Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
How did you choose your company name?
There is a bakery in Silver Spring, Maryland called “Upper Crust Bakery”. Their baked goods are some of the best I have ever tasted and I’ve been going to them for years. Their quality never changes. I have always loved their name.
In old fashioned loaf bread, the “upper crust” is the best part of the bread. I named my company “UpperCrust Maids” because, like the bakery, my goal is to offer the cream of the crop service to clients. My desire is for our quality to never change (unless it’s for the better).
Your tagline is, “White glove service on us”. What does that mean? It means that the onus is upon UpperCrust Maids to provide outstanding service to our clients.
What forms of payment do you accept?
In addition to cash and checks, we accept all major credit cards. If you are planning to regularly pay via credit card, note that payment is due in advance for the entire month.
Do you perform in-home estimates? Yes. A representative from the company will personally visit your home and give you an estimate at that time. Also feel free to fill in our preliminary estimate form, located at the bottom of the page.
My former cleaning company was less expensive than yours. Why is that? There could be several reasons. However, note the following about UpperCrust Maids, which prevents us from offering dirt cheap prices:
a. UpperCrust Maids, LLC is a fully insured company. That means that we carry bonding, liability and workers comp insurance. We also pay unemployment.
b. We pay our employees above the minimum wage. We have learned that when people are paid a decent wage, they are far more likely to do a great job and to actually take their job seriously. The turnover rate in the cleaning industry is upwards of 300% and low wages is one of the reasons. Our turnover rate is low—which ultimately is great for our clients who don’t have to contend with a different Cleaning Tech every few months.
Given the information above, we cannot be the cheapest guys in town, nor do we aspire to be.
Do you take on one-time-only and move in/move out cleanings? In terms of a regular space on the calendar, only clients who sign on for weekly or biweekly cleanings have reserved space.
We often receive calls from people who desire a once per month, occasional, or emergency cleaning. GO HERE if you are interested in occasional service, which is offered only on an “as available” basis.
My house keeper will be out of the country for a month or two. Could you all take us on until she returns? No, we do not take on substitute accounts.
Are there any types of accounts that you don’t accept? Yes. We don’t take on dorm houses or dorm rooms. We also do not take on group living situations where a group of people are living together in a home, sharing space.
There is another situation that we avoid and it’s only because both statistics and history are against us. Clients who have had multiple cleaning companies in their home over the past 18 months do not pan out for us, ever. By “multiple” we mean at least TWO companies. So if you have had at least 2 cleaning companies in your home over the past 18 months, we would prefer that you search out a different company. It’s simply due to history and stats. We are batting “zero” in retaining such clients over 2 cleaning sessions.
Safety and Privacy Policies
How are keys stored?
In an unmarked key lockbox, which is in a hidden location. Your address is not attached to the key.
Does your company have rules of confidentiality? - Yes. We are not in your home to snoop, judge, or mind your business. Our employees are in your home for one reason: To clean! Employees are not allowed to discuss clients with each other.
Hygiene Policy
Employees do not touch blood or any types of bodily fluids or waste. If you have blood stains on anything in your home, we ask that you remove it.
We do not handle any form of animal droppings. That would include cat litter, dog waste, and droppings from rodents.
Cancellation and Holiday Policies
What if I need to reschedule or cancel an appointment?
You can reschedule or cancel an appointment by sending us an email at UpperCrustMaids@gmail.com , or call the office at (301) 322-7112. We ask that as a courtesy, clients give us 24 hours notice. We do not charge for cancellations; however, if a client consistently cancels without notice, we will discontinue service to the home.
What happens if my routine cleaning falls on a holiday?
We schedule a month in advance and will contact you to let you know if we have an employee willing to work that day and to determine whether or not you want to reschedule. Employees choose the days they want off and often elect to work on certain holidays.
Window Cleaning Policy
Do you clean windows? - Yes and no. Window cleaning is a specialty area which takes a great amount of time. If you want to have expert window service, please contact a window company that specializes in cleaning windows. They will clean the inside and outside windows. What we do here is clean only inside windows that are reachable and only on an “as needed” basis.
Blinds, Draperies: Cleaning Policy
Like windows, blinds also are a specialty area. For expert blind cleaning, hire a company that specializes. Our employees will dust off blinds but we don’t offer expert blind cleaning.
What happens if a maid breaks something in our home?
We will inform you if anything is ever broken. And we will either pay for it directly or have you subtract its worth from the next cleaning. Rarely do any items get broken (beyond an occasional glass or cup).
Pick Up Policy
Please be certain that all toys and clothes, etc. are picked up from your floors prior to the cleaning techs arriving to clean. Pick-ups take extra time so we ask that families prepare the homes for cleaning by picking up.
Products & Equipment Policy
Do I need to provide any cleaning products or supplies?
Products, no. UpperCrust Maids, LLC supplies all cleaning products and equipment.
