Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These terms and conditions form a contract of service agreement, using our services means agreement with these terms and conditions.

To our valued customers:-

Quality of service is of the utmost importance to The Professionals Cleaning Service (PCS), as is professionalism in our work. These are the values that set us apart from other cleaning services and it is our intention to continue to deliver the very best as a quality, detailed cleaning service coupled with the best in customer service that we can possibly provide. We must also honour our duty of care towards the staff we entrust to make delivery of this level of service possible for your ultimate satisfaction. For these aims to be viable, we need your compliance with the following terms and conditions:-

INSURANCE COVER:-

As a premium level, professional service, unlike an uninsured, unregistered ‘cleaning lady‘ who can prove to be a hefty liability for a client to hire in the long run, we are fully insured for up to £1,000,000 of damages, employer’s liability, plus key-holding insurance for your peace of mind. We would never agree to undertake any work not covered by our public liability policy, including:-

Heavy lifting – as individuals we will decide which items we can and can’t lift as only we can know our personal strength, previous injuries etc and judge effectively what is safe for us to do. Heavy lifting frequently when working in the field full-time is too much wear and tear on a body and can lead to back/knee injuries later in life, therefore lifting must not be requested of our staff within general maintenance cleaning, lifting will only be undertaken at the cleaners’ discretion.

No climbing at all may be undertaken by staff during service, we have a duty of care towards our staff and will not allow any clambering or climbing for health and safety reasons.

No exterior work is covered within our insurance. If we were to fall when cleaning an outside step or window the homeowner would be liable for our injuries or any damage to the property therefore these services are not provided.

No cleaning can be done on the premises if other trades are working there or anyone is performing DIY on the home in the areas we need to access, this voids our insurance. If we have been asked to clean when other trades are around the home we will not take liability for any damage on that visit.

Any health and safety issues will be handled as per company policy and not superseded by client request. We will always be acting in the best interests of our valued staff with regards to health and safety as this in turn is always in the best interests of the customer and the company too. We will no longer serve any client who is not supportive of our health and safety policies towards staff.

All chemicals, equipment and cloths must be supplied by ourselves, so we can ensure that, as per health and safety and insurance requirements, they are ergonomically sound to use, safe to use according to our training and hygienic to use. We have no material safety data sheets for other chemicals!

Our insurance has an excess of £250 as is the norm with most comprehensive policies within the industry so therefore small items damaged cannot be covered or therefore be replaced. If any such small damage takes place we may be able to replace these as a gesture of goodwill in certain circumstances.

ACCESS TO HOME:-

TPCS must have access to the home and all areas to be serviced on the agreed day of cleaning. Please make sure if you change locks we get an up-to-date key and the alarm code we hold is still correct and please communicate any special access arrangements that differ from the norm PRIOR to the day of cleaning, it is far too late to re-schedule on the day when teams are already out for the day. If access to the home is not available when TPCS arrive to clean a lock-out fee of the full price of service may apply, in order to pay our staff the wages for the work that was booked in good faith, and if we cannot reschedule, unfortunately then your cleaning will have to wait until your next scheduled service.

Please note if we are not issued with a key TPCS are not liable for any loss arising from the key being left or hidden for us around the property as this kind of arrangement is not encouraged by our company as is felt to not be the safest practice and our insurance only covers keys held by us, not keys left out for us, also if the key is not to be found in the agreed place a lock out charge will be applied for the wasted journey and time of staff who still need to be paid for the visit.

PREPARATION OF HOME:-

We would respectfully ask that the house must be made ready for our cleaning service in the following ways:

Please remember to make sure to have all the areas of the home which are to be serviced fully accessible to the cleaning team and make sure no one is using these areas during service. Please vacate the house if at all possible (particularly the kitchen, bathrooms and living areas). If anyone forgets to vacate the rooms and is cooking in/using the kitchen then that room is out of bounds for cleaning (which is to nobody’s satisfaction!) The kitchen cannot be the ‘one room’ the client chooses to use whilst the cleaning service takes place as too much detailed work needs to be done in there and because we are a cleaning service and not a housekeeping service we just have the one opportunity to clean in your designated slot. We are not there all day and cannot wait to complete service at the expense of the next client. Detailed cleaning is focussed work and we cannot accept complaints which were caused by client activity in the home during the service.

Please store away personal items, important items and valuables, as things will have to be moved during a thorough clean and we will not assume liability if these are lost if they have been left out. If you have a valuable, breakable item which is out on display (ie an expensive vase for example), we will not assume liability for any breakage if we have been instructed to clean such an item.

