1. Access to your home
Most of our customers are not home during our cleaning. We request that if you are not home please provide us with a key and an alarm code if necessary. If you prefer to be home and let the cleaners in we will provide you with an approximate time that cleaners will be there within a two hour window- just as an example 8:30- 10:30am or12:00-2:00pm. We will do our best to schedule you at the time of day that works best for you. Please understand that with traffic and unforeseen conditions, it is difficult to give you an exact time the cleaners will arrive.
2. Rescheduling or canceling your appointments
You may reschedule, skip, add, or cancel any of your cleanings. We understand anything can happen. Although we do not charge for cancellations or rescheduling that is done before our cutoff period, please keep in mind that our staff does not get paid if they do not have cleaning appointments. Please be considerate. We ask that you cancel or make any changes to your appointment by 9 AM ONE BUSINESS DAY before your appointment otherwise you will be charged 80% of the cost of the appointment. All Monday appointments must be canceled no later than 12 PM(noon) on the Friday before. This will allow us enough time to schedule other customers. We cannot accept any cancellations and/or changes on Saturdays or Sundays. Our office is closed and your message will not be received on time. If you leave us a voicemail, email or text message to cancel or change your appointment, please make sure to check for our confirmation. If nobody responded back to you within 24 hours that simply means that we never got your message. Please remember: YOU HAVE TO HEAR FROM US TO CONFIRM YOUR CANCELLATION.
We reserve the right to stop service if too many cancellations occur.
All cancellations must be made through our office. Please do not tell your cleaner.
3. Scheduling an Appointment – Credit Card Required
To schedule an appointment you will have to provide us with your valid credit card information.
We take your credit card information to hold your appointment and secure timely payments. Your credit card will not be charged unless we do not receive the payment for service the same day. If you forget to leave a payment on the day of the service, your credit card will be charged automatically.
4. Payment/Billing
Payment is expected in full the day of the cleaning. You may pay by cash, check, Chase QuickPay (use email address billing@myamericanmaids.com) or by major credit card.
All unpaid balances will be automatically charged to your credit card with all applicable fees. A 15% finance charge will be added to unpaid balances over 30 days. All bank charges incurred due to NSF checks will be passed on to the client at a flat rate of $35 per check.
Invoices that are over 90 days past due are turned over to collection. We reserve the right to take all legal actions to collect amounts owed and all applicable and legal fees.
5. No Soliciting Policy
When entering into an agreement for services with American Maids of Chicago, Inc., you agree not to solicit for hire any staff member introduced to you by American Maids of Chicago, Inc., for any home-related services.
We spend a considerable amount of time and resources finding, interviewing, checking references and backgrounds, and training our cleaners. When hired, they sign an agreement barring them from performing any home-related service for any of our past or present customers. However, if you do wish to employ a staff member directly please discuss this matter with the owner. If you are found to have solicited one of our staff please be advised that our referral/ training fee is $2,000 per hired employee. Payment is due within 30 days from the date on the invoice.
We consider our employees our most valuable asset and charge accordingly.
6. 48 Hours Guarantee
American Maids of Chicago, Inc., is so confident that our cleaners will provide the highest level of service available that we are willing to offer you this guarantee. For all first time or one-time cleaning that did not have any time restrictions from a customer, as well as for all recurrent cleanings, we offer our 48 hours guarantee. If you are not satisfied with our service for any reason, contact us within 48hrs after cleaning and we will send the first available team next day to re-clean whatever is in question to your satisfaction at no charge to you. We cannot provide any free re-cleans if there was a time limitation on one-time or first time hourly jobs.
7. Personal items and Items of irreplaceable value
The nature of cleaning requires our staff to touch virtually all items in your home. We are as careful as possible while we are cleaning your home, but if damage or loss does occur, please notify American Maids of Chicago, Inc., within 48 hours of the cleaning date. We will notify you immediately if something is accidentally damaged during the cleaning or if we find something damaged even if the damage was not caused by our team members.
We assume no liability for damage or loss of items that are not secured properly or were damaged prior to our cleaning, and we are not responsible for damage due to faulty and/or improper installation of any item. (Example: heavy pictures hanging from thumbtacks, or dings in furniture that were there before we cleaned) Items of extreme value (monetary or sentimental) should be dusted or cleaned by the owner. American Maids of Chicago, Inc., limits its liability to replacement costs of up to $250 for each individual item; whichever is less per occurrence. All surfaces (i.e.: Marble, Granite, hardwood floors, etc.) are assumed to be sealed and ready to clean without causing harm.
8. Safety of our staff and others
We need to be able to work freely and without distractions. Every effort is made to work safely and cautiously, but we cannot assume liability for the safety of others. This includes children and pets. Be advised that if we are subject to distractions that affect our ability to work in our normal fashion or speed, we reserve the right to charge for our extra time spent in the home for that reason.
