Welcome to our house cleaning Q&A
We hope these questions and answers will be helpful.
Please call Diane and Dianne for more information.
1. What
communities do you service?
These boundaries are approximate. We clean from
124th street to 75th Avenue and from
Lincoln/Glendale up into Carefree.
2. Who will
be cleaning my home? Can I communicate with
them?
We may be the only major maid
service that hires only English speaking
employees. In addition, we hire only the best
employees.
That makes it extremely difficult
to hire the right ones. We spend up to $24,000 a
year when the unemployment rate is low. It's
hard to believe a small business would have to
spend that much. Of course, many companies spend
nothing or very little because they don't feel
the need to attract the best.
We do what we have to do to find
the right person when we need one. Fortunately,
our employees tend to stay with us, as you can
see.
3. Who will
I speak with if I have a question about your
service?
You won’t have to work your way
through a complicated phone maze, only to find
yourself listening to a canned dissertation.
Don’t you hate that?
When you call Maids ‘n More,
you’ll speak directly with Diane Morgan or
Dianne Ward. If our lines are tied up, they will
return your call within minutes. Don't worry
about leaving your number. We would never call
you to try to sell you service. Diane and Dianne are friendly, knowledgeable,
and eager to discuss your cleaning needs.
4. Do I have to supply my own equipment or
supplies?
May I if I want?
"No" to the first question, "yes"
to the second. We bring a full array of supplies
and equipment, so you don’t need to supply
anything.
Obviously, we can’t bring every
product on the market. You may prefer us to use
a special cleaner. If the product is new to the
market, or is not an established brand, we will use it
in your home only
after we have tested it.
A particular cleaning product may
work well on one surface and ruin another. Other
than that, feel free to supply a favorite
cleaner or your own equipment. We’re here to
please you, and we do a very good job of it.
5. How long
have you been in business?
Over
24 years. We cleaned the home
of our first customer
in February of 1987. Patricia and
Frank Hess founded
the business and remain active in it. Diane Morgan
is general manager and part owner. See question
#14, "Who are Your
Owners?" , for more detail.
6. Can I choose the frequency of my service?
As circumstances
change, you can change the frequency of service at any time. You can
also change your day and time of clean with very little notice. We
can usually find a time that’s good for you. However, we do have
time slots that have been set for years.
For instance,
there's a home we've been cleaning 22 years. We clean it first
thing every Friday morning. Yes, it's a paying customer. Sorry, you
can’t have that particular slot with that particular team.
7. Do I have
to sign a contract?
Definitely not. We operate on
a clean-by-clean basis. Of course, it's a good
idea to
set up a non-binding flexible schedule. No
matter what, you will not be charged until and
if we actually clean your home.
8. What will you do in my home beyond the
basics?
Cleaning your kitchen and bathrooms, dusting,
and vacuuming are just the beginning.
All
reputable maid services do these things, a
few of them fairly well.
The difference is in the
details. For example, we clean your bathroom,
kitchen, and other high traffic floors on hands
and knees. We remove the knobs from your oven
and range to clean under them. We clean your
baseboards.
To answer this question fully,
we will do just about any job that we can
finish, such as changing your linens, sweeping
your patio and garage, loading and starting your
dish-washer. For us to start your dishwasher or
laundry, we need written instructions regarding
settings, etc.
We will also pack or unpack
boxes on move-in/move-out cleans, polish
silverware and clean chandeliers. One example of
a chore we don’t start because we can’t finish
is ironing. We may be able to provide a sole
employee to iron, help organize, etc. This would
only happen outside our business hours, and only
if you're home.
9.
Do you provide Quality Assurance?
We
were a pioneer in staffing a full time QA
position. Some maid services think they can’t
afford it. Our philosophy has always been "We
can’t afford not to".
Lynn is our QA. She has been with
Maids ‘n More for 20+ years. She visits homes
and checks on teams on a rotating basis (while
the team is there or at your request) to ensure
your satisfaction. She also does much of the new
and continuing training and education of your
cleaners.
Lynn
joined Maids ‘n More in November
of 1990 as an entry-level cleaner. She worked
her way up through the ranks of Assistant
Supervisor and Supervisor to our top field
position, that of QA Specialist.
10. Do
you have an office I can visit?
We are
located at 13212 N. Cave Creek Road. Owning our own
building helps us keep costs down so
we can pass savings on to you.
You’re encouraged to visit us from
Monday-Friday, 8:15 - 3:45.
We don’t get to meet as many
customers as we would like. We’ve cleaned many
houses for over a decade with none of the office
staff ever meeting the home owners in person.
In many of those homes, the homeowners are absent when the
team is cleaning, so the team members don’t get to
meet those homeowners, either. Please stop by our
office and meet our Manager and Assistant Manager,
Diane and Dianne.
11. Will you do my move-in and move-out cleans?
We
will. We will even pack or unpack boxes.
Of course, when we unpack, we may need a little
help deciding where to put things.
12. Are you a franchisee?
No, and that’s a very good thing,
for you and us. We actually started out as a
franchisee of a large company. We quickly
realized that the restraints imposed on us did
not allow us to meet our goals of excellence.
As you know, cleaning a home in
Arizona is not the same as cleaning a home in
Vermont or Florida. Also, the franchisor had
very little to offer us. We don’t need an 80
page web site or national advertising to bring
you our story.
And we can save you money since
we don’t have to pay 5%-10% royalty and
advertising fees to a franchisor. That’s one
reason our charges are less less than many of
our franchisee competitors.
13. Will you clean my oven, windows, patio,
sweep my garage, and clean my chandeliers?
Yes, these are just a few of the extra chores
from which you probably want to take a break.
You’ll probably think of even more unpleasant
chores you do or don't want to do as you talk with Diane and Dianne.
14. Who are your owners?
Tricia
and Frank Hess are the founders and
majority owners.
Tricia
is from Southern Minnesota. Her previous
careers were in
nursing and advertising. She
managed the
business side of
Maids
‘n More for 15 years while helping to raise the children.
Tricia
now spends
much of her time with three grand-daughters.
Tricia’s
other
interests include arts and crafts,
participating in theater,
and traveling. She is also an active
volunteer in the Assistance League.
Frank
is from East Texas. He received a MA in Math
from
the
University of
Texas and a MS in Computer Sciences
from the
University of
Minnesota. He worked in
a variety of computer software positions
with companies including Eastman Kodak,
General Mills,
and Aramco in Saudi Arabia.
He also worked at Redstone
Arsenal in
Alabama, NASA in Houston, and the State of
Arizona. His hobbies include tennis, history
and directing community theater productions.
Diane
Morgan is General Manager and part
owner. She
has a
degree in
Interior Design. She joined Maids ‘n More in January of
2000 as
a part-time bookkeeper while finishing her degree,
becoming a full-time Customer Rep in 2001. She was
promoted to Office Manager in 2006 and
General Manager in 2007. With so much
experience, she understands the home
cleaning business inside and out and is eager to help
you with your cleaning questions and
solutions. Diane’s interests
include photography, reading, needlework,
and her two cats, Ren and Amber.
She also volunteers as a
hospice visitor.
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