Zen Home

Ok, as a New Years present to myself I decided to book a power cleaning for my apartment that is under 500 sq ft. I called and booked a free consultation with Deanna, the owner. I explained that I needed the consult and cleaning booked the same week because that is the only week I’d be available to let someone in. She said that would be fine. Then when I was in California with my family for the holidays I received a call from Deanna asking if I was going to use the appointment I’d reserved for the cleaning. I explained that I was waiting for the estimate before I committed to the actual power cleaning. She said that’s not how they usually do things. I said well you agreed to do it that way when I originally made the appointment and she apologized for not notating that at the time and that our conversation was jogging her memory. Then she sent me an email documenting our conversation and allowing me to cancel the power cleaning reservation if I didn’t like the estimate. Fine. I then received another phone call from a different person in the Zen Home office, again, asking if I was going to keep the appointment (apparently there is no communication between employees there) and I referred her to the email Deanna sent me. I then received an email, again, asking if I was keeping my power cleaning appointment. This was exhausting and not boding well for this highly touted service. So today was finally the day of my estimate! The gentleman arrived over 1 hour late, took a look around and then told me to expect a call from Deanna. Deanna called with an estimate of $ 400.00 to $ 500.00! Oh gee, is that all!!! It was estimated that it would take two people 4 to 5 hours at $ 50/​hr each. The man that came to give the estimate, who was a former cleaner with Zen Home, agreed that my place was not very dirty and it wouldn’t take a lot to do what needed doing. So how Deanna arrived at two cleaners for 4 to 5 hours is beyond me. I expected to pay in the neighborhood of $ 200 to $ 300 at the most and I don’t think I was being unrealistic in the least. I noticed someone else received the same estimate for a studio apartment so I’m guessing that is probably their minimum for a power cleaning. Needless to say, I will be employing the services of others…

