Thought it might be helpful during the holidays to give out some tips on questions to ask before you hire a house cleaner. So here they are:
1. How long have you been in business? Longevity does not guarantee good service but it indicates stability.
2. Do you provide the equipment and supplies? This is good to know either way to factor into the cost and maintenance and to make sure that someone does not clean your whole house with something that does not kill bacteria.
3. Are you bonded and insured? A bond is a special insurance policy that protects you against theft. The "insured" portion refers to liability and workers compensation. These are all expensive and if someone does not have it, it goes on your homeowners policy, you pay the deductible, and you have a costly claim.
4. Who supplies and cleans the rags? Some cleaning companies have their employees furnish and clean rags. The problem is that then sometimes they skimp on rags and use 1 rag to clean a whole bathroom, etc.
5. How many people will be in my house at one time? Are they background checked? This speaks for itself.
6. How many homes do you clean in one day and how many people are on the team? The amount of homes cleaned in one day should correspond roughly to the amount of team members--5 houses a day--5 people in the team.
7. What is the starting pay rate for your staff? If it is minimum wage or under 8.00 per hour then you might have issues with a constant change in staff.
8. Do you split all tips equally with your staff? This also sounds funny, but many cleaning companies are keeping tips for the company and not sharing with staff or only sharing a smaller portion.
9. What is your staff turnover like? This can be tricky because there is turnover in every business and sometimes it is good but if they do not have any staff that have been there more than 2 years, danger.
10. Will the owner be there during cleaning? Always good to have the owner involved.
11. Do you mind if we are home when you clean? If a cleaner tells you not to be home when they come, that is not a good sign. It should be completely up to you.12. What if we need to take a week off? Some companies are charging even if you take a week off.
I hope you find these helpful!!