Klean it Up Services -- Cleaning Service or Scam?

"CLEAN it Up Services," the flier on my windshield proclaimed. "We will do what you won't do."

Sounds good, I thought to myself. With my girlfriend moving in within a week, and having wanted to find a reputable cleaning service since my last one moved to Texas, I thought that this was a golden opportunity to get my house cleaned and maybe help someone dealing with a rough economy at the same time. Clearly, this CLEAN it Up Services needed business; perhaps they were just getting started and needed only a good review and some word-of-mouth advertising from someone in the community to get off the ground. Remembering the Yes I Can idealism I learned from Barack Obama, I thought I would be the one to help this enterprising company get off the ground.

Little did I know that one short month later, I would be in court defending myself against allegations of non-payment from the enterprising company itself.

When I met the two proprieters of the business, Ms. Adriennette Cooper and Ms. Sola Oke, I was impressed. They seemed excited to get going, happy to have the business, and came in matching company shirts. These ladies meant business, so when I let them in and they told me, after a short look around my humble 650 square foot apartment, that the charge would be $75 an hour, I flinched internally but just figured they'd do a very thorough job. I may be tight with money sometimes, but I am perfectly willing to pay for quality work.

Upon my return from work that afternoon, I found that not only was the job done not thorough, it was barely done at all. The kitchen and bathroom looked fine, but nothing spectacular. There were still water spots on the mirror in the bathroom. The flier that I found on my windshield listed things like "Oven Cleaning" (oven was not cleaned, nor was the microwave oven), "Sweep" (though they neglected the living room completely), "Clean Refrigerator" (not completed), and "Mop Floors," (not completed, not even close, as there was standing dirt in major traffic areas).

I'm quite certain that they didn't really even attempt to clean my home.

I wrote them an email (they never answered a phone when trying to set up the first appointment), letting them know that I was disappointed with the lack of work done on the apartment, and that I would either expect them to come back and make it right, or I would not be paying them the $75; after all, the money was to be paid for services rendered, and they rendered no service. They wrote back -- oddly enough, the company name had changed from "Clean It Up Services" to "Klean It Up Services" -- saying that they would like to make it right. I had already decided that I was not going to let them in my house to work unsupervised, so I made other arrangements to have the house cleaned. When they wrote again to "make it right," I explained again that I'd made alternate arrangements with a reputable service. I added that since they did 1/3rd of the work, I would pay them 1/3rd of what they asked, or $25. I'm not going to spend my hard-earned money, I reasoned, for a job that I could do better myself.

I heard nothing more after that.

Nothing, that is, until today. A Sheriff's Deputy showed up at my door, serving me with papers that I would be due in small claims court. Klean It Up Services was trying to get $500 from me. For a $75 job that they did not complete.

Incredible.

It is my opinion that Klean It Up Services (nee Clean It Up Services) is nothing more than a scam. They show up, don't do the work required, and if you pay, great, they'll take it. If you dare to try and make other arrangements to compensate for the time and effort you are required to expend to finish what they didn't do, you are taken to court. For $500.

It is my sincere recommendation that Klean It Up Services/Clean It Up Services not be hired to clean your home. If you wish to have any peace of mind, call a real cleaning service, with people who won't just attempt to rip you off and take you to court.