Quality Cleaning Service

Review: We called Quality Cleaning Services (QCS) for an estimate to completely clean the inside of my deceased fathers empty house before selling it. [redacted] (QCS owner) told me and my sister several times we should schedule this job very soon. With the approaching holidays, she's very busy. Without seeing the house, she offered a bid of $850 which we considered acceptable. I travel a great deal with my work, so when asked for a deposit, I told QCS I would send the full amount so she would not have to wait to receive the balance. She told me to post-date the check to 11/13, but I failed to do that. Post-dating a check is not legal and has no impact on when the check is cashed. I sent $850 to her on October 25; the work was scheduled for November 12/13. The $850 check was cashed on 11/1, well before the work was to begin. Our contractor (making repairs to bring the house "to code") was experiencing delays, so we postponed to the next week, November 18/19. The contractor then injured his back and stopped work; he works alone and we had no finish date. My sister called Ms. [redacted], got VM, and left a message that we were experiencing problems and we were canceling the job. That would open the dates for all the other requests she was getting. On 11/13, I received a postal money order from Ms. [redacted] for $700 and an explanation of why she kept $150: her time is valuable; she lost jobs; she has employees to pay. What happened to all the jobs she was warning us about? I doubt she pays people when they arent working for her, so why should I? I never signed any agreement or contract. We had a verbal agreement that I would honor, but it never included any mention of a cancellation fee, not to me or my sister. In the VM message, my sister asked Ms. [redacted] to call if she had questions or concerns; she did not. Since we have no written or verbal agreement that includes a cancellation fee, I am entitled to a full refund. I wrote to Ms. [redacted] and asked for the additional $150, but do not have a reply yet.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund to my father's estate, not just $700. I would like a money order for the additional $150.