My cleaning lady was a former Merry Maid. Her husband's job necessitates moving to this small town....and there was no MM orginazation....so she went out on her own.
They can get 3 or 4 houses done in a day....because they skim the surface!
I had one cleaning lady ( but not for long!) who I paid for 4 hours....but who would routinely "got finished" before that time. She would say....well I think I 'm done....does it look OK....and I would look around and all smelled of lemon polish and the tables sparkled and the morrors were clean and the kitchen floor wet mopped....but no furniture had the upholstery vaccumed, nothing had been moved, the muntons on the windows were not dusted nor was under the bed nor under the sofa, nor the cold air returns etc etc....
If you want your house to look good once a week....and deal with the "dirt" yourself....they are great!
I like having my house spiffed up routinely....so I can deal with the stuff behing the chairs.
Linda C

I saw a newspaper ad for Merery Maids. It listed the services they routinely do. But I was intrigued with their claim you don't have to "pick up" before they come. They will clean around your clutter. I am very tempted. But I would still want a thorough cleaning job, like dusting and washing baseboards,etc.

Bottom line, no one can clean the way we do, I guess.

I don't like surface cleaning, if it isn't "all" the way cleaned, what is the point?

I was very unhappy with their service. I got rid of them after about 6 months.

They would send out different people to clean the house. Merry Maid had a sheet of paper in a notebook that told them what was important to me when they cleaned.

Unfortunately, the Merry Maids that cleaned my house would not check the notebook and things did not get done that were in the notebook. One time they used a polish that left brown stains on metal tub fixtures. I was unhappy about that. They could not figure how to get rid of the stain. They came back a day later after calling the home office for ideas. Finally we got the brown stain removed from the metal fixtures by using a cleaner for stove tops. They put a notation in the Merry Maid notebook about the brown stain, so it would not happen again.

During the next visit, I have a different Merry Maid lady. Guess what? She repeated the same mistake. Again I had brown stains on my metal bathroom fixtures. She did not look at the notebook. After that experience, I told them not to come back again.

My second problem with them is that they would work so fast that there was not enough time for the kitchen and bathroom floor to dry. They would return things back in the rooms while the floor was still damp.

Finally, every time they came they were suppose to give one room extra special treatment. That would involve cleaning the window treatments. The Merry Maids would skip that part of the contract. When I asked why they didn't do the window treatment, they said they were afraid that their vacuum cleaner might ruin the curtains. Yet when I set up the contract with the manager/owner of Merry Maids, she assured me that curtains would not be a problem.

After my bad experiences, I now do my own house cleaning.

The reason they always send out different people is because so many quit, I did, after only 4 days! Their mantra was "hurry, hurry, hurry" Many of the women had kids in school so they rushed through houses so they could get back to the office to unload supplies and get to the schools by 3 so they could pick up their kids. I wanted to move slower, and was told to go faster. I quit after 4 days and got clients on my own. Word of mouth had me enough jobs so I could tske my time and all the money went to me. Did that for 10 years.

This post caught my eye because I was getting ready to call Merry Maids to cancel the service. I hired them because my mother moved in with us, and I simply couldn't handle taking care of her needs plus taking care of the house. However, our situation has changed and we placed her in an assisted living/memory care facility.

I thought I would keep the service but just have them come every two weeks instead of weekly. I don't have any real issues with their cleaning, but what Linda said is true. It's just a surface cleaning. I once asked that our bathroom exhaust fan vent be vacuumed. Because of bathroom deodorant spray, the vent was sticky and needed to be wiped clean, not just vacuumed. The workers wrote a note, promising to do it the next week. Similar to dmickey's story, the next week's workers were a different crew and never took care of the vents. I ended up having to do it.

My husband had more problems, though. Also similar to dmickey's story, a couple of times they used some sort of cleaning fluid to wipe the computer screens in his home office that left really bad streaks. And then once they pushed the vacuum so hard against some cables under his desk that the connectors got jammed into the plug and caused problem with his satellite internet service.

But the bottom line for me now is cost. We've had to tell them not to clean in my husband's office and we've got two guest rooms that are never used. I always keep our kitchen clean and the same goes for the bathroom. So I can't justify paying $150 weekly or even every other week (the minimum service requirement in our area is 1-1/2 hours) just to have someone vacuum, sweep, mop, & dust.

Plus we both got tired of not being able to do anything for the time they were in our house cleaning. I couldn't do anything in the kitchen and was afraid of ever needing to use the bathrooms while they were working. I usually just hid out in my husband's office since it was off limits to them.

That settles it. I am perfectly capable of sweeping and dusting. I'll do my own housework.

i used several services and after six weeks got rid of them. As posted, they are excellent at surface cleaning but little else. I now clean a little each day and once a week do a heavier clean. Every three months i go room by room to do windows, blinds etc. this works well for me and i doubt if i would ever go back to a service.

Years ago, I used a service once because a special occasion was coming up and guests were staying at my house. Only after the women arrived did I find out that they wouldn't move anything on surfaces. Even a kleenex box! They dusted around it, saying they wouldn't move anything since they'd be responsible if they broke it.
And all they did was surface clean. If it weren't for the fact that they were expensive and I didn't have the energy to clean after them, I would have let it go. But I complained and another team was sent out to do the cleaning the first team didn't do. Until now, I had never realized that this is how they operate. I thought that the first team were just bad at cleaning.

