PREFERRED MAID INC

DO NOT RECOMMEND Well they don't do dishes, and they didnt dust or clean wine bottles or glasses in kitchen, didn't clean appliances on countertop, didn't touch dusty blinds in any room and charged for 11.5 hours of labor for 4 small rooms. Apparently if I wanted the job "finished" I would have to pay more and they only missed "small things" according to the argumentative and unprofessional owner. I should have known when he refused to give me an estimate for the work beforehand (when I requested it multiple times.)

Original Complaint to BBB (July 25, 2012) Throughout 2011, I hired Preferred Maid to clean my condo. I gave them a key, and they came once a month. I paid them $120 per cleaning. In November of 2011, I moved and requested that they perform one last cleaning. On the day of the final cleaning, the condo was completely empty, as I had already moved out. Unfortunately, I found that they did a very poor job in the final cleaning. Visible dirt remained in many places (I have pictures to document). I promptly called Preferred Maid and spoke to the owner, Jon Zuk. Given that the condo had been completely empty, and considering the poor service, I felt that they must have spent less time than they had in any of the prior monthly cleanings. I told Mr. Zuk as much, and requested a discount from the typical $120 charge. He refused and said he would send a final bill. I noted how disappointed I was with the way he was handling the situation, and that I wasn't afraid of posting a negative review on Angies List if the final bill didn't reasonably reflect the work performed. Mr. Zuk threatened to sue me, if I posted anything negative about his company. Several months passed and I never received a final bill. And Mr. Zuk never returned my key. In February, I began contacting Mr. Zuk---by phone and in writing---to request that my key be returned. Based on Mr. Zuk's confrontational demeanor during our final phone conversation, I felt (and still feel) like he held onto my key in an attempt to intimidate me to not write a negative review. In May, I received a final bill from Preferred Maid. The invoice demanded $316. I called and left a voicemail, expressing my surprise and asking Mr. Zuk to call me to discuss. Over a month went by and I never heard back. In July, I sent a check for $120, in an attempt to amicably settle the whole ordeal. However, I have received another invoice from Preferred Maid, crediting me for the $120 payment, but charging a $34 late fee and demanding the remaining balance from the original bill. I would like for the outstanding balance of $230, including the late fee, to be waived (i.e., I would like for my July payment of $120 to suffice as final payment for all services rendered). I would also like for my house key---and any copies made by Preferred Maid---to be returned. Preferred Maid?s Original Response (August 11, 2012) This whole complaint is nothing but WHITE PROPAGANDA!!! He stopped the regular cleaning on 8/24/2011 and than call us in November and ordered Move OUT CLEANING AT RATE OF $33.00 PER HOUR PER MAID ,ALONG WITH LONG LIST OF THINGS TO BE CLEANED NOT INCLUDED IN REGULAR CLEANING NOR MOVE OUT CLEANING. What we found inside was empty unit during the remodeling/painting process getting ready to ...RENT!!!! We spend 9 hours on job and did the best we could, some of his requests were impossible to do. Like removing greasy dirt from the top corner of baseboards , due to the fact that he had caulk in the gaps between wall / wood and were painted with latex paint. After his complaint we offer him to go back and re-clean the apartment up to his standards and needs at same rate but he refused. Instead his was threatened us with negative review on Angie list if we don't give him a discount. On his bill we wrote and explain the charges as well: Price is calculate on per hour base , move out cleaning is not the same service as regular cleaning. Please pay in full in order to avoid further late fees or collection cost. Please check our polices on our website at www.preferredmaid.com. Hi was misleading and dishonest from beginning. Slander is slander and not paying the bill is not paying nothing more and nothing less. If he choose to do either one of those I am going to take a legal action against him. Our policy is very simple : no refunds!!! We will return key as soon as we receive payment in full. The bill got to be paid in full by 8/25/2012. Complaint Follow-up (August 27, 2012) I still believe that I have a legitimate complaint against Preferred Maid. Given the relatively small size of my home, the fact that it was practically empty when they cleaned it, and the overall poor quality of their cleaning, I do not believe that they actually spent 9 hours cleaning it. I believe that this is a false claim, which the company's owner is trying to use to extort money from me, now that I am no longer a customer. While I did agree to a rate of $33 / hour, I did not agree to the unreasonable amount of time that they claim to have spent doing the job. When I requested the final cleaning, Mr. Zuk led me to believe that the amount of time they needed would be about the same as previous cleanings, with the potential for it to be a little longer due to the extra level of thoroughness that their ''move out'' cleanings entailed. However, their cleaning was not thorough at all. In fact, it was of a lower quality than previous cleanings. Their cleaning was so poor that, when I walked through the condo after their ''move out'' cleaning, I wasn't even sure that they had been there. Given these points, I feel that the $120 that I have already paid for this service is more than fair. That is the same amount that I paid for all previous cleanings, which were actually performed to a higher standard. Ultimately, I would like to bring this grievance to an amicable resolution through the BBB. It will save time, effort, and expense for everyone, if we can avoid complaints with the department of consumer protection and other potential litigation. So in that vein, in exchange for Preferred Maid accepting the $120 that I've already paid, closing the remaining balance on my account, and returning my key, I would promise not to pursue this complaint in any other forums, including negative internet reviews or other forms of negative publicity for Preferred Maid. I feel like this would be a reasonable compromise, which would benefit both parties. Preferred Maid?s Follow-Up Response (August 29, 2012) Any negative reviews will be consider as slander! YOu pay in full in 5 business days or face the judge. Complaint Final Follow-up (September 5, 2012) I continue to stand by all my previous submissions to the BBB. I believe that my approach to this disagreement has been honest and fair, and I have tried to reach a reasonable, middle-ground resolution. I can only hope that the BBB has taken note of Preferred Maid?s unprofessional and uncompromising approach to customer relations. Wrap-Up Following this exchange, the BBB found that the ?business made good faith effort to resolve complaint but customer was not satisfied with business response,? and they closed the complaint. So I paid Preferred Maid the full $350 ($316 + $34 late fee), and they returned my key.