CAROL ELKINS PROFESSIONAL CLEANING

When Carol arrived we walked through the house discussing our expectations. I was shocked to learn that Carol only wipes down the front service of appliances instead of openings them to wipe down the stainless edge (refrigerator doors, dishwasher). She is also not interested in occassionally cleaning the oven, inside of the microwave, or the refrigerator shelves. I have had cleaning companies taking care of our home for at least 15 years and it's those companies who taught me what standard services are. In fact, all of the 7 companies I interviewed for this position, with the exception of Carol, included the services im listing in this review as part of their standard service. Carol was not interested in cleaning the sliding glass doors or front doors as "she just doesn't like doing it". She also frowned when discussing the patio furniture and asked if she could clean that area occasionally, not everytime. I also asked what she uses to clean and offered for her to use our supplies if that was her preference. Dumfoundedly, I learned that Carol does not use chemicals to wipe furniture, only a Swiffer Duster. Whatttt? Seriously? I insisted she use chemicals and our micro fibers and I'd be happy to pay additional for such an odd request (first I learned that wiping things down was odd in world of cleaning expectations, but Whatever). Our conversation carried on for hours, yes, hours... Remember, Carol said she's looking for friends and I could never be the person to slam the door in a Chatty Cathy's face. My thoughts at the time were to simply grin and bear it as it was obvious that my being there for her to divulge her life stories to gave her the temporary satisfaction of having a new best friend. When we finally parted ways, Carol stressed her desire to become great friends and that she would consider cleaning for me, although it wasn't likely. I explained that I appreciated her candor in rejecting a new client based on her belief that she didn't possess the skills necessary to meet the client's expectations. With that said, she failed in her promise and insistence that she would get back to me after contemplating the scope of work I proposed, keeping in mind that she could set the amount for payment so it's not that I was beating her up on price -- we never even got that far -- and we are certainly not bargain shoppers. Although I have a lot of respect for a company placing parameters on their services, I do not have patience for my time being wasted. I was quite clear during our initial, hour-long phone conversation about our expectations and the specific scope of work. Carol said a few times that "we would better friends" than her cleaning our house. No offense, but I am not looking for friends, otherwise I wouldn't have been searching on Angie's List. It is with great hesitation that I include this last bit in this review; however, I believe it's my duty to divulge any unethical practices I learn about a company as we are all searching for a trustworthy individuals we feel comfortable leaving alone in our homes for countless hours. Carol explained a situation to me regarding a past client who also hired her based off of her reputation on Angie's List. Without being too specific, I learned that when she received final payment from that particular client after he parted ways with her due to dissatisfaction, she deposited a check that was written out to her that was significantly more than he ever paid her. She was certain is was a mistake as the amount was hundreds more than the normal amount, but justified making the deposit in two ways: 1) perhaps he was tipping me more than 5 times my pay even though he fired me, and 2) he was quite the jerk and I deserve this for putting up with him; serves him right. If my memory serves me correctly, Carol added that this client did not physically hand write the checks himself. Rather, the bank generated payment and mailed the checks directly to his service providers. It is in good faith, and with good intentions that Carol's first step should have been to contact this client to let him know of the mistake. She may have, possibly but not likely, learned that her hopes for a 400% tip was true. It is my belief and humble opinion, Carol provides light chemical-less dusting and vacuuming services, not a thorough house cleaning. I would not be surprised if Carol's clients who are away from their homes while she "dusts" aren't aware of her techniques. Carol did stress the desire, almost demand, for cleaning only when the client isn't home. In retrospect, I smirk as I realize her possible intentions were to keep her cleaning secrets concealed.

Carol did a fabulous job cleaning my 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom home in preparation for my in-laws arrival. She made sure all the spare rooms were fresh, clean, dusted and presentable for my guest. Additionally, she came by previous to the scheduled clean date to give me a realistic price quote and meet my dog. My husband and I were very pleased with her professionalism and cleaning skills. Would highly recommend to others!!

