Do you want “Cheap” or “Best Value” end of tenancy cleaning?
In this blog I would like to discuss, from my experience from my position of a business owner and service provider, what customers consider a cheap end of tenancy cleaning and what is in reality a cheap end of tenancy cleaning.
Going for the cheapest quote will get you in trouble
To us a cheap end of tenancy cleaning service is not the cheapest in price initially quoted, and I underline the word initially, because often price is being put up on the day by nasty surprises. When customers enquire about our services we take the time to fully understand their needs, that’s why we ask them many questions, to try and avoid ambiguity. We try to educate them how the process works and then we co-create a service that works for everyone involved – tenants, letting agents and us as a service provider. For tenants it is important to get their security deposit back quickly and in full, for letting agents the importance is to get the property back in presentable and tenantable condition so that they can let it out again promptly, and for us as cleaners and service providers is to get a recognition by our customers. Good business is when all parties are satisfied.
We provide a tailored quote – not “the cheapest quote”
When a customer enquires about our end of tenancy cleaning service we ask them a few things, which sometimes they find annoying to reply to because other companies don’t ask them, but it helps us provide a tailored quotation that is final and will not double up on the day of the clean.
- When they move out their possessions and when is checkout – often tenants think that they can have the cleaning service done whenever is convenient for them, but they don’t realise that the cleaning should be done after the possessions are moved out, and nobody should go back and live in the property between cleaning and checkout. This saves money for a lot of customers, because if they are not moved out and we do the clean, as soon as they use the shower or toilet or leave their finger marks on nicely polished light-switch, the property will not be considered freshly, professionally cleaned. This will result in partly failed inventory, and it will cost the tenants money off their bond.
- We ask our customers to fully describe their property i.e. how many levels, how many rooms there are, are there any special rooms, extra rooms, etc. as it is very easy to quote based on brief description, and put the price up on the day. Our prices may seem higher than those companies who conveniently do not ask as many questions, and rely heavily on terms and conditions and hidden extras; we prefer to get the full picture and quote correctly. Whenever we are quoting we put ourselves in our customer’s shoes and provide a transparent quotation with as much information as possible. A lot of our customers appreciate this, and come back to us for the same service every time they move out.
- We ask our customers if they require professional carpet, upholstery or mattress cleaning, and once we have all information needed we provide a quotation. Sometimes customers mention property is split level, but we always clarify how many levels and how many sets of stairs just to make sure we are all on same page.
- We advise our customers that they should not leave any rubbish behind as rubbish removal is not accounted for in the quotation, and with some properties even if we bagged it up we can’t leave it inside the property, and it has to be left on the street, however if collection day is few days away, tenants may get a penalty from the council.
- We ask our customers about venetian blinds, so many properties have blinds on their windows, and if not cleaned regularly they get really grubby and require either deep clean each slat one by one, or need replacing. Depending on the size of the property, there may be a lot of blinds, and if deep cleaning is required, at an average price of £15 + VAT per blind, it may add a considerable amount to the bill.
- We fully explain how our guarantee works. This is an area that many of the so-called cheap companies fail big time. When a customer proceeds with booking our end of tenancy cleaning service, we send them a confirmation email, which confirms date and time, price, other important details and our Guarantee. What we promise to our customers is this: we will go back free of charge to address any issues noted on an official inventory report that has been done within 24 hours of the service rendered, and reported to us within 7 days of the service. 7 days is usually more than enough time for genuine concerns to be raised. We pride ourselves with the level of service we provide and we always listen to our customers, so even if somebody contact us outside the 7 days period, we look into it and try and resolve any issues.
We are reasonable bunch and our aim is not to get the money quickly and go, we provide a reliable service, and we are there for our customers when they need us. This sets Cleaner Cleaner apart from many of the so called cheap end of tenancy cleaning companies, we may not be the cheapest initially, however we work out to be among the best value ones at the end. That’s what customers should think about, not who give them the cheapest price over the phone, but who deliver the best value service. After all if you paid £50 less, and loose a portion of your deposit, the cheap option will end up being a false economy.
