Basic Green Cleaning Service

I have been using Basic Green for a few years now and thought it was about time to officially review them. I had sent a text to them last week that said «Thank You. Once again my place looks AMAZING!» And they suggested I do a Unilocal review. So, here I am. There is nothing better than coming home to find that these hardworking people have left me with a sparkling clean kitchen. And anyone who knows me knows how absolutely picky I am.
I’ve never have trouble with rescheduling. They get back to me immediately and always accommodate me. I’ve met many of their teams and they are lovely, conscientious people who take pride in their work. I can definitely recommend Basic Green!

Basic Green has been cleaning our office for a couple years. They’ve shown up consistently, worked with us to accommodate our schedule, and made sure our office is clean.
They just deep cleaned our carpets and we were all shocked: the carpets went from disgusting to new.
The team has always been nice, responsive, and creative in figuring out how to deal with things.

We continued using this service every 3 – 6 months since my original review. The cleaning has always been great, but the communication/​scheduling has gotten steadily worse, leading us to consider other options. In my most recent attempt to schedule them, I’ve emailed and called several times over 2 weeks, and have gotten absolutely no response. Probably won’t be using them again, not worth the hassle. I hope they get their logistics issues straightened out, because the cleaning has always been top notch for us.

I started with them through a Gilt City deal. Their cleaning services are fine. I can’t really compare since they’re the first cleaners I’ve had, but they did a good job of cleaning my place. It’s the other aspects of their business that they need to seriously work on. The only reason I didn’t stop their services sooner is because I was too lazy to try to find someone else.
Their first mistake was agreeing to clean my place in Oakland even though they operate out of SF. My schedule is not very flexible, so on top of that having to schedule my services so they could minimize traffic made it even harder.
Early when I started with them, they flat out no-​showed for an appointment. They said their technician’s phone had some problem, so it didn’t show up on her calendar. Strike one. Then there was another time where there happened to be insane traffic on the Bay Bridge. That’s understandable that things like that happen once in a while, but the problem was that the technicians they sent didn’t have smartphones, and they didn’t give them a GPS. So on top of being insanely late from the traffic, they got lost and were extra delayed. Strike two.
Then, for a while things improved and there were no major calamities like the above. But I found their organization to be lacking. For example, I had previously established that my services would not occur on the same day of the week and time each month since my schedule changes. Yet sometimes they would automatically schedule my next appointment 4 weeks from my last. Little annoying things like that would always happen over email that indicated their lack of organization.
Finally, between my schedule and theirs, there wasn’t a good date to schedule a cleaning for– not exaggerating– 3 months, so I just had to cancel. Strike three.
The biggest indication that they don’t have their stuff together is that not once, but multiple times, I had to remind them that they didn’t charge me for the cleaning. Isn’t that rule #1 of running a business? Get paid for the service you provide?
At my last service, they guy offered to refer me to a cleaner that was local to me. I wanted to check them out first, so I didn’t say yes at the time. But after I checked them out, I emailed them to say yes– please go ahead and contact the other cleaners for me as offered. I never heard back since. Not even to say thanks for being a loyal customer for a year, sorry it didn’t work out, nothing.

I had a Gilt City Voucher and officially used their services twice although the 2^nd cleaning required two visits back by their cleaners.
SCHEDULING: I did this through email and would agree with other reviews that there is a lot of back and forth. The reason why I used email is because I learned that speaking on the phone w/​the person who scheduled (Moonis) or the owner (John) didn’t make a difference and I wanted to have things in writing. Both were very friendly and John very apologetic and charming, but ultimately I have to rate on the overall service.
I was very clear about my address and that I would not be home. I also included instructions about my house alarm. On two occasions, their cleaners went to the WRONG CITY and called me for directions. Then they asked if I was going to let them in when they got there. And I learned to not rely on them to turn the alarm on when they left even though they said they did.
CLEANING: Some areas were spotless, some places weren’t cleaned at all and there was obvious dust. I even had them come back twice as a result and they still didn’t clean the area. I sent pics and it didn’t help.
FOLLOW-​UP?: Months later, I received a reply email from a past thread saying it had been awhile and would I like to schedule an appointment again. Unfortunately, they used a thread where I was complaining about their service.
OVERALL: I was always sure to email any cleaning direction ahead of time and leave a hard copy with tip on my kitchen counter. From all the deals that this company offers thru Gilt City and Living Social, it seems like they can’t spend time paying attention to the details. Especially when customers get the excuse (like I did) that their teams go to so many homes that they don’t remember which one is mine.

