Merry Maids of Baltimore MD

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Initially we had to have someone return after the "deep cleaning" because they had not done a good job at all. They would come in and clean the house and were supposed to give special emphasis on different areas each visit but after a couple months I talked to my wife and we decided that they weren't providing a service that was any better then what we normally live in. We had expected they would focus on bases boards at some point, or deep dusting... but at one point I noticed there was a rather visible spider web over one of the cupboards in the kitchen and yet they still never noticed it. It ate me up not to take care of it, but I wanted to see if they would eventually get to it, and they never did. This is one of those times that I wish we had gone with a smaller company, in hopes that they would be more concerned with doing a great job so as to keep business. In the end... I wasn't really all that impressed and we haven't noticed or missed them since ending the agreement.

Though there were areas in my home that the 2-team ladies CLEANED VERY WELL, there were some major areas that were not cleaned well or not touched at all and made me question how clean my 3-bathrooms were. There areas that were not cleaned well were my refrigerator, the stove and the cabinet, please see photos attached. I then ended up re-cleaning my refrigerator and re-cleaning the toilets and sink areas in my bathrooms. I then worked on cleaning my stove and cabinet, which were never touched. The cleaning ladies finished early so I was not charged for the full 4-hours, just for 3 hours; I saw these items that were not cleaned after they left. I am not sure what kind of cleaning cloth they used, but there were particles of dirt, etc left on the cloth and then left in the refrigerator after it was cleaned.

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Extremely well. The office staff was very responsive, professional and knowledgeable. The cleaning team arrived during the time frame provided, home was cleaned and ready to show as promised.

I have been using Merry Maids since 1992 and in those years 2 glasses have been broken. They were put on the kitchen counter with a note to call the office. They were really sorry they got broken. They didn't hide it in a trash can. I appreciated that. Sometimes I am home and sometimes I am gone. They know to come in and just do their job. I love coming home to the cleaned rooms. Smells so good also. I trust them inside without me here and that says a lot. I'm thankful they come and also thankful that I can still pay for them to come. Great company and a company is as good as the people that work there. They have great people working there. If you try them out, they will come and talk to you about what you want them to do each two weeks or however often. I like that they give you the option to pick and choose what jobs you need help with . Can't say enough good about them. Mitzi E Anderson

I have been utilizing this Merry Maids team for over a year now and absolutely love their service. The team, although members vary from cleaning to cleaning, are always professional and friendly. My favorite day is cleaning day; I love to come home to a clean house, changed sheets and scrubbed bathrooms! I would highly recommend this group to anyone looking for a great cleaning service at a reasonable price. The office staff has always been response via both phone and email as well.

It was about 50/50. They had one lady that was excellent and then the rest of them were just okay. Let me explain it to you this way. Have you ever had your house cleaned? Have you ever walked into your house and went 'Wow this is beautiful!'? That is what she had. I don't know what she did that other people didn't do but whenever I came home when she was here, it was something about the house that was...yeah! It is terrible that I can't explain it any better than that but if you had a service, you can just go...yeah! It was the extra touch and I can't pinpoint what extra she did. If I didn't move stuff, she moved things. If I didn't move a chair, then I could depend on her moving it to dust under it. You don't come in and find dust still there because I didn't move something. She was an excellent worker. I don't know if she stayed or not. I just know I couldn't get her consistently and so that just became a problem. Even when there were 2 people it just wasn't the same. They have a 50/50 chance of getting someone who is really excellent. I would recommend them. I think their price was average. The house wasn't dirty, it just wasn't sparkling.

