We had an interesting experience with Ram Cleaning Service in Calgary last week. We were preparing a house for sale and were working hard ourselves at it... and we chose to hire Ram because we assumed it was better to deal with one company for multiple services and get professional cleaners even if it cost more. We were on a timeline.
Their blind cleaning was the best part and seemed reasonably priced, but my husband got different information on the phone than I did. They only pick up and deliver the blinds on certain days and it takes them at least 4 working days to clean them. We had to drop them off in order to get them back in time for the first showing. They were pretty clean (repairs cost more and take 7 days more) except the guy delivering the blinds seemed perturbed that he was to install them and seemed to have thought he was just dropping them off.
The fellow that cleaned the windows did a good job on the glass but left the frames with dirty corners and marks along the sides. I pointed it out on several and he want back and cleaned them but in the end I had to go around and catch his other misses. I thought maybe women just clean better (sexist?) The estimate on the phone was $60-80 for 23 window panes & a sliding door but the bill was $110. Although I told them I'd like the frames cleaned, they didn't include what they call tracks in the quote. He returned another day to clean the glass of the fireplace and it cost an additional $86. He did a great job of this. We didn't price this elsewhere. The window cleaner btw was the supervisor.
The carpet cleaner had a time with his hoses freezing up and I think he rushed his job not getting the stairs and a few stains as clean as we would have liked. The cost was $162. about double the quote from another firm.
The maids were interesting. Our order was for 2 maids for 2 hours @ $190/hour and we could ask them to stay longer if needed. Instead of 2, 3 maids arrived. 2 mature ladies and one that appeared to be early 20's, I'll call her Sh. The older ladies definitely 'carried' Sh. She was barely pushing a rag around the surfaces although I said she would need to scrub to get the kitchen clean. I pointed out a few areas that she cleaned that were NOT satisfactory including the stove where she had clearly not even wiped the cleaner off. She kept saying it didn't come off but I'd wipe it off in front of her.
The other ladies were great. One cleaned the hard water residue off a glass shower door and it looked like new! She was great! We assumed Sh was somebody's daughter as one of the older ladies finished upstairs and stepped into the kitchen to 'help' get through the work. We had them stay longer to finish. Sh was also on the phone 3 times calling head office for 5-10 minutes each, supposedly to check pricing. We were estimated a finish time of 5:00 but they finished at 4:50. Someone at the office told her to charge us till 5, meaning we were overcharged 10 mins x 3 maids = 30 minutes! We called as soon as they left and they said ok, we'll do an adjustment. Great. We also told them we were very happy with 2 maids but Sh was useless. My husband asked to speak to a supervisor and of course he didn't call back.
The next morning preparing for the photographer, we saw again how poor a job Sh did. Opening the oven and cupboards and none of the kick plates etc had even been touched. Almost the entire kitchen had to be redone. We called again and again the office staff blew us off. I finally said, unless we get satisfaction we will revoke all of the payments from our credit card.
Finally a woman called back and my husband explained the situation. When he told her he had to stop the young maid from putting the stove elements into a sink full of water, she started to get it, but we were stunned to learn that this person was experienced and with the company for some time. I'd have fired her on the spot. So she agreed to send touch up people. Another carpet cleaner came and did get the carpet much cleaner... great. But guess who the cleaners were that they sent back??? Right. Sh with another young one I'll call S, who was a supervisor. We weren't impressed. As we showed her the deficiencies, S noted several things that 'would cost extra' and 'they don't do' but I was not letting up. She called the office and apparently was told to do it anyway. They were there for 2 hours and S did a great job. Sh was better but clearly S made the difference.
In the end it set us back a day and caused a lot of frustration and tact, but we were satisfied and they do guarantee 100% satisfaction. Too bad it was a struggle to get there. If you are hard-nosed and bolder with the cleaners than we were you might do ok to hire Ram, but if not, I'd stay away. You can find much cheaper help for most of it, and not have to threaten them to get the job done that they committed to.
