The Cleaning Authority

Our customer satisfaction is our number one priority, which is why we back every clean with a Satisfaction Guarantee. All of our house cleaners are extensively trained on our Detail-Clean Rotation System, a strategic system designed to provide a Detail-Clean on every visit. We understand this...

customer was not happy with the quality of the cleans in the first three times we cleaned her home. However, we did not hear about this from her following the first or second clean. Had we known, we would have returned to reclean the areas missed, and used it as a coaching opportunity with our Professional Housecleaners to ensure it did not happen again. We did receive a complaint from this customer following her third clean, and credited her account $20. It was on the fourth clean that we allegedly scratched the stove top and fridge. This clean took place on January 23. We received a call from the customer to let us know about the scratches following the clean. After hearing from her, I went out to the store to purchase a solution that would buff the scratches from the stove top, and went over to the home. Upon arriving at the home, the customer and her daughter were very confrontational toward me, and used a tone that was unwelcome and inappropriate. I tried to calm them down several times, but unfortunately I was not successful. I went to take a look at the scratches, and saw how deep they were. They were so deep; it looked as though someone keyed it. I explained to them that nothing we carry in our cleaning supplies is capable of making scratches that deep on her stove and that they must have been from before.  The customer agreed that it may be possible the deep scratches are from before, but still insisted that our company should replace the stove due to the smaller scuffs. Given the deeper scratches paired with the smaller scuffs, I did not think there was any way to conclusively determine whether our Professional Housecleaners caused the smaller scuffs. I offered to buff the small scratches out using the supplies I brought along, and they again became confrontational towards me. At this point, they changed the subject to other areas in the service they were unhappy with before I left, without having the opportunity to resolve the situation with the stove top. I did not hear from this customer again until receiving the Revdex.com complaint. At this time, I still do not believe it is possible to conclusively say that we caused the smaller scuffs on the stove top, and do not think we should be responsible for replacing the stove top. As I tried the day I visited the home, I would be willing to come back to the home and see if I can buff them out.

Response in redThe submitted review is not accurate, rather a misconstrued account of events from a customer making every attempt to avoid being charged for services after they were rendered due to – what appears to be – financial issues on their end.  The customer contracted with our office to provide cleaning services as they were moving and planned to list their current home for sale.The nerve of this so-called professional company to make a false accusation that we may be having financial issues.   If it were true that we were having financial problems, why did we go through this only to end up paying another company even more to actually do the work?   They have no idea about our financial status.   The review is 100% accurate.   They didn’t clean anything.   We have realized this is a terrible company and there are other Revdex.com reviews from other people out there with similar stories.    Services were rendered on 12/05/2016 for the new residence, and 12/06/2016 for the previous residence.  All crews are equipped with GPS tracked tablets which are used to clock in and out of homes.  If a crew is not within GPS range of the address in our CRM system while “clocking in” for the job, the system throws an alert to management for override.  At both homes, the crews “clocked in” and “clocked out” without throwing location error codes.  The client’s conjecture that the team never showed up is factually incorrect.  Additionally, the credit card provided for the account was declined due to “insufficient funds.”  Neither my wife or I ever said specifically they never showed up.   We said no work was done and they must have had a blindfold on when Dave M[redacted] checked out the house afterward.   The Cleaning Authority is continually giving false information.   Nothing was done so I was not willing to pay until the problem was corrected.  If they had cleaned the house I would have paid immediately and we would have kept them as a service.   I have since had to hire another company to do the cleaning.   The credit card they talk about that was declined is my credit card and I never gave them my credit card.    Why did they keep charging it?   Communications that there were issues with services began on 12/07 via email, and attempts were promptly made by management to address these concerns over the phone.  On 12/08, David (Manager) connected with [redacted] over-the-phone, finding out that she had not actually been to one of the residences yet and was working off second-hand information from her husband.  Moreover, she had looked over the home they were moving in, and conceded it was difficult to tell whether the issues were from cleaning or if they were resulting from the movers working through the home.  The agreed upon resolution was to have David personally assess the work at the previous residence, and that nothing was to be recleaned at the new home.  [redacted] could not provide access to her previous home until 12/09, as she was worried that her neighbors would break in if she left her garage door opener hidden too long.  David assessed the work on 12/09 to find that everything was delivered as advertised, with the exclusion of 1 room in which the crew had no method to see anything (lights were gone and security blinds covered the windows).  The garage opener was brought back to the office due to [redacted] concerns over her neighbors.  These guys are making things up.   I ([redacted] M[redacted]) inspected the house and found the house was not cleaned.   I notified my wife that the house was not cleaned.    Nothing was done.   The rooms were exactly the way they were when we moved out of the house.  My wife called The Cleaning Authority about this to check the houses out.   My wife checked the house as well afterwards and she completely agreed.   The cleaning was supposed to be a move out cleaning of the house.   Whatever needed to be cleaned from the move should have been cleaned up.  The one kid’s bedroom was filthy.   David claimed that the bedroom was not done because there was no light.   That’s not an excuse.   There was a remote to open the blinds to get light or they could have gotten their own light set up.   They could have called us and came back to do it.   They never offered.    What he said is proof that something was not done.   They put it in writing.   Our new house was not cleaned either the same way.   It was a move in.   What do they mean by second hand knowledge from me?     Both houses are mine, I am selling one of them.    My wife was just hiring them to clean the houses and they had been doing work for us without a problem until now.    I was completely dissatisfied with (the work???)    Whatever they did.   My wife and I let them know more than once to no avail.   We were willing to work with them.   They did not correct the problem yet they charged my card.Over this time span, the credit card provided for the account was attempted and declined – multiple times – due to “insufficient funds.”  This is involving a card number I never gave them.  How did they get it?   I did meet David at my house personally when my wife was going over the plans with him but I never gave him my card.   We were planning on using other means for paying this.  [redacted] sent a barrage of emails over the weekend (within a span of 30 minutes) in which she claimed we stole the garage opener, made threats to call the police & write bad reviews if we didn’t dispatch a team to clean the home first thing Monday morning, and called David a blind & filthy liar.  David phoned the customer on Monday to go over his findings, but the customer hung up after being told there were no issues with the clean.  We were trying to get in touch with The Cleaning Authority.    After 3 days, Dave M[redacted] called to go look at the house.   [redacted] and I allowed Dave access to our house by leaving the garage door opener hidden at the front of the house so David (Manager) could go in and see that the house was not cleaned.    David did not get back to us and so we started contacting him.  We emailed and called several times because we noticed the garage door opener was gone.  When I finally got in touch with Dave on the phone, he said the house was clean in a very calm voice like I was crazy.   I was livid with this response.   He had taken the garage door opener without our permission and I let him know my displeasure.   I have a Smart Alarm system in my house that notifies me when someone goes in or out the doors.   I know David is a liar.   At that time, my credit card was not charged yet.   They have since returned the garage door opener but they only did this because they were paid.   We have an email from them saying they had planned not to give back the garage opener unless we paid in full.   That is blackmail.   With respect to the garage opener, at no point was it being held as hostage for payment.  Rather, we will not dedicate money to return an item to a customer with a past-due account.  Promptly after the credit card on file finally cleared payment, the garage opener was returned through UPS.  The credit card cleared payment on 12/15/2016; 10 days after services were rendered.  Taking the garage door opener and accessing my credit card account without my authorization are  federal offenses.   THE CLEANING AUTHORITY has acknowledged in more than one place now including this Revdex.com site that this has happened.   They owe me $93 and $181 for the two houses they did not clean.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Mr. L[redacted] offer to look into their process for returning phone calls does not resolve my issue of his not taking action to resolve my concern or return my call.  I have placed calls as far back as March, 2016.  There have been multiple documented calls answered by the office (not their answering service).  I have spoken to the office manager, Cathy, Doris, Sam (at the Corporate Office), among others asking for Mr. L[redacted] to give me a call.  The typical response is that he is out of town or has just left the office for the day.  I have placed follow-up calls 7-10 days later when I do not receive a response from Mr. L[redacted].  Each time, the person will respond with "My Apologies" which is lovely, but does not result in his returning my call to resolve a complaint brought to the company's attention in March 2016.
Regards,
[redacted]

