How much do you charge for regular cleans?

      This depends on many different factors. We appreciate that every home and every customer’s needs are unique, therefore we provide a free individual estimate for every home. The estimate takes approximately 10-15 minutes. During which time the representative from our office will check each room and explain the tasks that will be completed. In addition to noting any particulars about each room on a service report, the estimator will also allow you to inspect our insurance documents. When we've finished we will give you a written estimate, and answer any other questions you may have.

What if I only want a one-off or spring clean?

        No problem, our estimator will arrange a convenient time to call and discuss your exact requirements and the depth of clean you need, then we will offer our no obligation estimate, its up to you to decide if you want us to schedule you a clean.

If I decide to have regular service, do I need to sign a contract?

        No! We do not require you to sign anything, there is no commitment from yourself other that we ask if you don’t need a scheduled clean for any reason you give us as much notice as possible.

Will the team clean the in/out of my oven/refrigerator and inside kitchen cupboards, is there an extra charge?

       As a part of our cleaning, the outside of the oven, including the stovetop is cleaned thoroughly. The team also cleans the outside and top of the refrigerator. If you would like the inside of these appliances cleaned you would just need to inform the office when you make the appointment. We charge extra for this service, the office will advise you of the cost.

Do you do windows? 

We can include inside windows on every clean or rotate them in a set sequence, its up to you, we do not clean any outside windows.

Do you provide laundry or ironing? 

 We will collect ironing when we clean your home and re deliver it to you normally within 24 to 48 working hours ironed, on individual hangers and neatly covered. At present we don’t provide a laundry washing service.

What does ironing cost? 

           £2.20 per kilo, we do have a minimum charge of 5 kilos.

Do you always send the same person? 

Since we send out a team of two, we are usually able to send at least one person that is familiar with the customer's home. We always strive to send the same team, however that is not always possible due to staff holidays, sickness etc. In this business a high staff turnover is not uncommon. However, we are very successful in keeping our employees. We offer them very attractive wages, a pension scheme and other benefits not normally found in the industry.

Can I trust the employees you send out to my home? 

         Merry Maids use systems that attempt to eliminate the possibility of employee dishonesty, we always work in twos, house keys are strictly monitored. In addition we also conduct a thorough background investigation, we take up at least two references ask for a disclaimer stating the employee has no criminal convictions and will be insisting on Criminal Record Checks once new legislation is active. We also carry out an identity check on each employee before they commence employment.

How many employees do you send to my home? 

Normally we send out a team of two. However, there are times when due to scheduling we need to send a team of three, particularly large properties or one-off or spring cleans may occasionally require more than one team.

Will the cost of the cleaning increase if you send three people? 

No the cost is the same, the team will just finish the home in less time. 

Do you provide your own cleaning supplies? 

Yes, we bring everything. Each team will normally arrive at your home with two vacuums. An Oreck XL upright vacuum with hypoallergenic vacuum bags and a Electrolux portable vacuum with attachments. In addition, each team brings an equal amount of cleaning chemicals and clean cloths to carry out the clean. We do not use any soiled cloths to clean your home.

What kind of cleaning supplies do you use? 

All of our cleaning supplies are formulated with environmental concerns in mind. Most are exclusively manufactured for ServiceMaster our parent company. Material Safety Data Sheets are always available for your inspection in each team's maid book.

What if I am not satisfied with the cleaning that was done? 

We advise all of our customers to check that they are 100% happy with the clean after its completed, your Team Captain will invite you to carry out an inspection if you are at home when we’ve finished the clean,. Our motto is that "WE WILL DO THE JOB RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, OR WE WILL DO IT AGAIN." Never the less our employees are only human and occasionally oversights occur, If something is missed or not done to your satisfaction give our office a call, we will either make a note on your service report so it is taken care of on the next visit or we will send a team out to your home to correct the problem.

What is your availability?

Our office is opened from Monday – Friday. Our first clean is approximately 9.15am –9.30am, we normally start our last clean at 2.00-2.30 . You will be given an approximate time that we will carry out your clean when it’s booked. We deliberately over staff to accommodate for sickness and holiday cover, so we can often re-arrange or schedule an emergency clean at short notice however customers should understand that we are in a service business and it is sometimes difficult to narrow down an exact time. Each appointment is give or take 30 minutes. If the team will be more than 45 minutes late, either our office or the captain will contact you and advise you of their time of arrival at your home.

What happens if I can't be home during those hours? Can I give you a key?  
Many of our customers are working people that just don't have enough time in the day to do everything. They also appreciate coming home to a spotlessly clean house and not being there while our employees are cleaning. These customers make different arrangements subject to their individual situations. Most supply us with a key to their home. This key is numbered and kept in a key safe. There is nothing on the key that would let someone else know who's key it was. The key is issued to your team captain and checked back into our key safe when the team returns, we never allow anyone to take your keys out of our office except when we are cleaning your home.

If I have pet(s), do I need to secure them while your team is cleaning? 

If you will not be home while we clean, we do ask that you introduce your pet(s) to our employees on the first visit if possible. Many of our customers show our teams where the animal treats are or leave treats to be given to the pet(s). This way, when the team arrives at the home they give the pet(s) a treat and go about their business. Other than that, our employees are all animal friendly and will not have a problem working around your pet(s).

What if I need to cancel my appointment? 

We understand that things happen and sometimes they are beyond anyone's control. The only thing we ask is that you please notify our office as soon as possible. We request that you try to give us at least 24 hours notice.
Should we continually arrive at your home and can’t carry out the clean and have not been given any notice that you are not in we reserve the right to impose a lock out charge, this is because we have to pay our staff both wages and mileage allowance.

What happens if one of your employees gets injured in my home? 

Since we are a legitimate cleaning service, all of our employees are covered under our own public and employers liability insurance. Almost all homeowner's insurance policies do not cover service workers that injure themselves in your home.

What should I do if something is broken while your team is cleaning? 

We train our teams to minimise breakages unfortunately accidents do happen, please don’t blame the team, it will not have been intentional. We ask you to call our office as soon as possible and we will be glad to resolve the matter to your satisfaction.
To minimise the risk of any accidents please mention to your captain if any ornaments etc are loose or not secured to their base if an item is irreplaceable or of great sentimental value try to site it inside a display unit.

Where is your office located? 

Our Stoke office is in Glebe street Stoke, opposite the Glebe Public house and the civic offices

How is payment for services rendered? 

Normally customers leave a cheque or cash in a pre arranged place, on top of the fridge or on the worktop. To keep our cost as low as possible we require payment immediately after the clean is completed we don’t provide credit facilities. Occasionally customers forget to leave payment, don’t worry this is not a problem our office will call you to make arrangements for you to pay us, often we will just say pay us double next time.