4 min read
Seven questions worth asking any cleaning company
The questions that matter most when hiring a house cleaner are: will it be the same person every visit, what happens if the work is not right, is the price firm or an estimate, are they insured and can they show you the certificate, what is specifically not included, do they need a card before the first clean, and what happens if the home takes longer than quoted. The answers to those seven separate companies far better than price does.
Most people compare cleaners on price, which is the least informative number available, because the thing that goes wrong is almost never the price. Here is what I would ask, including where my own answers are inconvenient.
1. Will it be the same person every time?
The most important question and the one most companies answer with a qualifier. Cleaner turnover is the reason most people quit their last service. If the answer involves the word team, ask what happens when someone leaves.
2. What happens if it is not right?
Listen for the friction, not the promise. Almost everyone offers a guarantee. Ask what you actually have to do: a time limit, photographs, a form, a phone call to an office. A guarantee with three steps in front of it is not really one.
3. Is that price firm or an estimate?
There is a real difference between a quote and a starting point, and you want to know which you were given before somebody is standing in your kitchen.
4. Are you insured, and can I see the certificate?
It should arrive without a fuss, and it should name the company you are hiring. Indiana does not license cleaning companies at all, so insurance is most of what separates a real business from a person with a bucket.
5. What is specifically not included?
A company that cannot list its exclusions quickly has not thought about them, and you will find them out on the day. Exterior windows, carpet shampoo, mold and pests are the usual ones and should be said before you book.
6. Do you need a card before the first clean?
Plenty do and it is not automatically a bad sign. It is worth knowing whether you are paying before or after the work.
7. What happens if my house takes longer than you quoted?
The revealing one. There are only three possible answers: they absorb it, they bill you the difference afterwards, or they stop and ask first. Only one of those is comfortable to be on the receiving end of, and it is worth hearing which before there is a bill.
