Are you expected to tip a professional maid service? I am paying them $120 for a deep clean on my townhome (1,700 SF)...is the $120 enough or do you tip another $10-20?

7/30/2012 8:19:35 AM

Tipping is not expected. If they did a really amazing job maybe tip them then.

7/30/2012 8:47:02 AM

Rental property or your primary?

7/30/2012 8:47:28 AM

Primary. My wife and I usually do a decent job cleaning - countertops, vacuuming, etc, but we don't scrub the baseboards, mop regularly, etc...thus the deep clean. It doesn't appear to be messy/dirty, but I know it needs a good cleaning...

7/30/2012 8:51:10 AM

Who are you using? We hired a service last year to clean our apartment for move out since we didn't have time. When we came in to inspect the job they did they left muddy footprints all over the apartment When we called them back they initially acted like they weren't going to come back to clean up their footprints and had the gall to try and charge us for the "extra work". Was not impressed by them.

7/30/2012 8:56:52 AM

Am using Lifestyle Maids...not started on a good foot.

I made an appointment 3 weeks ago for today. I got a confirmation e-mail on Friday saying they'd come today at 11:30. I called them at 1 PM to see where they were.

Apparently, their "temp", forgot to say that they have a 2 hour window on the phone AND in the confirmation e-mail. I was tempted to say fuck them, but want to see how they do. While it is not their fault, I won't be tipping due to a lack of communication. Totally disrespectful to disregard my time. Time is money.

7/30/2012 1:47:32 PM

ugh, that is so lame... betcha could have mopped the baseboards pretty good in 2 hours

7/30/2012 1:56:59 PM

I'd rather pay someone to do what I don't want to do. Again, time is money. I'm self employed and can earn more money per hour than I can save doing the work myself.

7/30/2012 2:19:19 PM

Quote :

"Am using Lifestyle Maids...not started on a good foot. "

Lifestyles + Tip + Maid = ???

7/30/2012 4:07:39 PM

a well cleaned house?

7/30/2012 5:40:23 PM

^

7/30/2012 6:31:12 PM

Tip if you think the work was exceptional, don't tip if you don't think it was.

7/30/2012 7:07:29 PM

It was decent, not exceptional. They did not dust the base boards, nor did they wash the windows. Kind of thought they'd do both. House and bathrooms are clean. They did a great job in the bathrooms. Next time I'll either use my neighbor's maids (not through a service) or hire a Tdubber.

7/30/2012 8:08:19 PM

maybe you should have been more specific about what you wanted cleaned...

7/30/2012 9:26:57 PM

maybe you should have been more specific about what you wanted cleaned...

7/30/2012 9:50:08 PM

^^ Any halfway decent maid service will at least wash the inside of the windows and dust the baseboards, fans, etc. You shouldn't have to specify that. Now something like polishing your silver wouldn't be expected unless you specified.

7/31/2012 9:03:13 AM

douchebag wasted 4 hours, paid $120 and still has to vacuum his own baseboards

7/31/2012 9:32:11 AM

The maid services recently have added extra for things like dusting baseboards, washing windows, and cleaning fans, etc. They've always had an extra checklist for things like that to add because most people don't want their windows washed every other week (which is how often they want you to pay them to come by).

7/31/2012 9:36:31 AM

Shouldn't they have provided that extra checklist then? The maid service we used gave us the checklist of extras to review before they showed up, but it didn't include things like windows and baseboards. They just did those. And got mud all over our carpets

7/31/2012 9:41:10 AM

I don't tip mine. Maybe if I didn't use a service and it was cheap as hell I'd tip, but not for what they're charging.

7/31/2012 1:45:01 PM

I hope I didn't take anyone out of context here, my apologies if I did.

Quote :

"While it is not their fault, I won't be tipping due to a lack of communication. Totally disrespectful to disregard my time."

This is your primary residence, so leave at least a nominal something for the cleaners. If they did a shit job of what was on their checklist, that's one thing (more on checklists below). Not tipping the cleaners because the administrative side fucked up the communication line with you doesn't teach any lessons and doesn't do anything to improve future service when/if the cleaners return.

