I have a co-worker who owned a cleaning business, so she offered to clean my home. She also has…read morefriends who own their own cleaning business as well. However, I didn't want to mix business with my co-workers, so I opted for Rafas.
When I requested a quote, she was very responsive and quoted me $300-380 for a 2 bed 1 bath. I thought $380 would be pricey, considering the house was literally empty. Additionally, the house was pretty clean--the previous owner had cleaned it before we moved in and they moved out only days after their cleaning!
Nonetheless, I wanted to give them a chance. I was looking for regular cleaners and I wanted to start off on a positive note. Plus, if they did a great job, I wouldn't mind paying $380. I also brought water bottles and snacks for them. As we went over what was going to be cleaned and what wasn't, I asked if they could clean the dishwasher. Rafa told me they don't clean the dishwasher filter because they didn't know how to and didn't want to break it. She said they could set the dishwasher to a "self-cleaning" cycle, and that was it.
Right before the cleaning, she quoted me $400. A large cleaning corporation that takes a portion of the earnings from all their cleaners gave me the same quote. I pointed out that this was higher than the initial estimate of $300-380, so she laughed nervously and said "Ok $380". Keep in mind, the house is literally EMPTY and was obviously cleaned recently so I don't know why the estimate went up right before the cleaning. My place isn't super big either, it is under 999 sqft. I thought this was odd. I began to wonder if the price increase was because my place was in a nice neighborhood, which honestly felt a bit off. Rafa also told me it would take them about 2 hours, but they finished in 1 hour MAX. After the cleaning, she didn't seem to thoroughly check her two helpers' work. I noticed several things were left undone. For example, I was told they would wipe the metal frame at the bottom of all the windows (window track), but I noticed one window that was clearly untouched and a few others still had dirt caked in the corners. Either they weren't wiped at all, or not cleaned thoroughly. It made me wonder what else was missed, especially since I could barely tell a difference between the before and after unless I looked very closely.
Since my place was already empty and recently cleaned, it looked the same after the cleaning session. I could barely tell a difference, so why quote me $400 in the first place?! I also tipped 16% afterwards out of common courtesy. When asking her about regular cleanings, I was quoted $250 for a cleaning every 4-5 weeks. The next day, I texted her inquiring about regular cleanings and received NO response. I waited more than a week and never heard back.
After speaking to my coworker (who owns a cleaning business), she told me that some cleaners who own their own businesses may take advantage of people who look young, naive, and live in a nice neighborhood. She was livid after hearing about my experience. I would not book again. I will, however, point out that they did show up early, put on a cordial front, and provided some service. I wanted to support a small business, which is why I chose them over a large corporation. Overall, I found my experience disappointing and wouldn't recommend this business to young professionals.