Distinctive Cleaning

I NEVER review anything and not because things are not worthy of review. I’m lazy when it comes to doing things like this — it is usually not worth the effort to me — and there are those who enjoy doing it. But, I appreciate the commentary of others, which has prompted me to share. I just wish I had read others’ reviews before engaging this company for their services.
This has taken me close to two years to write. It was prompted by being erroneously charged some two years after the initial service I enlisted as a gift for my dad. I happened to be reviewing my credit card statement and noticed the charge by Distinctive Cleaning — mind you, two years or so after the service.
I contacted Distinctive Cleaning, spoke with Bessie, and explained the issue. I was told to call back and that I could speak with whomever answered. No, certainly it wasn’t incumbent upon them to contact me back — given it was their error and I was their customer and already performed my role in calling and bringing the error to their attention. Bessie told me they had received other calls of the same issue and said their had a software issue.
But considering I wanted to be credited, I called back later only to receive their voice mail. I left a message and did not receive a call back — a week passed. I contacted them today. I was advised by Bessie that the woman who handles the accounting was out for the day, but that she would take care of it right now. She took my email in order to send me the confirmation. I also requested they delete my account number out of their allegedly «secure» system — her words. We’ll see what happens with that credit and confirmation.
About the initial service — POOR. It was a surprise gift for my dad (from several of his kids) who has a large house he does the upkeep on himself. I inquired into the service the day it was performed — he said the woman was nice, but did very poor work and completely failed to do what was promised with their service and what was paid for. Frankly, I should have done the job myself!
I requested a refund — even a partial one — for their failure. My dad did not want to have to deal with the awkwardness of having someone come in — potentially vindictive — and re-​clean the house. Well, that is the only option given — re-​clean. And so I allowed it — because I certainly wasn’t going to to pay for half-​assed service and then not hold them accountable for actually performing the work. My dad said it it was done better. I probably showed up a week or two later — unimpressed.
And so you can imagine, my utter disdain in having to deal with this company yet again.
I completely recommend NOT engaging this company for their services. Unprofessional, poor service, and a charge on my credit card some 2 years later. ..

Rarely do you meet a company that is this disinterested in securing your business.
I called and left a message a month ago to redeem a gift certificate my husband bought me. No return call.
A week later, I call again and reach someone. Mention, my call was not returned. No apology. I schedule an appointment for a few weeks out. The woman on the phone says they will call first to confirm.
No confirmation call comes.
Day of appointment, no one shows up or calls.
I call and reach someone and tell them I had an appointment but no one showed up. No apology (are you sensing a theme here?) Woman on the phone tells me that she has no record of my appointment, address, name… anything. (No apology for that, either.) I reschedule.
I’ll update this (if) when they show up and actually clean something. But so far, I am astounded by their utter lack of interest in cleaning, securing my business, anything really.
UPDATE:
The cleaner (a lovely woman named Patty) arrived today. She did a great job cleaning the house and was very nice to work with. I explained that I had had trouble booking the appointment and she said she was sorry to hear that and mentioned that things had been busy lately. She also tactfully inquired if I might be in the market for more regular service and suggested that I ask for her by name if I was pleased with her work.
So based on my experience with Patty, I’m moving this from one star to three.
Hopefully this company can ensure in the future that their level of administrative services matches that of their cleaning services.

Where most cleaning services offer a discount on the first cleaning, Distinctive Cleaning over charges for the first cleaning and are very deceptive with their pricing. I was quoted $ 165 over the phone and was made to believe that was the monthly cleaning fee. I then sent email asking for a quote and provided all the information required (i.e., square footage, # of bedrooms, # of bathrooms, and frequency) and received a different quote of $ 120 per cleaning. When I contacted them to say that I believed I was overcharged for my initial cleaning, they came back with the $ 165 was the «uncontracted» price (over-​priced for the quality of the service provided). The $ 120 per cleaning was only available for a 6-​mo contract. I had scheduled a first cleaning with the intent to continue on with the service if the cleaning was satisfactory. The quality of the cleaning was nothing spectacular, in fact, I had to follow after the gal to clean off surfaces where dirt was left behind. The gal doing the cleaning also left streaks on my stainless steel appliances that I had to then wipe down again myself. Very disappointing, I don’t recommend this cleaning service. Buyer beware!

Awful service. Do NOT use this company. Unprofessional, late, sloppy, overpriced, should I go on???