Ms. [redacted] is correct that she received a phone call on Friday, March 21st, that we were rescheduling the move out clean to the following Friday. When the move out clean was scheduled, Mr. [redacted] gave a window of March 21st to March 28th for the clean to be scheduled. At some point the closing on...

the home was moved to March 24th, which The Cleaning Authority was not aware of the change. When rescheduled the morning of March 21st the office was not aware of the scheduling conflict. The date indicated regarding the problem in the complaint is March 6th, but that is not accurate.

 

Apparently, during the day prior to my involvement in the afternoon, words were exchanged between the office and the [redacted]’s. This has been a topic of discussion since the exchange from the office in my opinion was unprofessional. Mr. [redacted] contacted the [redacted]’s and offered to provide the service on Friday, March 21st for free because of the misunderstanding and disruption to the [redacted]’s. The offer was declined.

In the services provided since the [redacted]’s became a customer in August 2013, there is one recorded issue regarding the Master Bathroom shower. This was issue was addressed by returning to correct the problem. There were no other issues regarding the service.

Mr. [redacted] did come to the Chandler office to pickup his house key. Ms. [redacted], Office Manager, apologized for the scheduling issue. There are no monies owed, since none were paid and no service was provided.

The situation was not professionally managed by the office and considered a learning experience which has prompted additional discussion

Cleaning Authority,
To your response ......
I can tell that you do not listen or care about your customers by not standing by your 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.  apparently you did not read my first response.  Your pet policy rule is contradictory to say the least. By saying PICK UP.  Really,  how do you pick up pet urine?  Maybe wipe up or clean up needs to be added to your rule....
Now,  I have called 3 times and emailed 2 times to be able to speak with the Owner K.O.  He is the one who came to my home and spoke with me for 90 minutes and promised me my baseboards would be cleaned.  He met my four dogs and was fully aware of what I expected.  
Now about your 24 hr guarantee.  I advised your office manager about my streaked stainless steel appliances and the water puddles left on my kitchen floor.  So again, your 24 guarantee is bogus to say the least.
Your definition....any waste matter excreted from THE HUMAN OR ANIMAL BODY.  really, you clean up human waste off of toilets Urine and Feces. HMMMMM.  yes P.O. you told me its an OSA LAW! Remember you hung up on me when I told you that I contacted OSHA myself.  You might want to read my first letter about your lie.  
 
AGAIN I AM REQUESTING TO SPEAK WITH THE OWNER WHO CAME TO MY HOME FOR 90 MINUTES ....
WHY WON'T K.O. CONTACT ME TO CLEAR UP THIS MATTER?  TO DO WHAT HE PROMISED ME?  HE WAS 
THE ONLY ONE IN MY HOME THAT CAN EXPLAIN WHY MY EXPECTATIONS WER NOT MET...
WAITING TO HEAR FROM THE OWNER ...
 