Supplies: We ask that families supply us with a toilet brush to use in their homes. If you don’t have one, please purchase one.
Also, in the kitchen, we prefer to use the family’s own wash cloths, sponges and towels. We will use our own if necessary but prefer to use the family’s due to the nature of the kitchen in terms of hygiene and cleanliness. We use our own rags in all the other rooms.
The products you use are “green”. Would you be wiling to use conventional products?
We specialize in using high quality, natural products. However, not everyone desires that such products be used in their home and that’s their right as consumers. With that in mind, yes—we are more than willing to use conventional products if you prefer. However, since we don’t purchase such products, you would need to supply them. Just let us know. No questions asked!
Note that a few of our products are not “green” and we use those in homes where the clients indicate no preference or with the permission of clients who do have a preference.
What products do you use?
Our services are customized to each client and what we use in House-A may be totally different from what we use in House-B, the house next door. We use a variety of environmentally safe products that clean well and are safer for families. My personal favorite brand? Odoban! They have a variety of great, earth friendly products in their line that we use. And we also use Dr. Bronner’s soap as well as Bar Keepers Friend products. There are several other products that we use too…and we are always experimenting to ensure we are offering the best out there.
Parking and Ticket Policy
DC residents: If you live in a “2 hour parking” zone, note that it takes over 2 hours to clean a home [well]. Therefore, if there is space on your property such as a parking space in your back yard, we ask that you have it available for our employees on your cleaning day. Or, if you have a parking pass, loan it to us. We do cancel services after the first ticket.
Chevy Chase residents: There are some areas of Chevy Chase where parking is an issue. See the information pertaining to DC residents, as it also applies if you live in an area with parking issues.
Do you have a referral policy? Yes. Ask us about our “100 Point” system to free cleanings!
How many cleaning techs will clean my home? First time cleaning, 2 or 3 will clean your home. For ongoing cleanings, only 1 cleaning tech will be assigned to your home, unless your home is particularly large and/or is a complicated home to clean [for any variety of reasons].
What should I do to prepare for cleaning service?
a. If you have anything that could possibly break sitting on a table that needs to be dusted, please remove it.
b. If there are a great number of toys, etc. in an area that needs to be vacuumed or mopped, please find a place to store it.
c. Place fresh linens on the beds if you would like us to remake the bed with clean linens. We change one bed as part of regular service. Additional beds are charged at $7 per bed (due to the amount of time that linen adds to the time in the home).
d. Because we wipe and/or dust picture frames, please check to ensure that they are on sturdy hooks. Likewise we do clean mirrors, so double check to ensure that the mirrors are on sturdy hooks.
e. Regarding animals, we are animal friendly.
Almost all of our homes that we service have either a cat or dog and our employees love animals and are kind to animals. We take extra care to ensure that your animals don’t sneak out of the door (yes, some of them attempt to sneak out)
PITT BULLS and potentially dangerous guard dogs
(Pitt Bull)
My husband and I are animal lovers. Our BullMastiff’s name is Satchel and we love him dearly. Most of our clients own either a dog or a cat and our employees are animal lovers. Having said that, I regret that we cannot accept homes that have Pitt Bulls as pets (unless the animal will not be home during cleaning service).
We are responsible for the safety of our employees. Pitt Bulls are banned in Prince Georges County due to their reputation for attacking, maiming, and even killing their own masters and innocent people who happen to be walking down the street. Throughout the U.S. they have attacked infants, children and other animals. This company does not service homes that have Pitt Bulls or “mutts” that look exactly like Pitt Bulls. GO HERE for information regarding the ban on Pitt Bulls in PG County
Do you arrive at the time you indicated?
Our cleaning techs clean a maximum of two houses a day. If you are the first on schedule, the cleaning tech will arrive on time unless an emergency arises or there is traffic congestion. If you are an afternoon client, we can offer you a window of time, generally between 12:15 – 1:00.
Do I need to be home when you arrive?
No….However, for the initial cleaning, it would be great for you to be there at least for a few minutes to meet the cleaning techs assigned to your home. After that, no, you won’t need to be home. 99.9% of our clients are at work or leave to run errands when the techs are in the house cleaning.
For the first cleaning, a team of two or three will clean your home. If you become a regular client, one or two cleaning techs will be assigned to your home, depending on need and size of home.
Are you a franchise? No, we are not a franchise. We are a family owned company. The advantage of using a family owned vs. franchise is that we actually care about your home. Most franchises care about selling more franchises.
Should I give tips?
The employees do not expect tips or gifts of any kind. However, the cleaning techs are permitted to accept tips should you choose to leave a tip as recognition for exceptional cleaning service. (please don’t feel obligated)
Are you feeling guilty about hiring a cleaning company?
Approximately 20% of those who contact us say they feel guilty about not cleaning their own homes. Don’t feel guilty! Didn’t you clean enough when you were growing up? Use your free time to do something you enjoy!
Would you like a preliminary estimate? Fill in the form below!
