Policies
The Cleaning Advantage Policies
Cleaning Fee: The cost of cleaning your home will be based on how long the team is in your home cleaning and what makes you happy. Your cleaning fee does break down to an hourly rate of $32.00 per labor hour. An example would be if two persons are in your home for 2 hours or 4 labor hours that would be a cleaning fee of $128.00. All first time/deep cleans are billed at an hourly rate of $32.00 per labor hour. Once your cleaning fee is established it will not change unless conditions in your home have changed or extra tasks are requested.
Payment: Payment for service is expected at the time of service. Most clients leave a check on the kitchen counter the day that we are scheduled to clean; we do not invoice unless invoicing arrangements have been made. The Cleaning Advantage accepts all forms of payment, cash, check and credit cards. We prefer to keep a valid credit card number on file in the event that you forget to leave a check on the day of your cleaning.
Lock outs: We prefer that you leave us with a key to your home or garage door combination for easy access. If you typically lock your doors and leave the door un locked on the day of cleaning; we will ask that you sign a liability waiver holding us harmless in the event your home is jeopardized prior to us arriving. In the event that we are locked out of your home on your scheduled cleaning day full cleaning fees will apply.
Cancellations: We understand that it is sometimes necessary to cancel your cleaning visit. We require a 2 business day notification so that we may fill the spot with another cleaning. We understand that emergencies do arise and will handle them on a case by case basis.
School Vacations: If it is necessary to cancel service during a school vacation week because you are going to be away on vacation or it is just inconvenient to have the cleaners in your home; a two week notice of cancellation is required. Less than two weeks notice of cancellation full cleaning fees will apply. It is devastating to the schedule and staff to have last minute cancellations where the schedule can’t be re-booked due to inadequate notice.
Weather: If there is a storm in progress on your scheduled cleaning day; ice, snow, thunderstorms etc, it will be a judgment call made by the office as to whether the crews will be going out that day. If we do have to cancel your visit due to bad weather conditions, every effort will be made to get the cleaning done as soon as possible.
Snow and Ice: Please keep driveway, walkway and stairs shoveled, sanded and/ or salted so that our staff can access your home without getting injured. If you feel that we may not be able to access the home because of the conditions, please call the office in advance to let us know. If we arrive at your home and can’t access the driveway or walkway due to snow and ice full cleaning charges may apply unless other arrangements have been made with the office.
Summer and Heat: The summer time is great for going to the beach, visiting the cottage at the lake or just sitting in the shade reading a book. The summer heat however is not so great when you have to clean in it. We ask that you please keep your air conditioning on the day of your cleaning so the staff can do their work effectively and comfortably. If your home is too hot the day of cleaning we may have to reschedule.
Cleaning Times: We endeavor to arrive at roughly the same time each visit however we do not do time specific appointments. We have 4 time frames for each day. 8:30-10:30, 10:30-12:30, 12:30-2:30 and 2:30-4:30. Your scheduled cleaning will fall into one of these time frames.
Cleaning Protocol: We certainly don’t mind if you are going to be home while the cleaners are there; we do ask that you don’t hover over them or direct them. The staff is trained to use a specific system for cleaning your home in the most efficient and effective manner. If they can’t follow the system they are trained on, it disrupts the whole balance and usually causes lost productivity, time and unfortunately the margin for error goes up. We also request that pets and children are kept out of areas we are directly cleaning. We love pets and children and use environmentally safe products, but there are still some dangers having pets and children in the immediate area.
Cleaning Conditions: We are there to clean your home and need to be able to access the areas and/or surfaces that you would like cleaned. We ask that you pick up the home; toys, clothing, wet towels, mail, newspapers, tools, dirty dishes etc. so we can do the best possible cleaning.
We do not pick up pet droppings, body fluids or sanitary products. We will vacuum cat litter but do not clean out litter boxes. Dishes are not typically part of your cleaning however we will do a couple of dishes or put them in your dishwasher, we feel our time can be better spent cleaning than doing dishes! Of course if this is something that you really feel you need we will make arrangements to do that for you.