The woman they sent did a great job and completed it in the time allotted and for a reasonable price. I am trying to book another cleaning, but on November 7, I have been unable to do so. Their form won't accept a date and a phone call gets a busy signal. Perhaps they are having trouble with ICE? read more

I found Carmen through La Colectiva and she was fantastic. She was extremely thorough in cleaning my apartment, and left the place cleaner than the day I moved in years ago. read more

They sent me a wonderful cleaner, Carmen, which I've referred to several friends. She's thorough, punctual, and leaves my place spotless. Not sure what the bad reviews are about, but love supporting a local business! read more

We contacted them in 3-4 different ways for over a week. They never called us back, or answer our online form. When we called, they hung up. We sent a text message, no response. Unbelievable. It is a courtesy to write a simple answer. read more

Two stars for a sort-of-clean apartment... after wayy more effort from our part as a family hiring for help. I too was interested in supporting a good mission, but after putting my money where my mouth is, I found out the hard way that the execution isnt there. First, Cesar the staff that matched us with our helper. When I asked questions about how we could flesh out our requests he suggested coming up with a detailed list, BY per hour or something like that, of what we want our worker to do. Very strange request, I said, but I presumed maybe they do things differently so I played along, spending an hour coming up with some details. However the "list" only served to spook our help, as well as others at La Colectiva. I received 2 calls following my booking, asking me why I NEED to come up with a restrictive looking list, and our hired helper spent first 30min upon her arrival complaining to her contact. Secondly, our help. For how much she disliked the list she was shown and how she asserted she can do the job without directions, the results were not supportive of her claim. Of the list of things she didn't/forgot to clean (a lot considering we have a one-bedroom): - our kitchen shelves - entire shower - our glass coffee table (bottom side of which is still full of finger prints) - bedroom carpet She was also very reluctant to ask basic questions such as "where does X go?" As a result, top cap of my aeropress coffee press ended up in the garbage compactor and our kitchen spatulas were inserted randomly into any holder she felt like (leaving me with an unwanted treasure hunt). We did manage to communicate with her enough to fix on the spot most of the issues of note, but this is not our usual experience dealing with professional cleaners, esp given the amount of supervision and conversation that is needed to make this happen. And of course, when there is so much to straighten out, it took a lot longer than usual to finish the job, which we ended up paying for. We will not be using La Colectiva again. read more

I wish I had read the Yelp reviews before hiring a house cleaner from La Colectiva. I was quoted 5 hours to clean our 1100 SF 2 br / 2ba flat. This is a new and much larger place for us so I had nothing to compare this to. I booked online more than a week ahead but they called to confirm the day before and said they didn't have anyone available with one day notice, so we scheduled for the day after. 20 min after my appointment was to have started I called to check up on the person and they said they weren't working that day. I called central scheduling and it turned out the worker hadn't been informed that she was scheduled to clean my house. They tried to reschedule me with someone else the following week, but after some work they called and said they had someone who could come the following day. So this is day 3 that I have been trying to schedule with them. Instead of 5 hours it took her 7.5 hours. And there is so much undone or that needs to be redone. My kitchen floor is greasy. Baseboards weren't dusted. I'm currently scrubbing my kitchen sink. Windows and windowsills weren't cleaned. My bedroom wasn't dusted. From reading reviews, I think I got lucky and had one of the better experiences with this service. I will keep looking for a house cleaner. read more

Very disappointing. Read the one star reviews, their experiences are spot on. I'm sure some people had good experience with them but it is a very hit or miss depending on who comes to your house. The biggest problem is this agency has NO standard. I doubt they provide adequate training to their employees at all and they don't have any kind of quality control. The bottom line is use their cleaning service if you want to support migrants and their mission and feel good. Think of it as donation if you will. But avoid them if you need real professional cleaning that are up to standard and if you want your house to be clean. We hired a cleaner for 4 hours. We live in a very small 800 sqft house. And the only thing she cleaned was the kitchen. Yes, you read that right. Four hours for a 12 ft x 12 ft kitchen and she didn't even clean the inside of the oven and she didn't even touch the fridge. Here is exactly what was cleaned: - Top surfaces in the kitchen - The stoves - Outside of the oven only - Small load of dishes (as seen in the picture) - Sink - Toaster - Microwave - Floor was mopped What she did not clean at all: - Fridge - Inside of the oven - The rest of the house including two bedrooms, living room and bathroom - Did not even vacuum anything After spending 3.5 hours cleaning the kitchen and not even deep cleaning. The kitchen was half clean. Our house was not very dirty to begin with. I'd say we normally could have done this ourselves in about an hour. She wanted to start with the bathroom but we decided to send her home instead. I know we probably had a wrong expectation but disappointed is an understatement. Maybe we got unlucky with the person. The cleaning lady was quite old maybe 75 years old + and very slow (not her fault obviously and I don't blame her). But we will definitely not be using their service again. read more

