Merry Maids of Indianapolis

I was a little surprised at the comments they made about how dusty, etc. my house was as they were cleaning. They also missed several areas near my doors and windows. I’ve given them a few chances now, and I don’t think I’ll use them again.

Problem was they broke three blinds and then lleft without telling me about the breakage when the wands were broke off and could not be replaced. I worked it out with Eric who was my phone co tact and we settled I. Me paying $80.00 instead of $100 for the next 5 cleanings. After the third additional cleaning, I find they have broke another blind, when I called to complain, Eric said " you were only paying $80.00. After I hung up I was thinking that he was saying I got my money worth. I called back and said I think I would not use his service anymore and his response was, "I can take care of that". I did not feel he was very customer friendly, like ok, forget about your business. Just odd the way he reacted. Roxanne was a consistent cleaner and always did a good job, not sure why they have to use the vacuum on your blinds and knock them off the windows and break the wads and then not even leave a Note or mention it. I also heard,that one of the girls that did this was known for being rough with the vacuum and running into furniture, I did not even share this with Rick.

When I had them doing monthy cleanings for me it was underwhelming. As far as price I wouldnt have minded paying what I paid had it been more detailed but it was a very basic cleaning. I keep my house pretty clean as far as basics so I was looking for a more detailed overall cleaning on a once a month basis. They did the basics such as mopping and sweeping and dusting which was passable but I felt like what they did was worth MAYBE 50 or so dollars- they typically were one in hour and half. I was looing for more detailed job. Overall just a bit overpriced for a basic so so job. They were a tad reckless. There was a dent in the wall from sweeper and small things such as keyboard of my computer had key missing and knick knack on sheft broken. Nothing massive and one of those things not wory mentioning and couldnt even know 100% that it was for sure them so didnt say anything. Tried to hire them for a one time cleaning this past year hoping if I was more specific with what I wanted and stayed around while they cleaned it might be better- also figured enough time had passed that different people might come and be better. This time I didnt even get the service done they made no attempt to work with the days and times I needed and acted like they didnt even want my business. Keep in mind I neve voiced a complaint to or about them at that point. Was going to give them another chance- a mistake I wont make again.

We have used two other cleaning companies over the past 12 years. One was a elderly lady who ended up retiring. We then moved to the mother of one of my employees. That not being the best situation to get into, we called Merry Maids. We were happy that they would schedule cleaning for a specific time on the day we wanted. They cleaned a total of three times. Each time, there were multiple areas of the house that were missed. We were clear with them at the initial sales call / sign-up about the level of service we expected. We were shown a form listing all of the areas that are a part of their normal cleaning service. All of the areas that we wanted cleaned were listed on the form so we didn't have any worries. The first cleaning we were given was a "deep" clean. Their deep clean lasted about 4 hours. The last deep clean we had took two people a total of *12* hours. As you can imagine, the level of cleanliness was dramatically less than with our past cleaning lady (the employee's mother). The elderly lady would take about 8-9 hours for a deep clean. The cleaning ladies that Merry Maids sent out were friendly but made comments about being happy to do anything else other than clean houses if they had a choice and that working for Merry Maids is "ok". This may be the case but it is unprofessional. The second cleaning was a "normal" cleaning. Our house was "cleaned" in only TWO hours. My wife questioned the ladies about the short amount of time and was told that they are required to clean FOUR houses a day so they can only stay for two hours. Really???? How can two other cleaning companies take 4-5 hours to clean our home (with two people!) but Merry Maids get it clean in only two? Well, they didn't. The top of our refridgerator was NEVER cleaned even during the "deep" clean! It wasn't cleaned on the second or third cleanings. The top of the fireplace mantle wasn't cleaned nor was the bookshelf, my dresser, my wife's dresser, etc. Although they are supposed to clean between the cushions on the couches, they didn't even touch them on either the "deep" or the second cleanings. I was ready to fire them at this point but we thought we'd give it one more chance. I called and spoke to the owner's son about my concerns. He replied that he would change the cleaning crew (more on this later). A new crew showed up for the third cleaning. Due to all the rain we've had recently, there was some mud that had been splattered on the couch where my son had kicked off his shoes. After the "cleaning" ladies left, the mud was still there. The dressers has been missed AGAIN as well as all of the other areas (except between the cushions...finally). Mud, dirt, handprints, etc. were still present in various places, windows, etc. The TV top, screen and stand were missed again. I could go on and on but I only have 7,100 characters left. I called the owner of the franchise, Ms. Wiltsee, on 5/4/11. I barely was able to get my name out and why I was calling before Ms. Wiltsee went off on me, raising her voice and getting all defensive and upset. I have several thousand customers that patronize my business and I would never talk to one like she spoke to me. I told her that I wanted my money back and I was yelled at more. She offered $20 which was an insult given that I'd paid them around $500 at this point and had yet to get a thorough cleaning. She wouldn't allow them to stay more than 2 hours and stated that they charge $70 per hour for each additional hour. I guess that was her way of implying that I can't afford more time. How rude. I replied that I don't care about price but I do care about QUALITY and THOROUGHNESS. She offered a free cleaning. I accepted. On 5/5 (the next day), I received a check for $99 along with a letter containing spelling mistakes and a crossed-out address and her new hand-written address (she's been at her new address for quite some time now; it's close to my office). Is new stationary really that expensive? That's beside the point of course. It just goes to professionalism. It also shows me that the lady is CHEAP. I didn't really believe her employees' comments about this but the stationary helps prove that. The letter basically told us to go somewhere else. My wife and I have been left with the impression that we are somehow the bad guys in Ms. Wiltsee's eyes. We're very easy to get along with. Just do the job you've been hired to do and take pride in what you do. When you make a mistake, fix it. I offered to meet her at the house and show her the areas that were missed but she had no interest in doing that at all. Why not? I would have been chomping at the bit to get to my customer's home to see what was wrong, fix it myself and then deal with the staff. It's hard to find a new customer in today's world that is loyal and will stay with you for a long time. I'm a board member of a local chamber of commerce. I give a lot of referrals and I give the names of good service providers to my customers in our newsletters. You have to stay on your toes. You have to care and you have to make it right when you make a mistake. And, finally, you have to give you people the time they need to do the job and to do it right the first time. Choose another provider. Run, do not walk away from the Wiltsee franchise of Merry Maids.