The woman I spoke to on the phone was very nice and cheerful. She set me up with an appointment quickly, she asked good questions, she was overall very helpful. When I hung up the phone I was prepared to get this house deep cleaned, and I wasn't going to have to do it! Good news for me! I met the two girls at the house on the day of the appointment and they were right on time (They actually beat me there!). I asked them to make sure they got all the cobwebs out, especially in the basement (because the house had been vacant for about six months) and I made sure they were going to wash the cabinets because there was a lot of grease build up from the preivous tennnants. They of course, agreed. So I left them to it. I didn't go back to the house until about a week later only to be disappointed. The stove looked like it hadn't been touched. They cleaned the inside of the stove, but not the outside. They cleaned most of the cabients, but only on the insides... the outsides clearly hadn't been touched. The microwave was untouched and the walls were DISCUSTING. Not only did I find that nonsense in the kitchen, I found a note stating that they didn't clean the basement because.... THEY DIDN'T HAVE A BROOM. Who goes to a house to clean and doesn't bring a broom? And the real kicker? They are charging me $800.00 for the job. Obviously when I found the house in the state it was in, I called to complain. The woman told me that they don't do walls for fear of stripping paint. My thought was; most cleaning products won't strip paint... I bet if they had sprayed some lysol and rubbed the walls with a textured rag it would have come right off. But I get it; It's a liability, but I wish she would have said something before I scheduled the appointment. Maybe it's my fault I didn't ask... either way, it wasn't done. She also told me that they can only use a two- step stepping stool so they wouldn't have been able to clean the entire wall anyway because of that limitation. But what about baseboards? A simple bleach solution would have taken care of that... but no. As for the stove and the grease issue, this is what she told me: It's a maintenance issue, it's not going to look like new the first time you clean it, it needs to be routinely cleaned and in maybe a year or two it'll start to look better. I'm not stupid, I wasn't expecting the stove to look brand new. I was however expecting a little improvement. The stovetop looked like they just wiped it, no scrubbing, no nothing. This woman was trying to sell me on an ongoing cleaning schedule. I think not. You can't clean walls, you don't own a broom, and you think grease can't be taken off of walls and cabinets for years. I cleaned some of the walls myself and all it took was some bleach. No paint came off, and the grease was gone. I don't know if it was because of their corporate policies that wouldn't allow them to do what needed to be done or if it was my absence, or maybe I picked the wrong company for the job. I'm sure other people have had good experiences with them but if I need a house deep cleaned, I'll pay someone who's not afraid of a little chemical intervention and elbow grease.

They are bonded so if they break anything it is insured. They generally do a pretty good job. We've not had any problems or complaints. They come when they are supposed to come.

It has gone well and continues to do so. I wanted to write a good review for a company that I have faith in their ability to do the job expected and do it well. I appreciate that they will come to my home while we are out and I feel safe in doing so. UPDATE as of August 2012: Ah, what a difference a year makes. In the last few months, the service we have received has steadily declined. In recent weeks, I found out from one of the ever-changing people sent that management has turned over. The new regime is not making the staff happy and therefore most of the staff has changed. I have only had one staff member I requested not return and if I hadn't reminded the office staff, he would have been scheduled for us again. I will be the first to admit that we were spoiled by our original cleaning person. She would clean meticulously, as if it were her own home. Unfortunately, good work is not rewarded by the new management and she was among the first to go. The staff coming now do a minimum of work. How can a toilet be cleaned and not the seat?! They clean table and counter tops but not the items they have to move in order to get to the surfaces. Why would you dust a table and not the pictures sitting on it?! I am constantly being asked for feedback. I give it but it is ignored. We are changing services. I never would believe this is a ServiceMaster company.

I contracted with Merry Maids about a year and half ago to clean my house every other week. At $105/visit the price was good. Two individuals cleaned my house each time. Unfortunately, the quality of the cleanings got worse and worse with every visit. The bathroom floor was never wiped around the toilet/corners, the baseboards were rarely if ever cleaned, sills remained dusty. Basically, it appeared as if the cleaners just vacuumed and wiped down tables/counter tops. When I sent an email in to complain I received no response and the quality of the cleaning did not improve. Ultimately, I canceled service and went with another housecleaning business. I would not recommend Merry Maids.