FAQ

With respect to price, Ask Alice generally charges more than private housekeepers because we pay worker’s compensation, wage taxes, and insurance, as well as invest in continual training of our Cleaning Specialists. Homeowners benefit from these payments, and are generally understanding of why we have to charge extra to cover these benefits.

With respect to the franchise cleaning companies, you should generally expect to pay a higher fee for our service. On a per hour basis, we are very competitive with them, but our services tend to cost more due to the fact that we follow a very disciplined and detailed cleaning process in each room that we clean. This thorough process often results in us spending more time in our clients’ homes and our prices reflect this additional time.

Our quality is superior to other cleaning companies because we take a consistent, thorough, and disciplined approach each and every time we visit your home. Most customers who have appointed us to replace an individual housekeeper or franchise experience a significant upgrade in terms of quality, consistency and dependability. In this respect our service represents good value.

Recurring housekeeping assignments account for most of our revenue. We work closely with each of our clients to develop a cleaning and service plan that is tailored to meet their needs and financial budget. It is important to know that there are no gimmicks or hidden costs when you work with Ask Alice because we charge an hourly bill–rate for all of our services. Using this method, we can easily make changes to your plan, at any time, to accommodate your needs. Time estimates and costs are developed by one of our managers or owner, after meeting with you to conduct a free, in–home consultation.

We Use Our Own Vacuums… Most homeowners have bad luck with loaning their vacuums to housekeepers, because vacuums require significant ongoing maintenance and occasional repairs. If you allow someone to use your vacuum regularly, be sure they have agreed to maintain and repair it, because sooner rather than later, it will need it. We use and maintain our own vacuums (high end Simplicity canister vacuums). Our vacuums are light weight which allow are teams to easily carry them up and down stairs and to use them on your steps. Since they are canister vacuums they are flexible and can easily maneuver in and around furniture. They come equipped with a HEPA filter bag, to help keep the air in your home cleaner, and all of the necessary attachments designed to clean your furniture, curtains, corners, and stair–risers.

We Use Our Own Cleaning Supplies… Ask Alice is committed to protecting and improving the environment! We use all–natural, environmentally friendly, green products to clean our clients’ homes. Each of the suppliers we use must have their products be either Green Sealed or EPA approved. Each of our products has been thoroughly tested for its effectiveness in cleaning and for leaving behind a fresh, natural scent.

Special Product Requests… If you have a preference for a specific product which you have and we do not carry, then we are happy to use that product in place of our own, but ask that you supply it.

Please Provide these Supplies… There are some cleaning supplies which we do not provide: furniture polish (please provide the brand /nbsp;type suited to your furniture); stainless steel cleaner (if you have stainless steel, then we need it — we don’t carry it from house to house, because it is commonly oil-based); any marble / granite or other cleaners which may have been recommended for surfaces and materials unique to your home.

We generally use two (sometimes three) Cleaning Specialists for each home and office that we clean.

Our teams are generally comprised of a Senior Cleaning Specialist and a Cleaning Specialist. They are carefully selected based on experience, dependability, trustworthiness, and their willingness to go above and beyond in support of our clients and their co–workers.

We work in teams of two, so if one of the workers is ever out sick or on vacation, then we know we can always have at least one worker from the team on the job who is familiar with your home and your needs.

Absolutely! Our work is priced on an hourly basis. Try us once as a fill–in; you are likely to find that we are incredibly thorough compared to your existing housekeeper and you might then be tempted to book our service quarterly for a top to bottom “deep cleaning” to complement the service of your existing housekeeper.

The following list of cleaning tasks represents a starting point for determining those things which may be included in your assignment. We perform all of these tasks each visit for most of our clients.

• Vacuum thoroughly (including edges and hardwood and tiled floors)
• Wash floors and clean baseboards (We clean kitchens and bathroom on our hands and knees!)
• Dust thoroughly entire home
• Clean entry–way windows and doors
• Wash all doorknobs and light switches
• Make beds and change linens (if requested)
• Thoroughly clean, shine and disinfect bathrooms
• Thoroughly clean and disinfect kitchen
• Pick up and straighten throughout house as needed
• Empty trash containers

The answer could be either “Sure, why not?” or “No need, really.” We really don’t mind one way or another. It’s totally up to you. We often encourage customers to meet the team during the initial assignment, for their own benefit, to gain confidence about the quality of our Cleaning Specialists. Meet them, ask them to clean something a little differently, and receive a polite, “Of course, with a smile.” They really are quite different from your previous housekeepers, and we are confident that meeting them will reinforce that impression for you.

Yes! We often do laundry in our clients’ homes while we are there during our regularly scheduled cleaning visit.

We’re really flexible about this issue, except that we ask that you please do. We accept cash, checks, and credit cards, including American Express. If you pay by credit card, no services will be charged to your credit card in advance. Generally, we process credit cards on the next business day after completing a job.

No, we are a local, independent company. We chose not to be part of a franchise system because we wanted the flexibility to be more responsive to our customers’ needs. We set our own service standards, which are incredibly high, and we can provide any services we choose, wherever we wish. We are, however, part of the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International (ARCSI) which gives us access to the latest training and management systems in the cleaning and services industry.

Yes, we carry loads of insurance, including worker’s compensation, and all of our employees are bonded. Ask Alice is insured through National Specialty Insurance Co., Accident Fund Insurance Co., and West Bend Insurance Co. Confirmation is available upon request.

Then we’ll do it! We pride ourselves on saying “Yes” to your requests. We do extra stuff all day long. The fact that we bill on an hourly rate allows us to continually take on more and more of your housekeeping cleaning and service requests.