Merry Maids of Independence, MO

They are dependable and do a nice job.

They come out once a month. I spend $90 every time I use them. They help me maintain things. They provide an extra hand to me once a month. They are good. They are thorough as they can be in the time that they spend. I get what I pay for. I cannot compare their prices with others because I have been using them for years. I will continue to use them in the future.

We have been using Merry Maids consistently for many years. We utilized them in MN and then GA. We moved to KCMO in November of 2010 and immediately thought of Merry Maids. The first few times they cleaned it was great. Shortly after I hired them, they implemented a policy that one cleaner per house (depending on size of house) would suffice. This is when the cleaning went down hill. I spoke with the general manager and expressed my concern with all of the wood floors and what I wanted to have done each time they came to my home. One person would not be able to handle all the tasks in the time alloted for my home. I felt that the person doing the cleaning was under pressure to get my home cleaned and move to the next home. Again, I was told this was their policy. The cleaning each and everytime was rushed and not done to the standards I was use to from my previous experience with MM. I expressed to management that the person cleaning my home did a good job and the fault lies with management with implementing a policy about one person cleaning my home. The fault lies with local management not listening to my concerns. When we moved to our new home, I asked that MM come and clean the closets and cabinets. They missed cabinets, they missed closets. I called and told them I was not happy with this and the next day showed up again only to miss cabinets and closets again. I again called the general manager and told management I was extremely disappointed and I would not continue to utilize their services again. I then received an email apologizing. The email stated, I had not contacted them earlier about the quality of the work done, which in fact, I had. It stated that maybe I should have asked for a different person. Why? It was the fact that one person was not able to handle all of the different tasks in the alloted time? It is disappointing after so many years of quality service from this company, that I literally would need to micro-manage what the person was doing. As many of you know, we are simply to busy on a daily basis (the point in why we have a cleaning service) to follow cleaning personnel around your home and make sure what you asked was being done without breakage of your personal things, and up to your standards. Isn't this the point to hire a company to come and clean your home? I know that we all want the 'best bang for our buck', however to scrimp on personnel and not get the job done right the first time is just not acceptable. I understand that people make mistakes, and I have given MM the benefit of the doubt many times - thinking - next time it will be better. I have given MM in KCMO the opportunity to make things right and the only 'right' thing they did was to refund half the cost of cleaning the closets and cabinets of my new home. Here is what corporate policy states about what is typical in a home: Q. How many people will be in my home during each cleaning? A. Typically, there will be two people in your home - a team captain and a team member. On rare occasions, there may be three people or one person. For example, if you need emergency help fast, the office staff may send three people to do the job. If your home is very small, one person may be able to complete the job quickly and thoroughly. We will work with you so you know how many people will be in your home. We respect that your home is private, and the trust you place in us by inviting us into your home. Q. If there is a problem, who can I call? A. If you see a problem while the team is in your home, you can talk to the team captain, who will make immediate efforts to correct the problem. Or you can contact the office staff, who will work with the team to quickly correct the problem and enforce our guarantee. Who was the team captain when one person was at my old and new home? If listening to clients concerns and making immediate efforts to correct the problem is the issue - where was the manager of this local franchise? Why wouldn't this person have come to my home to see what my concern was.

I used Merry Maids for over a year. The first few months of cleanings were great, but then the cleaning "team" switched (again and again) and it got to the point where I wondered what I was paying them for. When I commented that the cleaning wasn't as thorough as it used to be, one of the managers did a surprise visit on the cleaners and made sure that cleaning was good. It was, but I came home to find a pin that had been found on my floor inserted voodoo doll-style into a watermelon that had been sitting on my kitchen counter. They said they would reprimand the employee that did it, and they switched my "team" again. The cleanings improved somewhat, but still weren't great, but then they accidentally sent my house key to another client who had terminated their cleanings, so I had to change my locks and produce another key for them. I ended my cleanings with them shortly thereafter.

HOWEVER, IN THE FOUR MONTHS THEY WORKED FOR ME, THEY HAVE; LEFT EQUIPMENT, ONLY DUSTED GENERALLY AROUND THINGS ON SURFACES, LEFT NUMEROUS SPIDER WEBS, STACKED THINGS FROM THE FLOOR ON A PILE OF CLEAN AND FOLDED LAUNDRY, LEFT THE FRONT DOOR UNLOCKED TWICE AND THE BACK DOOR OPEN ONCE. THEY CONSTANTLY SWITCH "TEAMS" ASSIGNED, WHICH PREVENTS ANY TEAM FROM GETTING TO KNOW THE HOUSE AND DOING A PROPER JOB. IF THEY DID ALL THE SERVICES THEY LIST WELL, THE PRICE WOULD BE FINE. HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT THE CASE.

THEY SEND TWO WOMEN WHO ARE VERY GOOD AND FAST. THEY ARE PLEASANT.

THE CREW WAS THOROUGH AND FRIENDLY. TWO PEOPLE WERE DEPLOYED TO DO THE WORK, SO IT WAS COMPLETED QUICKLY. THE PRICE WAS FAIRLY REASONABLE FOR THE LEVEL OF CLEANING PROVIDED. THE CREW WAS MADE AVALIBLE ON SHORT NOTICE.