an hour and a half before the expected time, so I was not actually quite ready for them, but let them go ahead with the cleaning anyway. It would have been better if they had called ahead and said that they would be early. I was very busy with work outside the house, so was not able to observe much of how their cleaning work was performed. From the outset, I realized that there was a communication problem due to the limited knowledge of English of the three with whom I spoke. I was just wanting to give them a bit of background and to tell them which areas of the house needed more attention than others and a few other details. This however proved to be pointless due to the communication issues and it was plainly evident that they just wanted to go ahead with the cleaning.

It was all over within about an hour and a half. I arrived back after being out briefly to get some supplies. When I got back they were all packed up and in the car, ready to leave. I had a quick walk through and found that the house looked generally cleaner and certainly smelled a lot fresher. Not wanting to delay them further, I just quickly checked the counter tops and floors in kitchen and bathrooms on both levels and one or two window sills. I paid the gentleman who was in charge, thanked him and included a small tip. 

Later, when I had time to do a more thorough check, I was disappointed to see that most of the window sills had not been cleaned at all. These had been covered by temporary sheets which were very easy to lift and access for cleaning. I also noticed that the top of the fridge, and top of the vent-a-hood & microwave had not been cleaned. Other than that, the house was certainly quite a bit cleaner than before, but without the attention to detail that I would have preferred.

I called Ella's on a Thursday afternoon to get a quote. They gave me a quote over the phone which I thought was fair, and scheduled a cleaning for Saturday at noon. I was surprised they had availability that soon.

They were going to arrive at noon, but they called at 10 and said they had a cancellation and asked to come earlier, which was fine with me. 4 people came to clean - the gentleman I'd spoken to on the phone, and three ladies. It took them about an hour.  They brought all their own cleaning supplies, including the vacuum cleaner, and got right to work. There was no dawdling with these folks; they worked hard and fast, and did a beautiful job. I was really pleased with the job they did on everything.

They did not clean the inside of the fridge or stove, but I didn't ask them to, and I think that's an extra charge. They didn't do dishes either, but really, I don't think that's within the scope of housecleaning.