Quote :

"It was decent, not exceptional. They did not dust the base boards, nor did they wash the windows. Kind of thought they'd do both. House and bathrooms are clean. They did a great job in the bathrooms."

Quote :

"Any halfway decent maid service will at least wash the inside of the windows and dust the baseboards, fans, etc. You shouldn't have to specify that."

This is one of those "assumption" scenarios. The $120 dollar figure suggests the cleaning focus is only on the dirtiest & high traffic areas of the house: kitchen, bathrooms, & walkway floors.

If your intention was to pay $120 for a one shot, thorough deep cleaning, and by that I mean the type that's typically done once a year, includes shit like vacuuming the coils behind the fridge, then expect to be disappointed. If your intention was for more of a sprucing of areas you clean fairly regularly but still need some extra work (which isn't likely to include the baseboards or windows) then $120 is closer to a realistic expectation of level of service.

Quote :

"The maid services recently have added extra for things like dusting baseboards, washing windows, and cleaning fans, etc."

Most companies offer tiered service options: i.e. deep cleaning vs. spring spruce, or whatever terminology they use. Some will provide a copy of the checklist the cleaners use upon request (key phrase there). Being specific about what you want cleaned can a) lead to a better experience and b) typically cost more, as its typically more than the average "sprucing" job.

Quote :

"Maybe if I didn't use a service and it was cheap as hell I'd tip, but not for what they're charging."

The housekeeping industry -including fee for service, as in the OP, as well as arms of the hospitality & healthcare industries- in general does not pay well. If it did, it would be a cost-prohibitive service for obvious reasons. A corollary of this means the industry typically does not attract the most dedicated of field workers; this is why & where your tip can make a difference.

7/31/2012 11:30:48 PM

The maid services are so nice because they are insured and do background checks and all that.

But I've found that independent cleaners are less expensive and do a much better job. They already have all the stuff that they use to clean their own houses, and they get to keep all the money that you pay them. If it's a big job in terms of size or filth, they can bring their teenage kid or spouse or friend to get it done efficiently.

We're talking about the difference between a couple people making $9/hour, cleaning four houses a day with crappy supplies and still not making ends meet...vs...somebody making $30/hour cleaning one or two houses a day without some boss bugging them all the time and taking 75% of the pay for themselves.

[Edited on August 1, 2012 at 6:31 PM. Reason : ]

8/1/2012 6:28:36 PM

So what's the rate for an independent? Oh and how much extra if I want to slip her more than the tip?

7/18/2013 3:28:56 AM

I pay this latino lady $60 for ~2 hours. She comes every 2 weeks. She is freaking amazing.

7/18/2013 9:46:14 AM

i want to pay LivinProof78 to come clean my house in just her underwear

7/18/2013 10:04:30 AM

well that'll never happen...

cause i don't wear any

7/18/2013 10:48:54 AM

damn, i wanted to watch you lug that big ass vacuum up my stairs and then offer you a ice cold lemonade

7/18/2013 10:54:04 AM

EDIT: This thread bumping crap has got to stop. Or at least give some inline notice in the thread somewhere it was bumped.

[Edited on July 18, 2013 at 9:51 PM. Reason : .]

7/18/2013 9:48:56 PM

Are you not able to decipher the time stamp?

7/18/2013 9:53:15 PM

I use this lady that my friend uses. His parents have been using her for years as well. She's $50 and hr and is usually there for 4-4.5 hrs. I have her come by every other month b/c the dog hair gets everywhere. She does a great job. Don't tip her.

7/19/2013 12:35:42 AM

I charge $15-$20 an hour for the first cleaning...based on the amount of work/size of house...

I usually set a flat fee after that since I pretty much know how long it'll take each time...


I charge enough to make it worth my while, so tips are appreciated, but I don't expect them

[Edited on July 19, 2013 at 10:41 AM. Reason : adf]

7/19/2013 10:39:11 AM

I'll pay you $15/hr for your drive time + cleaning fee to clean my house in dc Shit I would do that every month. I don't trust people around here

7/20/2013 9:23:30 AM

Use a professional cleaning service. Tip around Xmas, $100 per person (4 person crew). It makes a BIG difference in the quality of work over the year.

7/21/2013 11:44:20 AM