La Colectiva - The size of the kitchen and the only room that was cleaned in 4 hours. - Employment Agencies Near Me - San Francisco, California

It's hard to believe that my online form submission, an email, and a phone call all got ignored. I had a previous good experience with the day labor program, but for that i just drove by and hired on the spot. Booking La Colectiva in advance...*crickets* Does anyone have advice for other inexpensive home cleaners? I hate paying middlemen by hiring a cleaning company. I'd rather just hire an individual. One used to do that by looking at bulletin boards at laundromats and coffee shops, but those don't seem to exist any longer. read more

Unfortunately I have to agree with many of the posts here. I wanted to support a good cause but not at the expense of having the work done properly and with integrity. They sent a woman to clean an empty apartment for move-in. This was the easiest job ever. I had cleaned 90% of it myself. Then I realized when I walked through, the painter had already cleaned all the baseboards, sills. There was very little left to do, but some how basic things like inside the (empty ) refrigerator and the kitchen sink and faucet were left uncleaned. The steel basket in the sink for example was not touched and left covered in brown mildew. Bad experience. read more

I got day-of help on the hottest day we've had in the city this year. Another way of stating this is: I couldn't/wouldn't do the work on the hottest day of the year and two hard workers did it for me. I am so very very grateful. The job was to take a 4 room apartment that has seen 23 years and probably 23 different tenants and get it to a reasonable state to hand over to the landlords. The women showed up and banged it out!! La Colectiva is a service that could save your life. I highly recommend supporting the women that do the work that you can't do. read more

AVOID THIS SERVICE LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!! My experience echoes that of Tonie C.: We wanted so badly to like this service, but it cost a lot and our house seemed even dirtier afterwards! Just the facts: - Our last housecleaner, who was excellent, only took 3 hours and cleaned EVERYTHING. The La Collectiva worker took over 6 hours (our home is around 1,000 sq ft, no dogs, no kids, only 1 rug) and after she left, there was MORE dirt on the tiles and wood floors, as though she'd just pushed around a dirty mop. - We paid for a "deep clean". She didn't clean ANYTHING that would've required her to use a step stool. So, our chandeliers and upper levels of furniture didn't get dusted at all. Smudges on walls didn't get removed by her. What exactly made this a "deep clean"?? - There are specks of dirt and clumps of grime left all over the house in places that have never had grime on them, like window sills, base boards, etc. - I've found more than a few of HER hairs on MY floors. My hair is curly, hers is straight and a totally different color. - She used some sort of cleaning detergent on our shower that have somehow ruined three of the tiles by stripping off the shine in what look like drips. Trust me when I say that this was NOT there before! We've tried to scrub them, but it is permanent. - The grout on our bathroom floor looks dirtier than before, and she didn't properly clean the surfaces of the tiles, either. - She didn't clean our windows. As I sit here, I can see a visible handprint on the window. Tell me again how this is a DEEP CLEAN???? And yes, it is easy to clean those windows, which is something I'll have to do later this evening, despite the fact that I just paid someone else $160 to do it earlier today!! - She put the cushions back on our couches in a way that is obviously wrong and they don't even fit that way. - She even managed to somehow mess up my flower arrangement...Why, just WHY???? I could go on and on, but you get the point. The bottom line is that this woman inhabited my home for over 6 hours, didn't clean a lot of essential things, charged me $160 for a "deep clean", and left the place feeling infinitely dirtier than before she arrived! This has me spitting mad, and I would NEVER use this service again or recommend it to anyone else! read more