Carol performs excellent work for a great price. I've used several of the bigger companies and chains in my area and I always wind up disappointed after the first few visits, service slacks off, not with Carol though. She performs consistantly good work every visit, I can always tell when she's been by to clean. Very personalble and polite, I especially like that she came to see the home before providing a price quote.

They did a good job cleaning and would use them again in the future.

Carol has been cleaning our house for 9 months now. She is reliable, does a great job and is a very pleasant professional to do business with. Independent, thorough and reliable-- finally someone who works well without supervision and shows up consistently! What a difference when you have someone you can count on to do excellent work each time and for a reasonable cost. I greatly appreciate and value that it is always Carol who does the housecleaning when you contract with her ( rather than a huge company where you do not know who will be in your home, or if they know your particular needs). At the same time, she is an experienced, top-notch professional and is both bonded and insured. Carol also provides remarkable personal service which is hard to find these days as well. For instance, when we have specific needs, guests coming, etc, I leave a note and she takes care of things. While anxious around some strangers, our dogs also enjoy the "entertainment" of having Carol clean while we are at work! She is happy to let them out in the fenced yard and retrieve them for us. This is another example of the benefits of a reliable, personable professional. I wholeheartedly recommend Carol as a great choice for a housekeeper in the Tampa area. You will be pleased and relieved by the high quality of housekeeping skills and work and scheduling reliability when you hire Carol.

It was a wonderful experience, Carol will go out of her way to make you comfortable and get the job done. Since Carol regularly cleans the house when I am at work and is kind enough to take my dog out for me!

I have a detatched apartment that my son is living in. He is a terrible housekeeper. I was very afraid of what I was going see when he moved out. Hiring Carol to clean on a weekly basis was the best thing. Now I have less stress knowing that it is being cleaned. Thanks Carol

Great. I have a Mother who is ill in KC, MO and I'm going back and forth. I'm unable to have Carol for now. I would give references if ask.

Carol was very personable over the phone, prompt on arrival and delightful in person. I selected her because she wanted to see the house in person before giving me a price. I thought this would give me an accurate estimate. I fully disclosed that I am picky about the house being cleaned at the first meeting.My expectations were set by housekeepers in the past and by the positive ratings she received. My overall rating is based on the fact that very basic parts of the cleaning were not done. We agreed that she was going to do a deep clean and spent about 30 minutes going through the house looking at the items I needed her to clean. Instead of doing the deep clean she did a weekly clean. This would have been fine except it wasn't done well. While I like Carol's personality, she was not detailed oriented in her cleaning. Didn't clean the second bathroom because she said she didn't think anyone used it. In the past, housecleaners have cleaned the whole house regardless of whether it had been used since dust builds there and i want it fresh and clean for visitors.This was a surprise considering that we'd discussed the fact that I was going to be having company that week and the bathroom sink had clearly been used recently. Since I was moving in, it was ok that she not move boxes or straighten clutter. However, there were basic things that were not done There were spots missed on the light colored counter. There were crumbs left and it had not been wiped down thoroughly. Her view was that she spent a lot of time under my bed. In my opinion, sweeping under the bed is a a normal part of cleaning. Very kind to my dog which was a huge issue for me and she did a good job with dog hair. She did a good job on the shower door. Before she came, I'd left two messages asking her what the price was going to be (for deep cleaning) so I could leave the check. She didn't return my call and then gave me a price that was $5 over what we'd agreed to for the weekly clean versus the deep clean which I promptly mailed. She said she did not receive it and I wired her the money within an hour of her letting me know she did not receive it. Even though we screened for proximity to the house, Carol first wanted to charge me 75 because of the distance from where she lives and because I am "kind of picky". Competing estimates were $65 and less and I explained that I didn't want to pay more than that. It took me a while to provide her the feedback because I was frankly very surprised at how disconnected the actual service was from what we discussed. What I should have done was call her immediately and give her the opportunity to complete the job. Her response ws that she hoped I found someone for the price that I wanted to pay.

Carol came to our house and gave us a great estimate for a house cleaning. She has been here twice and each time I have been very happy with the results. She's friendly and professional and takes her work seriously. Having two small children, baby #3 on the way, and a large dog, you can imagine the condition of our house when she gets here. I would recommend her to anyone. She's a real asset that I'm not willing to let go of!

