Frequently Asked Questions

1.    What are your Company Values?
Our values are pretty simple, relationships and families matter to us. Let me share a bit about ourselves. We met while working at Animal Control in Bridgeport in 2006. Jimmy was the Chief Animal Control Officer and Melissa ran the office and adoptions. We were there when the housing market crashed, and a lot of people lost their homes. Not only were they displaced but so were their pets. We saw the need and opened a non-profit providing mobile low-cost vaccines, pet food pantries and bite prevention/humane education for inner city children. We worked tirelessly to keep pet families together. We continued our love of helping people when Melissa worked in the home health care field for seniors and Jimmy followed his love of the therapeutic element of helping those in need with mental health courses becoming a Hypnotherapist teaching guided meditation. We chose the house cleaning business because helping people with their homes leaves our clients time to spend time with those that they love and that's really what life is about. Maintaining a home can be exhausting and feel like it's never-ending but if you accept help from those that want to help, it's one less thing you need to worry about. One of our clients once told us that coming home to a clean home is therapeutic and that truly makes our hearts smile.

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2.    How long have you been in business? 
Your Time Cleaning started in 2019.  

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3.    Are you insured? 
Yes.  We have liability insurance.

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4.    What happens if you break something while you are at my house? 
We will replace it or if it’s irreplaceable, we will pay the value of the item.

 

5.    Do you have bi-lingual employees?
Yes, employees and management. We speak English and Spanish.

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6.    Why do you clean houses?
We are a couple that value our personal relationship and want to spend as much time with each other as possible.  Before we joined Your Time Cleaning, there was a time that we were working 40+ hour office jobs with long commutes, not getting home until late and not being able to spend quality time together.  Then the weekend came, and we had to clean our house, run errands, and fulfill responsibilities.  We were living to work and not working to live.  We had no free time and our relationship suffered.  I know a lot of couples get stuck in this routine and for us it was just not acceptable.  When we had the opportunity to work together again, helping other families and couples to squeeze in as much free time as possible that they can spend with those they love, we jumped on it!  

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7.    Is there any special training you’ve gone through to learn how to house clean? 
We are always continuing our education. We have completed the Speed Cleaning Course, OSHA 10 Training, are Members of Angela Brown’s Savvy Cleaner Facebook Group Page and listen to Angela Brown’s Ask a House Cleaner Podcast every day.

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8.    What are your Service Areas?
For residential and commercial cleanings, we service New Haven, Middlesex and Hartford Counties.  We cover the state of Connecticut for real estate clean outs, post construction and one time deep cleanings.

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9.    Do you only do house cleaning? 
No.  We also offer Commercial Cleaning, Post-Construction, Real Estate Cleanouts, and Hoarding Cases.

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10.    Do you do one-time cleanings, or do you only have weekly and biweekly clients? 
We do one-time cleanings, and we also have repeat routine clients.  Just please be sure to specify your needs when you inquire.

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11.    Do you do moving in or moving out cleans and do you charge more money or the same money for a moving clean?
Yes.  We clean prior to moving in and after moving out.  We can arrange for a dumpster and remove all items from a house, but we do not help clients move.  The fee would be more than a general cleaning fee.  We would need to meet and do a walk-through to go over the scope of the project and quote accordingly.

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12.    Do you set up parties or clean up after parties? 
We do not “setup for parties” but we can clean before and after parties.

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13.    Do you do laundry? 
No. We do not offer maid services such as making beds, doing dishes, emptying the dishwasher, laundry, ironing, answering phone calls, watering plants or preparing meals. Cleaning services typically focus on the cleaning aspect of home care rather than any specialized services.

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14.    Do you clean windows? 
We will clean the inside of the windows and outside if they fold in.

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15.    Do you defrost freezers or clean out the fridge? 
We will clean out the fridge for a special project (not during routine cleans) but we do not defrost the fridge.

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16.    Do you detail cars? 
No, we do not clean cars.

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17.    Do you clean hot tubs?
No, we do not clean hot tubs.

