-10/10/2015-
The term ‘Cowboy builder’ is a familiar one and the property and construction industries are renown for having such dubious traders in abundance.
On the rise, however, is the use of the term ‘Cowboy cleaner’…
If you type ‘cleaning companies’ into any search engine, the results are overwhelming, even if you do try to do a more specific search. So with such a seemingly overcrowded market and so much choice, how do you know if you are really getting good quality and true value?
We hear horror stories on a daily basis and so the next time that you are choosing a new cleaning services provider, we recommend asking them the following questions:
1. Are you fully insured?
2. Are you happy to supply references?
3. Do you have a Health and Safety policy statement?
4. What training have your staff had?
5. Are your cleaners fully vetted?
Further tips:
- Always ask for your quotation to be sent to you by email. That way, even if you have discussed it on the phone several times, if both parties have written confirmation of the cost and what it includes, there is less chance of you being asked for more money on the day. We get a lot of phone calls with people saying “Are you sure that there won’t be any further costs?” or “Is that the final amount?” and that doubt usually comes from previous negative experiences with other cleaning companies. At BRS we always confirm quotation details by email so that our customers can feel reassured that our prices are genuine.
- Always ask for a booking confirmation email. Another common industry occurrence is for overambitious cleaning companies to take on more work than they can handle (especially during the spring and summer period) and thus simply miss a booking and not turn up! It is imperative to have some form of written confirmation of the booking date, time and address to make sure that there is no confusion on either side and so that you have a form of proof of booking which may be required if for instance you are required by your lettings agent to schedule an End of tenancy clean for a particular day prior to vacating a property. We have had calls with requests for cleans the same day from distressed customers saying that they had booked with another company and that they haven’t shown up. Fortunately, we are used to these kind of requests and as Responsive Cleaning specialists, although we cannot always accommodate same-day bookings, we can usually help in one way or another.
- Do your research. The very least that you should do is a quick check with Companies House to ensure that the supplier is a registered company in the UK. Look for companies that are keen to share reviews and photos. Don’t just use the first company that comes up on an internet search as this does not necessarily mean anything other than that a lot of money may have been spent to land that particular company that top position!
- Seek recommendations. At BRS we spend very little on advertising as most of our business comes via word of mouth – existing clients recommend us to others. If a friend, relative or colleague recommends a supplier – take note as they are being recommended for a reason!