Carol is very friendly and reasonably priced. The house was not as clean as it is when others have cleaned it, however. There were things requested that were not done or done not as well as I would prefer.

So far, so good! I feel the rate is appropriate for the work performed.

They visit me twice a moth. They are on-time, at my convenience, good telephone manners, and excellent service.

Carol has been cleaning our home for almost 2 months now. She is reasonably priced, reliable, and trustworthy. We are usually home when she comes but I have also left her a key and did not have any problems. We are happy with her services.

Ms. Elkins arrived on time and we reviewed what was going to be cleaned. She completed the cleaning within the time frame that was allotted. The work was done in a professional manner and we were satisfied with the results.

Working with Carol has gone very well- my shower has always been a problem area and she does a great job keeping it clean/free of mildew. Overall, everything has been good and she always asks if she's not sure about how we want something.

She comes every other week and I plan to continue her service. She is very responsive to requests and very pleasant to deal with. She has a great attitude because if I point out spots that were missed, she happily addresses them. She's obviously an animal lover. She's very nice to my three cats and totally understands the amount of fur she has to clean.

The price was somewhat reasonable, but I did not received the quality of work I expected.

The cleaning was average and I feel that they could have done a bit better.

I used her for a couple of months. She was just okay; she wasn't detail oriented. She missed some things dusting and would vacuum around and not under. She also missed cobwebs. I paid her weekly. The price wasn't bad for what she was doing. My expectations might have been a little higher. I am a detail person. She was very friendly and very reliable. She provided the cleaning materials. I probably would not use her again.

Carol returned my call promptly, met with me and gave me an estimate within a day or two. I felt very comfortable with her and gave her a key to my home after her first visit. She is pleasant and thorough and has no problem with my animals (I have one dog and two cats). Carol cleans for me every two weeks and I am very pleased with her work. It was very important for me to hire someone I felt I could trust, and I really like the fact that she works alone - less strangers in my home.

very well, I could not be more satisfied

I started using Carol in March 2009. She has been cleaning my 2 bedroom condominium every other week. Carol is very professional and does all the cleaning herself. We generally communicate by leaving notes for each other since I felt comfortable providing her a key to my condominium after our initial meeting. I feel like her price is very reasonable compared to other more costly services that I've used that use a team-based approach. She likes animals as well. I will continue to use her bi-weekly.

This was in 2006, and she was very pleasant, and brought her own equipment with her. She worked very quickly and it was very inexpensive. I would have preferred to have someone who charged a little more and stayed a little longer if they had done higher quality work. I was going on vacation once and could not get a hold of her before I went, and finally had to email her to please not come while I was gone because the alarm was set. Apparently she did not get the email because she did end up setting off the alarm, and the police had to come. I did not use her after that.

I have used Carol every other week for nearly a year, We gave her a key and she always shows up and does an excellent job. We trust her like family. She returns calls promptly, and always has her calender right in front of her. The one time she couldn't make it she called that day and fit us in the following day. She is a very pleasant and polite person who is eager to please and reschedules at our convenience around the holidays, company coming, or our kids being sick. She looks out for our pets and even refills their food and water bowls, and reminds us when the AC filter looks like it needs changing. She even alerted us to a termite problem we didn't know we had. She lets our dog out on the days she comes so we don't have to rush right home, which was a real blessing, because we could Christmas shop after work. She reminds me when I am running low on trash bags or pet food. I was in the hospital and she surprised my husband by washing and drying a load of sheets and towels, so when I came home the next day things hadn't piled up. I have referred her to several of my friends and co-workers. We definitely gave her a Christmas card with a nice bonus check for Christmas!! She certainly earned it. Oh, did I mention that she also offered to babysit if we ever needed her to in the evenings, if she was free? She is also listed on the Care website as a sitter and her cleaning business is also listed. I have used many housekeepers over the years, but I wouldn't trade Carol's help for all the tea in China!!