Letter to our cleaning service...

First of all, yes, we have a cleaning service. They come in twice a month and do all the crap that Allison and I hate to do...you know, clean. They clean the bathrooms, vaccuum, dust (sometimes), and generally straighten up.

A little background. We started using the service last year when my student loans got paid off. We looked into it and the service was less than what we were paying for the loans, so hell, we hadn't seen that money in 10 years, why not spend some of it to make our lives easier. This past Christmas Allison's mom paid for our service for all of 2007, which was a great surprise. It blew both of us out of the water.

Right off the bat I asked that they don't come in the middle of the day (between Noon and 2:30), because thats when Ian (and now Leah) nap. Well, lunch, storytime and THEN nap. One of the owners (it's a husband & wife who own the franchise) acknowledged my request and said it wasn't a problem. They listened for a week....

I then called and asked again. They didn't honor my request. I called the branch the following week and spoke to the WIFE. It worked for awhile, but after a few weeks they started showing up in the middle of the day, several times RIGHT as I was putting Ian and/or Leah down for a nap.

So I then told the cleaners themselves of my request. They were genuinely surprised, saying that the owners never told them of such a thing. Again after a few weeks they stopped honoring my request.

Today I came home at 12:30 from being out and about all morning and the cleaners were still here. Leah had been asleep for 10 minutes, so this was the breaking point as to whether she would transfer still asleep into the house. I drove around for 10 minutes and came back home and they were still here.

I was fucking fuming. So I parked in front of the house and just sat there while Leah proceded to wake up (unlike Ian, she'll wake up within 5 minutes of the car stopping). 10 minutes later the cleaners packed up their car and left. I fake smiled and waved to them.

Below is the letter that I just sent to them through their website...I changed the company and owners names to protect the ever-so-guilty....or at least not-so-innocent:

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Cockface,

I am sending you this comment through OurServiceBlowsMonkeyNuts's website because efforts to make this request via phone (and in person to the cleaners) apparently falls on deaf ears.

I have asked you, Mr. Fucktard, twice and once to Mrs. KnobGobbler on the phone about our request to NOT have service in the middle of the day (between Noon and 2:30pm).

At least twice since then, I have turned your cleaners away when they showed up around 1pm. The first time they seemed surprised, so I didn't blame them, but let them know of our request. The second time I just politely asked them to come back later in the day. Several more times I have come home after 12:30 and the cleaners were still at the house, so I needed to drive away.

The reason that this is such an issue for me (as I have probably told everybody that works in your branch) is that the middle of the day is when my kids nap. One sleeps okay in the car, but the other one doesn't, so I NEED them to both sleep in their beds to get a good nap. To be honest, the reason behind my request doesn't matter. What matters is that I made the request and was assured it wouldn't be a problem...but it is.

The only reason that I have not cancelled our service with you is because my Mother-In-Law paid for our service for 2007. We are happy with the cleaning job that you do, but it irritates the living daylights out of me to be ignored as I have been, when I have been told that my request is 'not a problem'.

Is the request a problem? If it is, please let me know and I will begin searching for another service for January. If it's not a problem, lets do what we have to to ensure that my request is fulfilled.

If we have to switch to another day besides Tuesday to make sure I don't get service in the middle of the day, that's fine. If we have to be the very first or very last client of the day, that's fine. Or anything in between, that's fine. I am simply requesting (for the last time) that the cleaners not be at my home betweein 12:00pm and 2:30pm on the scheduled day of service.

As I said, I like the service that you provide, but I have a VERY hard time believing that "the corporate office felt strongly that from the beginning, we have demonstrated the importance of caring for each and every client", as is stated on your website.

Mr. Donkeyballs and Mrs. Floppytits, please let's work together so we can maintain a long and happy business relationship.

Sincerely,

The Toddler Chasin', Diaper Changin' Maniac.