I contacted Brian about a month prior to service to get a quote. His quote was based on a two man crew. $195 flat rate for the first 3 hours, $52.50 for each additional hour. We made an appointment for him to come out to the house to give me an estimate on service. He came out to the property, surveyed the entire house, and told me he though it would take about 6 hours. When I asked what if it takes longer? He told me that it is company policy that they can charge up to one hour over the original estimate, for which the customer is responsible to pay, and the customer is not financially responsible beyond that. We agreed on a service date with the understanding that the house would be emptied of furniture when he came.
The night before service, I contacted Brian to confirm the appointment and ask when they would be arriving. He informed me that due to scheduling conflicts, he would be sending a 3 person crew instead. I asked what the price difference was for the third crewmember. He told me it was an additional $105 for the first 3 hours (which, based on his original quote would make a total of $300), and an additional $27.50 for each additional hour (which, based on his original quote would make a total of $80 for each additional hour). I then asked what the new time estimate was for a crew of three. He asked me about the condition of the home and amount of debris. I told him it was empty as we discussed and that the only debris was some bits of paper here and there left by the packers. He told me 4.5 hrs, up to 5.5. My understanding being that 5.5 was the hour buffer we had discussed originally. As I had deadlines for moving out, and no time to research and/or get quotes from other companies, I agreed.
The crew arrived on time. The third member turned out to be Brian himself, the owner of the company. To their credit, they did an excellent and very thorough job of cleaning the home, including pulling out and cleaning behind and under the washer and dryer. However, the cleaning took 6.5 hours and during the course of cleaning, Brian broke one of the slats on the wooden blinds. At the conclusion, he told me I would need to get some wood glue and fix it. After a phone call, he returned to the house and repaired it himself.
Brian charged not only charged me for the cost of a 3 man crew for 6.5 hours, but charged me MORE than he had quoted me the night before. I told him I though the 5.5 was the max, and he said the estimate was 5.5, so they got up to 6.5 for which they could charge. (How convenient that it took exactly that).
My major issues:
-I hired this company based on a max price of $405.
-Brian GROSSLY underestimated the time it would take to clean and I paid for it. Based on his 6hr, 7hr max estimate for a 2 man crew, it should have taken a 3 man crew 4.6 hours MAX for the same job. He tried to claim that house was in worse condition than when he saw it previous and/or there was more debris than anticipated. It was not, and there was not.
-The crew change was made last minute and nothing was based on my original quote. It was out the window and I had no time to do anything about it.
-He took advantage of the last minute crew change and estimate to scam me by claiming I owed him for 6.5 hours.
-Lastly, and honestly the least of all these things, is that he charged me more on the day of service that he had quoted me even the night before. He charged me $310 for the first 3 hours (instead of $300) and $82.50 for each additional (instead of $80).
Bottom line: Although excellent cleaning results, the end price had no bearing on the original quote. I would not have hired this company had I been quoted this price in the beginning. I feel cheated and scammed.