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Post by Andee on Feb 11, 2019 14:00:47 GMT -5
So I contacted a cleaning company this summer to see what their prices were for doing a deep clean on my moms house when it was empty. This is the reply that I got.
" Would love to be of service to you and our family. We do a tiered rate 1st hour- $65- 2nd hour-$45- 3rd hour- $40- 4th hour plus additional hours —$35 We also do carpet shampooing so could do that also. We bring all our own cleaning supplies and equipment. Let us know if you have any questions, we’d be happy to answer!!!"
In the meantime her company split and her ex partner lowered her rates so this girl sent me an email in January that said this.
"As Prestige Cleaning Services continues to grow, we are able to operate at a more efficient rate, thus allowing PCS to charge “you” the customer, a lower rate. Moving forward we will be charging an hourly rate of $35. With cliental growing, we are able to service more customers in each area and we take great pride in being able to service our communities. Rest assure, our quality of services will be of no less and we will continue to operate at a very high standard with high quality product and equipment. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! From Prestige Cleaning Services, to You and Yours, May 2019 bring you all the happiness, joy, and peace you deserve! Happy New Year!"
So I had them come clean the house last Wednesday. There were 3 people and they did an awesome job. It took the 11 hours to do it. There was nothing in the house so they didn't have to work around things.
My question to you is what do you think I will be charged for those 11 hours. My husband and I read the replies very differently and we both have different ideas in what I will be charged.
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Post by villanelle on Feb 11, 2019 15:03:22 GMT -5
Well $385 doesn't seem like enough (that's about $11.60 per person per hour), but based on the way the emails are worded, that does seem like what they were saying.
Did they tell you in advance specifically that they would have three people?
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Post by Andee on Feb 11, 2019 15:05:38 GMT -5
No they did not. I assumed she would have a crew of some size though.
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Post by Wise Old Goat on Feb 11, 2019 15:07:03 GMT -5
I think $35/hour regardless of how many people show up - unless you were told before hand how many people and that the rate was per person and not per hour.
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Post by Sprockey on Feb 11, 2019 15:19:24 GMT -5
$35 per hour (regardless of the number of cleaners)
$385
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Post by katy on Feb 11, 2019 15:40:10 GMT -5
It should be the flat hourly rate quoted. However, it does seem that they're unable to pay a reasonable wage *and*make any profit/pay overheads. It may mean that they were quoting per man hour, but I can't imagine they wouldn't have figured out by now that this will confuse and upset people.
They may be a somewhat shady and not properly insured, paying wages under the table, etc.
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mare
Full Member
Posts: 2,517
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Post by mare on Feb 11, 2019 17:18:56 GMT -5
I believe I need to switch careers!
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Post by Andee on Feb 11, 2019 17:58:22 GMT -5
I got the bill in the mail today. $1,090.29. I will pay it because they did the work, did a good job but I will let her know that I was shocked. She should have been clear about the per cleaner part.
Maybe this is the norm for cleaners? I have never hired one before so I really dont know. I do know I am not tipping.
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mare
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Post by mare on Feb 11, 2019 18:40:18 GMT -5
I got the bill in the mail today. $1,090.29. I will pay it because they did the work, did a good job but I will let her know that I was shocked. She should have been clear about the per cleaner part. Maybe this is the norm for cleaners? I have never hired one before so I really dont know. I do know I am not tipping. Goodness! What exactly did they do and how long did it take?!
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Post by Ebraday on Feb 11, 2019 19:05:39 GMT -5
I got the bill in the mail today. $1,090.29. I will pay it because they did the work, did a good job but I will let her know that I was shocked. She should have been clear about the per cleaner part. Maybe this is the norm for cleaners? I have never hired one before so I really dont know. I do know I am not tipping. I would not be paying that since they never stipulated it would be per cleaner. And if the house was completely empty with nothing to work around, it should not have taken 3 people 11 hours to have cleaned the house unless it was Buckingham Palace.
