I was not happy with E&K's "move-in" cleaning. Three women showed up and only one of them spoke enough English to communicate with me -- which wouldn't matter except that she only stayed for five minutes to get them set up with what my priorities were. One she was gone I had no recourse to tell them things like "Dust the heat grates instead of the furniture please." The whole point of me hiring the service was to get the last tenants' dirt out, not so much my own.
They left after their minimum requirement: 1.5 hours (which with two people, apparently, is the "3 hour minimum" quoted on the website). This is not enough time for a good deep cleaning. I could tell that they didn't even touch about half of the areas I really wanted done, but I couldn't re-communicate those things with them since the English speaking woman left. So all I could do was pay them and let then leave.
Also note, the checklist on the website is worthless. They didn't do a quarter of the things listed. I'd be shocked if these women even knew there was a list. I get now that there is no way to get all those things done in 1.5 hours, fine. So why in the hell do you even have a checklist? At least clarify that it's more of an "options" list than a "checklist".
Once the floors dried I inspected what they did clean. The oven/stove looked great, the sink looked great, and the bathtub/sink/toliet/tiled walls looked great. Half of the windows/blinds looked okay. Everything else they spent time on -- the other windows/blinds, the floor, the cabinets, the doorframes/crowns -- still had spots, dirt, and dust!
I called the office number because I wanted to talk through my upsets and see what the hell happened. First, I was confused as to why the minimum was 3 hours but the two women only stayed for 1.5, and charged me for the whole three. She explained that it is 3 hours total -- 2 people x 1.5 hours = 3 hours work. Apparently this was explained to me when I booked on the phone. Fine, fair, but please make that clear on your website. Second, why did they leave after the very minimum amount of time when what was done wasn't done well and when there was obviously so much more to do? The woman explained that a more thorough cleaning would require more like 5 to 6 hours of work. No shit. I told her that's what I would've preferred, but I couldn't communicate that to them because I don't speak Polish. And she says... well, if you would let us know your special requests when you call to book, then we can let them know and you won't have to communicate with them. Okay... umm the website both provided a checklist of what they would do and quoted me a price RANGE depending on how long that checklist would take. I have to special request get the service the way it's described? Even without the specific checklist, the basic description of the move-in cleaning is "Move out/in cleaning is designed for deep, thorough cleaning..." I guess I should've repeated everything they promised on their website on the phone when I booked. My bad.
Also, side note, I told her when I booked that we had already moved in so we'd have to modify slightly to work around our stuff... and she said, that's fine, you can just tell them when they get there. !!!!
Whatever. I'm currently lugging my huge pregnant belly and cleaning supplies around my still-dirty apartment to clean/re-clean everything. They really were working the whole time... I don't understand if they just wiped things off with paper towels or what, but I am using the most basic cleaning supplies and it's already so much cleaner. Maybe they spent too much time on the oven and had no time left to do the cabinets.
Honestly, if I had hired them for move-out cleaning, I would've been happy enough paying minimum to get the minimum acceptable clean. But I wanted what was advertised -- a deep clean and a refreshed apartment. So if you're like me, don't waste your money. You'll just have to clean up behind them anyway. read more