We hired Kristen Lewis and her company after thoroughly reviewing several options for cleaning of our AirBNB in the Grovetown area. We were impressed by her reviews here and on Google and her rapport which was delineated, it seems, by way of her reviews. She was at times overly helpful, communicative, and endorsed professionalism.
However, more recent interactions with her have tainted that representation and, in our view, her professionalism. She reached a point in the business relationship where she is unjustifiably offended and makes decisions for you without initially consulting you, and I believe it is because she is a one-woman show and needs help executing. There were a few instances where she wasn't going to be finished cleaning the home in time for check-in of our guests despite being scheduled and informed ahead of time and there was a time when she was still there cleaning when the guests checked in, which is a big no-no in the short-term rental space. Yet, believing in second chances, we continued to utilize her services because we believe, strongly, in supporting Black-owned and woman-owned businesses because we are the one of the same. We always paid her within a couple of hours of receiving her invoices and in full.
Her responses to us started to become flippant and misplaced. She made a decision at her last clean for us to take linens from the home without our directive to do so, stating that she would clean them at her own home. We kindly stated to her that was not necessary and she proceeded to, again unjustifiably, respond to us that we thought we were "better than her" and that "her home is clean." We were remarkably taken aback because we never insinuated that her home wasn't clean and she became angry with us for a decision she made without first consulting us. After that text message intercourse, she abruptly resigned and stated that she "no longer wanted to approach the premises." We kindly accepted her decision. We therefore made plans to which she agreed to return our linens that she unilaterally removed from the home and our keys since she resigned, and then she abrupted decided after agreeing that she didn't want to do that and that we were "inconveniencing her." Mind you, she made sure to abruptly resign after she received her payment from us of $825 after delivery of services for the week, which would be her final payment. We never once tried to inconvenience her. We never once did anything to make her feel less than. We never once treated her with any ounce of disrespect or disgrace. We appreciated her and conveyed that to her often.
I feel what will impact her ability to sustain a reputable and scalable business is her inability to exhibit emotional intelligence in her dealings with her customers/clients. She would also benefit from hiring additional staff to help her achieve operational excellence focused on efficiency. Finally, she credits herself with the success of our AirBNB as if she were a business partner instead of someone we hired to perform a service. That is all we did and were doing. She took it as more. She was not a business partner and if you hire her company beware of her overattachment and overinvolvement in how you run your business.
At the end of the day, we wish her nothing but the best and optimal success, but we just didn't have time for the aggravation from communicating and dealing with her later in this relationship. There are too many cleaning services who would be glad to provide the services we need. read more