Excess clutter should be kept to a minimum on cleaning day. This enables us to clean areas more effectively and lessens confusion. We will clean accessible areas only. Excessive clutter and pick-up time incurs extra fees so please ensure the floors and surfaces are clear of items and ready for the cleaning service. Although we are not a ‘housekeeping service’ we will allow teams to wash just a few pots at their own discretion and if time allows. The sink will mainly need to be clear of washing up before we arrive as we will need to use the sink to prepare our cleaning water and chemicals.

If the house is not picked up and left ready for our service when teams arrive we will not be able to deliver the level of service we have promised without a price increase to cover additional labour costs, if teams arrive to find that a house has not been picked up and requires a large amount of tidying before they can get to the clean they will do what they can within the usual time-frame but then they will need to leave to get to the next client scheduled without getting to all the cleaning, they would rather complete the clean to the level of detail that is usual for PCS and we know that clients would usually prefer the higher level of cleaning than have our cleaners spend the bulk of the time tidying up first.

ANNUAL PRICE REVIEW:-

As an established company it is always our aim to be able to stay around and serve you for the long term, as we know you would like, we must always keep an eye on our prices and make sure that these are still workable in order to ‘keep the lights on’ within the business as we know you’ll understand.

With this in mind we will assess all clients prices yearly to make sure the scope of the work is still working out at the price we set at the original quote or if increases in costs mean we would need a new price for the service.

RESCHEDULING – NOTICE REQUIRED:-

The same as many other cleaning services, PCS have no facility for same-day re-scheduling, many services require two weeks’ notice for a rescheduling arrangement, however PCS always endeavour to provide outstanding customer service and in many circumstances we can accommodate a change if given a few days’ notice. Sometimes it is not possible at all if no client can swap to your allocated day since we always run a full schedule but, given due notice, in some cases we can help with this. We will always help where we can.

All communications and information relevant to the next visit, (except emergency cancellations, of course), must be conducted at very latest the day before the clean so that we can successfully plan the route teams will take to service all accounts efficiently for the days ahead, however PCS understand emergencies do occur in normal family life and, unlike other companies, will not be charging a fee for cancellations unless on the same day. In the case of non-emergency cancellations, these will attract no fee, but please give as much notice as you can thus we can possible utilise the spot for another clients reschedule. Additional requests cannot be made on the same day of service, we will need to book these in advance.

Therefore, although emergency cancellations are deemed acceptable, and indeed unavoidable, we have no facility for last minute swapping and rescheduling, we are usually running a full schedule, therefore in the case of a cancellation, the client will usually have to wait until their next scheduled visit, unless of course another cancellation comes up.

Additional requests will need to be booked in advance as we will need to schedule these in and arrange payment for the additional work.

ARE YOU TIED INTO A PERIOD OF SERVICE BY A CONTRACT?:

No absolutely not, we do not have you sign up for a period of time in a contract as we strongly believe that offering a good quality of service creates loyalty on it’s own and has no need to tie customers into service by making them sign. This has proved to be the case for as many years as we have been in this business – and that is over 24 so we know for sure that this works! We are flexible to your needs and service can be cancelled at any time.

We just ask that you respectfully give us a few days notice to cancel any booking so that we can use the space to fit in other work for your cleaner. This means that if we do not have two working day’s notice of a cancellation we will still need to charge the full service price as we will not have enough time to book other work into the spot and yet the cleaner will still need to be paid for her scheduled hours plus the business costs involved, but at the same time, there are never any ties involved forcing you to retain our services for any time longer than you would love to have us we want it to be that you are with us because we are making you happy and not enforced by a contract.

These terms and conditions form a contract of service agreement, using our services means agreement with these terms and conditions, but customers can cancel services whenever they need with due notice.

TIMES OF SERVICE ARE VARIABLE:-

Each client will be allocated their own day for service (unless other arrangements are made with due notice!) The service will be taking place at some point between 9.00am and 5.30pm unless indication has been given that the house may be available outside these hours in which case we may occasionally work outside these parameters. There is no facility for a specific timed appointments however we can supply time ‘windows’ of estimated arrival on request, obviously requests to know when teams may arrive must be put in before the day of the clean and will be accommodated where at all possible. Where no request has been put in before the day we will assume any time is fine to arrive and schedule accordingly. It will be too late to contact us on the day as we will all have left for the day.