THANK YOU

The office originally responded to the complaint while I was on vacation. The story gets better as time moves on. We serviced the [redacted] residence on July 20th for the first and last time. The complaint was that we would not clean up dog waste that is apparently throughout the home. The other initial complaint was that we did not clean inside cabinets. Both of these complaints are items we do not provide. We do not go inside customer’s drawers or cabinets. We do not clean up animal waste. We also do not clean chimneys which I’m sure will be added as a complaint soon.
In The Cleaning Agreement, which Ms. [redacted] signed, it states “For sanitary and safety reasons our teams are not permitted to clean flea infested homes or pick up animal excrement”. The East Valley Cleaning Authority has now provided over 210,000 services and this has never been an issue. We do not clean up animal waste. We do spell out exactly what we provide for the service.
The 24-hour guarantee would pertain to areas we provided service, but were not properly cleaned. There was no mention until now of stainless steel or floors. Apparently this is made up as we move along.
Ms. [redacted], you are rude and have attempted to bully, which does not sit well here. Payment was due at time of service which was not paid. You were billed, given time to pay, and when payment was not made the account was turned over to a third party for collection. Per The Cleaning Agreement, you are responsible for all collection charges and based on your attitude, I am confident that at some point an attorney will be involved. We are out of the collection process.
There is nothing to compromise here and I doubt any further contact will be beneficial.

We have operated in the residential cleaning space since 2001, providing over 200,000 services to East Valley residents.  This is the first time – hopefully a single outlier – that we have ever found ourselves dedicating significant management resources to explain that our employees will not...

clean up animal waste in homes.  From our Service Agreement and Policies (signed by the client during the in-home consultation): Pets: If you have pets, please secure and pick up after them.  For sanitary and safety reasons our teams are not permitted to clean flea infested homes or pick up animal excrement.  We will also not clean if a team feels they are in danger from a dog or other animals. Definition of excrement (source: Wiktionary) “Any waste matter excreted from the human or animal body, or discharged by bodily organs.”
Management and an owner of the company have held multiple conversations with the client to help her understand why the pet waste wasn't cleaned and to compel her to bring the account cu**ent; to no avail. We do guarantee all of our services, and – if notified within 24 hours of a cleaning – will dispatch a crew out to co**ect work.  The client concedes that the entirety of her complaint with the delivered product was that the crew cleaned around the animal waste she failed to address prior to their a**ival.  The policies agreed to clearly state that cleaning animal waste is not in the scope of our offering.  Therefore, it follows that we held up our end of the agreement, whereas payment – in full – is demanded.  As of 8/12/2016, the account remains past due and was deemed delinquent on 08/09/2016; we have since accelerated the collection process by turning the account over to our third-party collections agency.  Per the cleaning agreement, any charges incu**ed during this collections process are the responsibility of the client and will be demanded in excess of the original cleaning fee.

