Equipment & Supplies

We will provide our professional vacuum equipment. We ask that you provide the general cleaning products for each visit. This would include the following: 
All-Purpose Cleaner such as Lemon Lysol, Mr. Clean, Pine Sol, 409, etc.
Glass Cleaner such as Windex, Glass Plus, etc
Foam Bathroom Spray such as Dow Bathroom, Lysol Tub & Tile, Scrub Free, etc
Toilet Cleaner such as Cling, Soft Scrub, Vanish, etc. ( please no Lysol Toilet)
Treatment for Mold/Mildew such as Tilex, X-14, Clorox Cleanup, etc
We also ask that you provide the paper goods, which are paper towels and trash bags.
You may provide sponges and cloths, and mops & brooms for sanitary reasons.
Please inform us if you wish to provide specific wax or polish products for the furniture or floors since opinions vary so greatly and various furniture and floors need different care. The same goes for any manufacturer recommended products.

"Specialties of the House":

Items that are needed for your home's particular needs are called "Specialties of the House" and you will need to provide them. These include any items that we would not need for all homes. This may include an extra long duster to reach vaulted ceilings. We may ask that you provide a special  product or leave out the products you have currently been using to avoid mixing products on surfaces, especially those of furniture and floors. We can inform you if there are any special things you will need to provide. We do not use industrial strength products as we believe that they are too strong for the home environment. Product requests can be customized. We will be happy to make appropriate recommendations if you so desire.


Scheduling & Inclement Weather

There will come a point in time when weather issues will prevail no matter what our good intentions may be.  With winter weather and the occasional storms during all seasons, we must always consider the safety of our staff first and foremost.

We DO NOT follow the school closings, although some of our people may not be available if the schools close, but that is only due to day-care closure issues.

Snow Days:

When storms hit overnight and end before morning rush hour, we will attempt a late opening to allow the streets to be cleared. Usually 2-4" is passable by noon. Higher accumulations though are not usually cleared by then and we may not get out after all. When storms begin overnight and rage throughout the day with heavy accumulation, we will close for the day. When storms begin during the day we will begin on time and try to get to our morning customers, canceling the day at some point when the accumulation becomes too difficult to maneuver through. Afternoon customers may not get done.

Ice Days:

When an ice storm hits overnight, we will be closed that following day. When an ice storm hits at any time during the day, we will close down immediately to allow our staff time to get home safely.

Freeze-ups:

If the streets are wet all day with melted snow and ice and we have freezing temperatures overnight, we may have a late opening the next day to allow time for re-melting.

Please remember, that although you may be able to get to work, we still may not be able to get to your home. This is due to the fact that you may take the main, well traveled roads into the city areas to work, however we have to get into and out of the neighborhoods which are last to be plowed and salted. Also more of you own 4WD vehicles nowadays, but our people use their own vehicles which are typically older cars which are less reliable especially in bad weather. Please bear with us.

Please call the office if your house is snow bound, or your street is impassable so we do not attempt the impossible. That will allow us time to reach those more accessible.

Power Outages/Water Cut-offs:

Please call the office if you expericence a power outage or water cut-off as it is almost impossible to do our job under these conditions.  That will allow us time to reach those with these service still intact.

As always, if you require Priority scheduling (ex: company coming), call the office and make sure we are aware of your needs. Yours might be the only house we get to that day!


Key Arrangements

Key arrangements can be made if there is any chance that no one will be home at the time of cleaning. You may give us a copy of your key. Keys are tagged, coded and kept in a lock-box in the office. They are issued out the morning of service and returned that afternoon attached to company property. The key codebook is always locked up under separate cover for your security. If you prefer to leave the key hidden on the premises, you can hide it under the mat or in the mailbox or elsewhere. We can either leave the key in the house and lock the bottom lock as we leave, or we can key lock the house and put the key back in it's hiding place. Custom arrangements can be made for whatever you are more comfortable with. If service is terminated, keys will be returned via first class mail to your home address on file. If you wish the keys to be mailed to another address, such as a work address or new home address, please furnish the office with that address.

We are not responsible for damage to keys or locks due to badly copied keys or locks that are difficult to operate.

Alarms

Please consider the staff’s lack of knowledge regarding alarm technology and set your alarm to the OFF position on your day of service.

If you request that the staff disengage or engage the security system upon arrival and exiting, you take full responsibility or the outcome of such events should the alarm be triggered and the security company is notified. Please furnish us with emergency cut off codes and your cell phone number which you are guaranteed to answer.

Even with all precautions taken, accidents will occur, therefore we are not responsible for any fees incurred due to security alarms being left in the armed position on your cleaning day.