We will never be able to predict how long a clean can take as it depends upon numerous variables such as how many are on a team and which staff are on this team, how the house has been left etc, and because our business model is designed to provide a quality clean at every home, unlike ‘hourly rate’ services, but we can arrange for a message to be sent to you when we are nearly finished if you are waiting to use your home again as we understand that detailed cleaning in a home can be an intrusive service – but well worth it, we think! J

Although we cannot indicate specific times of arrival, we can sometimes arrange a time ‘window’ upon request, ie morning’, mid morning, midday, afternoon or late afternoon to give a rough indication of a time we will arrive. If we are asked for the exact time that we will most likely arrive, there can be no way to know how a day will pan out when providing a detailed, cleaning service and travelling to and from various accounts. There are so many variables at play, such as traffic, how many we have on the team, how each home is left for us (see ‘preparation of home’ item!), last minute cancellations, even hot weather or feeling unwell can slow down our cleaning. We usually find we can reasonably aim for a ‘time window’ and if you would like a similar ‘window’ each week we will try hard to provide this for you. We would not promise a specific time as that is not viable for our company for the above reasons, as is the norm within our industry.

PAYMENT TERMS:-

In common with most cleaning companies, payment is expected on day of service unless another arrangement has been implemented in an individual case, which must be requested and agreed to in the first instance. We now take payments via ‘Go Cardless’ so we can take care of these for you, just ask for the link and we will send it within an email, a payment button is also to be found embedded within the first page of our website. Repeated late payments are detrimental to cash flow and will result in withdrawal of service until the arrears are cleared and regular payments set up either by yourself or via ‘Go Cardless where we can set them up for you. It is too costly to repeatedly service an account without payment and to repeatedly chase arrears, therefore please make sure prompt payment is forthcoming on the same day as service. In the event a payment is not settled before the following clean service will be suspended until payment is received and then service may be rescheduled at our discretion usually we would need a regular payment to be set up at this point. In the event of more than two cleaning cycles without payment or without any communication re payment we may have no choice but to replace a client on the schedule. After more than one payment has been forgotten by the same client, we will then require a regular payment to be set up via standing order or direct debit, which we can help you with via our ‘Go Cardless’ facility If after a late payment, this arrangement is then not implemented upon our request we will need to reconsider the client’s place on the schedule. Repeated late payments cause detrimental cash flow issues and under no circumstances will credit be extended beyond a couple of days after service has taken place unless we have agreed such an arrangement beforehand. Late payments are regarded very seriously due to the detrimental effect this has on cashflow.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES/SPECIAL REQUESTS:-

As it is our aim to offer the most detailed maintenance cleaning service at the most affordable price we can offer, we have only built in our ‘standard service’ items at the price quoted for your regular maintenance cleanings. (Items included are on your service list list, new service lists with prices are available upon request and will be sent to you from time to time) Those are the items included within the agreed maintenance price. We do not offer substitutions or swaps, if any area that was quoted for at our original meeting when I walked through the house is not available for any reason it cannot be swapped for another area that was not covered in the original quote. This is because regular maintenance cleaning relies on certain rotas and systems of work to keep an area in the ‘maintenance’ phase of the service. New areas require a new quote and to be filtered into the system. It is not a fair swap to suddenly decide jobs which we have got in our systems and rotas can be left in order to do a complete initial clean of another area. We would never be able to run the schedule if this were allowed. New areas of the home require to be booked ahead.

Additional extras are available and prices will be listed on your price list(new copies available upon request!). Prices may change as with general price increases or because we have upgraded a certain additional service or where the scope of the work has altered in any way. Please make all bookings for extra services in advance through PCS office and not via notes for the cleaning staff unless it is meant as a booking for the following visit and we are also made aware of the booking.

Special requests can sometimes be accommodated such as the deep cleaning of a specific room, given due notice, but will attract an additional charge related to additional time taken in order to keep our business viable. Any special requests must be within the scope of our service, please do not attempt to alter the job parameters of the regular maintenance service sold to you without due notice and request for a price. Please do not decide yourself what the price should be for any given service.

Please see below for cleaning after work has been done in your home:-

POST-CONSTRUCTION CLEANS (within regular service):-

If any work has been done within the home which has created additional construction dust you will require a post construction clean for your next service, this requires at least a double spot to be booked as the usual regular maintenance clean will not suffice, these cleans need to be booked in advanced so that we can price, staff and schedule them accordingly. If the cleaner arrives to find construction dust within a home with no post construction clean booked they will be given instruction to clean as many rooms as they can within a usual time-frame and leave the rest of the home for the next visit so that they can still take care of all the clients on their schedule that day, this is to nobody’s satisfaction so please remember to book a post-construction clean in advance. PCS will accept no complaint for incomplete service if we find a post-construction clean is required but has not been booked in. It is not enough to leave notes to the cleaners apologising for the extra workload, it is only fair that we do pay them for any additional labour. Our business model and payment structure requires that they are paid for all work done on behalf of the company. And this is why additional work requires an additional charge.

