Molly Maid

The wood floor in the living room was vacuumed instead of mopped. The carpet upstairs in the hallway & bedrooms were found to have visible debris after it was vacuumed. My husband had to re-vacuum afterward.

unknown

I used AngiesList to locate a housecleaning service. I called Molly Maid in San Mateo (650-837-9788) because it had an A rating and listed my city as being in its service area. However when I called, I was re-directed to another Molly Maid (Palo Alto/Menlo Park, phone 650-965-1105) due to my ZIP code. I did not see any reviews on the Palo Alto/MP Molly Maid, but figured if the San Mateo one had such good reviews, then I might be safe. I was able to schedule an appointment relatively quickly at my convenience and the woman who came by to do the assessment was punctual and thoroughly documented cleaning instructions/what would be performed on the service estimate. I was given a 'first time' fee of 80/hour for 2 cleaners. I indicated I would be interested in weekly or biweekly cleaning after the first visit and was told to call-back after the first-time visit to get a 'fixed' rate. I interviewed one other cleaning service who gave only a verbal description of the work that would be performed and nothing in writing. So I went with Molly Maid, who was on the pricier side but was able to schedule me on relatively short notice (within the week) and at my convenience. The 2 women showed up on time and got to work quickly. Although I asked if they could clean my office first since I was working from home and didn't want to be disturbed and they agreed, I don't think they understood because they didn't do it. But it wasn't a big deal. They finished everything and were out the door in 1.5 hours. Everything was cleaned well though the kitchen could have been given a little more attention (e.g. I don't think the blender or food processor on the counter were moved, just cleaned around them; faucet still had residue around bottom), therefore the 'B' grade for quality. As I mentioned earlier, I thought the first-time cleaning price was somewhat steep (total cost 120 + tip) for small house with minimal furnishings, but figured the subsequent weekly cleanings would be reasonable. When I called the office to get pricing on weekly cleanings, I was surprised that they quoted me 80/week. Since the first-time thorough cleaning took only 1.5 hours, I couldn't imagine the weekly cleanings taking at most 45 minutes. I asked if they could give me a better rate and the woman said she would speak with the owner and get back to me. Well, I waited 1 week with no return call (thus the D grade for professionalism) and I called them back. The best they could do was 70/week. For the small size and straightforward cleaning of my house, this rate was too high and I did not go with Molly Maids for weekly housecleaning service.