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18.    Do you clean the same stuff each time or do you rotate chores through the house? 
Routine cleans are dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and kitchen and bathroom disinfecting.  If there are other chores that you would like accomplished, we can set times for Special Projects.

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19.    Do you do special projects? 
Yes, special projects are welcome. Simply email or text us with your special requests so we can give you the best rate and budget them into our next scheduled cleaning. Examples of Special Projects are Inside Window Cleaning (Outside if the windows fold-in), Above the Cabinets, Inside the Fridge, Open Shelves in Kitchen/Pantry, Scrubbing Cabinet Doors, Behind All Furniture, etc.…

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20.    Do you do house/pet sitting on the side? 
As much as we would love to, we do not.  We don’t carry the additional insurance and our business goals and focus is on providing the absolute best cleaning experience and not spreading ourselves out too thin.

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21.    What are your Hours?  Do you work Weekends?  What is your Holiday Policy?
Our normal workdays are Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We do work from a schedule and recommend the same time and weekday for your cleaning to create consistency and convenience for us both.  If there is an Emergency or a Real Estate Deadline, we will consider working weekends for an additional fee.  We don’t work on Christmas, Thanksgiving or New Year but we will discuss rearranging the schedule prior to those holidays.

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22.    Do you set times to come back so I know when you are coming or is it random?
Yes.  We either set bi-weekly or monthly schedules that will be the same day and time.

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23.    Do you show up on time? 
We give a 1 hour window.

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24.    What’s your policy regarding Rescheduling? Do you charge a rescheduling fee if I have something come up and have to cancel? 
Stuff is going to happen. At one point or another -- for whatever reason, one of us is going to need to reschedule our cleaning. Communication is key. We don’t charge a rescheduling fee but we do request a courtesy call, text or email 24 hours ahead of time so we can fill your spot.  

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25.    What is your Sick Policy?
If you or your children get sick with a contagious illness (i.e. the flu, a cold, pneumonia, chicken pox etc.) please call and reschedule your cleaning. Even though we sanitize your house, it is possible that we might transport germs to the next house or become sick ourselves. And to be fair to all our customers we prefer to wait until you are well again. On our end, we may call in sick as well to protect you and your family.

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26.    What is your policy regarding accessing the space (i.e. alarm systems & keys)?
Whether or not you want to be home while we clean is up to you.  Either you can let us in, leave us a key/alarm code or give us a copy.  We do charge a $50 lockout fee if we have a confirmed appointment and can’t get in.  We have a lock box that we would keep your key in, and the code isn’t shared anywhere.  We are trusted key holders of many locations.

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27.    I work from the house; will it bother you if I’m home the whole time? 
Of course not.  We will be so quiet that you won’t even know we are there (until we turn the vacuum on lol).

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28.    If I’m working from home, are you going to chat the whole time or will you allow me to get my work done? 
As much as we love to get to know our clients, we are also on a schedule and don’t have the time to chat.  We have to get our work done in a timely fashion, just like you do. 

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29.    Is it okay if my pets hang out in the same room as you cleaning? 
Absolutely!  As long as they are well-behaved and don’t think our cleaning dusters and paper towel rolls are toys, lol!

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30.    Do you clean up after our pets?
We don't scoop cat litter boxes or pick up poop as a part of a cleaning but if your pet has an accident while we are at your home, we will clean it.  We have pets ourselves and are huge animal lovers so we understand that things happen but we draw the line when there are old messes that obviously happened days ago that were purposely ignored.  

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31.    Is it okay if my kids are in the same room as you cleaning? 
Actually, no.  Unfortunately, we have tried to accommodate this request in the past and it simply has never worked out.

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32.    Is there anything we (the clients) need to do to prepare the home for the cleaners?
We do request for the daily chores to be taken care of before we arrive.  For example, no dirty dishes in the sink, kids toys all over the floor, blankets and clothes all over the living room, etc.…  We are there to clean the surfaces and when those items are in the way, it takes us longer and we can’t focus on leaving the home as sparkling clean as we intended to.  