FiXTURES AND LIABILITY:

PCS must be informed of any fittings or fixtures of the home which are not fitted securely which could result in damage to these fittings or injury to staff during the cleaning process. No liability will be taken by PCS for any issues caused by fittings or fixtures which are not secured correctly within the home. Please make sure no candles or burners are lit before service, ensuring the safety of our staff and your items which may get damaged if candles etc were left burning or recently put out before service. PCS will not undertake any liability for either injury to staff or damage to property in these instances where the home was not left safely prepared for our service to take place.

PCS will also not be accountable for any accidental damage or injury resulting from or related to any home maintenance issues at the property being cleaned. If you have older or faulty fittings which potentially cause leaks or showers not correctly sealed, shower doors which come off during normal cleaning pressure applied when scrubbed, plugs that get stuck down plug holes when used to fill the sink, items not attached to walls properly, items coming lose which could fall upon cleaning we must be informed of these before we agree to undertake the work so that we avoid these areas. We will not undertake any liability for damage caused by home maintenance issues such as and not limited to those listed above.

We will not be liable for any damage to the home if we are allowed in to clean where other trades are present in the home or anyone is doing DIY within the areas of the home.

Any damage caused by our cleaner will be reported to us the same day. If the damage has not been noticed by the cleaner, we will need this to be reported within 24 hours of the clean so that we can investigate if indeed our cleaner was responsible for the issue. If damage is reported in a timely manner and is found to be the fault of staff representing PCS then an insurance claim may be made for any damage of value above £250 which is the excess on the insurance policy. Any amount above the £250 excess will be covered for you if reported to us correctly and if our staff are found to be responsible for this by the insurance company.

If other trades were in the home during the cleaning visit when damage occurred we will not take liability for any damage caused.

If there is client activity going on during the clean we will not take liability for any damage.

END-OF TENANCY CLEANING:-

As many of you who are landlords know, PCS are also End-of-Tenancy cleaning specialists, but these services are usually booked up at least three/four weeks in advance, so please arrange well in advance to avoid disappointment. Just for information, these services usually cost anything around £240-£1,440 inc VAT depending on the property (in common with other professional cleaning services) our standard is high and cost very reasonable hence the high demand. These services can take a team all day or more and will never be put before regular maintenance clients ,that is why they are subject to availability and booked well in advance with our company and must be booked early to reserve! Quotes will be given based on size/condition of property. Due to limited availability issues EOT cleans are ONLY available to our regulars who are landlords and then only when possible to schedule these subject to availability, these cleans are no longer available to the wider public due to lack of availability for one-off cleaning.

REGULAR MAINTENANCE CLEANING IS NON-TRANSFERABLE:-

Once you have had your ‘initial’ clean which, as you will remember, is a discounted, deeper clean on the first visit designed to bring the home up to our professional cleaning standards and to impress our clients and win your loyalty, after about 3 to 4 visits you will then move into the ‘maintenance phase’ of the service, which is where we visit your home, weekly or fortnightly to ‘maintain’ the level of cleanliness in your home within our systems and rotas. Some companies charge in full for all the time taken to do the initial clean, we choose not to charge in full but to do the initial work at a loss that day to win a warm relationship with you, but regardless the ‘initial’ is a mutually beneficial effort as the client gets a beautifully clean home that makes them feel so comfortable and happy and we get a clean home to maintain from then on thus serving the client to the best of our abilities.

This is the reason why our service is ‘non-transferable’. We cannot be sent to another property instead of your weekly maintenance slot (or to a part of your property we do not usually clean which is not maintained within our systems and rotas). A different property requires a meeting at the property to assess the scope and establish a price for that property, then a date to be implemented within the schedule for the cleans. For example, we cannot just ‘pop’ to a client’s friend or family in place of their own clean. We do not offer one-off cleans at anywhere near the price of regular maintenance cleans for all the reasons given, therefore please do not attempt to move our service to another property. If you move house a new quote and a new cleaning spot will be arranged for you then you will be back on the schedule. If a friend or relative would like to hire us themselves that is brilliant and we would endeavour to get them on the schedule at the earliest opportunity, but cannot promise a place immediately when fully-booked (although we wish we always could!).

WE CLEAN IT ONCE:-

Because our business model is ‘cleaning service’ not ‘housekeeping service’ we can only clean each area once, for example, if we mop a floor and a pet walks across it we cannot keep cleaning it, or if someone comes home early and walks on our newly mopped floor then makes a mess on a kitchen surface we have cleaned, our work has already been done. We cannot stay and clean again. We would have to charge a substantial amount more if we were to go over and over work already completed, therefore we clean it once only within the price supplied.

PETS:-

PCS are not a bio-hazard cleaning service therefore will not clean excrement, vomit, blood or urine. This is to everyone’s benefit because it will avoid staff sickness and avoid cross contamination of harmful pathogens around the house., plus both we and you have a duty of care towards our cleaners’ health and working conditions.

