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Q: Why do you charge by the job and not by the hour?
A: We believe it is a fair approach to base our prices on the amount of work done and not on the amount of time spent in our customers' houses.
Using this approach we make sure that more efficient staff members are not penalized for working at a faster rate. Equally, we ensure that our customers don't have to pay extra if their staff members need a little bit more time to do the same amount of work.
Q: What is included in a regular cleaning?
A: A regular cleaning includes deep cleaning of your bathroom(s) and kitchen and dusting of your other rooms. In addition, all floors are cleaned (either vacuumed or dry-dusted and mopped) and trash cans are emptied.
Q: Can I have my house cleaned once a month?
A: Due to scheduling reasons, we do not offer monthly cleanings. Our scheduling options are:
- weekly cleaning (at a discounted rate)
- every other week (this is standard)
- one-timer / as needed (at a higher rate)
Q: Will your staff use my cleaning supplies?
A: Our staff members bring their own cleaning supplies. We do ask our customers to provide a vacuum (with replacement bags) and trash bags. For hygiene reasons, we also prefer to use our customers' toilet brush if they have one.
Q: We have a family pet who will be at home during the cleaning. Is this a concern?
A: In general, we prefer that pets are kept in an area that is not part of the cleaning if at all possible. If your family dog tends to be protective of his territory, please make sure that he stays in the backyard or another part of the house. If your dog is friendly, we can probably work around him.
Indoor cats can be a concern since our staff members have to move their equipment in and out of your home. Please warn us about this so that we can avoid releasing any pets that are meant to stay inside.
Q: Your ad says that you are "fully insured and bonded." What exactly does this mean?
A: We provide liability and bond insurance for your protection, and worker's compensation insurance to protect our staff members in case of injury.
Q: Do you offer any discounts?
A: We offer senior citizen discounts and discounts for members of the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce. In addition, we reward our customers for their loyalty and offer price reductions for long-term service agreements.
Q: What is a "hot spot?"
A: A "hot spot" is an area of your home that requires a great amount of time to be cleaned due to its design (e.g. intricate carvings on wood tables) or due to the amount of items it contains (e.g. overloaded book shelves, desks with large amounts of papers and memorabilia). We point out these hot spots during our first quote.
Hot spots are not part of a regular cleaning but are cleaned on a rotational basis.
Q: My house is quite large and I work from home. Will my work day be disrupted due to long cleaning times?
A: If your home is very large, we will assign a two-person team to your house so that your work day won't be interrupted for hours on end.
Q: I am going on vacation. Will my house still be cleaned?
A: We can either reschedule your cleaning to work around your vacation days or uphold the regular cleaning schedule and target the hot spots in your home.
Q: This all sounds good. However, my spouse does not think that having a cleaning service makes financial sense. How would you respond?
A: There have been many theories and formulas trying to determine the value of somebody's time. Let's say your hourly income is $14 and you would need about 4.5 hours to clean your home from top to bottom. This would put a value on your clean house and your time at 4.5 x $14 = $63
If our quote is at or below this price, the choice is obvious. It makes more financial sense to hire us than to do the work yourself.
What, however, if our quote is higher than $63? According to an approach by Jane Spencer with the Wall Street Journal, you should also factor in other determinants like the psychological costs and benefits of buying a service. She suggests to ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I enjoy doing this task myself?
- Could I do it as well as the person hired?
- Are there any opportunity costs if I do this work myself?
(Will I miss out on other activities that are more important to me like spending time with my family?)
- Are there any indirect rewards?
(Will this free up time for me to exercise?)
Therefore, you will have to determine what side benefits a cleaning service will provide to you and your family and which value you would personally assign to these side benefits.
| Whose Chore Is It, Anyway? |
| With the help of an outside economist, we put together a framework for helping you decide whether it makes sense to outsource a job or do it yourself. |
| What Is Your Real Time Wage? |
| 1. What is your two week take home pay, after taxes? |
$_____ |
| 2. How many hours do you typically work in a two week period? |
_____hours |
| 3. Divide 1 by 2. This is your real time wage |
$_____ |
| Does It Make Financial Sense For You to Outsource? |
| 4. How much would it cost you to hire someone to do this task? |
$_____ |
| 5. How much time would you save, in hours, by hiring someone else to do this job? |
$_____ |
| 6. What are the costs associated with doing this job yourself? (e.g., buying supplies, ingredients etc.) |
$_____ |
| 7. Multiply 3 by 5 |
$_____ |
| 8. Add 6 and 7. This is the total cost of doing the task yourself |
$_____ |
OUTCOME: If 8 is less than 4, there is a strong financial
case for doing the job yourself
If 8 is more than 4, there is a strong financial case for hiring someone
else to do the work
| Now, Consider the Psychological Costs and Benefits |
|
Strongly Disagree |
|
Strongly Agree |
| 1. Psychological Benefits: I enjoy doing this task myself. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 2. Skill Premium: I could do this task as well as the person I would hire. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 3. Opportunity Costs: If I do this task myself, I will not miss out on other activities that are more important to me. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 4. Indirect Rewards: If I do this task myself, I will get other benefits like exercise or self-confidence. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 5. SCORING: Add up your points. |
Point System
4-8 Points:The psychological costs are high, outsource the task
if you can afford to.
9-12 Points: Let the financial calculations in the first part
of this chart dictate your actions.
13-20 Points: The psychological benefits are great; do the job
yourself even if you can easily hire it out.
Try out Jane Spenceršs time value guide at the bottom of http://www.loper.org/~george/trends/2003/Feb/916.html and learn whether a cleaning service makes sense for you and your family.
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