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Setting up appointment was a breeze. Someone got in touch and scheduled an appointment. 5 mins after the time of the appointment, I get a text saying they had car issues and would be late. I said fine since I work from home and it wasnt a big deal. They came at 1.57. The lady came in I showed her top half of the house and said I only what to get cleaned what you can in 3 hours (90$ worth) and I plan to call you on a weekly basis. House was already mostly clean but they did vaccum and mop nicely. Husband asked me when cleaners were coming after they left (so not a huge difference but then the house was mostly clean). None of this was an issue. She requested if her husband can join the cleaning, I said ok. Past 2 pm at this point when they start. They left 2.5 hours later (I know coz I kept asking them to leave as I was getting late to pick up my child). So a total of 5 hours if you calculate 35$/hour after the first 3 hours which is what their website says. I paid 120 in fairness as they did work longer. She forgot her jacket at home and along with that tells me that 120 wasnt enough. So I asked her what I owe her. She said 80$ more. That brings it to 200$. Not what the time says. At 5 hours, they should have been paid 160$ not 200 like they are asking. I will be paying the the remaining 40$ per their price policy and not 200 like they are quoting but unlikely to invite them home again as 1) communication seems like a problem. I clearly said do 3 hours worth cleaning as I want to invite them every week. 2) Bait and switch on the pricing. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I rarely leave bad ratings as I know how hard it is for business owners in SF. read more

I really wanted to like this service, I really did. We've used them twice. The Good: Both cleaners were very nice and punctual. The Bad: They don't seem to clean very thoroughly. The second time we used them, about a month after the first, I actually paid for a "deep cleaning". Before she left, we realized that she hadn't done a few things and asked her to stay a bit longer. She stayed a 1/2 hour longer, but we paid for an hour, so we paid for four hours total. The total cost for that second visit was $110. Our house is under 1,000 sq ft, and we don't have kids. The Ugly: After the second visit we were disappointed that our deep clean didn't seem much cleaner than the first. I ended up cleaning up a bit on my own and it was clear that neither one of them had dusted the high shelves (anything requiring a step stool). $195 later I am going to have to do all the dusting myself. My recommendation is that the people in charge of La Colectiva do some training. Just because someone has cleaned their own home doesn't mean they understand how a professional cleaner does it. The impression I get is that they aren't trained, just told to clean without being taught any tricks of the trade. Our previous (independent) cleaner took three hours and the house was perfect when she left. read more

They sent us 'Olivia' who spent more time lecturing us about Catholicsm than cleaning and did a terrible job. We kicked her out because we didn't like her telling us we're evil and we have to get right with God. Terrible, we asked them for help and they wouldn't help us. They just said we had to pay her for preaching at us. AVOID THIS SERVICE UNLESS YOU CAN'T GET A HOUSE CALL FROM YOUR LOCAL PREACHY BITCHES OF CATHOLIC FAITH. On the side of cleaning, she didn't know how to make beds, didn't wash the dishes, and forgot to vacuum. She spent 5 hours folding laundry and we ended up paying 90 dollars for something that would have been done better by a wash dry fold business. EDIT: There is no refund, if they send you a dud you still have to pay them. The worst part is now I'm fighting with my spouse because the house isn't clean and we're both upset. They aren't even answering our phone when we asked them to send us someone to fix this. Avoid these people even if it seems like they have a good heart, they are unprofessional and providing a service that isn't what they promise. read more

It's interesting reading other reviews of La Colectiva. Taken all together, it pretty much sums up my own experience. 1. I like the idea: empowering immigrants to obtain work 2. Health insurance & worker cooperative 3. Local, grassroots But there are cons. Sadly. I used the Day Labor Program and La Colectiva for my last move. I needed help cleaning the 3 bedroom apartment we had lived in (I was the last roommate to move out) and had no problems setting up the appointment a couple weeks ahead of time. 2 people came to help: 1 girl who spoke English well but didn't clean very well and the other lady who cleaned great but didn't speak English at all. (sidebar: I *WISH* I spoke Spanish and find this problem to be MY problem). Between all three of us, the apartment got cleaned in 3-4 hours. Not bad. I realized during the clean up that I had way more stuff to toss than I thought. I called the Day Labor program and they were able to quickly get a hold of someone who drove his 70's van out, loaded in all my junk & for $80 took it to the dump. Not super cheap but not bad for a 2 hour turn around. Then I called the Day Labor program again when I needed help moving a couch that a friend was giving me. I was very clear on the phone that I just needed to move 1 couch and 1 recliner from one apartment in SF to another. Small truck, a couple of guys. They sent a HUGE truck and 6 guys. Everyone was disappointed. The 4 guys who were going to do nothing and split the small fee I was quoted with the 2 guys who had the HUGE truck and did all the work. Bummer. I want to use them again. I don't know why. It's the bleeding heart in me. read more

