To all the people that have cleaning services......

[Mskanga]

Do you pay by the job or by the hour?
My friend and I charge a set fee, wether it takes 5 hours or 1. Obviously between both of us , at the most we are in a house is 2 hours.
We just did one house not too long ago where the lady actually wanted to pay us by the hour , $10. We were there for 3.5 hours busting our behinds ( I really mean that, this people were absolutely pigs and packrats ) and no way in hell that we were going to accept $35 for 3.5 hours worth of work for two people, the first time my friend did it alone and it took her almost 8 hours . BTW, we will NEVER clean that house again, unless the lady is willing to pay $100, and still then I don't think I would want to do it, that house is unbelievably dirty and messy.

 

[ASFCurly]

we have a woman who is going to start cleaning our house in 2 weeks, she works for my cousin also, so we know she is good. She charges by the hour, $12 an hour,

 

[clh2]

We paid our cleaning lady a flat rate. Generally, we weren't home when she was here. A neighbor commented once that sometimes she is there longer than others. As long as she got done what we agreed to - I really didn't care how long it took her.

 

[lulubelle]

We pay a flat rate - $60 and it takes her about 3 hours, but she works really hard and fast and provides all the cleaning products and brings her own mops, brooms, dust rags, etc. I don't buy any of that stuff I can't complain, my house sparkles!

 

[CEDmom]

We don't have a cleaning service anymore since I didn't want to work fulltime after we adopted DD. That was one of the luxuries that got dropped. Anyway, we paid a flat fee and this was given to us before any work was done. Did this woman just decide not to pay what she had agreed to or did you not agree to payment ahead of time?

 

[Hillbeans]

Originally posted by Mskanga
Do you pay by the job or by the hour?
My friend and I charge a set fee, wether it takes 5 hours or 1. Obviously between both of us , at the most we are in a house is 2 hours.
We just did one house not too long ago where the lady actually wanted to pay us by the hour , $10. We were there for 3.5 hours busting our behinds ( I really mean that, this people were absolutely pigs and packrats ) and no way in hell that we were going to accept $35 for 3.5 hours worth of work for two people, the first time my friend did it alone and it took her almost 8 hours . BTW, we will NEVER clean that house again, unless the lady is willing to pay $100, and still then I don't think I would want to do it, that house is unbelievably dirty and messy.

Generally speaking you should probably do an "inspection" first. Our lady came to the house first before she quoted us. I pay $65 for the job, and I get the house in good order before they come.

I've also heard some places charging more for the first time they come and then less each time after.

 

[caitycaity]

we pay a flat fee. our cleaning service came and looked over our apartment and what needed to be done before we agreed to a fee. now we just leave a check on the table on the days that she comes.

 

[Rajah]

We pay by the job. Our cleaners charged more for the first 2 visits because those were "deep clean" and they spent something like *4 hours* doing the house -- and no, our house is not *that* messy, they were just *THAT* detailed. We were impressed. Since then, it's been about half the cost every other week and they get done in 1.5-2 hours.

I'll admit I was dubious about our cleaners at first, but now I love them.

 

[missypie]

We pay a flat fee, but we expect our cleaning lady to be there for 3 or 3 1/2 hours (she works alone). DH leaves the house when she arrives and returns home about 3 hours later to pay her. If she leaves earlier she doesn't get paid right then. Our hourse is 2800 square feet and when she tries to finish in 2 hours, it looks like a tornado went through because everthing is left out of place, pictures crooked. We pay $75 (could be up to $80 by now), which means the lady makes between $21 and $25 per hour, which is pretty darned good money if you ask me.

 

[Bob Slydell]

We pay a flat fee -- $70 each time (they come every two weeks). They came out to check out the house (size, number of rooms, etc.) before they quoted us that.

 

[MelCald]

I pay by the job. My lady works alone. She is slow, but very thorough. It take her about 4 hours to clean my house. The first few visits took longer because she was cleaning light fixture, ceiling fans and window blinds. Now she zips through a litlle quicker.

 

[Jeafl]

Hmmm. Either you are all getting a good deal, or I am getting ripped off. I paid $150 for 2 people, and it took them about 3 hours to finish. I now clean my own house, and put the $600 a month I was spending in my vacation fund.

They did do a good job though, and I loved coming home to a clean house.

 

[missypie]

Jeafl, you were not being ripped off if 2 people really spent 3 hours cleaning. For my $75 I get certain things done but not others. For example, my baseboards are filthy...not included in what my cleaning lady does (and obviously not included in what DH and I do either!)

 

[Micca]

We pay an hourly rate, but limit the amound of time. She only does the upstairs one week, and downstairs the next.