Merry Maids of Mendota Heights

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Merry Maids was very responsive in their communication in setting up the appointment. We made arrangements for a move-in cleaning, talked about rates ($125 hour), and what would be covered. We wanted a deep clean of kitchen, 1.5 bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a living room, dining room, and office (total ~1250 sq ft). The office assistant sent me an excel spreadsheet with their list of standard and extra tasks, and explained that whatever we wanted could be included because we were paying a flat rate per hour. We sent the list back, with which items we wanted cleaned, so the cleaners could be prepared. Two cleaners showed up within the appointed time frame (and called 20 minutes in advance to let us know they were on their way, which was what we had agreed on and was very helpful). We reviewed the list of tasks, and they got to work. An hour in, they called a third person to work with them (without alerting us or asking our consent). The team was at our house for a total of two hours. We did a walk through at the end, and it seemed as if they had not been very methodical in cleaning all the parts in one area. For example: they missed a light fixture in a room, and did mediocre jobs on the other light fixtures, they forgot to dust hanging rods in one of the closets but not others, and they missed one door with glass panels (out of four) on the buffet (as if they'd started that job and then just not finished it). I asked them to correct these on the spot. However, there were more areas we discovered after they left that were just inconsistently cleaned: for example the inside shelves of some, but not all, of the kitchen cabinets still had crumbs and dust in them, and they completely neglected to clean the backsplash behind the range and vent/hood (these were on our list of things we wanted done). We received an invoice a couple days later that showed the second hour of service being at $196/hr vs. the quoted $125. I emailed the office assistant and asked why we were charged this, and she said it was because they sent a third cleaner. It may be standard practice in housecleaning to charge more for additional cleaners (I'm not sure, we've never used cleaners before), but it was never mentioned in any of the phone calls in advance of the service. If additional charges could have been incurred with a third cleaner, this absolutely should have been explained prior to the service. Additionally, the cleaners themselves did not give me the option to choose to add another person or not, nor did they inform me of the additional charges. I was disappointed that I was not informed in advance of the potential for a third cleaner at an additional charge. I was also very disappointed with the quality of the work - especially given that there WERE three cleaners - for such an expensive price. I asked for a credit back for the additional charges for the third cleaner for the second hour and was informed that they could not refund me any money because: "When we do a cleaning at an hourly rate the cleaners do everything they can to get the items completed on the list that our customers give them. We have you do a walk through to ensure you're happy with the cleaning before the cleaners leave because we are not on site to inspect the cleanings and this is your only opportunity to have them correct items that may have been missed. Had we not sent out the 3rd cleaner to help, the other 2 cleaners would have been in your home at least 3 hours, and that actual cost would have been $375.00 plus tax. Sending the additional person your cost was $321.00 plus tax, we didn't ask your permission to send the additional person because the cost was less then having 2 cleaners in your home longer. I'm sorry if the cleaners missed some items, because they're human they do make mistakes and sometimes they miss items, that's why we have customers check everything before they allow the cleaners to leave so they can correct any issues, once they are told it's good and they can leave unfortunately we cannot offer a refund." Bottom line: very mediocre and inconsistent cleaning, high price [even if it could have been higher], and dissatisfying response from the customer service rep after complaining about poor service. We will not be using this service again.