I love their mission and was super excited to hire these guys. We've had their cleaners come over 3 or 4 times. Every time, scheduling was a really hassle. I've tried both online and by calling, either way, they are very slow responders at best. You have to work hard to get a call back. Like you need to call at least 3 times. They are away late. They never have any idea of who we are, where we live, and what we need. Even though we are repeat customers. S doesn't speak a word of Spanish and, since he is usually the one home to meet them, asks for cleaners that have some English speaking capabilities. This request has only been complied with once, understandable but frustrating. But the last straw is that, after going through their regularly frustrating rigmarole, we booked then for 7:30am this morning. We called them at 7:45 to find out of they cleaner need out number. They said she would be right over. Then at 8 they called and said the cleaner could not come. Bull$hit!! I've got house guests coming tonight and was counting on them cleaning today. Get your act together. read more

Fabulous. Amazing. I'm both getting my place cleaned up and spending my money where my ethics are. What's not to like? I booked online a couple of weeks ago, and the person La Colectiva matched me with arrived today, per agreement. My place is - well, what you'd expect of a single parent in grad school who is also working full time. (Disaster.) Her English was about as good as my Spanish, so hey - language lessons thrown in as well. Muy bien! We booked initially for four hours, which turned into six, by mutual agreement. (See "disaster", above.) But let me tell you - my place wasn't half this clean when I moved into it several years ago, and I've not been able to get it close to this ever since. And maybe I'm weird (or socialist), but I see people working in service industries as professionals and human beings, just like me. I'm not always at work precisely on time. I'm not always in the most fabulous of moods at work. Life happens. If something happens with a kid or she needs to adjust hours, I'm giving her *precisely* the same flexibility that my employer gives me - which is a lot. As a single mom, I've needed that myself. Why should I not pay it forward? So yeah. Really happy, and just wondering why I waited to long to sign up. read more

Lourdes just left after spending 4+ hours working on my shower & rest of the apartment. The place looks like we just moved in! Minus the bike tire marks on the hall walls and other associated dings. I made the appointment online, and someone from La Colectiva called me to talk over what I needed, when, what materials I had, etc. Then they called again a few days before to confirm my cleaner. Lourdes showed up early with a form detailing my commitment (# hrs, rate) and another writeup that covered what I had told them I wanted cleaned. I showed her where my cleaning stuff is, and she immediately tackled that shower. She's not a native english speaker, but we were able to communicate effectively. My only nitpicks (and the reason for 4 not 5 stars): I said I didn't have a mop, so Lourdes brought one, but the mop didn't do a fantastic job, especially on my black bathroom tiles. (pro tip: never do black bathroom tiles). She did go over them again though and it's better. There's also a couple surfaces that I noticed weren't swept/wiped, but they're easy and she tackled all the hard stuff I've been avoiding for months, which is a trade I'll make. Seriously though, the shower was pretty gross and like 75% of my reason for paying someone else to clean. It took Lourdes at least 45 minutes, but it's fantastic now. read more

Just tried using La Colectiva and had a horrendous experience. I asked for two cleaners with basic English so I could communicate with them effectively. One could not speak a word of English, and between them they could not and did not communicate at all. They didn't listen to anything I said and didn't use common sense, I.e. using the wrong cleaning products on each surface and doing floors prior to dusting, wearing hard soled shoes that scuffed the floor. But worst of all, we had brand new hardwood floors that we very specifically asked them not to touch because they had just been finished and required special care. The Spanish speaker ignored us and we caught her half-way through cleaning our new hardwood stairs with *glass cleaner*, which completely destroys the finish. I tried to get her to stop in both Spanish and English, and she carried on. I almost had to physically stop her from continuing to destroy our floors. I then *over-paid* her to get her to leave my house, had a conversation with HQ (who can't do anything since they just connect workers to jobs, with seemingly no qualifications or filters), and tried to get her to leave. I don't think these two had ever cleaned a house before. They had very low standards. They did a crappy job overall, there was dust all over the shelves when they'd finished, smudged stainless steel appliances, and we had to re-do the floors and many of the surfaces ourselves, spending about 3 hours cleaning up after them. I wanted to support this group because of their mission, but the experience was so awful I will never take my chances using La Colectiva again. read more

