The Cleaning Authority

Review: We hired Cathy and Cleaning Authority a couple months ago to come clean our home every other week. Initially, we toured her through our home and made sure that she saw our bathrooms and was made aware of any problem areas; with merely a glance, she made matter-of-fact with statements like a bathroom is a bathroom or youve seen one, youve seen them all. Ultimately, we were pleasantly surprised that following the 2 initial detailed cleanings at $120 each, the regular cleaning rate would be $70 we signed up for the service.Suddenly after our last cleaning, Cathy contacted us via email and indicated that she was no longer able to clean our residence at the rate in our agreement due to the amount of time the team spent at our home. I am not sure what changed but the team of 2 seemed to spend about 2 hours in my home and that matched the timeframe Cathy quoted up front (1.5-2 hours/cleaning). Without notice or any discussion, she indicated that the rate would go up to $85/cleaning if we chose to continue with the service. Nothing in the signed agreement indicated that we were subject to rate changes at the whim of the franchise owner, so we were taken aback at this approach and at how willing she was to walk away from our business. We pushed back and said that she had ample time to assess our residence and give us a comprehensive estimate. She replied and indicated that we were free to walk away if we were unwilling to accept the rate hike.We were willing to discuss the rate, provided that she gave us some notice. She indicated that notifying us that our rate would change for the next cleaning was in fact giving us notice. I told her that she was putting us on notice and that was different. I asked her to sit down with us and discuss what would be fair and define when the rate hike would start. She was unwilling to do that and dropped us as a customer. This is apparently a strategy she uses- quote low and then up charge once she has you depending on her service. Very shady!Desired Settlement: I would like Cathy to explain for the record why she did such a brief review of my home when providing an estimate if time was such a critical factor. I would have expected her to take a great deal more time evaluating the job if she was signing an agreement that locked both sides into a price.The agreement in NO WAY indicates that the job was contingent on any timeframe or time period. It simply quoted the cleaning price and the service that they provide for that price.