The Cleaning Authority – Southwest Minneapolis

I thought I had them scheduled for a one time (to start) cleaning this coming Wed. Scheduled it weeks ago. I Called today for an exact time of day for Wed. …Deb said: We didn’t have you down on our schedule. So, I’m out… My word or theirs? I guess they want just continued service customers! Maybe this worked out just fine for me!
Hint: customer satisfaction… at least try to accommodate a protential customer!
Hint #2: every unhappy customer tells 10 other people their bad experience.
They got one star for calling me back!

Very expensive, for 5 minutes’ worth of cleaning. If you feel that you would pay a premium for someone to wipe off your refrigerator and vacuum your carpeting, then maybe they’re a good fit for you. They don’t dust anything in any rooms. Beyond that, no. I’m going to try to hire an individual instead – hoping I can find someone who takes pride in their work instead of hiring a service. I have contacted the company, no response at all. I have now just left a message telling them I want my money back for the last cleaning and not to come here again.

I have just had a very bad experience with The Cleaning Authority.
Summary:
pros: the bathroom looked good both times.
cons: terrible communication, poor quality work in the kitchen both times.
— Scheduling with them was a nightmare. They are extremely busy, and it seems they’re more concerned with their schedule than the customer’s. We are a typical busy family with a toddler + twins so we needed convenient timing around our kids’ naps. This timeframe is any time from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., accounting for the 2 or 3 hours to clean. This was an ongoing issue about which I had to constantly re-​communicate.
— They also do not invoice customers. The first time, they never left me a bill but they had told me that I could pay online. So, I figured I’d be getting a bill in the mail or via email. Days passed and I got a call to «follow up on payment.» I expressed to them, «What do I pay? You never sent me a bill.» They stated the amount on the phone and said that they’d send me something via email to pay from, which they never did. The online payment they mentioned was simply online bill pay offered by many banks, not anything offered by their website or company. Again, this is a basic business practice, to leave an invoice. Between the two cleanings, they never once left me something to pay from. They think that just verbally telling the customer the amount is sufficient, which it’s not. Oh, but they sure cashed those checks quickly! So there’s that.
— The first cleaning, my kitchen was left dirty. The kitchen floor was left filthy (it was pretty bad to begin with). I took pictures and sent them, and was assured (since I communicated this fact multiple times) that it would be paid extra-​special attention next time.
— The second cleaning, again, the kitchen floor was left dirty. Also, the windows on my front door were left unwashed. They also don’t put things back where they found them. Anyways, the crew left and 20 or 30 minutes later, unannounced, a random guy I’d never seen before showed up at our door to «inspect» the work. Again, I had no appointment with him and nobody communicated with me that he’d be showing up, which annoyed and confused me. I showed him the issue with the floor and asked him to have the manager call me.
I told the crew during this cleaning very clearly «Please close the baby gates behind you.» This was communicated as I was showing them how to use the baby gates. I said it twice, but had to tell them again, since not FIVE MINUTES later, they left the gate open and I found one of my kids in the hallway digging through their cleaning supplies (which the crew hadn’t noticed, oddly). I was supervising, naturally, but it only takes a half a second for small children to «escape» if the gate is left open. I told the crew again, «Please close these baby gates behind you.» They ignored me. I considered asking them to leave as I’d had so much trouble with the first cleaning and communication and scheduling up to this point. They continued to leave the gates open every single time they went into the hallway or the kitchen. I gave up at this point, realizing that they do not speak English very well, if at all, and just made sure to watch the situation more closely.
That’s one of the biggest issues, actually. The two crews I encountered did not speak English — or at least not to the level where I communicate basic things to them and they respond in a way that makes me feel we understand each other. I regret that my Spanish has fallen off, and I wish I could speak it fluently, but I don’t. The bottom line is that a crew that comes into an English-​speaking home should speak English well enough to maintain the basic safety of kids and take care of the things you need them to work on. This was very tough, and the new company I’ve engaged assured me that their crew speaks English.
Flash forward two weeks. The manager never called and so I assumed they’d decided to not follow up with me, which I was relieved about since it had been such a crappy experience. Then a cleaning crew showed up at my door this morning. They spoke very little English, so I couldn’t explain the situation to them. I was very apologetic and told them to take their time and call whomever they needed to call. After talking on the phone to someone for several minutes, one of them reached back out my front door and RANG MY DOORBELL three times to get my attention, even though I was sitting right around the corner.
The manager Deb was apologetic and kept assuring me that this is not how they operate. I felt bad for her but this is, indeed, how they operate. It would seem that they’re doing too much volume, hiring a crew with whom neither the managers nor the customer can successfully communicate, and just generally not delivering a quality, reliable service. At least not for us. Too bad and we’ve moved onto another company that has already proven to be far easier to work with.

They always do a steller job! I’ve been a household manager in the twin cities for 5 years now and have used and seen a lot of different cleaning companies in the homes I manage. The Cleaning Authority, hands down, is the best I’ve seen. I strongly recommend them and will certainly use them again in my next position. They do a great job and make me look good to my employers!

If I could give them negative stars I would. Selected The Cleaning Authority to clean my mother’s house (who is in her late 80’s). My mother is a white glove person. So at first I thought her issues were just my mother. Issues were kitchen floors were sticky and the counters were not clean. I called and complained and they said they would send out their best cleaning crew to clean the house (that was a joke). My mother also called and complained and per her they were rude to her on the phone. Gave them 3 chances to get things right. The last time the floors were so bad that my brother even said his tennis shoes stuck to the floor. I canceled their service and asked for a refund. I have not seen the refund so I’m having my credit card company deal with the issue.

I used The Cleaning Authority for about 6 months. The first two cleanings were good but after that, I felt that someone cleaned my house about as thoroughly as one would clean a hotel room. The kitchen counters weren’t even wiped down some weeks. I called and complained about the quality of work and was told that the supervisor had come by to check on their work. I had a hard time believing this. I felt like I was throwing money away every two weeks and cancelled it after just six months. Very disappointing.

My wife and I began using the Cleaning Authority after receiving a $ 200 gift card from my parents after our first child was born. We scheduled our first cleaning and were told that the first two cleanings are considered ‘deep cleans’ and take around 3 – 4 hours.
After the very first clean, I could definitely see the difference. Now, I consider myself somewhat of a neat freak. When I think of ‘clean’, I think of an operating room. Well, maybe not THAT clean, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure my kitchen sink hadn’t been that clean since it was installed and I have literally spent hours scrubbing my bathtub using the harshest of nostril burning cleansers and I have never gotten it as clean as the Cleaning Authority did.
Besides the obvious, heavy duty cleaning, it was the attention to detail that really impressed me. They didn’t just dust around our knick-​knacks, they picked them up, dusted them and the surface underneath. A lot of cleaning companies simply dust around the item. My bed was made. The cat fur was gone from the furniture. The outside of my kitchen cupboards were cleaned and the clothes I left on my bedroom floor were neatly folded and placed on the bed. They even folded the toilet paper ends over on the roll like they do in hotels!
They’re honest too. One of the cleaners accidentally broke a refrigerator magnet during one of our monthly cleans. Yes, a refrigerator magnet! Who cares right?! I honestly wouldn’t have noticed. But the cleaner quickly brought accident to my attention as I happened to be home at the time. She was so sorry that I thought she was going to cry and asked me if I wanted to report it to her manager. I declined of course.
My wife and I were very impressed, and continue to be impressed with the quality of clean we get from the Cleaning Authority. Now, i will say they are not the cheapest cleaning company out there. So my wife and I have tried other, cheaper companies and always return to the Cleaning Authority. Highly recommended!