A Review of Affordable Maids in Houston, Texas
What I liked about this company was the fact that someone actually picked up the phone when I called; and they called me the day before my cleaning to confirm my appointment and let me know that the cleaners would be arriving between 11 AM – 1 PM. They were supposed to call the day of the cleaning to give me at least an hour’s notice, but they called me at 11:15 AM (the day of the cleaning) and told me they were in my driveway. I was OK with that since I was expecting them around that time anyway.
A crew of three people – two females and one male- tackled the house without needing any explanation from me. I guess since they do this all day long, five days a week, they pretty much know what they are doing. Only one spoke English well enough to be able to communicate the basics, but as long as they got the job done it didn’t really matter to me. What I found to be funny was the fact that they spoke to my dog in Spanish and he seemed to like it. I of course had no idea what they were saying but I heard a lot of “Pero.” That, I remember from Spanish class.
When my husband and I clean the house ourselves, it takes us about 2.25 hours, so I was impressed that the Affordable Maids cleaning staff took the same amount of time and they had an extra person – so I knew they probably did a good job, but I didn’t know for sure until I took the time to inspect the house. I went from room to room looking at sinks, tubs, trash cans, the hardwood floors, the blinds, the stovetop, and even the stainless steel refrigerator (that I knew had fingerprints on it), and everything was spotless – except for the fact that there were now scratches on our microwave. I was so happy to have finally found a cleaning service that was reliable, affordable (and not just by name), and efficient, but was frustrated because they caused permanent damage to our kitchen appliance.
When I called to report the scratches, I was told someone would inspect the damage the next business day – and they did. However, the cleaning crew came out as well and tried to lie about causing the scratches (thinking I wouldn’t understand their Spanish); well, I understood more than they thought – good thing I took Spanish in school – and made sure they knew this was not acceptable. One woman asked if it was covered under my home insurance – can you believe the nerve? So I told her that I did not cause the damage and would not be making any claims but since they caused the damage, they would have to make the claim with their insurance company.
Then the truth came out that they are only insured for a small amount of money and the microwave would cost more than that amount. I was livid that they mislead me when they said they were insured; if a company is insured, then they are insured for any damage that might occur in a client’s house. I knew then that they must not have been insured at all and felt sick to my stomach. After all, that was one of the reasons I selected their company.
So I wrote down the make and model of the microwave and handed it to them along with other information that might be useful in finding a replacement. I do not know what will happen but I suspect I will not receive a refund, I will not get a new microwave, and I will not be using their service again.
The phone number for Affordable Maids in Houston, Texas is 281-856-8005. They will provide a free estimate by phone or e-mail, and you can even pay by check. View their web site for more information: http://www.affordablemaidshouston.com/index.html