The Cleaning Authority employees flooded my bathroom and caused substantial damage.On 2 November employees from The Cleaning Authority flooded my secondary bathroom. They called me giving a false story as to what caused the water damage. Once a plumber verified the story they had given was false I notified the company and requested they pay for the damage. Now that repairs have been made I requested reimbursement of my $2500 deductible, my request has gone unanswered. I am attempting to resolve through the Revdex.com before filing in small claims court. A detailed list of events follows:On 2 November at approximately 4:30pm I received a phone call from The Cleaning Authority stating that when they went to clean my son's bathtub that water started pouring through the ceiling when they pulled the tub stopper. I immediately came home and called a plumber.On 3 November at 10:45 am the plumber showed up and examined the tub & bathroom in question. His report is attached, but states:o Ran several tests on 2nd fl child's tubo Ran water through shoe only, no leaks belowo Filled tub to & past overflow but not flood level rim of tub, 70 gal. No leaks below, pipes below are dry, it looks as if water has been introduced by another source, the carpet in bedroom at ent. To bath room rt side is 100% wet per moisture meter.On 3 November at 11:30am my wife called The Cleaning Authority and left a message asking to address the issue.On 3 November at 3:30 pm I left a second message.On 3 November at 5:34 pm [redacted] from The Cleaning Authority called me and said it didn't make since that they would overflow the tub because "they were not taking baths". I explained to her that I had a plumber come in today and he was able to verify that no problem existed with the tub or pipes and could tell by using the moisture meter that water had recently traveled down the back tile and exited the bathroom onto the carpeted area. She dismissed my claim and said the owner would have to call me.On 4 November at 9:30 am [redacted] called me to discuss the issue. I explained the events above again and he said to have the repairs made if under $1000 and send him the invoice.On 4 November at 5:00 pm [redacted] came to my residence and evaluated the damage. They stated that the damage would far exceed $1000 and I needed to involve my insurance. I did so, calling [redacted].On 4 November at 7:10 pm I wrote to Mr. [redacted] as a courtesy letting him know that [redacted] had been contacted and would be handling the claim.On 6 April 2016 I received notification from [redacted] that it would not be cost effective for them to pursue litigation and I should seek reimbursement of my deductible directly from The Cleaning Authority.On 15 April 2016 I mailed a copy of this information with the letter above and pictures to Mr. [redacted] requesting reimbursement of my deductible.2 May 2016 After receiving no response from Mr. [redacted] I filled a Revdex.com complaint.Desired SettlementThe $2500 deductible I paid in having repairs done.Business Response Dear Revdex.com. We received a letter dated May 24,2016 alerting us to the fact that there was a complaint filed against our company. This letter states that we had not responded to two separate notices of complaint from the Revdex.com. The letter states that both of these were sent via email. We had not received either notification. (Possibly you have an invalid email address. We are [redacted]) The letter dated May 24, 2016 is the first notice to have reached us.We wish to reopen this case and properly address the issues.More Info Received From The BusinessWe are very sorry that this has been such a problem for both the former customer and our company. We wish circumstances could have been different and that this had been handled in a much better manner. In going over this complaint as well as our recollection of it, we see a few opportunities we missed to have been more proactive in addressing this and we're sorry we did not take them. Especially since this customer had been with us for 4 years and 7 months until this incident took place.We do not dispute that there was an incident on November 2, 2015. And while not directly challenging the events and the timeline laid out by this customer in his complaint, the view from our company's end was different.Overall, the incident was very confusing for us because it is not the type of thing that ever really happens, and in fact we have never had an incident like this in the 11 years we have been in business. On the day of the incident, one of our professional housecleaners was cleaning in the upstairs bathroom while the other was working in the kitchen. Our employee in the kitchen noticed the water on the ceiling and went upstairs to tell her coworker to stop running the water. We then alerted the homeowner about the situation.From our end, we found this incident had no simple explanation. It was not evident to us how we could have done anything to cause it and suspected it would have had something to do with the pipes. Given that this was such a loyal and valuable customer, we decided that we would work with him to remedy the problem. At the time it seemed like the extent of the damage could be handled by some sheet rock work and painting. And while not recalling the exact words that were used during the November 4 conversation, they were to the effect of, "if it is below $1,000 call and let us know and if it is more, we will need to get our insurance company involved."This is the point where our experiences diverge. We never received the courtesy letter that this customer sent on November 4, 2015. The next communication we received from this customer after the November 4 conversation was around the week of November 16, 2015 and that was to terminate the service. There was no mention of the incident, so we figured that they had taken care of the issue and decided to move on. We also received a call from this customer on December 14, 2015 asking that their house key be returned; again no other issues were mentioned.We also did not receive the letter this customer mailed on April 15, 2016. What we did receive was a Notice of Subjugation from his insurance company seeking reimbursement for expenses. Since we had not heard from the former customer since November, we forwarded this to our insurance company. In conversations with our insurance company, the extent of the damage claimed seemed out of proportion to what was cited in my November conversation with this customer or with what seemed possible for us to be responsible for in the short time that we were in the house before we noticed any water. The damage was extensive and included other rooms in the home, not just the bathroom and kitchen. So we advised our insurance company that we didn't think we were responsible for that amount of damage. Based on this complaint it seems like our insurance company was successful as our advocate.Again, we heard nothing more of this incident until we received notification from the Revdex.com, our first Revdex.com complaint ever. We still hope to satisfactorily resolve this issue. Consumer Response Revdex.com, thank you for forwarding this response. Since the registered agent did not respond to my letter and the company did not respond to your requests, I have opened a small claims court case against The Cleaning Authority (TCA). We have a pending court date and cost have been incurred as a result. If TCA wishes to settle before court the amount is $2629 and they are welcome to contact me directly.Final Business Response I have contacted Mr. [redacted] directly and we have come to an agreement. He will contact the Revdex.com directly to inform that that this compliant has been resolved.More Info Received From The ConsumerPer the agreement between myself and Mr. [redacted] I am notifying you that TCA has fulfilled their part of the agreement and I am fully satisfied. I would also like to add that everytime I have spoke to Mr. [redacted] he has been cordial and reasonable. I would not hesitate to recommend TCA.

Review: I have called the company numerous occasions, asking for a return call by the owner to resolve a complaint I filed with them on March 9th. I have left several messages with the receptionists and sent emails to the office manager asking for a response. I have even spoken with the Corporate office who stated they have passed my calls along to the owner.....all to no avail. The owner will be happy to know the receptionists are pleasant when you call. It is apparent they are trained to say "my apologies". Unfortunately, they say this often.Desired Settlement: A return phone and discussion with the owner.

Business

Response:

Revdex.com spoke with Mr. L[redacted] from the business regarding this communication issue. He will be looking into the matter of unreturned calls to see if there is an issue with their intake system. He let our office know that there is a phone service system that does allow for messages but will review and reach out to the customer directly. He thanks the customers for bringing this matter to his attention.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Mr. L[redacted] offer to look into their process for returning phone calls does not resolve my issue of his not taking action to resolve my concern or return my call. I have placed calls as far back as March, 2016. There have been multiple documented calls answered by the office (not their answering service). I have spoken to the office manager, Cathy, Doris, Sam (at the Corporate Office), among others asking for Mr. L[redacted] to give me a call. The typical response is that he is out of town or has just left the office for the day. I have placed follow-up calls 7-10 days later when I do not receive a response from Mr. L[redacted]. Each time, the person will respond with "My Apologies" which is lovely, but does not result in his returning my call to resolve a complaint brought to the company's attention in March 2016.

Regards,

Review: The Cleaning Authority came into my home to clean. I was not home. When I returned home that evening, I noticed a crack in the sink in the bathroom. I took a picture of it and sent it to TCA immediately (Nov. 6, 2013). They told me they were unable to view the pic and asked if I could send another one. One month later, they came out to look at it (Dec. 3, 2013). (After I sent a second e-mail, asking about it.) They then sent their insurance adjuster on Jan. 8, 2014. On Jan. 22, 2014 I received a letter saying that TCA wasn't liable because a) the sink was already defective and b) the crack was not caused by TCA employees.