Before trying these guys out, there are two things you should know:
1. Scheduling’s obnoxious. We went back and forth over about ten e-​mails, partly because they ended up canceling after we set the first date.
2. They might show up a little late.
Once you get past those issues, everything else is great!
They were always very courteous over e-​mail. They also called the day of to let me know they’d be late. And most importantly, they did a great job cleaning! I originally found out about them because of a Living Social voucher, but I’d definitely hire them again.

I don’t think there was much positive to say about this service. I had a Living Social voucher, and though they did respond to my emails, they never once answered their phone when I called. Setting up the appointment was confusing and a bit like pulling teeth — after I asked, they sent me a single day that would be available, but no time slots. It took a bit of prompting to get something scheduled at a more specific time. They offered me a noon slot, but then in their confirmation email they told me 3pm. I had to verify this multiple times to make sure of the time they were actually coming, since I needed to make sure someone was there to let them in.
When they finally came, they were about three hours late because they had supposedly been working on other jobs that took longer than anticipated. They at first called to say they would be maybe half an hour late, and then when they didn’t show up, we had to call them multiple times to get further updates. I expected after all this that the cleaning job would at least be stellar to make up for the communication issues and the waste of time waiting, but they did nothing more than mediocre and we actually cleaned the bathroom ourselves later to really get the tiles and glass in the shower clean. Note that my apartment that they were cleaning was a small 1-​bedroom, under 450 square feet.
I would not recommend using this service again.

I don’t give bad reviews but I thought I should write this as a warning. I bought this voucher on
for 2 hours of cleaning. After several emails trying to coordinate (over a month of time) I was told they needed more time to clean a house of my size. So we negotiated an additional hour of cleaning into my session, that I had to pay for (in addition to the Gilt voucher).
I wasn’t able to oversee what they had done but I can at least speak about the results. I gave them 3 hours to deep clean as much as they could. After giving a detailed list of what we wanted done including standard duties I was told that she still probably couldn’t get to them all. At the very minimum I told them to vaccuum all the rooms (4 rooms in a 1 story house) and clean the bathrooms (1.5) and kitchen.
I came home to only the very minimal job done: vaccuum– I assume was done, counters seemed clean, tub and toilet was clean. Literally, that was it. None of the trash cans were emptied not even the main one in the kitchen, none of the dishes were emptied from the dishwasher or dry rack. Too boot, all of the cleaning supplies, some of which was not our was left out on the counter. Additionally, none of the laundry that we left out was folded.
I can’t even go into the issues I had with scheduling this cleaning. Rating: minus 1 star for scheduling conflicts, 1 star for having to buy an additional hour resulting in less than decent work, 1 star for leaving their supplies and 1 star overall for the insufficient work that was done. I would recommend that no one uses this company for cleaning services, unless you are able to stay home during your booking.

They only get 3 stars because of their incapability to schedule properly. However, once I actually got them here to clean, they did a fantastic job cleaning — did everything I asked and things I didn’t ask for — and their customer serive (on the phone and the crew) was outstanding. When I called with my scheduling challenges, everyone was very apologetic and responsive from then on. The only reason I would hesitate to call again is the price; $ 65/​hour is a little steep. But I had a Living Social deal and was happy in the end. The crew was super nice and accommodating, and there was no communication barriers.

Frankly, I am surprised I am giving them 4 stars. I expected to be disappointed. The booking process set my expectations incredibly low, but they somehow won me over.
The Living Social voucher said to email them to book. The first attempt to book was pretty frustrating– we exchanged detailed instructions on what was needed and how to get into my house, but no one actually read my email when the appointed time came. I received several messages, while I was in a long meeting (thus, the reason for the detailed instructions), saying they were standing outside my house and no one was there. Fast forward 4 months… I still had the Living Social voucher, so I decided to give them another shot. Again, they showed signs of not actually read what was in the email I sent when I booked (a HUGE pet peeve of mine), but we worked through it and got the date booked.
The day before the scheduled appointment, they called to confirm. They also said they’d be about an hour late. For some reason, that didn’t bother me. The day of the appointment, I received two messages that began, «We haven’t heard a response from you…» Had the message from the prior day indicated a requirement to call and confirm, I would have, but, no such instruction was included in the message. I found that annoying. Then I received a message from the woman who was coming to clean and her message said, «Please call me if you DON’T want me to come.» At this point, I was tired and frustrated and feeling like I was going to have to go around behind them and fix their cleaning shortcomings because they couldn’t seem to even communicate.
The technician arrived only about a half hour late (which was less than the message had suggested) and got to work right away. She worked hard and did a great job on the bathrooms. Aaaahhhh, the joy of an impeccable shower that you didn’t have to sweat to get! About 15 minutes into it, she said another person was coming to help clean. Great! About a half hour later, she said there would be two people coming. Double great! They came about an hour and a half later. (I had booked two hours total.)
Despite the chaos, I have to say they did an unexpectedly good job cleaning. The bathrooms were very clean. The furniture dusting was about average, but baseboard dusting was excellent! My sliding glass doors are so pretty I could stare at them all day. The floors sparkle and walking on them barefoot now is a joy. They walked me through the house afterward and I truly was pleased. They stayed longer than expected to compensate for the late arrival. They worked hard while they were there and took care with the small touches (they vacuumed my sliding door tracks). They were kind and trustworthy.
Now for the tough part– would I recommend them? The end product is so beautiful, I think I would, with full disclosure of the challenges as well. I love walking into my bright and shiny home. Plenty of people could have taken my money for half of the effort, but this crew really put their back into it. Thank you Carrie, John and Cynthia!