I am extremely happy with the job the ladies done at my home! My house was clean before they came, but I could tell a big difference! I will continue to use this service in the future!

I've been with them for about ten years all together. Very good overall but a little more on the pricey side. Looked at other cleaning companies, but didn't like the features of the others compared to Merry Maids. Quality of the work most of the time is good, but you don't get the same people every time.

THE TWO LADIES ARRIVED AT THE PRE-DETERMINED TIME, AND WERE VERY COURTEOUS. THEY CLEANED TWO BEDROOMS, TWO 1/2 BATHS, KITCHEN, HALLWAY, DINING ROOM, AND FAMILY ROOM. THE OVERALL JOB WAS GOOD, ALTHOUGH THEY DID NOT CLEAN THE LAUNDRY ROOM.

THE DID NOT SHOW UP ON TIME. THEY DID WONDERFUL WORK.

THE FIRST CLEANING WAS WHAT THEY CONSIDER TO BE A DEEP CLEANING. TWO PEOPLE CAME TO MY HOME, NEEDING VERY LITTLE DIRECTION AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN CLEANING. THEY CLEANED CONTINUOUSLY FOR ABOUT 6 HOURS. THEY WERE VERY THOROUGH AND MY HOME NOW SPARKLES! I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER! AS AN FYI: THE COST TO CLEAN BI-WEEKLY IS $109. I INTERVIEWED OTHER CLEANING COMPANIES THAT CHARGED LESS, BUT I WANTED TO HIRE SOMEONE I KNEW I COULD RELY ON TO COME AS SCHEDULED.

I'M NOT SURE THEY CLEANED THE HARDWOODS AT ALL. THE FLOOR IN THE BATHROOM STILL HAD HAIR ON IT, TOILETS NOT CLEANED, AND THEY WILL NOT EVEN MOVE DISH WASHING BOTTLE ON COUNTER TOP. I PAID OVER $150 FOR AN "INITIAL THOROUGH CLEANING" AND CAME HOME TO RE-VACUUM AND WIPE DOWN COUNTERS. VERY DISAPPOINTING. I HAD THEM DO REGULAR CLEANING A FEW TIMES, BUT SAW NO IMPROVEMENT.

THE CLEANING WAS OK, BUT I AM NOT IMPRESSED WITH CLEANING OF SHOWER OR KITCHEN. OBVIOUS ITEMS WERE MISSED. I ALSO FOUND THEM NOT VERY ACCOMMODATING. THEY FAILED TO CLEAN MY HOME ONCE BECAUSE THEY SAID I WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT EXPECTING THEM AND ONLY NOTIFIED ME OF THE CANCELED CLEANING BY LEAVING A NOTE ON MY COUNTER. I WAS NEVER HOME WHEN CLEANING WAS DONE, SO I CAN NOT COMMENT ON PUNCTUALITY.

THE CLEANING WAS UNSATISFACTORY ALL FOUR TIMES THEY CLEANED. THINGS WERE LEFT UNDUSTED, TOILETS AND TUBS LEFT DIRTY. RUGS, ITEMS ON DRESSERS, ETC., WERE NOT PUT BACK IN THE ORIGINAL SPOT. THEY NEVER SEND THE SAME PEOPLE BACK EITHER. I CAN TELL BY THE WAY MY HOUSE LOOKS WHEN I GET HOME. I WAS ONLY HERE FOR ONE OF ONLY FOUR CLEANINGS. I HAVE A 1,700+ SQ. FT. HOME. THE TWO CLEANING LADIES SPENT LESS THAN TWO HOURS CLEANING MY ENTIRE HOME. MERRY MAIDS NEEDS TO SPEND QUALITY TIME CLEANING, NOT RUSHING AND DOING A SUB-PAR JOB. THEY WERE WILLING TO COME BACK AND RECLEAN WHAT WAS UNSATISFACTORY, BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.