I rarely leave negative reviews, but I feel compelled to warn others about my experience with…read moreSouthern Mamas Cleaning and Notary Service.
We recently purchased and fully renovated a home and specifically hired this company for what was represented as a "post-construction deep clean."
The home consists of approximately 3,000 square feet total between the upstairs, basement, and garage apartment. My husband explained that we had just purchased the property and was quoted $600 for the job. It seemed pricey, but we were willing to pay it because we needed the work done properly.
Two young ladies arrived, stayed for a surprisingly short amount of time, and left without cleaning any of the 1,104 sq. ft. downstairs area or the garage apartment at all. In reality, they only attempted to clean roughly 1,472 square feet of the upstairs portion of the home.
When I arrived, there was still visible sawdust throughout the floors, bugs around the door jambs, streaky windows, dust on surfaces, and pedestal sinks and toilet bases that clearly had not been wiped down at all. My husband wore black socks while walking through the house afterward, and they were covered in dust and flecks of sawdust from the cabinet installation. That alone should tell you the floors were not properly cleaned. Nor were the cabinets wiped out, as the pictures clearly show they were still full of dust and debris.
Immediately after leaving, they sent a full $600 invoice for cleaning less than half of the living space that was originally quoted. When my husband called to explain that large portions of the home -- including the apartment -- had not been cleaned, he was told that "it did not matter" because they were charging for "drive time" and billing for the entire day. He politely explained that this felt unfair and unethical and advised that we would not be using their services again. The response was essentially, "That's fine, the bill is still due," followed by repeated invoice texts until payment was made in full.
I honestly do not understand why customers should be responsible for paying housekeeping employees to drive to and from work. If a company does not truly service an area, they should simply decline the job instead of charging customers for travel as though it were cleaning labor. As an employer myself, I do not pay employees simply to commute to and from work. Their paid time begins when they begin working and ends when the work is complete. If I told someone I was going to roof 30 squares of shingles and only completed half, I certainly could not send an invoice for the full amount and justify it by claiming "drive time."
I photographed the condition of the home afterward because I was genuinely shocked at the quality of work -- or lack thereof. This was absolutely not a post-construction deep clean. At best, it was a very quick surface dusting. Additionally, in my experience, if a cleaner can physically reach a window or glass door, it gets cleaned. The entire backside of this home consists of accessible windows and doors, all of which open inward for easy cleaning, yet they were left streaked and untouched. They did not even remove the "Wet Floor" signs from the glass doors. Even the newly completed tiled shower, ceiling fans, and other obvious surfaces were left uncleaned.
After having a professional housekeeper for the last eight years, I decided to try a new company that advertised locally, and unfortunately that was our mistake. I would not recommend this service to anyone looking for detailed, professional, or post-construction cleaning. Complete waste of $600.