I just used my 2 hours worth of livingsocial coupons today and was very thrilled with the service I received. It was easy to schedule a cleaning (I recommend doing so 2 weeks in advance), and the two cleaners who arrived were on time, polite, professional, and did a fantastic job. I also greatly appreciate their use of green non-​toxic cleaning products, and also their knowledge about each product they used. Fantastic — will use again!

Living social deal turned positive. Almost let this expire but cashed in recently. Almost a bait and hook because we had to buy an extra hour (discounted!), but very well worth it. They worked their asses off. 2 hours of cleaning, my place was spotless. Well above and beyond what I thought theyd accomplish in that amount of time. I’m satisfied with their service, appreciate their efforts for dealing with my 4^th floor walk up while needing to move their car in this city. My place looks great and I’m anxious to see another deal through living social for them. They are a great organization finding every nook and cranny to clean out.

Got the Living Social deal for 2 hours of cleaning a while back. Those of you have read my prior reviews on cleaning services know that I am super-​picky about the quality of cleaning services… looking for that holy grail of professionalism, price, attention to DETAIL, and above all — that feeling, when you walk in post-​clean, of «OMG, this place is like new again!)
Scheduling the cleaning session with Basic Green was a bit of a process, which is why (combined with the high price and per hr charge) that I’m knocking off a star. First, I emailed the company and they never responded. I emailed again, about a week later. Still no response. I then sent a third email stating that this was my third contact, and I still had not heard anything. A day later (on a weekend day) the company owner called me and apologized profusely, stating that this was something that «should never happen». He indicated someone would get in touch with me right away. Sure enough, that following Monday, I got an email describing how to set up a cleaning visit.
Don’t expect that they will have openings «right away» — I had to book mine about 2.5 weeks from the date I heard back from them. I don’t know if that’s typical or not.
The actual cleaning service is what earns them the stars. They were late by about 45 minutes, but this was due to a parade in the city (and they called me three times to update me on where they were, when they expected to arrive, etc. — so I wasn’t in the dark.) Two cleaning staff arrived and were very courteous. They listened carefully as I described what I wanted (and I emphasized «detailed cleaning».) They were up front about estimating that it would take about 3 hours, and giving me a 10% discount on the extra hour. This was for a detailed cleaning of the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and floors in the living area, in a small condominium unit in SOMA.
I came back to inspect everything, and went over everything with a white-​glove approach. I’ll say that the lady cleaning my bedroom did a PHENOMENAL job. She actually found missing caps and recapped old shampoo bottles, and neatly arranged all the items on my messy countertop. The tub and toilet were sparkling. I couldn’t have asked for a better cleaning of my bathroom.
The kitchen was also good, but the guy who cleaned it did miss a couple of items (toaster, and a shelf in the fridge). that said, the moment I pointed it out, he apologized profusely and then spent the next 30 minutes (for free) tackling those items. What I really appreciated was the customer service angle — they really, really seemed to be working to please the customer and were willing to fix things that might not be perfect.
I just got an overall good feeling from the good folks who came and cleaned the apartment — they seem like honest, hard-​working and decent people who take their jobs seriously and aren’t the least bit lazy (or try to cut corners). They are certainly not as well-​organized or streamlined as, say, a Merry Maids or other outsourcing-​type company, but the personal attention, responsiveness and touches that this group leaves me with a positive impression.
I have two minor comments. The first is — there isn’t that typical «clean smell» that comes after a thorough apartment cleaning, and I wonder if it’s because of the products they use. Everything looked clean, but that «freshly cleaned» was sort of missing. Not sure if it has to do with the products they use, but something with a bit of a citrus or «clean» scent would be a nice addition next time.
Secondly, I think the price is high — although that seems to be the norm in this part of San Francisco. I’d prefer if they could discount a regular cleaning (instead of offering on a per-​hour basis).
I was happy enough with the service that I’m thinking of going with this company for a regular bi-​weekly or tri-​weekly cleaning. And now that I’m «on the radar» (given that they’ve cleaned here once now), they seem quite responsive and it should be fairly smooth to set up a regular visit. If anything differently happens in my experience with them, I’ll update my review.
So in summary — don’t be put off by initial snafus in scheduling, etc — which I suspect are growing pains for the company. Assessing the service based on the cleaning quality, I’d definitely recommend this crew.