Please give us instruction on where your pet is allowed to go during cleaning and where he/she is to put after. We will try to make sure he is where you would like him to be! If he/she is not good with people or frightening to staff or likely to make a mess after we leave, please make sure he is contained during the service.

While we will be sure to take the best care to follow your instructions with regard to pets, we will not undertake any liability for the well-being of pets and responsibility for both pets themselves and health and safety of staff where pets are present remains that of the home-owner who undertook to have the work done around the pet.

CLINICAL WASTE AND HEALTH ISSUES:-

Because both ourselves and the clients we serve have a duty of care towards our cleaners, our cleaners are instructed not to handle sanitary waste unless it is within a lined bin. Also we do not handle sharps under any circumstances, these must be disposed of in the correct manor and not by a cleaning service. We are not a bio-hazard cleaning operative therefore will not be handling dead animals, blood, faeces, urine or other bodily fluids which may harm the health of and impact on the working conditions of our valued cleaners. Also we will not be emptying bins which are not adequately lined nor will we be sorting through rubbish with our hands, we will help with taking rubbish to the bins but clients are responsible for making sure we do not come into direct contact with rubbish. Homes left for us to clean in a bio-hazardous condition will be taken off the schedule.

If anyone in the home has an infectious illness, please let us know and cancel the clean so that staff do not come into contact with these. Sickness absence is a huge drain on a cleaning service. If our cleaner arrives to find someone is suffering from a contagious illness within the house we will ask them to leave service that day and return on your next scheduled visit. This will not incur a lockout fee in the first instance but repeated incidents will have to be reviewed.

The health and safety of our cleaners’ working environments is essential and the conditions PCS provide for them is outlined as per government guidelines and insurance guidelines, the scope of our service is within these guidelines and cleaners must not be asked to include anything else outside of the services booked with us. They are not allowed to climb up and wipe high tiles or climb on furniture as injury for which we would not be covered by our insurance is likely, as another example, they are not allowed to lift anything they cannot easily pull with one hand as is usual within regular domestic cleaning terms, they are also advised not to clean any floor area ‘on hands and knees’ as too much wear and tear on their bodies leading to injuries later in life would be the likely result of such.. The equipment provided is to be used as trained to ensure due care of our cleaners’ long term welfare.

REQUIRED NOTICE OF EVENTS WHICH COULD INTERFERE WITH THE CLEANING SERVICE:-

Please inform in advance if there is anything going on at the home which could interfere with the flow of service. If there were guests using the home during service, for example, that would be considered an automatic cancellation. Although we completely respect a client’s home (that is why we want to provide them with the freshest, cleanest environment to live in that we can!) when we arrive to work, the home is also our place of business and must be ready for such so that we can provide you with this level of service. If anyone is in the home, using the rooms we need to service we will not be able to deliver our service that week. If you have guests staying in your home for more than two cleaning cycles this will require a new price from us for the duration of their stay.

Also price adjustments may need to be implemented if any alterations to the home occur (extensions, conservatories etc) also for new additions to the family (pets, long-term guests, new babies etc) If you move house, and wish us to clean the new property we will need to visit the new home to price up the scope of the work at the new home, and, as per our business model and in order to provide you with the best service, an initial clean will need to be booked before we can go forward with the usual standard maintenance cleans in the new property. As we usually run a full schedule, we will need to book the initial clean well in advance so that we can clear the necessary hours for a cleaner to be able to provide the initial clean.

MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT:-

PCS, in common with other fully equipped professional companies, will only use our own equipment, supplies and cloths to ensure quality of service and to avoid cross contamination, since we know our own cloths are to be freshly laundered and disinfected each day, and we use separate ones for separate purposes – and obviously fresh ones at each client’s home. We will not put you at risk by using other cloths/chemicals than our own.

Products must be supplied by PCS as we have professional understanding of the chemistry of cleaning and bring what we need to safely deliver our promise to do a fabulous job for you plus take good care of the materials of your home and care for our cleaners’ health. Other chemicals than our own will not usually be used by PCS since our cleaners will have had no training as to how to use these correctly and safely and we not have the material safety data sheets for other chemicals. Our equipment is top range and ergonomically sound and we buy the things we know to perform outstanding service that are also comfortable for us to use five days of the week full time, we know it is because we’ve done it ourselves with the same! We will not risk injury to cleaners, damage to the surfaces of your home or lower standards of work by agreeing to use other equipment and if chemicals other than those we have provided are agreed to be used then you must take on all responsibility and liability for us using these items.

PARKING:-

Please note PCS have to bring heavy bags of supplies and equipment into your home (and several other homes) during the day of cleaning, so please be considerate and try to make sure there is a place to put our vehicle near to your door. We are liable for our cleaners and their health and safety and do not wish them to suffer back and joint injuries through repeated strain.

