Sooner or later you need to clean your house. After all it is probably your largest investment and regardless of keeping forever or re-selling the home, you must clean and maintain the appearance.
Many of us CAN clean our home ourselves, but do we want to? Cleaning your home takes time away from family, leisure activities, and it’s not a fun activity. So how do we evaluate who to hire? Do you hire an individual a locally owned business, or a franchise?
Referrals
Every reputable maid service should have a place to check on reviews. Google maid service for your local area. Don’t just call the first listings on the page. The individual businesses pay to have their name on the top of the list. You need to dig deeper. Yelp, Google, Facebook, Angie’s List and Home Advisor all allow reviews. Almost every business now has a Facebook business page. An individual business cannot delete the reviews so this is a great place to look for credible information.
Thinking of hiring an individual to clean your home? It’s more important than ever to get valid reviews and interview the individual first to make sure it’s a good fit. Do you feel safe with them? Will they be dependable? With a service versus an individual they will insure your home is cleaned without having to worry about cancellations.
Background Checks
Background checks go hand in hand with reviews, but go beyond face value. Any reputable maid/cleaning service does background checks on all their staff. You can also ask about longevity with company, amount of turnover with staff, and what they check for in a background check. This is a little more difficult with individuals. One resource is a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA). A CRA is federally regulated to maintain high standards for privacy protection and dispute resolution. There are many free sites available to do background checks. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is federally funded site for information on employment, credit checks, and reputable agencies.
Don’t be fooled by services that offer coupons for cleaning and you can’t check references. All services need to be verifiable that come into your home!
Continuity-Same Maid Service
When hiring an individual or a service, by using the same maid to clean every time builds trust and integrity. Can the maid service guarantee you will have the same maid every time at your home? It is the advantage of the service to allow the same maid each time to build on what they are familiar with in your home, your specifications, and to increase additional services (refrigerator or oven cleaning) that are not a weekly chore. If they cannot guarantee the same maid at your home, their service may be questionable, unethical, or hiring illegal workers.
Training, Pay, and Supplies
What are the motives for staff retention? Does this maid service pay their staff well or offer benefits? If you hire a service with high turnover look at the pay, the training, and communication. People with something to hide will not return calls or answer questions willingly. Is the staff trained by another co-worker before venturing to homes on their own? Do they have a format for cleaning homes?
Do the maids come with their own cleaning supplies? Do they offer organic cleaning supplies (vinegar, baking soda, lemons) instead of chemicals if that is your preference? What about vacuums, mops, and brooms? Who supplies the cleaning equipment?
Work Guaranteed!
Lastly, is all work guaranteed to meet your standards? Are the maids bonded and insured for damage, criminal conduct, theft, and loss of items? Ask for proof of insurance and verify if the maids are bonded. Call the insurance company yourself to verify the current policy. Never hire a maid service that is not fully insured, bonded, and open to questions. Communication is key to any working relationship.