JUST SPARE YOURSELF THE ECO S****
Its my issue that I was scammed. GREAT.
CROOKS
I asked for a power cleaning, had to have a inperson estimate, scheduled on for 9am before I had to go to work. 5 hours with 1 cleaner for 50 bucks an hour. I was a bit taken back on the length of time it was going to take. I was thinking 3 hours max. I have a studio apartment (medium size one)
Marianna who came from the estimate, in my opinion, is a scam artist. She downplayed the service to be simpler, but when I actually decided to go with company, and schedule a appointment for the power cleaning, and prepaid the money in advance 1 day, I later found out the «power cleaning» is much more extensive than Marianna told me during my estimate.
THINGS TO WATCH WITH THIS COMPANY:
1) Red the agreement thoroughly before signing. It is very detailed in your actions and the consequences, and their responsibility for their actions, which is somewhat «whatever they wanna do». They have no agreements where you get your money back really. Its like «if a tornado touched down in NYC, then you get your money back? haha. seriously crazy
2) A power cleaning (when I was told in my estimate) was surfaces, under the couch, windows, inside the cabinets, inside the frig, oven, and my medicine cabinet in my bathroom, and shelves. She asked me if I wanted them to take the books off the shelve for them, to clean, then replace back. If so, that takes more time, equally more money.
I called the service, and the owner Deanna answered (owner) and I told her I was hesitant, because honestly I bad a bad feeling about this. 5 hours for 50 bucks an hour is ALOT OF MONEY! specially for a studio apartment, like I know mad services that clean complete 2 story houses in like 2 – 3 hours. So obviously this was a risk. On their site, if you look, the company has a 4 hours minimum (LIKE WHAT?).
She told me that, «most clients dont realize that the amoung they are cleaning is cleaning for years, its a lot». She said she would talk to Marianna to get a better understanding of the situation, but then never called me back.
3) so I was like, this is a gift to myself because in a week I’m going on vacation, so I wanted a deep cleaning before I left, so I could enjoy it when I come back.
So I go ahead and read the AGREEMENT, READ IT PEOPLE, and I Was like. damn but ok. Filled out a very long questionnaire where you fill in all the information to them, and your card number for charging IN ADVANCE. Then I get the confirmation. I also have a copy of Marianna estimate that say POWER CLEANING!
POWER CLEANING! TWO DOCUMENTS STATING A POWER CLEANING!
Saturday 9am. They send Mary and honestly I liked her a lot. She was quick to get to work. I left for about 4 hours, came back and apparently my vacuum stop working (she broke it somehow) I dont know how that happened, but I wasn’t exactly heart broke about it. it was like 5 years old, filtered. blah. So I was like, Bed Bath and Beyond is 10 blocks away. I say give me 30 minutes, ill be back. Got a new vacuum, for $ 170 dollars, that was pretty cheap and honestly it seems really good.
and I come back, unpack it and it works.
Came in and out several times. She has a cat, I have a cat. She was nice and great. But heres the KICKER!!!
She was emailed by Mercedes (the receptionist) the day before the appointment saying GENERAL CLEANING!- GENERAL CLEANING
WHAT? + WHY? = HUH?
I said something, because I noticed the windows weren’t, done, neither was the frig, or the cabinets, etc? Mary shows me what she was sent on her phone. GENERAL CLEANING! So I was like. ok… is there a price difference? Mary doesn’t know. SO I call the office, office is closed because ITS SATURDAY– NO ONES AT WORK– BUT YOUR Business is still open? SHOCKING
Mary was so apologetic and did my frig for me. I liked her so I wasn’t gonna be mean to her, or make her life difficult because of their management.
Mary explained the difference between the two services, Mariannas version is easier and less work than the one Mary told me. so I was sold on a service that was simplified to be easier and cheaper for them.
So after having to hunt down someone to talk to, I was pissed. Estimated to be $ 250 (5 hour cleaning for 50 bucks an hour) plus tax is $ 272 plus tip is $ 332 plus my new vacuum cost equals $ 500 dollars… I just spent $ 500 DOLLARS on a maid service that did ¹⁄₃ of the cleaning that I was promised…
Then the bigger extended FINALE, DEANNA (OWNER) who was extremely unapologetic or empathetic about anything. She voiced the entire situation as «MY MISUNDERSTANDING» and because I was mad because the lack of professional entirely by this company, she decided fight with me on the phone about how I disrespected the entire staff and how this help review is all lies. BS lady.
Finally she only would send someone if I took down this review. She is a very unseasoned business professional who is rude and has no morals besides her pocket gains.

I have been using ZEN HOME for a year and a half. They are the BEST cleaning company out there, period. I have tried a number of cleaning services in NYC over the last 10 years and none of them even compare to ZEN.
I was looking for a cleaning company I could trust, was professional, consistent in their services and cleaned thoroughly. Zen does this and more.
I have had the same cleaner, Audracy, since I started using Zen. She is kind, professional, punctual, highly skilled, thoughtful, goes above and beyond! I love coming home to such a clean home almost as if I was living in a hotel. I love the added touch of chocolate and tea left for me and the smell of pure essential oils they burn. It looks and smells wonderful! In addition, Zen and Audracy have been able to provide additional services like professional organizing and it is fabulous! There’s nothing like coming home to a clean and totally re-​organized place /​especially closets.
This is a well run company with great staff and services. You can see they have reached an untapped market in providing high-​end cleaning services.
If you are someone looking for a quick groupon discount for cleaning this is NOT for you. If you are someone looking for consistency, a trusted cleaning services, trusted staff, suburb services, the extras than this is for you!
Thank you Zen for providing such quality service! I love this company!

I had no idea there was a whole other level of clean. I’ve long complained to relatives that their housekeeping folks do exactly what we do — with Zen Home, it is clear I know nothing about actually cleaning. My apartment, complete with two cats (one of whom has litter box issues), looks brand new and it smells like a fancy spa. These folks are unbelievably amazing!

Zen Home is truly the best and most thorough cleaning service in NYC. We recently used Zen to have a power clean before we had a baby and they really worked like crazy to clean everything. Highly recommended.

