Merry Maids

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I had given them a list of things to do, and when I came back not one thing was done at all. Was not very happy.

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It was not at all consistent.  Some weeks the house was well cleaned, but more often than not, it was not done well.  Since there was such high turnover in staff there, consistency is hard to come by.
My biggest complaint, other than the lack of consistency, was that on three different occassions, I had items broken by the cleaners.  I know that accidents happen, but complaint was the reaction - or total lack of reaction - from the office when I contacted them. 
The items broken were all gifts.  They were not expensive, but they were gifts. 
Each time I contacted the office they told me that if I would provide them with a receipt they could reimburse me.  No apology.
They did not show any care or concern about my broken items.

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• They were on time and did a pretty good job cleaning, however I feel $187 for 2 hours work is kind of expensive.  While cleaning they dislodged my stove fan and as a result broke my ceramic stove top.  I told them that I was expecting company to come the weekend and stay through Thanksgiving (which is why I paid so much to have my house clean).  The owner came by took photos said it was their fault and that they would replace the stove top.  I told him about my company and asked that it be replaced by the weekend.  He did not get back to me before the weekend after the weekend. I ended up telling my company not to come.  I called Monday and was told that they would get back with me.   Wednesday before Thanksgiving I received a voice message that he was coming over with the stove top and would install it.  I was not home when called or when he came by.  The stove top was left on my front porch in a box.  I tried numerous times to call and schedule a day and time in advance without answer.  5 weeks later I called the corporate office with my complaint and Merry Maids office manager called me that day telling me that they had scheduled the stove top to be installed the following week and gave the time.  The owner came by and installed the  

stove top but was hostile.  I found out later that it was not installed correctly and could have been a fire hazard as the electrical installation was not industry standard or with local code.  It was at least 6 weeks, a ruined Thanksgiving from the day the Merry Maids broke my stove top to when it was replaced. No consideration was offered at any time for my inconvenience (or for pretty much negating the reason I used them in the first place)  They expected payment the day of the service and pretty much treated me as a nuance in following through with the stove top replacement.  I will NEVER USE THEM AGAIN UNDER THE CURRENT OWNER.

Not well, especially over time. Lots of big promises, but after the first visit I checked under a small footstool and they hadn't even cleaned under that, much less any of the other furniture. I have tile floors and huge, clearly visible dust bunnies would build up under furniture, which I would leave just to see if they even attempted to get them - no. Often the tile floors had dirt shellacked in, even though I asked them to use plain vinegar and water to avoid this. One time they left my cleaning products out all over the house, part of the agreed price is that they use their own. Another time in the winter they went off and left my garage doors open from noon when they left untill 6 when I got home from work - it was dark already! Often, very often it seemed as if their vacuum cleaners were either too full or just faulty, as you could see tracks on the rugs, but dirt, lint, threads etc still everywhere. There is more I could say, but these are the stand outs for me and I think I've made my point. If you work, know this about the Merry Maids - you never know who you are going to have show up, who has your codes or keys, they send different people all the time. I called and requested a certain team be the only ones who came, was assured this would be the case, found out later it had never happened. They are very nice and agreeable on the phone, have a very hard time actually making anything happen. As you can tell, I used them way too long, due to lack of time and energy to find someone else. Trust me, I know what I am talking about, this bunch, from top to bottom is marginal at best. After I finally got rid of them and spent a free week cleaning I realized the old saw about "better than doing it myself" was untrue because of all the sealed in dirt on the floors, dried out furniture from lack of polish, etc. Fewer, but more quality attempts by me would have been much better than what they did.

They had two hours to do a basic cleaning of a small 2 bedroom home. They did not sweep,mop or dust thoroughly.