I sent an e-mail to the adjuster (who had written the letter) and cc'd TCA asking for evidence for both of their claims - a and b. I also asked about the appeals process. I have heard nothing from either the Insurance company 9[redacted] from Society Insurance Company) or TCA.Desired Settlement: Replacement and installation of new pedestal sink. The total amount would include the cost of the sink and labor for a plumber to install. I have not gotten an estimate so am not sure what the total replacement cost would be.

Business

Response:

As a professional cleaning service we are careful to use appropriate and often mild approaches to cleaning. This is by design and comes through years of experience in our Franchise network. We do not use harsh, industrial strength chemicals. We do not use ANY abrasive products or tools. Our process for cleaning sinks involves a sponge, a soap and sm cleaning agent, and a terry cloth. In our almost 12 years of cleaning, we have never been accused of causing a crack in a sink. This covers over 150,000 houses cleaned and over 500,000 sinks cleaned.

Nevertheless, we enlisted the assistance of our Insurance company, Society Insurance, to further assess the situation. We find this to be a great way to get an unbiased, professional, and experienced assessment. Insurance companies have a wealth of experience in dealing with damaged items and property. Upon investigating the claim, Society Insurance concluded that we are not to blame for the cracking in the sink.

In doing additional research about cracking in sinks, there seems to consensus that sinks of this type develop hairline cracks over time. The most common cause appears to be thermal in nature. A sink typically rests at room temperature. When someone turns on hot water to wash their hands, the resulting change in temperature can shock the material. Hairline cracks form and expand over time. I don't know if I can post a link here but below is an excerpt from an article I read:

"Porcelain is very cool to the touch because it is not a heat conductor,

so it is sensitive to temperature increases. When a very hot liquid

contacts the surface of the porcelain, some expansion occurs, causing

cracks in the surface. This is a common event, and is sometimes referred

to as thermal cracking. Even running hot water into a porcelain sink

will shock the surface, and eventually leads to thermal cracking. When

these cracks occur, they only get larger as time goes on. In some cases,

large cracks form due to thermal cracking."

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!!! As a busy professional and mother of two, I did an extensive amount of research before actually hiring the Cleaning Authority in CEDARBURG. The owner, [redacted], came out to my home, assuring me "unbeatable service". So, I decided to go with it and give it a try, even referring friends as I was so happy to have found what sounded like, a reliable cleaning service. It was after the second cleaning I started to notice that the Cleaning Authority - CEDARBURG, was not what [redacted] had assured me they were. Two weeks ago when my home was cleaned, and the floors were sticky, and each one of my 4 toilet seats, had not been cleaned at all. I contacted the owner, remember the one who came out to my home to sell his company, and was told that he was now, not available. I left a message and never received a call back. Needless to say, I am completely disgusted with their lack of follow through and follow, I am now looking for a new service.

Review: I hired this company to do a top to bottom "move-in" clean on a new house I purchased. I met with the owner 4-5 weeks before the job and discussed expectations. The clean was performed on 8/3/15. The job was less than adequate, the cleaning was random and the house was filthy when the crew left. Several rooms were not even entered to clean. I contacted the agency and with extreme frustration they sent someone out to look at the property. Upon the walk through the employee apologized and acknowledged some of the things not done. The company was unable to complete the job within the needed timeframe. I still incurred a $400.00 bill for cleaning of a very small portion of what I asked for. I am extremely disappointed and requested the owner - (whom originally walked thorough my home with me and quoted the job) call me. It has been 4 days and I have not received a call back. My issue is: I told the manager "Megan", that I would not pay the bill until the owner called me to discuss this. ( I never signed anything and never provided my credit card information). I had used this company a few years ago and I stored my debit card information in the account I created. I only every made one time payments. Long story short, I logged into my bank account and "The cleaning authority" - went into my bank account unauthorized and retrieved funds. I have made about 10 phone calls to the business and no one will return my call. Bottom line, I want my funds returned and a phone call from the owner. I will gladly pay for the work actually completed at my property - but with my authorization and the method I choose. Worst service experience in my life, both service on the property and professionalism.Desired Settlement: I want a phone call from [redacted] as requested no less than 10 times.

Business

Response:

