I contracted, via phone, with Molly Maids of Rockwell for a whole house clean to be done at a house I recently vacated and have for sale. On the call, I asked about how long it woudl take since they charge by the hour. Molly Maids quickly estimated 2.5 to 3.5 hours to accomplish this cleaning since the house was empty (vacant). Their rate was $68 per hour for this service. At 3.5 hours this service would have cost $238. As a rate check, I also contacted another service (Pop-ins) who charges a flat fee of $220 for a whole house clean. Since I had already made the appointment with Molly Maids, I figured an extra potential $20 was no big thing and continued to let Molly Maids do the service.
Without any prior warning to me of expected time overages, their cleaning crew supposedly (I cannot verify) took 6 hours to clean the house. Since no one was there to watch them, they could have been taking breaks for 3 hours for all I know. However, 6 hours is ridiculous amount of time for a crew of two to clean an empty 1 1/2 story house. I went and checked after the fact and found some areas in the house that were not as clean as expected, especially for a crew that supposedly worked for 6 hours. Additionally, at no time did anyone contact me to let me know they would go over the max estimated 3.5 hours until after they were finished, when I got a call stating "Do you kow the girls were there for 6 hours?". I tried to negotiate, even willing to pay them for more than 3.5 hours, with no interest on their end.
I feel I am a victim of bait and switch and as a result, I am challenging their charge with my credit card company.
My advice? Go with the flat fee provider and avoid companies like Molly Maid.
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