They are really good at what they do and I have never had to complain about the services that they provide. Anything they have a question or if something happens in the house that they need to talk to me about they call me while they are still there to make sure that everything is done and taken care of. They are very quick at what they do so I can run errands while they are cleaning the house. They are really good with rescheduling if I ever have to do that. It is a bonded company as well so I don’t have to worry about people being in the house that I don’t necessarily know. It is a really good company; they know what they are doing and are really low priced.

two, sometimes 2 ladies come and do a pretty good job cleaning our home.  We have a variety of surfaces (carpet, hardwood, tile, marble) that they maintain using their cleaners or something I provide if I am particular.  They are open to suggestions I make about how I like things done and are always courteous and kind.  Sometimes there is a little this or that that was not just right, but I have a large house and it is easy to fix one little this or that (much beter than cleaning the whole thing myself!).  I am satisfied with the work.

I needed a deep clean on a rental property.  I called Merry Maids and sadly I felt I was over-charged and under-cleaned.  The cost was true to what the owner told me it would be--it was just so expensive.  Yes, my house was a mess as it had been inhabited by 3 college boys.  However, I was willing to pay a higher price to get some help to clean it before girls were moving in.
Sadly, Merry Maids gets a low score from me because one of the two ladies that came to clean did a great job and the other one did a lousy job.  By lousy job I mean that she didn't  wipe down the baseboards, she left dirt and dog hair in the corners, she didn't wipe down the TV or around it at all. Every room that she cleaned was only half-way cleaned.  She even left a used personal product on a box in the middle of the empty bedroom floor!   The cleaning lady also broke my ceiling fan by holding the blades to clean the fan and burned up the motor. I knew that I only had X amount of time for my $400 worth of cleaning and I had to keep telling the "bad" cleaning lady to quit fluffing pillows and get to the deep cleaning. She just didn't want to work.
I called and asked the owner to call me back, but she never returned my call.  I explained my unhappiness in the cleaning job to the lady answering their phones and she said they would send someone back out.  Merry Maids did send the same two girls back the next day and they did wipe down the baseboards in one room.  They were very defensive about the cleaning.  I thought it was wrong to send back the same girl after I complained about her.  They couldn't get out of there fast enough. 
No one from Merry Maids ever called back to confirm if I was satisfied or not.  I think the lack of follow up by the management is what bothered me most of all.  For a $400 job, I really felt that someone should have contacted me to make sure I was satified.
I not only expected better cleaning, I expected better customer service.
I started this review shortly after the experience.  I have kept it in my drafts because I felt bad writing a such a bad review and thought perhaps my low ratings were just because I was just mad.  However, I'm still upset about this cleaning job so I feel it is fair that I post my dissatified review.

They were efficient, did a good job, and were very kind.

They did the cleaning before we moved to his house but the oven looked dirty. There was gunk on all the outlets and light fixtures.  I hired them over the phone and told them what to do over the phone.  They did a lousy job and they just came in and cleaned the stuff that was already cleaned. They did clean the oven however they didn’t rinse it off. I put something in it and I had white gunk dripping in it and half of the cleaning is getting that stuff off.  They were terrible. They didn’t know what they were doing. They only did half of the job.  I think they didn’t understand what I wanted them to do. When I used to hire people in Dallas to do the cleaning they used to do more than what I would have expected and thought of.  When I came in I still found bugs in the lights.  They were ladders still in the kitchen. They didn’t clean the bathroom sinks that well.

The last time we used Merry Maids about one year ago.  They cleaned every room in the house, even scrubbing baseboards!  The did a terrific job, and they were very punctual.  I will use them again.

They were good but I thought the price was too high.

They have treated us very well. They were very prompt with there estimate.

Not well. The team they sent initially did a great job for the first initial cleaning. Unfortunately, the lady they sent for each of the other visits broke several things, made a number of personal calls while on duty, had her child accompany her on 2 occassions, and kept telling me all of her personal problems. I then discovered she stole gift cards from my home office desk drawer. Althought the company reimbursed me through cleaning services, I never want to have them in my home again. They need to hire more honest and dependable help.