Now I feel guilty...
I decided to fire our cleaning service. They have been cleaning our house for about 4 years now. They are a small local service and generally we have been pleased with them until recently. When they first started cleaning our house they used some sort of chemical that ruined a section of our powder room wallpaper. While they couldn't fix, it the owner was very responsive and we decided to keep them on. I used to love to come home on Thursday afternoons cause the house was so fresh and clean. Lately though that hasn't been the case. It would look like a tornado has hit the house after they were here. The blinds were facing all different directions, the lights were left on and the dog/baby gates left open. The last couple of straws were we found a pack of gum clearly taken out of our pantry left by accident by the door. They would miss vacuuming a whole room or not clean the bathroom floor. The mirror in my bathroom looked like someone sneezed all over it and the kitchen floor was 'slimy' like they didn't mop it well enough. One time while I was home with V on an Thursday and I saw that they were using a carpet vacuum to sweep up our hardwood foyer. They just were not up to the caliber that they once were. We've complained to them a few times and they would get better for a little while but it didn't last. I was getting more and more disappointed with coming home on Thursday's and going through the Wed night stress-fest of getting everything in the house just perfect for them to clean around just to have them miss whole rooms and leave the house in disarray. So we broke the news today that we wanted a break for a little while. Having the cleaning service is something I wanted and felt it was worth the money to me to have a clean house every other week. But lately I don't think I was getting my money's worth. So, now I go on saving myself money and I will attempt to clean my house myself. Maybe later I will get some other quotes but I am thinking that they will be more expensive cause I am pretty sure our service was one of the cheapest around. But even though I know I am doing the right thing (why pay for something you not happy with) I cannot help but feel guilty that I fired them. Why do I do this to myself? I did do the right thing...right?
4 comments:
You definitely did the right thing.
I would have canned them after the blinds going every which way (what the heck).
I hope you find somebody better and soon!!! I so wish i had a cleaning lady!
Two comments:
Service satisfaction is 100% determined by YOU THE CUSTOMER. If you don't let a company know they are failing in their job then they have no room to improve, but it sounds like you gave them ample notice and time so your actions are well warranted.
I wish I could put my next comments in real small type, but since I teach service businesses how to be profitable I can tell you what probable happened by the fact you indicated they were "cheap" if I read the post right.
Often times small companies start up with a core group of loyal customers and they deliver great servive at a fair and some times low price. The problem is their reputation grows and they take on more business than they can handle leaving them to do one of two things, cut corners to get it all done, or hire others and run the risk of not managing their employees well.
When you shop for a replacement, remember price while important should never be the deciding factor. A wise man once told me about other companies who were always "cheaper" than me, "that's all right son, oats are always cheaper when they have been through the horse the first time and it sounds like that company knows where its oats have been!"
Hiya!
Love your blog and your kids are sooo sweet:) Mine are all grown up now:(
I used to run a small cleaning company and we had a really great reputation. We really took pride with our work and were always referred by our customers to new clients. We got so big that I think my friend and I burnt ourselves out trying to keep up with it all! lol
Anyway don't let yourself feel guilty! at all.
You can try and do the work yourself but don't let yourself get too overwhelmed with it before you go looking for a better service :)
There are so many people doing this out there, ask around :)That's how people found us:)
Nancy
WaterFall
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