We met with Mrs. [redacted] on Thursday, July 9 to discuss a move-in clean at a home she had recently purchased. Mrs. [redacted] indicated that she didn't know exactly when she would need the clean performed as she needed to have additional work done on the home before they physically moved in. We were able to provide the necessary flexibility of setting the clean date later. Mrs. [redacted] assured us that the home would be clear of any workers and items/furniture. This is important as having clear access to the surfaces allows us a better opportunity to perform the work to everyone's satisfaction.At the end of July, Mrs. [redacted] called to schedule the clean for Monday, August 3. After performing the clean, Mrs. [redacted] called to express her dissatisfaction with the work done. We sent a Manager out to meet with Mrs. [redacted] that same afternoon to review the work. The Manager brought supplies and equipment to the home and offered to make corrections that same afternoon. Mrs. [redacted] refused this offer. During subsequent phone conversations that same afternoon (Aug 3) we offered to have a team return the very next morning, Tuesday, August 4, and make any and all corrections. Mrs. [redacted] again declined our offer.All of our work carries with it a SATISFACTION GUARANTEE. It's in writing on the back of our cleaning agreements. We make a note of pointing this out whenever we meet with a prospective client before they hire us to perform our services. We even physically draw an arrow on the client's copy of the cleaning agreement. Our satisfaction guarantee reads as follows:The Cleaning Authority guarantees all cleans. We are human and we do make mistakes, so please call us within 24 hours of your clean if you are unhappy. If necessary, we will return the next business day to correct the clean.The clean on August 3 was not our first interaction with Mrs. [redacted]. We have performed over a dozen cleans on her prior residence over the past several years. Mrs. [redacted] took full advantage of our satisfaction guarantee over that period of time and had us come back to touch things up when things did not meet her expectations.Bottom line: Mrs. [redacted] did not abide by the simple conditions of the satisfaction guarantee. Although she contacted us within 24 hours with her concerns, she refused to allow us to come back and make the corrections. She refused our offer to make these corrections not once, but twice. In a further effort to resolve the situation in an amicable manner, we reduced her price by a full $125 from $525 down to $400. Mrs. [redacted] was made fully aware that we were charging her credit card $400 for the services provided. We made her aware of this when we informed her about the price reduction from $525 to $400.With regard to the quality of the clean itself, we strongly feel our ability to perform the clean to Mrs. [redacted]'s immediate satisfaction was limited by the condition of the home. Although Mrs. [redacted] had assured us that the home would be free from workers and/or items/furniture, this was simply not the case. Tile work was being performed in at least one room and boxes were covering surfaces in a number of rooms. One of Mrs. [redacted]'s primary complaints was that the boxes were not moved and the surfaces beneath the boxes cleaned. The simple explanation is: we don't move boxes. It's an insurance issue. Again, this is covered on the back of our cleaning agreements under item 10 - Safety. Mrs. [redacted] claims she asked the cleaners to let her know when they needed the boxes moved but they claim they were never given such instructions. Certainly no instructions of this nature were communicated to our office. We were under the distinct impression that the surfaces would be free from such objects. It might have very well been a simple miscommunication. Regardless, we would have been happy to come back to the home and clean those surfaces had Mrs. [redacted] only allowed us the opportunity.At the end of the day, disputes of this nature are governed by reasonableness. We did our best to perform this clean in less than ideal conditions. We offered to come back (TWICE) to make any and all corrections. Despite abiding by all the conditions of our cleaning agreement we still reduced our price by 24% in an effort to resolve the issue in an amicable manner. We feel this is a wholly reasonable response to the situation.The Cleaning Authority is the largest residential cleaning service in the State of Wisconsin. We have over 70 employees and close to 1,000 customers. We perform over 20,000 cleans each year. We are not perfect but we're proud of the overall level of service we deliver each and every day. Our organization and infrastructure is designed to handle any number of customer issues. It doesn't matter if you speak to an Owner or Manager, the goal is to deal with issues both consistently and reasonably.

Review: I have had a few problems with this office... 1) they do not provide the service agreed to-I used their service for approximately a year-my "price" per clean was to include clean floors, sheets in the master br to be changed, etc., things that did not occur on a fairly regular basis; 2) we had a hole spontaneously appear in our shower the morning after they came to clean. they refused to pay for it arguing that even if their cleaner dropped something on it, it must have been improperly installed; and 3) (this is the thing that is making me the most angry--upon termination of their services, I asked them to delete specifically, the information related to obtaining access into my home (garage code, hidden key, which door is unlocked, etc). I did not ask them to delete my full file, only this specific information that they have no need for. Initially they refused my request, and now, upon follow-up they will not respond at all.Desired Settlement: I want them to delete the highly confidential information related to obtaining access into my home.

Consumer

Response:

Review: I had a complaint that one of their maids stole a valuable necklace (valued at $2000). I filed a complaint with the police. My complaint is that the business would not return my phone calls about the process for filing an insurance claim for the necklace. After years of paying them weekly, they owed me at least the courtesy of retuning my phone calls. But despite multiple phone calls, they never returned a single one.

In addition, I had made a complaint a long time ago about the fact that every time they came, I had different maids in my house, and they continued to send different people almost every time. I do not like that it was always someone new, another stranger, someone who didn't know my house, didn't know how I like things done. They never respond to these complaints. They take your money but they do nto care what kind of service they supply.Desired Settlement: Phone call by the owner to help me resolve the issue of reimbursement for the loss of my necklace.

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com This notice is confusing as I understood that this matter is settled. After much effort and disappointment, the insurance company would not recognize and pay her claim of theft. We did not have an employee conviction, nor was the customer able to prove that the employee stole anything from her. I recognize that providing that sort of proof is a very high bar. We try very hard to always do the right thing, which includes performing due diligence in understanding such significant claims. We could not get help from the insurance company, and Dr. [redacted] was not able to locate the jewelry in the last year. Therefore, without being able to prove or produce evidence that the person cleaning her home stole, but recognizing Dr [redacted] insistence that this happened, she and I agreed to an amount and The Cleaning Authority issued a check to her with the understanding that the matter was settled. Dr [redacted] remained a customer of ours for the period of time since the loss incident, but terminated services upon our agreement about settling this issue. I hope that my receiving this complaint and the incident having been settled are just sort of “crossing in the mail”, and that Dr [redacted] is satisfied, or as satisfied as one can be after a bad experience.