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Post by niccikatie on Feb 11, 2019 19:09:40 GMT -5
Well, that amount doesn't even make any sense based on the second email. I would let her know that her quoting process was unclear and could potentially upset clients. I would also let her offer to knock some of the amount off. Ultimately, I'd probably just pay the bill, but she has to know that her communication is not effective.
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Post by Andee on Feb 11, 2019 20:11:37 GMT -5
It has about 15 rooms. 2 are bathrooms, 3 rooms with carpet. A large closet and a closet area under the stairs. Also 2 sets of stairs and a large foyer breezeway the thing. 4 of the rooms have no flooring at all. Just cement floors because I took out the carpet. They also cleaned the fridge and microwave.
It was pretty dirty. My mom was not the cleanest person at all and she had pets. Then just dust settling from no one doing that since June 2017. It wasn't like hoarder dirty but still pretty dirty. We all said it was probably the cleanest it has ever been in the 40 some years since my dad built it.
I will talk to her. I haven't told my brothers yet and I hoping that they dont ask.
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mare
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Post by mare on Feb 11, 2019 21:11:35 GMT -5
That seems outrageously high, IMO.
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Post by villanelle on Feb 12, 2019 0:47:30 GMT -5
I absolutely would not pay it. That was not at all clear from her email. No where does she mention "per person" and no where did she tell you how many people.
I'd tell her flat out that she did not explain that and that you are not going to pay a bill that is three times more than you were quoted. I might offer to pay more (perhaps roughly splitting the difference?), but that I was not going to pay for her lack of communication and inability to clearly articulate her prices, and if that wasn't sufficient, we could take it up with the better business bureau and I'd definitely be posting reviews on Yelp, Angie's List, and anywhere else I could think of.
She screwed you, and you don't have to go along with it just to be nice.
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Post by katy on Feb 12, 2019 6:15:00 GMT -5
The original assumed price is also not reasonable. It's not feasible to sell someone's labour that cheaply. She should have made it clear that it was per man hour.
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Post by Peanut on Feb 12, 2019 8:45:55 GMT -5
The original assumed price is also not reasonable. It's not feasible to sell someone's labour that cheaply. She should have made it clear that it was per man hour. This.
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Post by Sprockey on Feb 12, 2019 9:51:31 GMT -5
I got the bill in the mail today. $1,090.29. I will pay it because they did the work, did a good job but I will let her know that I was shocked. She should have been clear about the per cleaner part. Maybe this is the norm for cleaners? I have never hired one before so I really dont know. I do know I am not tipping. Goodness! What exactly did they do and how long did it take?! Oh hell, no. She quoted $35 per hour not per cleaner. I would tell her that you will pay half because she didn't clarify and you didn't confirm the total price before they started.
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Post by Wise Old Goat on Feb 12, 2019 13:07:31 GMT -5
I got the bill in the mail today. $1,090.29. I will pay it because they did the work, did a good job but I will let her know that I was shocked. She should have been clear about the per cleaner part. Maybe this is the norm for cleaners? I have never hired one before so I really dont know. I do know I am not tipping. I'm with everyone else. I wouldn't pay that. Let her know that at no time did she say that was per cleaner nor did she clear with you how many cleaners she was sending. I would maybe pay more than the just the $35/hour but I wouldn't pay the full amount. What if she had sent 5 cleaners and it took 8 hours? She can't do that to people and expect to stay in business.
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Post by Peanut on Feb 12, 2019 14:21:11 GMT -5
I believe I need to switch careers! No kidding! I wonder how much of that hourly rate the actual cleaners receive, though.
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Post by Bonadonna on Feb 12, 2019 19:53:53 GMT -5
That's a ridiculous price. Is she maintaining that it would have taken one person 33 hours to clean it? Unless it's a 10,000 square foot house, I don't know that that could even be true.
For what it's worth, I only pay $60 for my cleaning lady to come in every two weeks and clean. I know it takes her between 2-3 hours but my house is only 2400 square feet. She actually charges less than that, but I give her more because it's just really worth it.
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