Fresh and Sparkle Cleaning - www.freshandsparklecleaning.com

A Tenant vacated a property and as he hadn’t had time to clean he agreed I could get a professional firm to do it and he would pay for it out of his deposit. I did a search on line and found, Fresh and Sparkle I was impressed by their web site and quick response to my quotation request. I was surprised to hear they could even come on a Sunday at 10.30 to do an end of tenancy clean for £120. This was the first time I have employed a professional firm and I did not know the going rate. 

Sunday morning I received a text to say she would meet me at the property at 11.30; apologising for the delay and explained her car was playing up and she had to get a bus. I was expecting a ‘team’ of cleaners with all their equipment and organic cleaning products, as the web site states, but she said she would carry her cleaning equipment in some bags and that her hoover was small enough to carry. I asked how long she expected the clean to take and was told it could be up to 4 hours, this worried me as I normally allow 5 hours for two people to clean to the standard I am happy to let a property out by. When she arrived there was a strong smell of alcohol from her and she was alone, although she assured me she was expecting some help. At 3pm I received a text to say the work was complete, as I was shocked at the speed of this ‘clean’, I asked my husband to come and help me inspect. When we arrived at the property there were two other young females there, although I got the impression they had not been there to clean. My husband and I began inspecting the job and it was immediately apparent that the ‘professional clean’ was far from it. I have taken photos to highlight this. To make matters worse when we tried to point out that the clean was not to the professional standard their website states, the two young girls started shouting at us and I found them extremely rude and aggressive. It was mutually agreed that I pay a reduced rate of £90. I requested an invoice for my books and to show the previous Tenant but was told there they do not do invoices and when I tried to pay with a cheque I was told that was not acceptable as they only deal in cash. My husband left to get cash from a bank and whilst he was gone I photographed some of the areas that had not been cleaned. In my husband’s absence the three ‘females’ started ridiculing me, saying nasty comments about Landlords and I felt they were trying to intimidate me. I told them I was taking photographs as evidence of the incomplete job and how angry I was that even £90 for such shoddy work was outrageous. A further 3 hours had to be spent cleaning this house to meet our standards. My husband and I have been Landlords for over 20 years, we consider ourselves professional, caring, honest and fair. We have a proven record of satisfied Tenants and we maintain our properties to the highest standards, if there is ever a problem we rectify it immediately. I take pride ensuring the properties start a new tenancy with a spotless house. I am appalled at the lack of professionalism this firm has given and would never recommend them to anyone. The web site states a lot of promises and not one of these have been kept on this occasion.