Review: Had The Cleaning Authority clean our new construction home. When they were finished there was still dust on the switch plates, inside the cabinets, inside the kitchen drawers and on the window sills. Bathtub were not cleaned. (drywall mud still on tub units) Hardwood floors has water stains. When I contacted the about it they were very rude. I would not recommend them to anyone.Desired Settlement: refund our money

Business

Response:

Customer "[redacted] " called to schedule a cleaning estimate on 7/2/2014, estimate was completed by owner on 7/7/2014 and Customer "[redacted]" was told at the time of the cleaning estimate that he needed to complete plumbing in new house, complete kitchen counters and have HOT running water in home. The customer then called on 7/9/2015 and said house would be ready for cleaning on 7/18/2014. When cleaning team arrived on 7/18/2014 there was no running water in home and the plumbing and kitchen counters were not completed. The cleaning team Spent 3 hours in the home and did the best job they could without hot water, (Cold water was in a tank in the driveway) customer "[redacted]" was only charged for what they were able to do given the circumstances. Customer "[redacted]" called in a complaint on 7/20/2014 and was told by Owner that we would come out and fix any problems provided there was HOT water in the home. Customer "[redacted] " declined the offer of a redo and refused to pay for service $272.85. Customer was sent numerous invoices which he ignored. Customer was sent a final invoice by registered mail advising we would be taking futher action. Customer "[redacted]" sent check and check was received on 3/12/2015. Account of "[redacted]" was closed and considered settled on 3/13/2015.

I started using Cleaning Authority quite a few years ago and was very happy with their service (previous owner) but due to the fall of the economy, we had to discontinue services. We started up our service again about 3 years ago with a new owner and were not happy at all with their standard of cleaning compared to the previous owner. Then a few months ago I received a notice that Cleaning Authority was again under new ownership and they wanted my business. They gave promises and said that alot of customers had complained about the previous owner and they would do a much better job. One of the owners came out to my house and said their practices were much better now so I gave them another shot. They have been to my house 3 times in the past 6 weeks and have yet to do the cleaning promised with the initial clean. I have even had the office manager come and take pictures after the 2nd cleaning and she said that was not the way the cleans should be and gave me the third clean for free. My house was still not cleaned in several areas (baseboards not wiped, floors not mopped and dusting half done. The Manager was supposed to be here the day they did the third clean to make sure it was done properly but never showed up. When I called to inquire as to when she was coming, she just said she was too busy. I asked her to come and inspect the house to see if she felt it was done properly and she refused, instead telling me she would speak with the owners. Today I received a call from the owner that originally came to my house. I thought he would call for a resolution but instead he said they will not service my house again because they are 'not a good fit' for me. I feel that this company needs to set a higher standard for cleaning houses (as this is their specialty) instead of just bowing out of the service and basically blowing off their customers. I will never refer this company to anyone!

Review: I had a scheduled appointment with the Cleaning Authority to provide a final moving clean on my house. The appointment was confirmed a week in advance. The morning of my appointment (and 3 days before the close of my house) I was told there was a scheduling confilict and my house would not be serviced. When I inquired further I was told that they bumped my house since it was not normally scheduled on that day. I inquired that if they bumped my house for a regularlly scheduled house why was this issues not caught before the appoitnment was scheduled. According to the explanation I was given this was only done since my house is normally on a different day. I was also told they would not be able to meet my request for cleaning until a week later. When I inquired about how I would not be continuing with their service since I do not feel they have provided quality service I was told that is fine and given the impression they could not care about my business. the scheduler, [redacted], is completely unprofessional and a great disspointment to the service I was promised by their managing partner, [redacted].Desired Settlement: The Cleaning Authority should clean by house by the desired date given and free of charge since they have now taken time out of my day to find a replacement.

Business

Response:

Ms. [redacted] is correct that she received a phone call on Friday, March 21st, that we were rescheduling the move out clean to the following Friday. When the move out clean was scheduled, Mr. [redacted] gave a window of March 21st to March 28th for the clean to be scheduled. At some point the closing on the home was moved to March 24th, which The Cleaning Authority was not aware of the change. When rescheduled the morning of March 21st the office was not aware of the scheduling conflict. The date indicated regarding the problem in the complaint is March 6th, but that is not accurate.

Apparently, during the day prior to my involvement in the afternoon, words were exchanged between the office and the [redacted]’s. This has been a topic of discussion since the exchange from the office in my opinion was unprofessional. Mr. [redacted] contacted the [redacted]’s and offered to provide the service on Friday, March 21st for free because of the misunderstanding and disruption to the [redacted]’s. The offer was declined.

In the services provided since the [redacted]’s became a customer in August 2013, there is one recorded issue regarding the Master Bathroom shower. This was issue was addressed by returning to correct the problem. There were no other issues regarding the service.

Mr. [redacted] did come to the Chandler office to pickup his house key. Ms. [redacted], Office Manager, apologized for the scheduling issue. There are no monies owed, since none were paid and no service was provided.

The situation was not professionally managed by the office and considered a learning experience which has prompted additional discussion