I really wish I read the reviews first or at least vetted La Colectiva first. I heard about them through a colleague who got a postcard from La Colectiva. I called La Colectiva to specifically hire skilled painters to paint 2 small office spaces with about 10' ceilings. I requested skilled painters and also requested these painters bring their own painting supplies such as rollers, brushes, trays, etc... I requested they bring a ladder because the ceiling is so high. They tried to charge me $100 extra to have the painters bring a ladder. I negotiated with them down to $50 for the ladder. I also requested an estimate for how much time the painters would take to paint the 2 office spaces. They dispatched someone to come over and provide an estimate. The person that came brought all his supplies as if he was ready to paint. This is where it starts to get messy. Apparently there was no communication between the painter and La Colectiva because the painter thought he was there to paint, and I told him he was there to view the spaces and provide an estimate. When I tried to explain how I wanted the paint job done because there are some details to the paint job- not just painting 4 walls, the painter got defensive. He told me he knew how to paint and got defensive and then told me he wasn't going to do the job to which I replied, I'm not telling you how to do your job. I'm just explaining how I want the details done and also, you aren't scheduled to paint. You are just here to provide an estimate. The painter then said it would take him the whole day to paint the offices and he went on his way because I didn't like the defensive attitude he gave me and he was only there to provide an estimate, not to paint. I called La Colectiva back and said I don't want that painter to come back and paint and La Colectiva scheduled 2 painters to come out and paint. With 2 painters, I thought the job would go faster for 2 office spaces but what went from messy became a nightmare. The day the 2 painters were scheduled to paint, one painter showed up with no paint supplies. Really? No paint supplies? I specifically requested skilled painters to bring their own supplies. At this point, I should have just sent him home and rescheduled but I needed to have the offices painted that day because of a tight schedule. I hurried and ran to get some rollers, brushes, trays, etc... I already had the paint ready. The second guy didn't show up so I called La Colectiva in which they then dispatched a second guy who showed up 2 hours later and also didn't have any painting supplies. No ladder either. At this point, I'm really frustrated. 2 painters showed up with no painting supplies! Each handed me a work order. On the work order, it clearly states that the painters are requested to bring their own supplies and a ladder!!! What makes me so upset besides that the painters didn't bring their own supplies and a ladder, they are UNSKILLED painters. The one painter who showed up on time took a little over 9 hours to paint one office space and he still wasn't done!!! The other guy who showed up 2 hours later took about 8 hours to finish and then went over to help the other guy. They both left the supplies and didn't even clean up. These are NOT skilled painters. I could probably do a better job painting the office space than these 2 painters. It was such a joke and a waste of money to go through La Colectiva to hire what they call skilled workers. In the end, I ended up hiring a real painter (who does side jobs from his main job) to finish and clean up the paint job. It cost me more money but the saying is absolutely true in this case. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. La Colectiva did not try to make this right. I called and complained and all they could offer was to dispatch another painter to which I said thanks but no thanks. I don't think they even VET the workers they dispatch to jobs. In short, I would NEVER EVER go through La Colectiva again and I highly recommend that you read all the reviews first before you even think about contacting La Colectiva. Never Again. Remember, the saying, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. This is absolutely the case with La Colectiva. read more

I have worked with La Colectiva for the past 7 years and love them! Justina is great and sometimes brings extra help with her. We appreciate that they use green cleaning techniques and that she goes above and beyond what we ask. You give clear instructions (we used a checklist in the beginning) and can build expectations and work out details. I have hired her to help with my parents place and have gifted the service to friends on occasion. I love that the workers are part owners of the collective and that they even provide a way for me to chip into her health insurance. I contribute just $5 extra and she has health care! When we have had concerns or questions about things, she has been responsive and easy to talk to. Support worker's being their own boss! read more

