AMERICAN MAID'S-ELAINE GORDON INC

The first cleaners she sent out were a husband/wife team. They did very good work, but were NEVER on time, sometimes being as much as two hours late. One time they finally called four hours later to say they couldn't make it because the wife was so ill that she was in the hospital. If they hadn't already been SO late every other time, we probably would have been more sympathetic. The second woman who was assigned to us swore she was a very detail oriented cleaner and would do a great job. We were in the process of moving into our remodeled home, and conditions were not ideal, but I did want a move-in clean to get rid of dust in kitchen cabinets/drawers, etc. She refused to wash windows, which I wasn't too happy about (OK, I do understand on the exterior ones, but interior windows are part of the job!) and claims to have worked for five hours. I'm not sure what she did, but my contractor told me that she was working all day. So I had her over to my old house, to do a move out clean. We had five hours, as she had a previous obligation after that. OK, that's cool, it's a 1300 square foot rambler, how long could it take? After she left my husband & I looked at each other and said "what did she do?". The bathrooms were not cleaned (toilets had been swished, but one still had, ahem, stuff, under the rim), sinks were not scrubbed, baseboards were not wiped, etc, etc. She DID climb up on the kitchen counters and clean the TOPS of the cupboards. Which no one ever sees, and IS a detail that I suppose should be done, but her time certainly would have been better used elsewhere. When I called Elaine to complain, she conferenced the gal into the call and basically told me that she was doing good work and I should appreciate how detail oriented she was. I still had 5 hours left on my package so I let her send her out again to use it up. The baseboards never did get wiped (although I had said at the outset that I wanted that done every time), the drawers in the kitchen were still dusty inside, the tub does not look like it was scrubbed (or at least how it looks when I scrub it). I am really not at all happy with the quality of the work or the price. AND when I wanted to skip a cleaning because we didn't need it Elaine tried to pressure me into having them come so they could get their hours and not take a pay cut. Um, so I should pay for work I don't need? I don't think so.

The cleaning service was poor and the cleaners lied about how many times they visited my house. If I reschelued an appointment, the cleaners marked it down they they cleaned that day, which was not true. I did not get a refund for the unused pre-paid cleanings and the owner always took the cleaner's side, not mine. I was very disappointed and would never recommend this company to anyone.

While the housekeepers I had did a fairly good job cleaning, the owner, Elaine Gordon-Evans, was difficult to work with. She was pushy and demanding and I dreaded every phone call from her. When my assigned housekeeper was consistently cleaning my house in 5-6 hours (I had prepaid for 7), I requested a refund or a credit toward future cleans. I was told that the housekeeper really needed the money I was made to feel guilty for ''taking away'' the 2 extra hours. I also felt that the company did not treat the housekeepers fairly. They were consistently over booked and underpaid. Elaine claims her housekeepers are all ''independent contractors'' and are paid as such. However, these ladies work only for Elaine and she sets their schedules, which by law make them W-2 employees. These ladies should have payroll taxes withdrawn from their checks and the company should be paying into the state unemployment and disability funds. My one year contract contract couldn't expire fast enough.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE IS THAT EVEN AFTER I HAD ESTABLISHED A REGULAR TIME PERIOD, THERE WERE TIMES WHERE EITHER THEY FORGOT, OR THE PEOPLE ASSIGNED TO MY HOUSE WERE SICK, SO THEY WEREN'T ALWAYS AROUND WHEN THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE. I HAD SEVERAL WEEKS WHERE I HAD TO RESCHEDULE.

I HAVE HAD SEVERAL INDEPENDENT HOUSEKEEPERS, AND HAVE BEEN FAR HAPPIER WITH THEM. THIS SERVICE IS NOT THE EASIEST TO WORK WITH, AND THEY USE A FORM OF PRESSURE I'VE NOT ENCOUNTERED BEFORE - THEY TELL YOU HOW MUCH YOUR CLEANER NEEDS THIS WORK IN ORDER TO PAY HER BILLS, AND IT RUBBED ME THE WRONG WAY. IF I HAD TO CANCEL, THEY WANTED TO RESCHEDULE THE PERSON IN, EVEN WHEN IT WAS CONVENIENT FOR ME, SO THAT THE CLEANER'S PAY WASN'T AFFECTED. IF I SAID NO, THEN THE GUILT CARD WAS PLAYED. IT DIDN'T MAKE ME FEEL GOOD TO WORK WITH THEM, AND I WAS ANXIOUS TO HAVE THE CONTRACT I'D SIGNED UP FOR (12 MONTHS) END.