It’s very difficult to schedule an appointment but once they are actually here it’s pretty good.

My boyfriend got three of the Living Social coupons to use. He used one for his old apartment, and kept the other two for when he moved in to my place with me. I guess his first experience was pretty horrendous, because he asked me to schedule it when we finally decided that our new place was grody enough. The first time by boyfriend used one, they ended up being about four hours late, so I was pretty apprehensive about using them, but gave it a shot and emailed to schedule.
I originally scheduled two hours from 10am to 12pm. All was well, and then they emailed to reschedule to 12pm to 2pm. I took the day off, so it wasn’t a huge deal, but for others without that option, something like that might turn out to be a little prohibitive, not to mention a pain in the butt.
About a week later, I received a phone call from their office, confirming the switch. When I let the woman on the phone know that I couldn’t go any later than 2pm, she suggested 11am to 12pm, forgetting I guess that we had booked two hours. She then asked me if I knew how long it would take to get from their first location to my place. Don’t know why she couldn’t just Google it, but whatevs. The conversation ended with her just switching me back to 12pm to 2pm, which is what I had already confirmed via email, so I’m still not sure what the point of that call was.
Fast forward to this past Thursday, and the reason for the four stars. They ended up getting to my place early, which was great. Once the two ladies made it inside, they immediately got to work and were super friendly. They ended up cleaning, organizing, and straightening up the whole place. They concentrated on the bathroom and kitchen, which turned out spotless. They were also very considerate of when I was doing some work and had to be on the phone, offering to shut doors when vacuuming, and such.
We don’t have too much of a need for regular cleaning, so I don’t know if I’ll return. But, if we do decide to do it again, I would consider using Basic Green, if only because of the great job these two women did.

I got the Living Social deal $ 30 for an hour of cleaning, so I bought 2. I emailed them several weeks in advance, my husband worked from home that morning so they could come clean before my parents came to visit. They were almost THREE HOURS late, sent only one woman who didn’t speak English and then had to stay another hour because her car got booted and she had to wait for someone to pick her up. She did a good job and was very nice, but the company is obviously shitty for putting her in that situation. Most cleaning places send two people.
I emailed them and they never responded to my complaints and questions. If it weren’t for the Living Social deal, they would have the gall to charge $ 60 an hour? Ridiculous. Don’t hire this place, I don’t think they have any idea how to run a business.

They are HORRIBLE! I paid for them to come for 2 hrs and asked them to focus on the kitchen and the bathrooms. They said they were all done after 1hr ½. When I went to look at their work, it looked like no one had been there. There were still hairs in the bathroom sink, they didn’t even move stuff off of the counter to clean underneath, they didn’t touch the walls in the shower, they didn’t dust, they didn’t even wipe the floors. What a waste of money!!! My 8 yr old nephew would do a better job cleaning. Do NOT waste your time or money on these people… so better off cleaning yourself.

They are.ok. I just asked them to clean the kitchen and bathroom, and they definitely left something un noticed. did I have to tell them EVERYTHING i wanted to get cleaned? the mirrors were left unwiped even though they were clearly smudged, and the jar of sauce was unwashed even though it was by the sink. I still tipped, but meh. its ok.

Okay, so they ran a deal on Living Social, then gave me the run-​around when I tried to book an appointment. Basic Green Cleaning Service is shady. I received an email from John Griffin today confirming my appointment with 2 weeks notice on July 1^st, then after replying to the email to confirm my address, phone number, and size of apt. I got an email back saying they couldn’t see me until the end of July. Don’t trust them. They are not very customer service oriented either. When I spoke to them on the phone, they just said, «just cancel with Living Social.» Don’t trust them. They lie.