Payment Policy

It is our policy to request payment at the beginning of service each day as this is a "cash and clean" type of business. Your cooperation is appreciated. Payment for any First Time or One Time Only service is required in credit card, cash or money order only. After the first cleaning, please make a standing credit card arrangement or leave your personal check made out to "Cathy's Cleaning" on the kitchen counter the morning of your regular service. We accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cards. You may also use your Visa debit/check cashing card. Checks returned from the bank will incur a $30 service fee.

Lock-outs & Turn-aways

Due to the staff's time spent in the pursuit of maintaining our schedule, we charge a fee for any lock-outs or turn-aways. It is your responsibility to call the office if you need to change an appointment or make alternate key arrangements. Forgetting to call the office to report a skip in cleaning week, or forgetting to leave a key in a designated hiding place will incur a lock-out fee. Turning the staff away for any reason once they have arrived will incur a turn-away fee. These fees are non-negotiable and will be charged to a credit card on file. You may make arrangements to include it on your next check payment if you are a repeat customer. Payments not included in the next visit will be charged to the credit card on file.

First Time Cleanings:

We will charge a fee of $150 for any lock-outs or turn-aways on first time or one time cleanings.  These rates are based on the distance the staff travels and the circumstances involved and will be determined at the discretion of management.

Repeat Cleanings:

We will charge a fee of $50 for any lock-outs or turn-aways on weekly, biweekly, or monthly cleanings. The only exception to this is a turn-away if we arrive after 5:00 pm. These rates will be based on the distance the staff travels and the circumstances involved and will be determined at the discretion of management.

Cancellations

Please notify the office 48 hours in advance of any cancellations/reschedulings so that we may fill your space with another customer.  Any first time or one time cleaning that cancels in less than 24 hours prior to 9am the day of the scheduled cleaning will incur a $100 cancellation fee to cover the gap in the schedule. No exceptions. On any first time cleanings, if the staff has already been dispatched and is in route to you, even if they have not arrived yet, and you cancel service, then the turn-away fee of $150 (see above) will be implemented.

Preparations for Cleaning

Please have your home picked up, tidied up, dishes out of the dishwasher, bed linens set out, and payment ready, so that we can concentrate on providing the best possible service to you. We include what is called "light tidying" with general service, but this is a limited service. It will include putting breakfast dishes from that morning into the dishwasher, straightening up the newspapers, mail and magazines from that week, fluffing pillows and folding throws on furniture, and picking up no more than an arm full of toys or clothes. Anything above and beyond that may be accessed an additional charge. We will charge by the load or room in such cases. Call our office if you need prices for additional services such as organizing, decluttering, laundry, or dishes.


Dirty Fees

Any area of the home that requires significant heavy scrubbing due to build up of dust or dirt may be accessed a dirty fee. You have the option of paying the extra charge so we can spend the extra time and energy on the area, or you can decide not to with the understanding that we will give it a heavy once over, but will not go back over it multiple times performing heroics to bring it up to par. Please remember that although we can work wonders sometimes, we are not miracle workers. A home that has become very dirty or dusty will not look like a new home when we are finished, although you may not recognize it when you come home. And although we will do our best to try to remove all built up dirt and dust, there are situations that cannot be helped.

Resettled dust is very common after we have completed the cleaning of a very dusty home. This resettled dust can even contain pet hair if there was an abundance of pet hair to begin with. Heavy Soap scum build up does not always come out completely, although you will usually see a major difference. Mold and Mildew actually grow roots into grout and may not all come out. Wax build up on floors can make a floor look the same as before and will need special service. Drip pans on the stovetop may need to be covered in foil and eventually replaced. Please make the office aware of any hardship areas to avoid surprises.


Guarantee

Our work is guaranteed 100%. If you have any problems at all, call us within 48 hours, and we will send our staff back out at no charge to redo the work.

Due to the nature of this business, we will occasionally hear complaints on the service provided. We will stand behind our work and try to help alleviate any possible problems. Usually any problem that may be our fault is due to an oversight or improper procedure being followed. This can easily be corrected with a call to our office.

Contract

We do not require a length of term contract, however we do request that you sign our Policy Contract as an agreement to the terms and conditions outlined on the Policies page of website. Please print out and fax the Contract page back to us with your signature and basic information filled in below.  Please print a copy of this Policies page and retain it for your reference.

Privacy policy

Cathy’s Cleaning is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust, and accordingly maintains the following privacy policy to protect personal information you provide. Physical, electronic and managerial procedures have been employed to safeguard the security and integrity of personal information. Personal information is accessible only by staff on an as needed basis.

We will not use your personal information other than for the purpose for which it was submitted without your consent. We use personal information to service our clients, reply to inquiries, handle complaints, provide operational notices, and in program record keeping. Our web site is not set up to track, collect or distribute personal information.