I had a horrific experience with La Collectiva. The cleaner was scheduled to come at 8am but never did. I called at 8:11am and was reassured that she would come and they will give me a call back to confirm. 40 mins later there was still no phone call. I had to call again to find out that the cleaner had an emergency and couldn't come. La Collectiva was completely unapologetic because it was the worker's fault. I understand people have emergencies but it was La Collectiva's lack of action to inform me that frustrates me the most. It also made me feel that if their worker damaged anything La Collectiva will not be responsible or be the liaison. I have very low confidence with their service since I wasn't planning to be at home during the cleaning. This is my home they have access to and I really needed people that can be more responsible. read more

Just bad! Inflexible cleaning lady who refused to take off her shoes when I kindly asked her. As we never have outside shoes on, inside our home, especially with little babies crawling around. Doesn't make sense to me to come to clean, whilst dragging in dirt from the outside! She just left. Leaving our plans up in the air. read more

They do an AMAZING job. I have a glass shower door that seemed to have intractable soap scum on it and Morelia made it sparkling again. I'm also really happy to be supporting an organization that values worker rights and organizes around important issues like immigration. Highly recommend. read more

I do not have a ton of spare money. I hired someone to come help me clean because I'm pregnant and my energy has been almost at zero. Having a clean space when so much change is swirling around me is really helpful in keeping my sanity. The cleaner arrived 15 minutes late. I was told that she spoke English but then when I was explaining what I wanted her to do it was clear she had no idea what I was saying, and she said herself that she didn't speak English. She then spent the next 2.5 hours cleaning one counter in my kitchen. ONE COUNTER. I do not have a large kitchen. She started some dishes but didn't finish them. She started wiping down the stove but didn't finish that. She started the floor but didn't finish that. I was getting upset because I was realizing that I had wasted my money already. I asked her to go downstairs to the room I most wanted help with in the first place, having said multiple times that I needed help with the dusting in that room. She went down there and spent 15 minutes dusting the top of the piano. Then she tried to leave 15 minutes early! I protested and said "you arrived 15 minutes late, so you have 15 more minutes of work" and asked her for maybe the 8th time to clean off the top of the bookcase, and she blatantly lied and said she'd already done it, which obviously she had not because there was an inch of dust on it still. I said, "here I'll help" and pulled everything off the top of the shelf. She gave a deep sigh and begrudgingly started wiping it down. When it was time to pay I begrudgingly gave her her $60 which was the price I'd been quoted. She protested and said I owed her $70. This was the conversation on the phone when I'd arranged for the cleaner to come: "It's $60 for a minimum of 3 hours, and $15/hour after that. Will you be supplying your own non-toxic cleaning supplies? Or should she bring them?" "Does it cost more to have her bring them?" "You get a $10 discount if you provide them" "Okay, well I don't have everything so how about she brings them." To me this means it would have cost $50 if I had provided the supplies, not that it would cost $70 if I didn't. I really wanted to have a great experience here. Support a local business (they are literally right across the street), and get some much needed help in the meantime. Instead I ended up having an intense meltdown (thank you pregnancy hormones) that made me sick for the rest of the day, and I still have a house that needs to be cleaned. I will not ever call them again. Oh, and no one has returned my calls when I've tried to inform management of my experience. UPDATE: a few weeks after this I received a phone call from the manager who told me she was sorry and that she would send this person through their training program again. No offer for a refund. No offer to send someone else to do what she wouldn't do. Poorly handled. read more

Sadly my most recent cleaner was almost an hour late (coming from another job) and left an entire bathroom dirty. She would have had time to clean it if she had been on time. Will most likely not be using this service again. read more

So AMAZING! Super responsive, booked within a day. Erica was amazing and my apartment has never looked better. No corner went unswept, and she even did my dishes and changed the foil cover in my toaster oven! So much attention to detail. I'll definitely be booking again. Especially love to support a local worker-run collective. read more

Asked for a deep clean. They sent two people. Put simply, they didn't do a good job. In 9 hours, they did less than other people/agencies have done in 3. They seemed to be trying to milk the experience for more money rather than do a good job, moving incredibly slowly. One woman spent the entire 9 hours cleaning the kitchen--and it doesn't look that clean. They only left when I told them I'd had enough and they should leave, which means I paid a bunch of money for a partially clean house. I really wanted to support this organization. Instead, I feel ripped off. So disappointing. Will never use them again. read more