If for any reason an employee of American Maids of Chicago Inc., feels that their personal safety is in danger enough to leave the job site, due to actions by the customer, or others at the job site, the customer will still remain liable for the full cost of the job.
9. Pets
Your pets are important to us. For their safety as well as ours, please let us know how they should be handled. We absolutely adore pets, and most of us have their own. Although keep in mind, dogs tend to be more protective and cats more scared, when owners are not home. We do not play, feed or walk your pets, or clean up their accidents. Although we use environmentally friendly products in your house, they still can be toxic for your kids and pets if swallowed. We want to make sure everyone in your household stays happy and healthy. We will not be responsible for any damages caused by your pet in your house. If a cleaning crew comes to your house and your dog is not locked up and our employees feel threatened by your dog, we reserve the right to refuse the service, but you will be charged the full rate.
10. Wait time
When our employees have to wait in excess of 15 minutes for someone to open the door, bring keys, complete their work etc. we reserve the right to reduce the time of the appointment by the amount of time our team members had to spend on waiting, or charge for the wait time at $20.00/HR per person in addition to your cleaning rate.
11. Getting ready for cleaning
In order to get the best cleaning, we do recommend that you pick up any items from the floor.
We can always clean more thoroughly when we don’t have to wade through clutter. We request that during hot days your air conditioning be left on or lowered while our cleaners in your home, during winter time heat should be on at a comfortable temperature. If there are mechanical problems with the unit or if the heat is not turned on, please let us know. We reserve the right to refuse the service if there is no air conditioning or fan on hot days or if heat and hot water is turned off on cold days in winter.
12. Supplies and Equipment
We provide all our own equipment including commercial vacuum cleaners with advanced micro filtration filters. We continually strive to use the most effective, efficient and environmentally friendly cleaning supplies available. We are happy to use your supplied cleaning products, but are unable to accept responsibility for those products or their results.
Any jobs requiring extra unusual supplies and/or equipment must be ordered through the office, not through your cleaning crew, and will be billed accordingly (example: polishing floors with wood polish after they are washed, polishing wood furniture or silver etc.).
13. Referral discounts
As a token of our appreciation we will deduct $10 off your next cleaning for each referral of a new one-time paid customer to American Maids of Chicago, Inc.
14. Pricing
We provide quotes based on the information provided. We reserve the right to adjust charges in accordance with services actually provided. Prices are subject to change without notice.
15. Special riders
We do not clean flat screens: TVs or computers.
We use mild detergent and water to clean your granite and marble when necessary.
Due to the variability of natural stone grades (such as marble and granite or slate) and variety of care products on the market, we do not carry any specific brand for natural stone cleaners/sealer. Please check with your stone care specialist what will work best on your stone surfaces and feel free to provide your preferred product for us to clean in your home
For that same reason as above, we do not carry any specific brand of wood polish.
There are different types of wood and wood finishes. To preserve the quality and look of your wood furniture you should use only the same specific product for polishing. Please check with your wood care specialist to find out what will work best on your wood furniture and feel free to provide your preferred product for our cleaning crew to use in your home.
We use green cleaning solutions for general cleaning. These products are non-toxic and safe for your home, our team members and our environment. Although for deep cleaning and when needed, we use stronger chemicals to achieve best results.
Mold and mildew can be effectively cleaned by products containing bleach. Those products ARE NOT ‘green’ and most of the chemicals that we use for deep cleaning are not “Green Seal” certified or biodegradable.
We do not use anything abrasive on your stainless steel appliances (except sink). If we find a spot that is hard to remove with stainless steel cleaner and soft cloth we will leave that spot as is. Should we try to use anything abrasive we may get better results in removing the tough spot, but will scratch the surface.
We do not organize and put away dishes, clothes, toys, books and other personal items. We will do our best to work around the clutter and we will leave all items in a nice pile in the same place where we found them. This way it will be easier for you to locate them and put them away.
Extras
Although we are professionals, we cannot perform miracles. Sometimes we are called in too late to correct damage that is already done to some surfaces by someone before us. Other items may take a couple of cleanings to look their very best. In cases of extremely cluttered areas we reserve the right to use our prerogative to skip those areas in order to avoid damaging items or hurting ourselves. Our staff is not allowed to lift anything that is heavier than 30lb, move large or bulky furniture items, and we will take out no more than 2 bags of trash on a regular visit. Please do not overload the trash. We reserve the right to leave out some of the trash if it is too heavy or too much.
No representation or warranty made by any other person, expressed or implied other than the owner, which is not specifically set forth herein, shall be binding upon American Maids of Chicago, Inc.
By providing your credit card number and doing business with American Maids of Chicago, Inc., you agree to enter into a verbal contract and accept all of American Maids of Chicago, Inc., policies, prices, terms, procedures for cancellation and rescheduling as well as the terms and conditions of American Maids of Chicago, Inc., Satisfaction Guarantee.
American Maids of Chicago, Inc., reserves the right to reevaluate rates and/or change the Service Agreement at any time.