Merry Maids of Bel Air

My wife and I have been using Merry Maids for cleaning our house for two years.  Initially we had bi-weekly service, but last year we changed to monthly cleaning.  Most importantly, our evaluation has no relation to the actual cleaning done at our home.  All cleaning teams were professional and pleasant.  They did fine work on both a bi-weekly and monthly basis.  The problem with Merry Maids of Bel Air is its incompetent office staff.  We have requested morning cleanings from the beginning and foolishly thought that would be no problem as our house could be cleaned any day of the week.  We set no scheduling limitations other than morning cleaning.  When our cleaning team started to arrive later in the day, we initially received phone calls apologizing for our team's lateness due to scheduling problems.  Eventually, the team simply started arriving in the afternoon with no notice.  We called the office to repeat our request for morning cleaning, but the team continued to arrive at midday at the earliest.  My wife and I adjusted our own schedules accordingly, but our most recent scheduled cleaning snafu forced us to close our Merry Maid account.

We have recently had a bathroom remodeled, and the resulting dust forced us to schedule a full four-hour spring cleaning.  We called 3 weeks ahead to schedule for the last week in April (after all construction was done), and Josh told us it would be done on May 1st.  Ten days later Josh calls back and says May 1st won't work; how about our original monthly date of April 19th?  Of course, construction was still going on then, so we rescheduled for May 2nd provided that it would be scheduled for the morning as we had a busy weekend with guests.  Josh assured us it would be in the morning.  Of course, no one showed up May2nd, and I called Josh who said the team would be in between 11:00 and 1:00.  We left for a lunch appointment and returned at 2:00 to find no cleaning team.  We called Merry Maids and Keith responded with silence to my explanation of how badly the scheduling had been screwed up.  Finally, he said, "I can call the team and see when they'll be there."  Not "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."  Not "What can I do to make this right." Just an offer to call the team.  I asked for our account to be closed and our key to be returned.  When the very apologetic team came to our door, it was 3:30.  Apparently Merry Maids expected our morning cleaning to occur between 3:30 and 7:30 at night.  The team explained that it would have been impossible to have finished their first two assigned jobs of the day and be at our house between 11:00 and 1:00, let alone first thing in the morning.  If only Merry Maids spent half as much thought hiring office help as they do on hiring their polite, professional cleaners.  So, contact Merry Maids if you wish, but be prepared for serial liars like Josh and obtuse desk jockeys like Keith. 

Scheduling was super easy. I called on Monday and got an appointment for Tuesday morning. They arrived on time at 10 AM.  They brought their own equipment and supplies. They needed no instructions other than what rooms to do. After about 20 minutes, I left to do errands. A few hours later, I got a phone call from the main office informing me they were finished, a half-hour ahead of schedule.  When I got back, they were waiting for their supervisor to perform a quality check. One of the women told me she had scratched the instrument panel while scrubbing it with steel wool. When the supervisor arrived, she saw the damage and explained that they would fix it and I should expect a call from the office. Within two hours I did get a call from a local home appliance company. I sent photos of the damage and the model number of the oven.  They promised to fix it. Now today, a week later, I go a call from Merry Maids. The woman explained that the replacement part simply doesn't exist. She said that the work repair, if possible, would have been $291 and asked what I wanted them to do. I suggested that they either refund the total cost of the service ($350) or pay to replace the stove.  She agreed to a total refund.  So, in the end, my house is clean, but the instrument panel is scratched.  I guess that's a fair trade-off. I am in the process of selling my house. Any new owner might replace the appliances anyway, so the damage might not matter. And, having $350 back in my account is nice.  

The quality of their cleaning was as good as I would have expected, but not perfect.  I had given instructions to clean it good enough to show to potential buyers, but not to spend time on things that people won't see, such as the inside of the top cabinets. I also told them to stay within 4 hours, as they charge by the hour. The kitchen, the bathrooms, and the windows all look great and they finished in 3 1/2 hours.  On close inspection, I can see a few nooks and crevices that still have some dust and crud from years of buildup, but I told them to spend time on areas people can't see.  

So, in the end, I got what I paid for. The best part was how easy the scheduling was and how they corrected the scratch damage without any argument at all.  I don't know how they compare in price, because I didn't shop around.  A few years ago, I hired an independent cleaning woman for a similar one-time service and the price seems to be about the same. My only disappointment was that they damaged the oven in the first place. I'm thinking I might have had an inexperienced team perform the cleaning, which is why they needed a supervisor. I'm no cleaning expert, but I don't know many people who would use steel wool on a plastic instrument panel.

Save yourself, find another company to work with. Sorry Merry Maids, but you failed!

Very poor, do not recommend.

I was not satisfied with their service. They were very inconsistent with their dusting, left their cleaning materials on my cherry trim and scratched furniture. They did a good job with the bathrooms and bedrooms, but the other routine maintenance was not good. Their service was not clean and I ended up having to vacuum after they would come to clean. But, they did come on time and the people that came out were nice.

They are very consistent. They send the same team every time.

They are phenomenal. They are quick, so nice and do their job really well.

The work was not thorough and I was not pleased with the service at all. They were not personable or professional. I think that the work was not done well and it really could have been done better. I would not recommend them to other people.

EXCELLENT JOB DONE, 2 PERSON TEAM. HIRED THEM FOR CLEANING EVERY THREE WEEKS. THEY DO ONE ROOM EACH TIME, AS A DEEP CLEAN, SO YOU NEVER HAVE TO DO A FALL AND SPRING FULL CLEANING.

MERRY MAIDS DID NOT CLEAN AS WELL AS EXPECTED. I WAS VERY UNHAPPY WITH THEIR QUICK SHORT CUTS TO CLEANING. I WILL NEVER HIRE NOR RECOMMEND THEIR SERVICES TO ANYONE.