I got a great deal for a three-​cleaning package on Crowd Cut, so I wasn’t expecting much … but they really disappointed me. When I called to schedule my cleanings, the earliest they could do my first one was more than a month out. Whatever, that was fine, so I scheduled all three at that time, each a few weeks apart.
I didn’t get a confirmation call for the first scheduled cleaning, so I didn’t know what time they were going to show up. I was working from home all day, so it wasn’t a big deal, but when 5 p.m. rolled around and I still hadn’t heard anything, I called. «The cleaner called in sick — call back in February to reschedule» was the response (also, this was in DECEMBER).
So when it was time for my second cleaning a few weeks later, and I didn’t get a confirmation call, I called them in the morning to see what time my cleaner would be coming. The response: «She called in sick.» After giving the «manager» a piece of my mind about what horrible service that was, she finally agreed to send someone out the NEXT week. I said no thanks, canceled my third cleaning and called Crowd Cut to get my money back.
I really think this company thrives on using daily deal websites and not following through on the service. :(

I purchased a 3-​cleaning Groupon for Distinctive Cleaning a while back and after many tries, I have finally completed all three cleanings. They cancelled at the last minute on multiple occasions and once after I waited and waited for the cleaner, she just never showed up — no call or anything. I called the office and they said they has no idea where she was. I asked to have a different cleaner for next time and they assured me they would send a manager. So when the next cleaning rolled around, the same woman showed up. Her actually turning up was a plus, but I was a bit miffed that they didn’t honor my request and didn’t notify me that they weren’t going to honor it.
When the cleanings actually did happen, they were mostly fine, but not great. Since I paid so little for the Groupon and knew I wouldn’t use them again, I didn’t see the point in being critical.
I would not use this company again.

If I could give them zero stars I would. When initially scheduling my appointment they were beyond rude and it got worse from there. When I finally got someone to show up to my house, she did a terrible terrible job cleaning and left in less than an hour. It was so bad I won’t have them back even though I purchased a deal of three cleanings. Gross!

There’s something distinctly dirty at Distinctive Cleaning. On a recommendation, I called them for a final move-​out cleaning of our home. The estimate given was based on very specific and clear details about what the cleaners would be dealing with in terms of rooms, as well as the fact that part of the time, they’d be working around our movers, given the cleaners’ scheduled arrival time of between 11 and noon. I can’t stress this enough – they knew that we’d have movers there and how big our home was.
Well, moving day comes, and cleaner – that’s right, I said cleaner, as in singular… as in one cleaner… to clean a whole house for moving out – cleaner shows up at *Ten* a.m. Generally, promptness is a virtue, but in this case, an hour earlier than planned upon is just not helpful. She sets to work, and seems unfazed by all the hubub going on around her. We’d asked for basic cleaning – dusting, vacuuming, wiping down surfaces; the only special thing we asked for was cleaning the fridge (btw – mopping the floor is extra). A few hours later, we left a friend in charge of overseeing the movers and the cleaner, left a hefty tip for the cleaner, and headed to our closings (the first of which – story for another day – made us a tad homocidal, but such is the stress of moving… I guess)
During our second closing, we get a call from management at Distinctive Cleaning. She tells husband that they want more money (!) because it was a «bigger job than anticipated» and the cleaner had to «work around the movers.» He tells them we’re in the *middle* of our closing, and will call back. She pushily insists it gets taken care of then and there. Husband, sick of the whole day, talks her down a bit, says to apply the cleaner’s tip, and we’d send the rest. What Manager didn’t know is that she had two realtors and a closer listening to husband’s side of the conversation, and all immediately asked, «Who was that, so we won’t recommend them?» Or that I’d be writing this. Clean up your act, Distinctive Cleaning.

My review is based on my experience with NOT using them. When their cleaners actually show up, they might do a fantastic job, but I’ll never know…
I was very excited to use Distinctive Cleaners. I had a great conversation with Liz (who has since left the company) and learned a lot about what they did, and received 3 referrals. The one I heard from spoke very highly of the company’s services. Their website and marketing materials are really kitchy and cute, and I was pretty sure I was going to be in good hands. I felt very comfortable scheduling an appointment.
I spoke with another employee last week to schedule cleaning. I settled on 9am, which was the earliest time available. The same woman called me back the day before to confirm 9am. The morning of the scheduled cleaning, when no one showed at 9am, I called to make sure they were on their way and was told in one of the most «why are you bothering me» voices, «I told the cleaners to come between 9 and 9:30.» I was pretty annoyed, but was assured they would «be there really soon» as they were close to our home. 25 minutes later, still no one had arrived, so I called to cancel. Again I was told «they’ll be there any second.» I didn’t have time to wait any longer, and hardly believed that «any second» would come anytime soon since «really soon» apparently means more than 25 minutes. When I said I wanted to cancel the woman even suggested I «just leave a key for them» which I thought was ridiculous because they had never been to my home, and I don’t know of anyone who would feel comfortable leaving a key for strangers.
Very bad first impression.