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33.    Do you have a Satisfaction Guarantee?
Yes!  We aim to please. If, for any reason, you aren’t 100% completely satisfied with our work, just contact us within 24 hours, at 203-895-1733 and we will do everything in our power to resolve your concerns. 

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34.    What’s your Payment Policy?  
Payment is due at the time of service. We email an invoice once the cleaning is complete, and you can pay online. Cash and Checks are also fine and can be left on the kitchen counter – or we can keep a credit card on file and just charge each cleaning after you’ve approved of our work.

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35.    Am I supposed to tip you for your service? 
Of course not.  If you want to tip, they are always welcome and appreciated but please never feel obligated.

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36.    Do I pay you under the table or do you pay taxes? I’d like to take house cleaning as a deductible expense for my home-based business. 
We pay our taxes and yes, we can provide you with an invoice to use as a tax deduction.

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37.    Do you work by the hour or by the job?
We work by the job.  We require a walk-through to go over your needs and expectations before we email you the Scope of Work and Quote.  Once you approve the quote, then we get you on the schedule ASAP.

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38.    How do you price the jobs during a walkthrough?
We base our prices off of square footage of the space, height of ceilings and lighting, number of bathrooms and kitchens, amount of furniture and decorations that need cleaning, amount of clutter, special requests, cleaning frequency, etc.…  We also request the client to be very specific to what is important to them and we love to ask what it is they look for to know the house is clean.  Remember clean doesn’t have a smell.

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39.    Have you ever been fired from a house and why? 
Yes.  Lack of communication during the initial consultation and not being clear with the needs and expectations of the client, which is why we require a walk-through now and ask a whole lot of questions to be sure we are on the same page.

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40.    Do you have references? 
Yes.  We have many commercial clients and residential clients that have left reviews on Google and Facebook and will be willing to vouch for our work.

 

41.    If I refer my friend, do I get a referral fee or discounted cleaning? 
Yes, we have a referral program.  If you refer a friend that books their initial cleaning with us, we give 25% off your next cleaning.

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42.    Are you going to tell my neighbors about me, my home, my habits and how messy my house is? 
Of course not.  We don’t clean and tell.  

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43.    Do you bring your own cleaning supplies? 
Yes, we do but if you prefer us to use a special cleaner that you provide, we can do that too.

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44.    Do you have your own vacuum? 
Yes, we do but if you prefer us to use your vacuum we will. 

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45.    Do you take into consideration the client’s Allergies and Preferences to the cleaning products used in their home?
We request our clients to inform us of any allergies to certain products and to share their preferences to scents and if there are certain products that they dislike (i.e. bleach, Fabuloso, Pine-Sol, Stainless Steel Cleaner. etc...)

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46.    What type of cleaning chemicals do you use on hardwood floors? 
We typically use Mr. Clean, Pine-Sol, or Murphy’s Oil.  We always go over the preferences of our clients during our walk-through. If the client has a special request to use something that we don’t typically carry, we just request the client to provide the cleaner.

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47.    Are you the person that is coming to clean my house? 
We are a family business and currently have a small team.  Melissa and Jimmy are the ones that do the walk-through and give the quote.  They do have their own clients and are sometimes flexible enough to take on more.  Sometimes they have a member of our team take on our new clients, but you will always meet your cleaning person ahead of time and you will have the same person.  The only exception would be an emergency, sickness or vacation.  We always ask the clients preference in those situations if they would want a temporary replacement or skip the cleaning.

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48.    Is it just you cleaning or are you bringing a team of people with you? 
Typically, Jimmy and Melissa work as a team and Mike and Jonathan work as a team.  Our other members typically work solo.

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49.    What is your screening policy for people you hire? 
After an extensive interview, background check, orientation and training, we only hire people that match our values and would trust in our own homes.

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50.    How do you prefer to be contacted? Email, phone or text? 
Preferred method of contact is text 203-895-1733 or call.  Email at yourtimeservices203@gmail.com 

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