We’ve been using Zen Home Cleaning fairly regularly for a number of years. We are always so happy to come home to a freshly «Zen-​ed» apartment.
We liked our current team so much that we try to get at least one our them by name to keep the consistency. We were lucky enough to have Tanisha in twice and she does a great great job (as they all do).
As a company, their standards are impeccable. They do a fantastic job, using green products and are patient with a norfolk terrier who treats strangers like she treats a vacuum cleaner. (They’re pals now… though not the with the vacuum.)
The cost is slightly higher than hiring a single freelance cleaning person, but the level of service, accountability and quality is difficult to beat. Having a two person uniformed team descend on the apartment and bring it back to life is awesome.
I am always a more relaxed person after they’ve been through the place.
Good work, good people. Recommended.

Theresa King is fantastic. She’s thorough and doesn’t leave a spot uncleaned! The best!

Ebony is Great! She really makes sure to leave the client Happy!
She is Highly recommended!

Very efficient, professional and responsive company. Anytime I’ve had an issue they have been very prompt in resolving. I would recommend them to anyone.

Zen Home is the best apartment cleaning service I’ve had in the city. I’ve been a customer for over a year now and find them extremely reliable, prompt, and thorough. Highly recommend.

ZEN Home is just terrific. I have used many of their cleaners, and found them to be SO thorough. My apartment is cleaned from top to bottom and they take great care in helping to organize my belongings as they go about straightening up. I am very grateful for this service as it is so reliable and professional. I can enjoy a completely clean apartment without having to think or worry about anything. Highly recommend!

I have been a regular Zen Home customer for 4 – 5 years now. Zen has been consistently good. I started with a spring clean service and that was very impressive. (My apt was not that dirty, but I never had a spring clean before. And the difference was night and day. I didn’t know my floor can be that much cleaner). Cleaners are always on time, professional & thorough. I also like that they can send in replacement when the cleaner had the day off /​sick leave. The green product used definitely helped with my allergies.
The con is that Zen is expensive compared to other companies, but they are serious about cleaning (esp floors). I personally wouldn’t be able to do such a job in 4 – 5 hours. Once in a while the cleaner had an off day, but the result is still much better than the other companies I used. I would (and have) recommend Zen Home.

Prior to using Zen Home, I had gone through various cleaning options 1– a family referral and 2– an hourly company that had a 2 hour minimum. Both options were mediocre and barely got the job done. I never understood the need to have a cleaning for more than 2 hours or even for more than a certain price range until my cleaning with Zen.
Diana arrived a few minutes prior to her start time to get acclimated with the space and I have to say, she was absolutely AMAZING! She was so thorough with the cleaning and left all of my belongings nice and organized and still made it easy to locate them (huge problem with most cleaning companies). I was home during her cleaning and barely noticed that she was there, which is hard to say with being in a studio. The attention to detail that is so standard with Zen Home is unbeatable. From the folded toilet paper to the bed turn down amenity kit and the aromatherapy throughout the space. Very well worth every penny. I definitely will be using them regularly.

My dishwasher broke, all my paper towels were used, and the place was dusty and dirty under every table and chair. The worst. DO NOT even bother with these people. When they offer you one of their «top» cleaners, it just means they are on the top of their game in getting away with doing nothing. The cleaner actually had the nerve to ask if she could use my swiffer and swiffer cleaner! I thought this was eco friendly cleaning! Paper towels, swiffers and breaking stuff! I ended up cleaning the floors after she left and they were filthy. All my window sills and inside of windows were filthy. Oh and did I mention my dishwasher broke. So, yeah, not worth it at all.

I’ve been a customer of Zen Home for the past 2 years and have never had any major problems with them whatsoever. The quality of the cleaning has been consistently outstanding and the cleaners have always shown up on time.
We have a cat in our apartment and they are very cool with her as well. Most importantly, they’re always asking for feedback via the phone or online surveys which they do take into consideration for future cleanings.
Overall I’ve been very very pleased with the service and while they are pricier than some other companies they are very reliable and easy to deal with.

