While some people pay NOK 700 per month for a training subscription, others think it’s worth spending the same amount or more for help in the laundry.
Some people like to think that it is practical to use a cleaning service once or twice a year, when the house really needs a deep clean, such as before a special occasion or holiday.
Are you thinking of treating yourself to professional help for a correct wash in January?
Then you should take these tips with you first!
We fried the vinegar in the oven
Get a price
The most obvious thing to start with before ordering help with cleaning your home is to find out about the prices of different cleaning companies, advises Nora E. Wennberg Gløersen, consumer advocate at the Consumer Council:
– Get in touch and describe the work you want done in the best possible way. It might be a good idea to indicate both the number of square meters, rooms, floors and meters under the roof, says Gløersen.
– You should also specify whether you want laundry help one time or as a regular service, and if so, how often you want the service, he adds.
At the same time, it is important to be aware that the cheapest cleaning company is not always the best; you usually get what you pay for, says Vibeke Scavenius, communications manager at CityMaid.
– It may be that they provide decent quality, but at the same time you should think about the working conditions behind the delivery, says Scavenius.
In this sense, price is certainly not the only thing that matters, Gløersen emphasizes.
Use it immediately
Background check
Before deciding which company to choose, you should make sure that you choose a serious player, recommend the two.
Make sure they have a website and their own email domain. Ask for references or check reviews of consumer experiences by researching the company online – perhaps a neighbor or family can vouch for someone they use, advise Scavenius and Gløersen.
You can also search for the company in the Brønnøysund registers and check that the information you receive matches what is registered.
At the same time, even if some cleaning companies seem serious, they are not necessarily as professional:
– A newly started company should carry out an inspection, while more experienced and professional actors can calculate a price based on the number of m² they will wash, Scavenius points out.
Christmas laundry: here’s the panic button!
To contract
When you’ve found a cleaning company you trust and want to use, the next step is to write a contract:
It is important that the company visits your home first, so that you can visit it together and see what you want done, clarifies Gløersen.
– The contract should say something about the job duties to be performed, how the cleaning help will enter the house, the hours and how much you will pay for the service. Make sure you get a total price, including VAT, she says.
Makes the shower perfectly clean
– To be present
Even if you’ve decided which company to use, it can still be scary to allow strangers to lock themselves in your home without you being there.
You should be able to feel that it’s safe, but it’s still a good idea to be at home the first time the cleaner comes to mop, advises Scavenius.
– Additionally, it can be helpful to protect things with emotional value. It is not permissible to ask for a police certificate when hiring cleaners and it is never possible to completely protect yourself from dishonest employees, he points out.
If the customer discovers the cleaner is stealing, they should report it to the police, Scavenius advises.
– There were also cases where customers were asked to pay in cash – that should make something clear, says the communications manager.
– And we have heard of cleaners who have offered the customer to wash the black – outside the company they are associated with. This is something that we at our company would consider a breach of the employment contract and grounds for dismissal, Scavenius clarifies.
The most important advice from the Consumer Council
In summary:
- Get different price offers
- Ask for references
- Research the company and make sure you can pay with cash
- Write a contract in which you agree on the job duties and the total price
- read more here
I disagree about price and quality
According to the Consumer Council’s guidance service, which receives daily phone calls and emails from consumers, 53 inquiries have been registered in the “Home and cottage – Cleaning services” category in just over a year.
Theft or inventory damage isn’t what people contact most often for cleanup, says Bengt-Eigil Ruud, senior communications advisor at the Consumer Council.
– The impression is that most people are concerned about the quality of the wash performed, while some disagree about the price, explains Ruud.
Gløersen can also confirm this.
– If conflicts arise, it is often more a question of price. So if there is a clear contract on this point, it is easier to reach an agreement, she says.
But what is not clear to many customers is that if you have not agreed on a fixed price with the cleaner, you have to pay what is normal for similar jobs in the area where you live, explains the lawyer
– If you only receive a price estimate, the price should not be more than 15% higher than this estimate, he clarifies.
Two ingredients made the doe clean
Complain as soon as possible
- If you feel that your home was not cleaned according to the contract, that something was lost or damaged, or that the company is charging you too high a price, you should file a complaint as soon as possible.
- Do this in writing and feel free to attach pictures or a video showing what you are unhappy with.
- Set a deadline for your response, such as 14 days.
- If you do not agree, you can take the matter to the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority for mediation.
Tip from Nora E. Wennberg Gløersen, consumer advocate at the Consumer Council.
Miracle Remedy: – I have never experienced the match
– Avoid social dumping
But excessive prices are hardly a problem in the cleaning industry, says Scavenius; it’s probably more a fact that you pay too little for the service, he believes.
– The hourly price through a professional cleaning company should be around NOK 500 per hour. If you think this may seem like a lot, remember that it should cover much more than just hourly wages, he says and elaborates:
– The price includes employer tax, holiday pay, value added tax, work clothing and equipment and transport costs. If you make direct contact with an independent cleaner, the hourly price should not go below 400. If the hourly price is very low, you should be skeptical.
There are several examples of cases where employees did not have orderly dealings, for example when they were not paid for the time spent between clients.
– This is why it is so important to check that the cleaning company is authorized and that undeclared work is not used, underlines Scavenius.
Avoid black trading
To make sure you don’t pay for undeclared work, you can follow the advice from handlehvitt.no.
But even though, according to the Swedish Revenue Agency, there have never been so few Norwegians who say they buy illegal work, the fact remains that cleaning is the service that most of us buy illegally.
What many people don’t think about is that illegally paid cleaners are not entitled to the sick pay, pension and job security that most of us enjoy.
Society is left without tax revenue and with second-class workers who don’t have the same rights as the rest of us, Scavenius proclaims.
If you can afford to have help with the laundry first, you should obviously choose someone who washes whites, encourages:
– Because if you buy a home service first you shouldn’t contribute to social dumping. This is exactly what you do by purchasing black services.
2024-01-07 08:03:53
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