Naomi in Vancouver

I used this service for about 8 years. Quality was variable, with dusting being the most inconsistent. Several months ago, I was offered a free fridge-cleaning or oven-cleaning in response to writing a positive review. As soon as I went to Yelp, the first thing it said was not to give a review in exchange for a freebie, so I did not. K. was so rushed that she always left the rotating dish in the micro-wave askew. I wasn't usually at home, but following surgery, I was. I was shocked when K., who had come alone, left after 45 minutes. The big problem happened when I was still at home. I had asked for the balconies and the inside windows to be cleaned. M. was assigned to the balcony, and was obviously unfit to be doing so. It is unpleasant to listen to someone huff and puff. At some point, I looked up to see M. whispering to K. Turns out she spilled the bucket of water with grime from the balcony onto a rug and onto my white carpet. K. pretty well said "no big deal". Meantime, K. did a job on the windows so poorly that the streaks she left were worse than when she started. She blamed it on not bringing enough rags. When they left, neither of them advised what would be done about my carpet, my poorly done windows and my equally poorly done balconies. They are a company which advertises that they bring their own supplies. To my annoyance, I went to reach for my just filled papertowel roll to discover they had used them all. I phoned Merry Maids and they did send someone over who did a much better job. I was very clear that neither K. nor M. were to be inside my home again. Probably my mistake, but I told Tiana (manager) that I would pay to have the carpets shampoo'd. My rationale at the time was that the shampooing was long overdue. The shampoo company came, looked at the stain and put a rider on the agreement that they may not be able to get the stain out. At first I thought they did, but over the ensuing months, the stain (measuring 18 inches by 36 inches) became more visible. I asked Raymond what they could do about it. He told me to call the carpet shampoo company. I explained that they had agreed ahead of time that the stain was not guaranteed. He then told me to find someone else to do it and they would pay. I phoned 2 companies who advertise that they specialize in stains, but having seen the photograph, neither were willing to come. My cleaning was scheduled for yesterday, and it was unusual for me to be home. When I opened the door, M. was standing there. I sent them away. Unfortunately, I did not think to ask them to give me my key. This Merry Maids franchise charges my credit card two days before they come. I told Raymond to refund my money, cancel my future sessions and mail my key to work. For some reason, he wrote to me that they would give me a free cleaning for my troubles. Apparently, he thought it was okay to send M. to my home because she wasn't going to be cleaning, just orienting the new cleaner. That astounded me. It will be interesting to see how long it will take to get the money back to my credit card and get my key to me. New development tonight is that the owner of the new cleaning service knows of a company that specializes in stains. It remains to be seen if Merry Maids will honour Raymond's statement that they will pay to have this stain removed.