Boy, am I glad I used Zen before looking at their Unilocal listing because I would’ve been totally misled by the four bad reviews and not get to see the 14 positive filtered reviews. I’m really confused as to why a handful of people are making a stink about trivial things and why all the positive reviews got filtered, leaving all the riff raff behind. It really provides an inaccurate picture of what Zen provides. But I’ll address the comical complaints later. I want to highlight the great service that I received recently first.
First of all, my apartment gets super dirty really quick. For some reason, dust collects EVERYWHERE and underneath EVERYTHING. There’s nothing that can hide from the dust. Also, I’m a law student so I don’t have much time nor do I have much money. However, what I do have is a fiancée who comes to stay over on occasional weekends from Philly, and a roommate who has parents who stay over our place from time to time as well. Therefore, even though we are two dudes who don’t mind a little dirt on our feet, we do need the place clean because our loved ones do.
I honestly believe that for most things you pay for: higher the price, the better the quality. This is especially true in NYC. A small business wouldn’t be able to survive if they charged NYC prices but offered NJ service (kidding!). This said, Zen isn’t cheap but it’s not Lexus expensive either. I guess it helps that my roommate is a NYC public high school teacher and gets paid a lot of money to pay a part of my share as well.
As for all the negativity, one of the first reviews I read stated that they discovered scratches on their microwave and cupboard after they got a deep cleaning. First of all, scratches on your microwave and a cupboard?! Really?! You’re going to give them one star for uncovering a blemish that may have been there before the deep cleaning? I have definitely cleaned plenty of things that I own that reveal scratches that I never saw before until I applied the polish. But you know what? The scratches didn’t affect my usage of the product. My scratched iPod? Still gave me Gaga. My wooden coffee table? Still held my coffee. My MacBook Pro? Still lets me write this review and address stupidity.
The rest of the reviews write a lot about cats, general ranting about very picky items, and are dated. I really hate it when people abuse Unilocal to kill small businesses who are offering a high grade service that not many other places offer: high end cleaning with green products with friendly service. And again, Unilocal makes it really hard for the good reviews to come forth. Why the filter? Algorithm my ass. LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD!
Will definitely use Zen again and recommend to my friends. Don’t listen to the loud muckrakers. Just pay attention to the quiet cleaners who Zen their way through your dustballs galore. Your feet and white socks will thank you.

I used zen home cleaning four times. Zen home cleaning is more expensive then most cleaning services so I expected a lot.
The first 2 cleans were awesome. Ebony is very good at cleaning. if you use this service use her.
The third time they sent someone else. All she did was criticize the way Ebony had been cleaning my apartment. She didn’t do a good job and didn’t finished the apartment within the allotted time.
Fourth time Ebony cleaned again and it was great.
Then I cancelled my fifth appointment because we moved. I booked Ebony a month in advance. Then on Friday they cancelled for a Monday appointment because the whole company was closed. very unprofessional. I have to make plans so my baby and dog can be out of the apartment during the cleaning. Giving me one business days notice of a cancellation unless it is an emergency is not acceptable… especially with a service that is this expensive. When I complained the woman said that she was letting people know that they were closed on Monday alphabetically. So basically if my last name started with A I would have been contacted earlier.
I feel like the cleaners do a really good job but the customer service from the people who run the company is so poor it ruins any zen you receive from the cleaning.

Yes, expensive. But they took clean to a new level. My apartment really needed a deep cleaning, and the consultant estimated it would take two workers six hours. They actually worked 6.5 hours (but didn’t charge me extra) and didn’t slow down for one minute the whole time. (I work from home, so camped out in the office while they cleaned.)
Overall attention to detail was great. Examples: I had some kitchenware in an old plastic storage container, which was so dirty I should have thrown it out. I was shocked to see it looked like new. They also got the cat hair off from the bed dust ruffle — which I’d normally have to launder to get clean.
Not sure I can afford to have this service regularly, but I expect subsequent visits will be much shorter now that the deep cleaning is done.