Merry Maids is very good at what they do - which is mop and dust around busy 20 and 30-somethings who either had lazy household standards as kids, or who simply don't CARE, as long as the toilet isn't growing algae.

but hire them to actually CLEAN? you're better off asking the guy who cuts your lawn if he knows someone.

Jannie, I forgot to mention that Merry Maid does, indeed, clean around your clutter. They pick up items on desks, dressers, counters, etc. to dust & clean. However, if you've got things organized a certain way, they don't necessarily return the items to their original positions. Having my hand lotion in a different spot on my dresser was not a problem. But even though I had separate paper weights on different piles of papers on my desk (bills, doctor's slips, etc.), I'd find everything stacked together on one side of the desk when the cleaning crew was done. Than I'd have to separate the piles up again.

For a more thorough cleaning, like baseboards or cupboards or moving furniture to vacuum, you'd need to contact the office in advance. Then the next time the cleaning crew came, they'd tackle the special job(s) rather than the usual surface cleaning. If you wanted the surface cleaning too, you'd have to pay for extra hours.

I used them a few years ago for about 6 months when I was between cleaning ladies and my son was in a serious accident. They charged over $300 to clean my house, and it was a surface cleaning. I now have a regular person again who works for herself and charges me $80, and does a much better job!

I tried Merry Maids and Molly Maids. Neither cleaned to suit me. I now go with a locally owned agency that does as close to perfect as I can get without actually doing the cleaning myself.

Justin

I think a LOT has to do with the individual franchise. The one in Raleigh is run really well, we have the same team lead and usually the same crew and that makes a world of difference. They are here on time, are pleasant and while they don't really deep clean, I am primarily looking for someone to do the obvious stuff and I go behind & spot clean anything that isn't perfect. It still saves me a lot of time.

We used all of the national chains who have offices here and MM was far and away the best. YMMV, I just wanted to share a positive experience. :)

I am a housekeeper, and I would not suggest a service simply because I feel that the relationship between the client and the housekeeper is very important, and you can't have such a relationship if there are different people coming all the time!

I work alone, and bill by the hour rather than by the job. When a housekeeper bills by the job, the temptation is to get done as quickly as possible, and the details tend to suffer. It's easy enough to make a room LOOK clean, but the nooks and crannies need attention too!

I bid a house for the number of hours I think it will take me to do the basics...bathrooms, dust, vacuum, mop, kitchen...plus, an extra half hour or so (depending on the size of the house, the number of people living in it, and what I can tell about their habits) to rotate details. Furniture doesn't need to be oiled every visit, baseboards don't need to be cleaned every visit, the refrigerator shelves don't need to be washed every visit. But, all those things (and much more!) do need to be done.

Once I catch up on all the details, I often cut the hours down on a house, because it always takes longer at first than it does once you know the house, the owner's preferences and get your routine down. My clients are always a bit surprised when I tell them that I don't need as much time anymore as that means I don't earn as much from them, but I've got a waiting list, so it doesn't really cost me to be honest, as I can always start another house.

Judging by the way my clients treat me like gold, I am amazed, really, at how many truly horrible housekeepers there must be out there.

So, here is a bit of advice from the "other side". :D

Insist on paying by the hour, and if at all possible, make it clear that you will either be home while the housekeeper is working, or that you are likely to come home at any given time while she is there.

Do NOT be reluctant to (nicely) point out things that are not done to your satisfaction, or things you would like done differently. If the housekeeper takes offense, fire her. It is your home, after all, and you have the right to have things done the way you want them done.

Be specific about your expectations. What clients desire from their housekeepers can vary, and most people aren't adept at reading minds. I have had clients be tickled pink that I ran a load of laundry or two while I worked, but also had a client be annoyed that I did so without consulting him (it only took once...now I always ask). Some clients just want me to do whatever I think needs doing...some don't want to pay me my (on the high end, I admit) hourly to do things they don't mind doing themselves.

Hire someone who does the work herself. Being that I have a waiting list, I am tempted to hire someone to help...but the problem is that nobody is going to care as much for my client's homes as I do, for what would amount to half my regular rate, which is all I could afford to pay an employee by the time I paid all the other expenses that come with having employees!

Don't balk at paying someone at the high end of what is usual for your area. If they are charging that much, they probably are able to do so because they provide quality service. You will get more for your money if you hire someone who is worth it (and knows it) than if you go with someone willing to take less because she knows she's worth less.

Don't be afraid to ask for a work history, or resume. And don't be awkward about checking references. I have decided that there are two types of people who become housekeepers. People who have good work histories doing other things, and could easily gain employment doing those things again, but have decided for various reasons to work for themselves. And, then there are those who become housekeepers because they aren't able to hold down a job working for others.

You want the first, not the second.

Hope this all was helpful!

I liked the advice from RachelEllen best. Do it yourself, or hire someone who works alone.

RachelEllen- I don't suppose you live in Tennessee? :)

Slightly off topic here, but if you want to do your own cleaning but just aren't very good at it (like me!) try www.flylady.net. She helps you get organized and declutter and even has a schedule to help you get everything done. There's no charge for the info on the website and it's really helped me. No, I am in no way connected to the website, I know there has been a lot of advertising on this forum lately.

WOW after reading this I think I had better give my Elizabeth twice her salary and buy her gift cards every time too...maybe even give her a hug!!!!!!!

Wow! How messy are you people?

They should come in and do a great job cleaning your bathrooms, provide basic dusting and vacuuming and wipe down all glass with a cleaner. If your house needs more than that you should clean it yourself because you will never be satisfied with any of these service companies.