In summary: This was the worst "deep clean" I've ever had, at a premium price. I'm left with a dirty house and bleach stains in my shower since her crew left bleach sitting for hours, at a cost of $840. I don't write negative (or any) reviews because - who wants my opinion? But I feel that this was truly a matter of consumer fraud. Feel free to contact me to confirm that this review is real.
Lupita sounded professional over the phone when we set up the cleaning, talked through cleaners she would use, and she and her crew came to clean the next day (3/6/20). She charged $35/person/hour - expensive, but I assumed the price came with expertise and the yelp reviews were so positive. I also prefer to have owner-operated cleaners, since I assume the workers get higher wages than at big outfits. At the very least, I hope her workers got paid well!
I've had my house deep-cleaned by Merry Maids twice and it cost $800 and took two people 8 hours (so, 16 person hours). Lupita and her crew (4 people + Lupita) were in my house for 6 hours (5 for Lupita), for a total of 29 person hours, and did an unbelievably bad job - and this was after I'd asked them to speed up. I observed them working very slowly, often with one of them standing around while another worked in a room. For reference, after 2.5 hours they had just finished cleaning my living room, were starting on the kitchen, and had sprinkled bleach cleaner in my bathrooms but not yet cleaned them (5 people! And there are still cobwebs on the wall in my living room!). At that rate it would have taken days to clean my 3-bedroom house. She wanted to charge me full price, but agreed to take an hour off because I had clearly told her crew leader not to clean the outside of windows or windows inaccessible because of screens, and they spent an hour or so doing just that. I had to have her reclean all the floors because they'd barely been touched in some rooms and there was visible dirt and dust in almost every room. I paid them for this hour, despite the fact that it was their oversight and Lupita told me they cleaned with Palmolive dish soap instead of the Murphy's wood soap we'd agreed to use when we spoke over the phone. As I walked from room to room pointing out things that weren't done, she kept rolling her eyes - I guess I was being too demanding. At one point she pointed out specifically that she/her crew had moved my bed and cleaned the baseboard behind it - I moved the bed back from the wall and the baseboard was dark gray with dust! Another eye roll from Lupita before calling an employee to fix the job. I even got an eyeroll as I was writing her check.
After she left I discovered just how bad a job they'd done. They left cleaner in the oven and didn't clean the oven (filling my house with fumes the next day). The wall and floor tiles in one shower were coated with white powder that must have been bleach, based on the smell, and discoloration on the floor tiles that must have been caused by bleach. I had directed them to clean surfaces in all closets (shelves and floors) and ONE closet had been touched, out of 7 in the house - cobwebs in doorways, visible dust on floors and shelves. Didn't clean pantry floor, which I specified to both Teresa, the crew leader, and Lupita. Picture windows in dining room coated with grimy streaks and insect spots not removed in the slightest. And this was after I asked them to fix things when they declared themselves done. What were they doing for 29 hours?! See photos.
I texted Lupita to either fix the problem herself ASAP or agree to pay the bill for another cleaner. She didn't touch the latter option, and said she wouldn't be able to return for over a week. I'm not interested in that because we'd already cleaned dangerous cleaners off the oven and shower ourselves and waiting over a week only to have to heavily supervise her crew to get any quality out of her services is not a good use of my time.
Last but not least, I asked her if she had insurance (shower tiles) and for confirmation that AM Personal Cleaning Services is in fact a business, over the phone yesterday (I had to trick her into calling me back by calling from a different number since she stopped responding to my texts). She told me that the way I was talking to her is mean, those are not my questions to ask, and she doesn't have to answer them. Then she hung up on me. This, plus the fact that she asked for the check to be made out to her, personally, tells me that her business is not a legitimate business. A check on the CA Sec. of State's website shows nothing for that business name or Lupita's full name (to whom I wrote the check). So, be warned that you're hiring someone who probably doesn't pay payroll taxes or have insurance. Lupita is free to run whatever risks she likes, but shouldn't put customers at risk.
I honestly feel badly writing this review for a small, woman-run "business" but the poor service, damage, and payroll concern leaves me no choice. read more