Complaint Review: Maid Brigade - Eagan Minnesota

Maid Brigade was hired to perform basic cleaning services on a bi-monthly basis for a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath rambler. Floor surfaces are pergo wood, newly installed carpet in bedrooms and tile in bath. Contracted services included vacuuming and wet mopping of floors, dusting and polishing, cleaning and disinfecting kitchen and bathroom surfaces, empty trash, tidy rooms, etc.

In a word, my experience with them was terrible! It did not take us long to see that this company was junk and they were fired after the second "cleaning." The whole purpose of hiring them was to assist me in maintaining a basically clean home while I was recuperating from a strained back. We had just moved into this home and all I wanted was help with the floors, vacuuming, etc. Nothing major. However, the bill was pretty major, it was double what I expected (over $200) and this was after a 20% off coupon was applied! It took me several phone calls before I received a detailed invoice from them. I was stunned to see that this company charged me a rate of $35 per hour for SIX HOURS. The description read "spring cleaning." There is NO WAY that team was here for six hours and I most certainly did not need or agree to a "spring cleaning." The house was immaculate when we moved in. I just wanted a little help keeping it that way. A fuel surcharge was tacked on to boot and was never discussed prior to billing! Plus, the cleaners were careless and broke a ceiling light by tugging too hard on the chain (it was fixed by owner/operator after we reported it, but it was still a hassle and took time out of our day, as the owner had to come out first to inspect it, and then again to fix it - plus, I was without a necessary light fixture in a room that I used daily for at least a week. The maids also left a set of wooden drink coasters inside the hide-a-bed, instead of putting them back on the coffee table where they belonged. They also propped a heavy, rolled up carpet remnant against the back door after cleaning the kitchen floor, instead of laying it back down. This blocked the door and made it nearly impossible to open from the outside. Overall, I could have done better myself, even with an injured back. I had expected that the quality of the cleaning would at least be comparable to the maid service provided in a motel, but it wasn't. My spouse wanted to fire them after the first visit. I should have taken his advice, because the second visit was even worse than the first. We were charged for over an hour of service. However, my husband had an appointment during the time frame the team was scheduled to arrive. During the time it took to run this errand (approx. 30 minutes), the team had arrived, cleaned and left. We estimate that the actual visit took 20 minutes. The work was undetectable. Other than making the bed, there was no visible indication that the team had been there. The dining table was not wiped, the floors were not wet mopped, the tub was not touched, the counters were not wiped. There was still paper at the bottom of the bathroom trash can. My daughter's room was skipped completely without my consent, and they refused to adjust the bill even though they didn't do the work. Everything had to be re-cleaned. Pathetic, just pathetic! Customer service ignored my verbal and written requests to discuss charges and instead billed my account without my consent. After multiple complaints, both written and verbal, my bank informed me that the company had processed a refund -- and then the company turned around and re-billed me for the same amount, plus $35 for a dishonored echeck fee. Now they are threatening me with collections. The bank has verification that the echeck cleared and that the company initiated the refund themselves, so it's yet another example of their incompetence. If that wasn't enough, the owner also tried to pass off a credit for a $12 overcharge on the first visit as a good faith adjustment. This billing error was acknowledged by Maid Brigade's billing representative in a voice mail that has been preserved. This money was already owed to me but that doesn't stop them from trying to take credit. Unprofessional, unethical, and unaccountable. Do not trust this company. They do not care about customer service, and they will not acknowledge or respond to your concerns.

Here are some additional comments from an independent consumer website that sound very familiar:

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"The initial cleaning was very good, but the very next cleaning was entirely inadequate. A different team was sent to do the second cleaning and they were not thorough or careful. I was promised the same cleaning team, yet over the last three months I don't think I've ever seen the same team. Although I am scheduled for afternoons, yesterday the team arrived in the morning. After the second cleaning and the complaints that I made, I was told by Brenda in customer service she would request a refund. Weeks went by before I found out what the refund would be - and it turned out to be $20. Communication from customer service is terrible."

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"My expectation, when I paid $335 for a cleaning service, was that the cleaning crew would make things sparkle, and do a better job cleaning that I would have been able to do myself. So, I was disappointed when I found things that appeared to not have been cleaned very well, and required re-cleaning by myself. They seemed to just get things superficially clean. There were a lot of things that I had to ask them to reclean when they were here, and this got tiresome (over 10 things). They were nice girls, and very respectful. I liked them - I just didn't think that they did as good of job cleaning as I expected. That said, I have spoken with someone who followed up on the phone with me earlier this week. We have a re-clean scheduled for next Friday afternoon. Another gripe I have is that I requested the crew wear protective coverings over their shoes, as I was in the process of having new carpets installed. They did not do so."

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"I am dissatisfied with their work. I just can't seem to get them to do specific things I ask for. I have a feeling that their employees aren't trained. They are nice enough, but they just don't seem to know what they're doing."

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"I have had MB working for me for almost a year. I found them through the yellow pages. ....however, I decided to look for alternatives, and I am SO GLAD! I was very unhappy with Maid Brigade. They sent out different crews each week, so the work was inconsistent. Some weeks I came home and could not tell at first if they had been there or not, and that's not good! Now I have a new company that is much better and much cheaper. Bye bye Maid Brigade..."

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These comments are all relevant to the same Maid Brigade franchise that I hired.

Clearly, there is a pattern of poor service.

Overall, this experience has been stressful, upsetting and time consuming. Dealing with them has been one major headache. The company breached our contract by not providing the agreed-upon services and they continue to waste my time and energy by clearly acting in bad faith. Imagine trying to rebill me for a refund they generated - and adding $35???? Unbelievable. I always thought that contractual agreements were a two-way street. They are trying to hold me liable for services that I can prove were not provided and fine me for a bounced check that I can prove didn't bounce. This particular branch of Maid Brigade is an embarrassment to the franchise and the industry and I hope they get some peer pressure to change their ways.

Avoid this company unless you enjoy being ripped off and disappointed.

Catherine

St. Paul, Minnesota

U.S.A.