If there is no parking at all near a client’s home on the day (and we recognise that sometimes this is beyond the client’s control due to roadworks) we may then have to cancel the visit if it is too far to bring all the bags and the equipment on foot , there will be no fee for this as long as the client could not possibly have known and informed us of these conditions.

FEES:-

Unlike many other companies, PCS do recognise that events can happen beyond a client’s control at times, therefore NO fees will be incurred with any genuine emergency cancellation or cancellations made two working days in advance of the booked spot.

In the event of any of our cleaners making a journey to a client’s home and have no access to the home in the usual way (example: due to obstructions, locks changed, alarm codes altered etc) and the client forgets to inform us or give us alternative information/means to access property, or cancel us with good notice until the problem is rectified, then a fee of the usual price of service per wasted visit will be implemented to compensate our cleaner’s time wasted and wages expected from the booking as the spot is now wasted for booking in other work for them .

Equally, we do require two working days notice to make a cancellation in order for us to have fair opportunity to use the booking for other work and therefore allow the cleaner to receive the expected income for the booking. If we do not receive this fair notice we will need to charge the full service fee as the spot will then be wasted to us and the cleaner will still need to be paid her expected wage.

We really hate to charge fees but sometimes it just costs too much for a wasted journey for cleaning staff who will still require payment for the booking if we then cannot access the home, or for a cleaner’s spot to be cancelled at short notice so becoming impossible to schedule other work into their booked spot and again, often they will have booked and paid for childcare and will be expecting the work booked onto their schedules, so in the interests of kindness and fairness, their expected payment is still required.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH OFFICE:

To avoid confusion, any requested re-schedules, cancellations or new work to be booked or changes to the scope of the service must be booked via PCS office admin staff and not directly with the cleaners.

The best way to communicate with PCS management regarding any issues or to give us any new information is to either call the office Mon-Fri 9 am to 4 pm or via email in writing during these hours, this allows for the fastest results in resolution of issues or for faster implementation of any new work plans and/or prices for these. Please follow up any issues reported in a telephone call with an email to confirm the issues in writing to make sure these are fully understood and managed for you. Please attach any photographs you have too to help us manage these correctly and promptly for you.

Any issues we need to take care of for you MUST be communicated within 2 working days of the cleaning visit.

Complaints can only be taken care of effectively and completely by following our Company Complaints Procedure which should come attached alongside this document:

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE:

Although The Professionals Cleaning Service do not expect any issues to arise with regards to the service we provide and we are REALLY appreciating the most wonderful feedback you give to us daily, because we are humans, occasionally something may be forgotten, should anything like this occur or any other issue here is the procedure to follow and then we promise to take care of things for you as soon as we possibly can:

Issue should be reported to The Professionals Cleaning Service within 48 hours of the unsatisfactory visit to give us a fair chance to take any relevant remedial and/or training action.

The Professionals Cleaning Service will then enquire of our cleaner to discover why the incident has occurred.

The Professionals Cleaning Service will address with our cleaner and take care of the issue to client’s satisfaction.

The Professionals Cleaning Service will take care of any training issues which need to be addressed to prevent re-occurrence of the issue.

The Professionals Cleaning Service will request feedback to make sure cleaning is back up to standard.

If any further issues occur let us immediately, we will consider replacing your current cleaner with one who may be a better match for your requirements. This will only be done as a last resort as we make every effort to train all our cleaning staff up to the same high standards therefore we will endeavour to eradicate issue by addressing in the first instance.

Note: Please do not worry about upsetting your cleaners by addressing issues with PCS. All our cleaners are trained to receive feedback, both the good and the not so good, to be used as tools for learning and growth for the future. They are all aware a small criticism is not to say they do not work hard or they are not very good cleaners in general, it is just that one thing they need to improve on! PCS understand how to communicate issues to staff in a way that gets them on board with necessary improvements. Never worry about communicating with PCS about anything at all we are happy to help with anything that is what we are here for.

Legitimate Complaints that we can take care of:

Anything included in the standards service list issued to you when we walked through your home in the first instance, which has not been taken care of by our teams.

Anything included on rotational basis on the service list which is not appearing to be done at all.

Any additional services which have been booked on an on-going basis and added into your price which have been overlooked.

Any special arrangements we have made with you and priced in accordingly that have been forgotten and are not being taken care of.

Any careless behavior resulting in damage or injury.

Any ill-mannered behaviour, ie shouting or general rudeness. The Professionals Cleaning Service do not hire staff we would expect to engage in these types of activities our staff are all hired on the basis of attitude and shared values.

