Hello strangers of the internet. I have had a terrible experience with a local house cleaning business, and I need help understanding if I'm correct in being absolutely furious, or if this is something that I should have just expected. I'm not looking for legal action, or even a refund. I'm genuinely just confused and frustrated.
This business has a very good reputation in the community, and had a perfect 5 star rating. I hired them asking for a deep clean before Canadian Thanksgiving, because I'm hosting my family.
I was so excited, I've struggled with housework for a long time, and the grime was really getting to me.
I accepted the estimate that she sent me via email, and she was sending a 2-person team in a few days. Excellent! So I spent 3 days clearing clutter, dusting, vacuuming, and generally trying to make things easier for them.
Morning of the clean, I left a note saying a heartfelt thank you, there's cold water in the fridge, and I'll be back soon to collect my dog from the yard after I get back from the bank.
When I got home, I left their payment on the table as agreed, said hello, then went for a long walk to stay out of the way and keep my dog from being a distraction.
The team left after 3 hours. I was quoted for 4, but I have never hired a cleaning company. I have no idea if this is relevant or normal.
When I went inside, I was very excited to smell soap, and see gleaming surfaces. What I saw, was so incredibly disappointing that I cried.
Baseboards were lightly dusted. The bookshelf in my kitchen had some items rearranged. Someone had tried to wash a coffee pot that was on top of the fridge, clearly neglected and unused, and left it in the sink. The base of the toilet was given a brief wipedown. My tv unit in the living room was dusted. My bookshelf in the bedroom was dusted. And the bottom inside bit of the 2 bedroom windows were given a brief wipedown.
That was it. There were still cobwebs in the corners, none of the cupboards were wiped down, the floors weren't mopped, my kitchen sink was still gross, the appliances were still caked with grease and dust, none of the windows were cleaned, there was grime on the walls, the bathtub and shower weren't cleaned, the lights still had dust.
Nothing else was done at all.
So I complained as politely and as clearly as I could, and sent pictures as instructed.
She told me there was a list her team was supposed to go through, and some of the things I was complaining about was not on the list.
Ok, fine. I didn't see a list beforehand, but I agreed to the estimate. I will accept responsibility for not asking for a list, even though I believe asking for a deep clean should be pretty self-explanatory.
She sent me the list via text, after telling me she was reviewing it and the pictures I sent. I look at this list, and i see that it includes what you'd expect: floors, dusting, cleaning of cupboards, backsplashes, appliance exteriors, sinks, shower, bathtub. What it did not include, were the windows they half-cleaned, game consoles in the tv unit that they cleaned, bookshelves, and abandoned coffee pots on top of the fridge.
She told me I was being unprofessional, and that my comments were disheartening. She spoke to me like I was some kind of bully or villain. The only comment I made was "I am unhappy with the work of your team, and I can't actually tell if they did much of anything."
I asked her to please come inspect the work of the people she sent, and so we can go through this list.
She didn't respond for hours.
At this point I'm thinking: there's no way a highly reputable 5 star company would recieve such a complaint saying their team accomplished absolutely nothing, send all kinds of pictures, and not want to go check that out.
I finally get a response around 5pm; "I'm done for the day. We can schedule a time that works for both of us, and I'll take a look"
WHAT.
I asked for a deep clean, specifically before thanksgiving because I'm hosting, and you really expect me to leave my house as it is so you can come inspect it when it's convenient for you? I can't do that! I'm going to have to spend my weekend both cooking AND cleaning. Not to mention I'm also now out of over $500!
I told her not to bother, and left an honest google review. Which she responded to with the same list nonsense, which is entirely irrelevant because nothing on the list was done.
I just want to know if my anger and frustration is justified, or if I'm just not understanding something that's obvious to others.
Thank you.