WHY IS IT ALWAYS SO EXPENSIVE TO REACH TRANSCENDENCE? Zen is a great green cleaning service with imposing prices (~$ 33/​hr 4 hour min.) I’ve used them four or five times. It is the place to call when you want to impress your parents with your apartment. It’s also good for prepping for out of town guests. Zen brings all their own eco-​friendly cleaning supplies, needing only essentials like a mop and bucket. They also «organize» mail, nick knacks, etc. and leave behind a bar of chocolate. Plus they light incense while they clean so you get a cool 4:20 vibe. I’ve been here while they cleaned, and I’ve left the apartment to them alone. Both to equal result.
Now that we have the Zen HC report card, here’s my report card from the Zen Cleaner. I never get hassled about going beyond 4 hours. Apparently, while I am very messy and only call Zen when they are truly needed, I am very clean. So although, I may be embarrassed at the state of my 800 sq ft Flatiron empire, Zen is actually relieved to be there. One additional, unexpected perk is that because it is so expensive, but with such great results, I always feel like I’ve accomplished something — a slice of luxury.
Now my ideal would be to find a reasonably priced place to come regularly, but until I do, it will be emergency calls to Zen. (If you are flexible, they can usually get someone to you within 5 days.) Shoot me a message though if you have a reco for a cheap, efficient cleaning service.

I come from a long line of crazy Italian women that make a sport and pasttime out of cleaning their homes. Personally, I like things to be clean, but I can’t seem to be able to maintain any kind of acceptable level of cleanliness and order in my apartment. I would rather do anything besides cleaning, so I have to actually suck it up and pay someone to do it, much to my mother’s horror.
I used Zen Home Cleaning’s service three times.
The first time, I was told that extra time was needed so that the lady could concentrate on removing the mold from the bathroom tiles. I personally didn’t think there was *that* much noticeable mold, but okay, whatever. Then again, whatever product she was using was most likely not that effective, because the shitty chemical-​laden stuff that I always would half-​heartedly spray in the shower seemed to do the trick in less than 10 minutes, but so be it.
When I returned home after the cleaning, I was not happy with the job. First of all, they advertise that they clean underneath furniture. That’s nice, but then I was looking in corners and would find the remnants of the mopping, which comes from a poor job sweeping. In fact, I was dissatisfied with the job overall and called back to report this. I was met with all kinds of excuses, no offer for a discount, but assurance that the next time, she would be more thorough.
And, to be fair, next time *was* more thorough. It was the same cleaner, and she was very nice and did a much better job. She even went over time and did not charge for it.
So, I decided that despite the fact that *no one* I know pays these kinds of prices for a cleaning that after the second time was merely passable, Ithat I liked the fact that it’s an environmentally conscious service, plus I love the smells and the extras like the chocolate and tea they leave for you, so I ordered another cleaning.
This time, I had someone new. She arrived, not wearing that ridiculous uniform they make them wear (WHY do they do this?), and asked if she could just change in my stairway. THAT should have been a warning sign – why wouldn’t she just change in the apartment, I have no idea.
This time, I chose to be present during the cleaning, and sat outside on my deck. About a half hour into the cleaning of my bathroom (those darned tiles again!), I overheard her on her cellphone calling the main office. The window in the bathroom borders my deck out back, and I guess she didn’t know that. She was *complaining* about the fact that I have 4 cats, and that she would need *much more* than the standard 4 hours, blah blah blah. It was so unacceptably unprofessional and rude, that I almost decided to call and complain. Then I thought back to the last time I dared complain, and figured it wasn’t worth arguing with them.
She complained several times about my cats (HELLO, it’s on my file that I have cats. Why would they send a cleaner that doesn’t like them?) and at one point when she was sweeping, asked my boyfriend if he’d remove a dead waterbug she had swept up from somewhere, because she was too afraid. WTF did she expect it to rise up from the dead like a vampire roach or something? (wait a minute, I guess they *do* that sometimes, but still!!! She’s a cleaner, shouldn’t she be used to such things? I don’t even know where the hell the thing came from, because we get like 1 or 2 of those horrors a year, tops).
Anyway, I don’t recommend this service at all and haven’t gone back. I like the idea but I feel that their products do not do an adequate job and their staff leave a lot to be desired.