I had a wonderful experience with La Colectivia. History: I have gone through a number of house cleaners. The last an operation by a Brazilian lady who was always so rude (answered the phone by screaming "Oi!"). I asked for and was promised a consistent team. But the team was never the same, but they cleaned pretty well for a low price. Because there was always a new team, I had to spend time retraining them every time. The last straw was them taking my house keys and pretending that they gave them back. Yikes! I changed all of my locks. Sooo, after months and months of no cleaning, I ventured out to La Collectiva. I reserved on line on an evening about 4 days before the planned cleaning. I got a call back the next morning. The cleaners showed up at the appointed time. I do speak intermediate Spanish, so I can communicate. I asked for a thorough spring cleaning. I asked them to: be careful, don't break anything, don't hurt themselves, don't rush, clean everything, do a great job. They did all of the above. The place is so so so clean. All of the usual things are covered: dusting, general cleaning, everything tidily arranged. But, I keep running across new things that surprise me. The thing that motivated me to write this review is that I just went to use my toaster. I was shocked to discover that they had cleaned the toaster. I mean, clean! They removed all crumbs from the inside of the toaster and cleaned it thoroughly. Wow. You would never of thought that it had been used. And, they didn't break anything. I have hired many different operations for deep cleaning before. I have never been fully satisfied. La Colectiva did a spectacular job. They worked about 9 hours total (each about 4.5 hours). I paid about 100 bucks each. I have paid more for crappy jobs. I paid reasonably for an outstanding job. I think La Colectiva is awesome. read more

I think it's great that this company helps very new immigrants get quality cleaning gigs within an organized structure. I also realize that everyone has their bad days and I don't know what's happening in my cleaner's life or the struggle she's living. She was definitely in a bad mood, though not directed at me or my boyfriend. She spoke zero english, and thankfully I speak some Spanish so that we could tell her details about what we needed done. I'm an illustrator. I had the good fortune to attend an extremely challenging design university, and I've spent the past 15 years developing specialized illustration and design skills, and am an Adobe Creative Suite expert. Based on this collection of skills, I charge $50/hr. I paid the cleaner they sent me, who was 1.5 hrs late and only cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, $105. They said it would be $85 for 3 hours for the whole apartment to be cleaned. She insisted she had stayed for 4 hours, (which was actually 3.5 hrs) even though I told her she could leave at the 3 hour mark because we needed full use of the house. BUT HERE'S THE REAL ISSUE: I enjoy cleaning, I clean fast, I clean well. I hired a cleaner to get a good ROI (return on investment) because my time is a greater expense than the time of a cleaner. I paid $30/hr for 3.5 hrs for a bad clean of my shower (there's still mold in there), the oven (there's cleaning supply residue still in there), the fridge (which actually looks great) and my dish rack. SUMMARY -These tasks would have taken me 2 hours, so thats $100 of work for me. -SO by hiring this cleaner, I actually lost $5. -I would have been a more cost effective cleaner even while getting paid $50/hr. There are countless cleaning services out there, so this result is pretty unacceptable. read more

I've been hiring cleaners from La Colectiva for probably about 6 years. My current go-to woman, Julia Ariceli, does an awesome job, always. She's quick, thorough, and always on time. She's able to transform my entire 1 bedroom apartment in under 3 hours, plus, she is a sweetheart. I've also had exceptionally good customer service on the phone, namely through a Jad, who had helped to connect me with Julia when I lost her contact info. I'm very happy with their service (Ask for Julia!) read more

Don't ask me why I never had my house professionally cleaned, but I never did until yesterday. And this lady named Viviana knocked my socks off! When the lady/receptionist told me that Viviana would be coming to my house alone, I thought it would take her more than 3 hours to clean my filthy house. So I took out more cash just in case she couldn't finish within 3 hours. When she told me she finished at the 3rd hour mark, I thought she was joking and wasn't thorough. After she left, I inspected the house (huge disgusting kitchen, fairly clean living and dining room, disgusting bathroom) and I could not believe my eyes. It was spotless. I mean stuff was shiny where I didn't think it could never be shiny! I immediately called La Collectiva and told her how great Viviana was, and I will use her over and over and over again. read more

Maria came and cleaned my house for 5 hours and it sparkles! I will definitely use their service again. She didn't speak English, I don't speak Spanish which concerned me a first but we communicated just fine. read more