We have been using this company for over 2 years. The beginning was great, then over the last year things started to go wrong. I work from home, have a toddler and a VERY friendly dog who ALWAYS would play with the crew, throw her toy, and be very excited that they were here. One afternoon they crew showed up, I left on an appointment and to give them some room to clean and I came back to them still in my home, my dog was locked outside with the doggie door locked so she couldn't come inside where her water bowl was. We live in [redacted] and its HOT! I expressed my concern and asked why she was locked outside and they just said they thought she wanted to go out, I let them know that she was in fact NOT an outside dog and to never lock her out again, especially without water. I let her in, and she immediately ran over to me, tail tucked between her legs and she was TERRIFIED. I asked the crew "Did something happen to her? I wonder why she is acting so scared" The lady then replied in a very stern voice "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOUR DOG" I told her that I didn't ever say she did anything, but that she had NEVER acted this way towards anyone before. The moment they would grab any of their equipment (vacuum, fan duster, etc.) she would take off running the opposite direction. I asked them to please leave. I called the office and spoke to the office manager [redacted] (sp??) I told her that crew was NEVER to step foot into our home again and we would most likely be canceling all together. After talking to my husband we agreed to give them another chance and just as long as that specific crew didn't come back we would be ok to give them another shot. The crew did scratch our dinner table, but [redacted] came out and tried to fix it using magic eraser and another product that only made things worse. She did give the option to replace the table or to give us our next clean at no charge. Then a few cleans ago I came home to a bottle of [redacted] sitting on our counter, I didn't say anything and just chalked it up as maybe they left it on accident. Our clean 3 weeks ago I walked into my bedroom and was taken back by the odor of a cleaning product that smelled very much like comet. I asked the gentlemen that was cleaning my shower if he was in fact using comet and he replied "YES" After they left I did make a call into the office and expressed my concern with their "green seal" products that they claim they use, they told me they would speak with the crew and that I should be assured that they don't use outside products in the homes they clean. The ICING on the cake - Yesterday they were scheduled to clean our home, I received a phone call prior to 8am from [redacted] the office manger stating that there was a fire on the street for the home prior to us and they wouldn't be able to clean that home and wanted to come to our home right away (15 min window) I let her know that wasn't going to work since we were getting our kids off to school and ready for work. She told me that she would see what she could do and she would call me back, I let her know that this could possibly be our last clean so do whatever they could to get it done. She called me back about an hour later telling me that they can come between 12-1pm if that would work, I let her know yes that was fine. She then said "I want to verify and confirm that this will be your last clean with us" I told her "Lets see how this clean goes and I will talk with my husband and let you know" She said "ok" The crew showed up at 145pm, cleaned our home and when they were almost done I received a knock at the door and it was Sheena from the cleaning authority, said that she wanted to check on our clean and that she is sorry this would be our last clean with the company, I was taken off guard and said that I told [redacted] that I would be letting her know if it was for sure. She told me I should call the office because as far as she knew [redacted] spoke to the owner and were off the schedule. I then called [redacted] and asked what was going on and VERBATIM she told me "Well, yes given all the issues we have had with your home we have decided as a company that we just aren't a good fit for you, and you should find someone else to clean your home" I said "excuse me? I'm not sure what you're talking about, I said "issues?" the fact that someone harmed my dog, and that you brought outside cleaning products into my home, scratched my table, left clumps of dog hair on the ground, didn't move furniture out of the way to vacuum and dust and that's MY fault?? She continued to tell me that they decided as a company that they wouldn't be cleaning our home and we needed to find someone else. I called back and spoke to [redacted], one of the owners, I told her what happened and she was shocked to hear what [redacted] had told me and she said that she would want to sit down with [redacted] and [redacted] and find out what was going on since it seems to her that we have had problems before, which is exactly what [redacted] had told me. I told her I was DONE and I didn't want to do business with a company like that. I did NOTHING wrong, I brought the issues up to them which you would think they would want to be made aware of! Instead all they do is put blame on the home owner. We pay them to come into our home to clean!!

Do NOT hire these people! I hired them to do a one time fine cleaning of a house I was listing for sale. They showed up late and did a poor job of cleaning, charged me for 3 hours, but only did 2.5 hours of work, and left some things untouched - like the kitchen light fixture, front door, shower doors, fireplace screen, and baseboards!

They vacuumed the carpets even though I told them the carpet cleaners had just left, and the carpets were still wet - time they could have used to clean what needed to be cleaned.

Over the next three days I called several times and requested they finish the job. The "supervisor" refused to honor their "guarantee". She argued with me and refused to come back. Patti, the office manager, blamed me for not paying more ($360 should be plenty to fine clean an already pretty clean house), harassed me about the job, called me a liar, argued endlessly about the start time, and never offered a solution to fix the problem.

All they had to do was come back and finish the 30 minutes they shorted me - but, I ended up doing it myself so I could list the house.

When you have to clean after the cleaners - that's a company to avoid. Never again!

Review: While Cleaning our master bath one of the cleaners admittedly broke our massage shower unit. It was an accident but the owner refuses to pay for a replacemnt unit. she offered us 50% of the cost, one of the reasons my wife and I selected a larger company was because of their insurance and bonding. What would have happened if they knocked over a lamp or broke a piece of furniture, accidents happen but thats why we have insurance, apparently thats not How Ms. Garrett feels about it. One more thing we terminated their contract with a 30 day notice and this happened on their last visit.Desired Settlement: Pay for the unit we puchased to replace the broken one Plus sales tax. Delta Satin Nickel 6-Spray Convertible Shower Massager Delta Satin Nickel 6-Spray Convertible Shower MassagerItem #: 23134 | Model #: 75713SN Overall Rating:Overall Rating: $61.98

Business

Response:

From: [redacted] [mailto:[redacted]]

Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 12:14 PM

To: [redacted]

Subject: Re: [redacted] complaint

Hi [redacted],

This is my response to the above mentioned complaint.

Company Information:

The Cleaning Authority

512 Klumac Rd #7

Salisbury NC 28144

My company worked with [redacted] regarding the showerhead and we offered to pay 50% of the cost of replacement in good faith. The team that cleaned that shower head did not in anyway misuse or mistreat the showerhead but simply used the button on the unit which shifts the water from the main showerhead to a hand-held attachment. Doing nothing but turning that button and having it come off is not misuse of his equipment. We were never given a picture or an opportunity to see the showerhead but given a bill to replace it. If the equipment simply experiencing normal wear and came apart or was defective and a button can come off with proper use, we believe we made a fair offer in good faith to replace the showerhead at 50% of whatever he decided to buy.