Cleaners must NOT use clients’ chemicals at all unless we have your direction to do this in writing, they are trained to use our chemicals for both quality of service and for health and safety reasons plus liability issues, they are trained to use the correct chemicals on the surfaces of your home so no damage can take place, we have no material safety data sheets for clients own chemicals and will take no liability for use of these as we supply everything necessary.

Cleaners must NOT use clients’ equipment, unless theirs breaks on the premises and they have no choice on that occasion, or unless a special exception is made and client has taken on liability in writing for results from or maintenance of their own equipment as a rule we should not touch your vacuum or mop and bucket or your cloths to clean with, they must use our freshly laundered cloths to avoid cross contamination and for hygiene and our equipment for quality control and health and safety. You are paying for this service level.

Cleaners should not be making any offers or promises on behalf of TPCS, they should not be taking on additional work for free or promising work that is beyond the scope of our service for free, this will ultimately cause dissatisfaction, all work must be booked via the office

Complaints We Cannot Help With

Anything that is not within the scope of our domestic service (see service list) cannot be complained about if not performed. Extras such as a few pots of washing up , a little tidying, or taking care of the recycling are sometimes done as a kindness, where time allows, and not as part of our standard service therefore, although these are kind of your cleaners to do, they cannot be held to account for missing these type of kindly acts.

The service is detailed domestic cleaning and not restoration service, DIY jobs such as replacing discoloured sealant , removal of limescale build-up

or wall-washing cannot be undertaken within the scope of a normal maintenance cleaning schedule, also, when you have taken care of these jobs, it will make the appearance of the room look considerably cleaner and be easier for our team to clean but if these jobs are not done, we can still clean of course, it will just be understood, we are not accountable for any remedial work necessary to get a superb finish since we offer domestic cleaning only. DIY/restoration jobs would attract to us a considerable liability for which we are not insured.

Additional services which were not booked in advance will need to be performed at another visit, therefore cannot be complained about if they were requested on the same day. Our schedule only allows for

work already booked to be performed on the day of the visit. Please book additional work in advance of service to avoid disappointment.

Any additional work which will break terms of our insurance policy, ie health and safety issues such as, cleaners cannot be asked to move large items of furniture or climb on anything other than a two-step on solid ground, we will only be accountable for work within the scope of a regular domestic service as set out at the original meeting. Staff will be using our own chemicals and equipment as trained to safely do so. Staff are instructed to dry dust blinds only to reduce possibility of damage and walls cannot be washed but spot cleaned at cleaners discretion only, where paint is deemed stable enough. Large areas of walls will not be washed.

Any jobs considered a health and safety issue are not included, for example electrical light fittings will be dry dusted only at cleaners discretion

Blinds and shutters will be dry dusted only as these can come down with additions pressure applied.

Any jobs we would consider bio-hazard – involving blood, vomit, sharps or pet mess, we will not be involved in tasks associated with these substances for health and safety reasons as per the law.

Any complaint based on time spent on property and not about items missed out of the clean, as you know we are a flat-rate per-job business model and as explained, since different cleaners have variable levels of speed and fitness, time taken to complete our service list can vary from team to team depending on who is on said teams. Trading standards dictates that as a flat-rate service we must issue a service list (which we gave in writing when we set the price for this) and then we are accountable for delivering these items promised as we should be, however long it takes a person/people on site. We chose this model as it is a more detailed and professional service than the hourly rate model who are only accountable for amount of time spent on the premises. Cleaning is subjective and, if selling time, results can be so variable as, with TPCS, we only have one standard and we all have this in writing to adhere to, time is not relevant, results are of the highest importance, which is how we achieve all that we do at the prices we offer.

TPCS cannot work to appointment and still deliver this detailed level of service, therefore we cannot give a time of arrival, only a time ‘window’ such as morning, mid-morning, early afternoon, late afternoon etc, these time-frames will be variable depending on other work booked on the day of the clean, we can usually give a time-frame on request but not a time of arrival. You will always know which day to expect us though so you will know when to prepare the house for cleaning . We cannot accept ‘ cleaners were late’ complaints if the cleaners arrived on the correct day allocated to your clean. We can issue an ETA ‘expected time of arrival’ window if these are requested in advance of the clean.

As you know, because our detailed service relies upon our systems and rotations, TPCS issue a service list at the same time that we set the price for our standard service and it includes many details which are not offered by other companies without additional charges attached, this is one of the things which set us apart and because we do offer such a comprehensive service for the best price we viably can, we do not offer substitutes or swaps of areas included in the clean unless booked in advance, and must be ‘like for like’ ie a spare room cannot be traded for a bathroom as we would charge more for cleaning a bathroom than a spare room. We will price in additional rooms if you book in advance of the clean If additional areas are not booked in advance and priced accordingly the cleaners will not be able to clean them.

