Clean My Space

I hired Clean My Space for a moving day cleaning while my condo was still empty. I have struggled with writing this review, because while Melissa, the President was flexible with our changing schedules (we were depending on the flooring guys to finish their work before we could let the cleaners in), and she was very pleasant to work with; the actual cleaning was really bad. The 3 I am giving them, is all for the flexibility and willingness to make things right. I told Melissa the greatest problem areas from the first cleaning and she agreed to send a second team of touch up cleaners. I figured I could get the other areas myself. So the 7 I am not giving them, is because the first cleaning was awful, and the second cleaning was mediocre and not professional. Here are the problems I faced:

1. I paid an additional $40 to use their products and supplies. I am not an unreasonable person, but when their cleaners walked off with 1 full roll of paper towels, 1 brand new full box of baking soda, and a full box of large Glad trash bags, I was very disappointed. These were the only things I had taken to the new condo to use myself. If they wanted to use trash bags to take out trash, that's fine, and I get it. But to walk away with a brand new full box is a bit too much. They didn't come prepared with proper equipment and supplies. When the second set of cleaners came back for the touch up, they didn't even have a vacuum cleaner and borrowed mine which was thankfully unpacked by that time!

2. After the first cleaning, my ensuite toilet still had red spots under the rim. The cleaners told me they couldn't clean it without bleach. That's untrue because I've cleaned similar spots at my old condo with green products. The touch up cleaners told me they couldn't clean it because they came without a toilet cleaning brush! Not sure how that was my problem considering the company knew what areas had been completely ignored the first time around. Eventually they cleaned the toilet with a toothbrush they asked me to provide! And yes they got the spots which means the first set of cleaners should've got them too.

3. The first cleaners said they did not think the interiors of the appliances had to be cleaned because their company didn't tell them. I told them I had specifically spoken to Melissa about cleaning the inside of appliances and cupboards. So the cleaners told me I could just put the oven on self clean and it looked pretty clean to them. I did not know how to respond to this. My mom could've told me that for free! Its not why I hired professional cleaners. So I insisted and then they cleaned superficially inside the appliances. When I did a detailed check afterwards, they had left dirt, food and grubbies all along the edges of the oven and dishwasher. I honestly should've taken photos. Gross. The second set of cleaners did clean these but I had to ask them to clean the oven twice to make sure it actually got done. Oh and they used my paper towels because they didn’t bring any.

4. The first crew did not clean the insides of my kitchen cupboards. They still had pieces of crud on them that I loosened with my fingernails. I went back to the initial checklist Melissa had emailed me and these items were listed under the Kitchen section. The second set of cleaners cleaned the cupboards with the same dirty cloth they used to wipe down the stove, oven and water from the floor. I will be wiping my cupboards down again myself.

5. The pantry was a big area of concern for me because for some reason the previous owners had their kitty litter in there. After the first cleaning, I still found cat hair at the baseboards. I understand that its hard to get cat hair at one shot, but in combination with the other things, it just seems like the cleaners didn't bother to do a thorough job.

I tried to follow Clean My Space's written suggestions of not following around the cleaners and staying out of their way. I thought I had hired professionals, but it really doesn't seem like it. If I can't trust their cleaners around boxes of trash bags, why would anyone trust them around a house full of more valuable items? Its the pettiness of it that really bothers me. Melissa did give me a discount for the items that went missing from my empty condo after the first set of cleaners, but she sort of distanced herself from the whole affair by saying her cleaners said they didn't take it, and that she wasn't there so she can't comment on it. I sure am glad my condo was empty and I didn't have any valuables around. She suggested I may have thrown them myself, but what would’ve I have thrown them in? Her cleaners took all my trash bags!

There were so many other little things, like the cleaners saying they had vacuumed the bathroom, but then I found gross black hair on the floor. I asked them to vacuum again. They cleaned the stand up shower but didn't clean the soap dish so there was thich coloured soap residue on it. The company suggests clients do a walk around and check things off the list, but the first set of cleaners just checked things off the list themselves. They put on their street shoes and stood outside my front door and then asked me to quickly check if everything was ok. What does one do in that situation? I took a quick look around and things looked clean. But when I got the chance immediately after they left, I found they had just cleaned visually big areas and left all the things inside dirty. They walked in and out of the cleaned condo with their street shoes fetching jackets etc. Nice! What's the point of cleaning the floor only to have it covered with street grossness from their outdoor shoes?

The second set of cleaners were really chatty and told me they do a number of touch up appointments for Clean My Space and were infact going from my condo to another one for a touch up there too. I guess the quality of their cleaners is really not as good. Maybe all the other reviewers on the site got all the good cleaners.