We desparately needed a housecleaning ... since the arrival of our baby (now 2-1/2) neither of us had any time to devote to "real" cleaning beyond the minimal basics. When we called it seemed very easy to schedule a 3-hr block per our availability. We asked for 2 people since we knew we needed the extra help. I can't say enough about their brochure explaning what they clean and how they do it, and how to prioritize your requests as well as who to call in case there is something not listed. It took less than 5 minutes for us to review and circle what we ideally would like done. When Andrea and Aida arrived, right on time, it was easy for them to see what we were asking for, and to let us know what was do-able and what wasn't in the time we had alotted. Non-toxic cleaning products!!!! What a relief!!! When I came home, the house looked amazing. The hardwood floors shone, the bathroom tile gleamed like it was new, my oven had been scoured within an inch of its life, and my refrigerator was blindingly white inside and out. Shocking and wonderful. Can't wait to have them back. read more

I read the previous reviews here with trepidation and decided to go with the SF Day Labor Program (http://www.yelp.com/biz/san-francisco-day-labor-program-san-francisco) instead. However, it turns out that they are sibling organisations and share offices etc, since when I called them, they answered the phone as "San Francisco Day Labor Program and La Colectiva". OK, I thought, the reviews are extremely varied between the two, but let's give them a try. I called with less than 24 hours' notice, to get two cleaners to come and clean my 1BR apartment before I moved out. The person at the other end of the phone was friendly, professional, and got back to me within half an hour to tell me she'd found me some cleaners with the skills and English fluency I needed, but would I mind a slightly different starting time? That was fine with me, so we made the appointment. The next morning, my two cleaners showed up 15 minutes early and were waiting outside. I was ready for them so I invited them in. One cleaner had fluent English, as I'd requested, and was readily able to discuss what cleaning was needed, etc. They brought their own equipment (mop, vacuum, cleaning supplies) as I had requested. They did a great job of my apartment, while I went out and ran some errands. When I came back, they gave me a tour to show what they'd done, and point out some things that I hadn't especially asked for but which I was pleased with (for instance, there were some miscellaneous bits of hardware (shelf fittings etc) in the storage space, which they had gathered up and put neatly into a box.) The cost was $70/person/hour if they provided their own supplies, and $60 if I provided supplies for them. Edited to add: La Colectiva also provided a pamphlet with pictures and phrases in Spanish for common cleaning tasks (eg. "the fridge", "light cleaning only", etc.) and offered translation services over the phone if you called them with any language problems. So if you have at least a bit of Spanish, I wouldn't worry too much about language barriers. In short: this was everything I wanted from a cleaning job, and I was very happy with it. I was debating whether to give 4 or 5 stars, but honestly, I can't think of anything they could have done better, so five it is! read more

A member of La Colectiva has been cleaning our 2-bedroom apartment for several months now. She is always punctual. She is always professional. She always does an excellent job. Pros: - The collective advocates green cleaning products (both for the safety of their workers as well as the safety of your home), which they can provide or you can provide yourself (your cleaning rate is reduced if you provide the supplies). - I like knowing that the cleaning fee goes directly to the person who cleans our apartment, and that she is being paid a living wage. - La Colectiva provides a very helpful pamphlet (download from their website) with language tips, as well as clear information about how to engage one of their workers so it is a fair working arrangement for both parties. Cons: - None. The language can be a barrier but I am working on my Spanish and she is quite patient, and if I don't know how to say something I just pull up Google Translator and everything is clear. I have never written a review for yelp before but I felt compelled. La Colectiva is an excellent service, I highly recommend it. read more

We moved to our new house and needed help! Called Colectiva 3 weeks ago, they were very efficient and hooked us up with a wonderful person that we have every hope of establishing a long term relationship with. read more

La Colectiva matched me with Flavia. She speaks pretty good English and we converse sometimes! She's really dedicated to doing a thorough job and the house is sparkly clean when I come back. Great work and great value. read more

I like the fact that I'm helping new immigrant workers assimilate in society which is exactly what La Colectiva is all about, the only denote is that my spanish is really crappy, and it can be hard to communicate what I wanted clean. Other than that the rates are decent and the people are awesome, so, I say try it out Yo* read more

Used this service multiple times, affordable and relatively consistent. Would use them again but they don't really service oakland. Sad loss for me, loved supporting these women. read more