In keeping with our ‘we clean it once’ policy, if a client comes home mid-service and begins to use the house as if it is not in service and/or undoes any of the preparation we have done in order to clean areas fully, such as replacing furniture we have left out to clean underneath or putting

matts/rugs back down before we have cleaned the floor, these areas will then be left uncleaned, the same applies if a client is cooking during service or taking a shower or if pets or people run across newly mopped floors, (we do not work when children are present for health and safety reasons, as already stated within terms, so we do not expect to encounter that problem at all) we know we can only deliver the bare minimum if a client needs to use the home during service and strongly discourage this as a quality, detailed service but if this should ever occur we cannot accept any responsibility for the lack of detail in the clean as detailed cleaning can mainly take place when the home is vacated.

Vague complaints – Non-specific complaints are confusing and can lead to distress and low morale in our valued staff, please don’t be afraid to let us know exactly what has been missed as vague complaints cannot be rectified without specifics. We really want to know how to help put things right and earn your ‘wows’ again! We cannot help if we cannot address the specific area which was missed during the clean. It is distressing for cleaners to be told they have missed a bit and not know which bit or that it seemed ‘rushed’ when they just worked harder, seemed ‘rushed’ is not a valid complaint we can help with or understand, we need to know the specific items on our service list which were missed to be able to correct. If we have the specifics they will happily put this right for you. Clear, concise issues can be dealt with immediately and with pleasure, non-specific , vague complaints just cause distress for all concerned as they cannot be addressed. Because we are not an hourly rate service model the cleaners can take as long as it takes them as individuals to deliver our service list and any additional services booked, some will be fast and some will be slower, so please be fair and tell us exactly what they missed so we can take care of these immediately.

Final Note for our Valued Clients:

As you can clearly see we take delivery of your cleaning service very, very seriously, we understand we are not the cheapest business model around (although we are certainly and by far not the most expensive) we are very focused on delivering the best service level and best value for money possible. We understand when you are paying £50/£700 or £100 etc per week for your cleaning you are wanting a quality and detailed service and although we cannot promise perfection within a standard domestic maintenance clean as we do not charge for such, we CAN promise to deliver the best value for money you could buy, this has been achieved by us developing and training out our systems and rotations of work to include the details other services charge as extras, also we never skimp on supplies and equipment, we are constantly wanting to deliver the best for you. We absolutely welcome all your feedback, and wish to thank you for all your lovely comments, the volume of these are quite overwhelming and the staff get so motivated with such praise, it’s so lovely to know we are getting it right for you, but we also need to know if something was forgotten, all staff are in agreement that we must put these items right as soon as is possible and we all welcome this knowledge. Open communication is key. This is how we end up with such long lasting and warm relationships with our valued clients.

PENALTY FOR DIRECTLY HIRING ANY EMPLOYEEE OR ANY CLEANER CONTRACTED TO TPCS WITHOUT PERMISSION:-

We really hope you love your cleaner, however we love her too! We are sure you will understand that during the provision of your Professionals Cleaning Service and for a period of 12 months after any cancellation you may not employ any staff in any capacity that are or have been contracted to Professional Cleaning Service. Professionals Cleaning Service reserve the right to claim any damages, loss of earnings, advertising costs, recruitment costs, training costs and any court costs where appropriate, subject to a minimum of £450.

Thank you for reading the updated terms and conditions. We hope this communication is understood and deemed to be reasonable by our clients. The intention of policy is always to encourage communications and actions we need from clients to fulfil our duties and be the best we can for you all plus to honour our duty of care towards our valued staff, we love how much you love our cleaning staff, the relationships which have formed are so heart warming. We are YOUR service, we love what we do and we really love that YOU love it too, our key aim is to continue to make you happy and take good care of your homes, we just need a little help with the above so that we can continue to stick around for the long haul and service your homes to your maximum satisfaction plus stay viable as our business grows.

We thank you wholeheartedly for your usual co-operation with all these items and for all the wonderful feedback and lovely messages of support we get from you plus the referrals to friends and family and amazing testimonials , without which we simply would not exist! PCS have had a hugely successful year far exceeding all our expectations mainly thanks to the generosity of our clients in helping to spread the word. This huge assistance in our growth is, in turn, passed back to our clients in offering our lowest possible pricing within our business model and our commitment to continue to deliver the level of service upon which you have come to depend! The goodwill from you all has been overwhelming and amazing!!

Thank you for all these things and most of all thank you so much for your continued business! We really appreciate you too, your happiness is, as always, our happiness.

PCS Terms and Conditions are reviewed and update annually – last updated July 2025
Continued use of service is deemed full acceptance of all Terms and Conditions