The QuickCleaner special recipe (it's not a secret!)

Today's post is the result of an interesting conversation we had with one of our newest customers. This lovely lady seems to have tried almost every other cleaning company in Cardiff before she came to us. As a result she was feeling quite disillusioned by the cleaning industry but she was able to give us a really interesting insite into how things work, what doesn't work and what it is we do that, for people like this lady, makes us the best choice for professional home cleaning. 

When my colleague was describing her conversation to me it sounded almost exactly like she was describing a three section Venn diagram of cleaning services and basically describing the frustration of having to choose a professional housekeeping service in Cardiff that only did well on two of the factors. The image was so compelling that I fired up excel and made it and rather than keeping it secret like to Colonel i'm going put it on every page of the website. I give to you the QuickCleaner (not so) Secret recipe for Home Cleaning. 

Back our wonderful new customer. About a year ago she realised the many benefits a professional cleaner can bring to a home and set about finding one. 

First Attempt - The Fully Independent Cleaner 

The first cleaner came courtesy of a card in a newsagents window put up there by an independent cleaner that worked on her own. Our customer called the number and when the cleaner arrived it appeared she had struck gold! The cleaner was knowledgeable, had passion for her own cleaning business and the prices were very reasonable. For a few weeks things were going great. And then the school holidays started. This great cleaner didn't have childcare so she wasn't able to come and clean for three weeks, by this time the lady had got used to having a regular cleaner so suddenly not having one became a major inconvenience. Once the holidays were over the cleaner cam back and once again things were fine.....for another few weeks when the cleaner broke her wrist and was unavailable for work for at least 6 weeks. Sadly this lady was back to square one with no cleaner and had to start the hunt again 

​Second Attempt - The Super Professional Maid Service

Having learned from her experience our lady no went to the other end of the spectrum and searched the web for the most reliable professional outfit she could. The result was a very well known international chain with a good reputation for reliability. The costs were high but it looked like the cleaning quality would be too and with fully uniformed teams of two cleaners arriving in fully branded company vans with their own equipment it was clear that holidays and sickness would not be an issue. 

unfortunately all was not quite so simple. The service for this lady left a lot to be desired

"It was fine, I mean they came and they cleaned and it's hard to say they did anything wrong but the issue was that it was so impersonal. The cleaners that came were different every time, they appeared to be cleaning to their own schedule rather than taking time to understand what was important to me. It felt like a wipe and go hotel maid service"

Having had such a good independent cleaner before this just wasn't enough for our lady so after waiting until the end of the minimum contracted three month period she had been forced to sign up to with this company (suddenly it became clear why they did this) She was looking for another cleaner again

Attempt 3 - The HUGE UBER online marketplace company

Out lady hadn't heard of this particular company before so she didn't realise quite how big they were. This particular company had raised over $50 million of venture capital and was attempting to cash in on the Uber success story by launching a service where you can order a cleaner like you order a pizza online, throwing huge money at aggressive launches in just about every city in the world. The premise was great, look on their website, pick from a  range of individually rated and reviewed cleaners, pay on the site and get your clean done. The reality for this lady at least was very different. When she looked in Cardiff there were apparently 3 suitable cleaners, two who had never worked for the company before, had no reviews and not profile pictures and a third with a couple of reviews who was more expensive. Our lady chose the more expensive option but was soon informed that this cleaner was not actually available and she needed to choose another. She selected both of the remaining "unrated" cleaners, was told that one had accepted her job. She paid up front and again was forced to sign a three month minimum period (perhaps should have learned the first time?) then waited. and waited, and waited.  No one ever arrived. Perhaps unsurprisingly you can't order a cleaner like an Uber. We have heard other stories where the cleaner that arrives was not the person selected on the site at all. It appears perhaps there are some bugs and that without the human touch a complex algorithm sometimes fails.....back to the search for our hapless customer. 

Final Attempt - QuickCleaner Heaven! 

When this lady came to us she was deciding between us and another company. The other company are great. We know them, they have good cleaners, a good reputation and they are a safe bet - but they are very expensive - again only two circles on our diagram. I am pleased to say we won the business. The unique way we work means that we can tick all three boxes. 

Firstly our costs are among the very lowest locally. Our pricing is up front and honest. You pay us a small fee to manage your account and you pay your cleaner directly for as little as £9 per hour. What you get is an independent expert cleaner that has been personally approved by us. The quality of cleaning is high and more importantly the service is personal, no more wipe and go, instead a cleaner that is running their own micro business and is driven by that and knows that she receives every penny of the hourly rate you pay = happy motivated cleaner   = clean house = happy customer. the final part is our professional management company. We manage your cleaner, make sure they stay on track, keep them reliable. If they go on holiday or are off sick we make sure you are not left without a cleaner and if they leave or stop working we replace them - for free! 

That's it - the not so secret recipe to cook the perfect cleaning company

If you are looking for a cleaner, maid or housekeeper in Cardiff, Swindon, Yeovil or Portsmouth click the image above. It takes 60 seconds to put your info in so we can quote you happy! Secret ingredient.