Background Check

Top 10 Things A Maid Service Guarantees That Independant Cleaners Can’t

by Jennifer | No Comments Friday, January 27, 2012

Having someone clean your home is a wonderful thing to do for yourself and your family. But the hard part is, who do you hire? Your neighbor’s housekeeper that she found through another friend, or a service with great online reviews? Fact of the matter is, and individual can almost always offer a greatly reduced price, but the important question is how are they able to offer this reduced price?  To help you make an informed decision, here are just a few of many reasons why it is worth it to hire a service.

10) Legitimacy

When you hire a reputable service, you are going with a business that pays into all required, county, state and federal tax agencies. This means that you don’t have to worry about providing 1099 forms for your individual housekeeper and the IRS won’t come knocking on your door to collect for things you didn’t know you were supposed to pay.

9) Quality Assurance

Nobody is perfect. It is important to know that everyone makes mistakes from time to time. But when you use a service, you know that you have full support with your cleaning needs, and any issues will be addressed and fixed to your satisfaction.

8) Consistency

The great thing about using a service, is that they have a staff that is familiar with your home and with your needs, so if your usual cleaner is sick or can’t come in for some reason, there will be someone to help out. This way, you always know that someone will be there to clean your home on the date you request, so that say for instance you have a cleaning scheduled the day of a party at your home, you won’t be left with a whole house to clean on top of everything else you need to do.

7) Communication

However, life does happen sometimes and things do need to change. Maybe your cleaner needs to come in the afternoon instead of morning? Or maybe they are at your home and have a question about where the dog treats are for your furry friend. Someone will promptly contact you with anything that needs to be communicated between you and your cleaner, so you have the peace of mind of knowing that you have all possible information.

6) Extensive And Constantly Updated Training

Each person hired into a service undergo thorough training to ensure they are providing the same quality service as everyone else. And as information in the industry is updated, training is refreshed as needed. This means that your cleaner knows exactly how to handle every surface in your home, and since everyone is trained the same, you know that if someone different comes to your home you will receive the same service.

5) Professionalism

With a service comes the great feeling of being a star! Your business is important, and you will be treated with the respect you deserve. It’s like having a VIP pass, the service is there to meet your needs, and will maintain a level of professionalism that will make you feel great about having them in your home.

4) Access To Information About The Business

Any reputable service will have a website with extensive information about their service and anything you need to know about them. And with that website and location comes access to reviews from other people about the business, which can be very helpful in making your decision. And if you’re not sure about something, simply call and ask! Someone should be available to answer any questions you have.

3) Bonded and Insured

Before you let anyone into your home to clean, you want to make sure they are bonded. This means that if anything gets broken or stolen from your home, that you are covered. We have had many clients switch to our service because their previous cleaner stole a great deal from them and disappeared, leaving them short of whatever was taken. A service does not anticipate theft, however it is taken very seriously and every precaution is taken to ensure that you, the client, are not responsible for anything that happens.

2) Background Checks

This is also an important thing to make sure of before letting anyone in to clean your home. You want to have the peace of mind of knowing that you can trust whomever you let into your home, whether you are there or not. If you talk to anyone about cleaning your home and they do not run background checks, hang up the phone and move on.

1) The Bragging Rights!

If anything, you will have the right to say “my service…” and see how your friends’ eyes light up! In reality, you chose a maid service because of the safety and security for you and your family, along with the peace of mind of knowing that your home is in good quality hands. But they don’t have to know that!

 

 

How To Choose A Cleaning Service

by Jennifer | No Comments Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Having a cleaning service is very useful in helping to keep your life in order. Between work, kids, pets, and/or whatever you have going on, keeping your house under control can be a real challenge. But how do you choose the best one for you? It’s important to know exactly what you’re getting into, and knowing the right questions to ask to get what you want in a maid service. So here are a few guidelines that will help you through the process.

1. Is the company insured and bonded? Never let anyone into your home before you know for sure that they are. This will protect you from being held accountable for anything being broken, lost, and anyone getting hurt. Some companies will skimp on paying this expense to keep their prices down, but if anything happens, it will likely have to come out of your pocket.

2. Does the company run background checks on all of their employees? I don’t think I need to elaborate on why this is so important. ALWAYS make sure checks are done. If the company says no or won’t give you a straight answer, hang up and move on.

3. What services do they offer? This information will vary from company to company. For example, some services won’t do baseboards, and some include it on every cleaning. Before you begin looking for a company, you need to make a list of what you want cleaned, and see if a company can tailor their service to you. Some will have a list that you can view online, such as ours: http://www.bitabliss.com/services/

4. What WON’T the company do? Find out the limitations of the service, such as reaching high places and cleaning behind furniture.

5. What products do they use? If you want limited or no chemicals used, you always want to let them know. Many companies advertise as being green, but will use products that are publicized as such because they are “mostly green” or “packaged from recycled material.” Some companies offer cleaning either way, or a mix of the two, depending on what you want.

6. How is their pricing? Almost every company has different ways of charging for their service. Do they charge hourly or is there a fixed rate? Call me biased, but I’ve never had great experiences with hourly. For example, I once hired a moving company who charged by the hour, and took 5 hours to move out what a previous company with a fixed rate took 2 hours to move in. Also, be wary of maid services who have a “too good to be true” price tag…that usually means some expenses are being sacrificed that you don’t want to be a part of, such as insurance, employee taxes, background checks, sales tax, and good quality products.

 

At Bit a Bliss we are dedicated to providing extraordinary maid service in Plano, Frisco, Dallas and the surrounding area.  Everyone deserves a Bit a Bliss!  www.bitabliss.com

Be Careful When Choosing a Maid Service!

by admin | No Comments Sunday, December 6, 2009

A cleaning company in Georgia, hired an employee without doing a background check, and that employee happened to be a 6 time convicted felon, who committed another crime while employed by the cleaning company.  It’s too horrible for me to repeat on this blog.  http://www.macon.com/local/story/851244.html 

But I am posting it to stress the necessity of background checks.  If you hire an individual, find a good background checking service and use it!  If you hire a company, ask them if they run background checks and if they don’t, hang up the phone!

At Bit a Bliss we ensure your safety by running a background check on all employees through Acxiom, click here for more information on Acxiom.

Also feel free to call me anytime if you are employing an individual and have questions on how to run a complete background check.