Policies and procedures
Raquel’s Home Services Policies and Procedures
- Booking and Scheduling:
– All cleaning services must be booked in advance through our website, phone, or email.
– A non-refundable deposit of $150 is required to secure your booking for bond cleaning/end of lease cleaning bookings. This deposit will be deducted from the total cost of the service.
– Changes to scheduled appointments must be made at least 48 hours in advance of the scheduled appointment for services.
– We will confirm your booking via email or phone, including the date, time, and type of service requested. - Payment Terms:
– Payment for services completed is due upon completion of the work (not including bond cleaning/end of lease cleaning services for which full payment must be made before the commencement of services as a security measure to ensure that payment will be made).
– We accept payment in cash, by PayID, direct bank deposit, and bank transfers. Cheques are not accepted.
– Late payments may result in additional fees or suspension of services.
– If it is requested by the client, an invoice will be provided upon completion of the service, detailing the work carried out and the total amount due, or in the event the client requests additional add-on services to be performed an amended invoice reflecting the additional work will be made and issued to the client. - Cancellation Policy:
– If you cancel or amend a Booking time or cancel a booking within 48 hours before the Cleaning Service is scheduled to begin, you will have to pay cancellation costs equivalent to the value of the total booking fee.
– If Raquel’s Home Services needs to cancel or reschedule an appointment due to unforeseen circumstances, every effort will be made to notify the customer as soon as possible and reschedule the appointment at a convenient time.
– Cancellations cannot be made whilst a service is being performed.
– Services may be modified before, during or after a service is performed on the issuance and receipt of an amended invoice and payment thereof reflecting the additional services sought from Raquel’s Home Services. - Health and Safety:
– Our cleaning products and equipment are safe and environmentally friendly.
– Customers with specific allergies or sensitivities must inform us in advance.
– Raquel’s Home Services reserves the right to refuse service in situations deemed unsafe or hazardous.
– Our team members are trained in safe handling and disposal of cleaning products and waste materials. - Property and Belongings:
– While every precaution is taken to ensure the safety of your property and belongings, Raquel’s Home Services cannot be held responsible for any damage or loss unless it is due to our negligence. Clients of Raquel’s Home Services agree to indemnify Raquel’s Home Services and its agents against any liability or loss incurred as a result of or during the undertaking of services for the client by Raquel’s Home Services and its agents.
– Customers are advised to secure any valuable or fragile items prior to our arrival.
– Our team members are instructed to treat all customer property with care and respect. - Quality Assurance:
– We strive to provide high-quality cleaning services and welcome feedback from our customers.
– If you are not satisfied with the service provided, please contact us within 24 hours so we can address any concerns and rectify any issues.
– Regular quality checks are conducted to ensure our services meet the highest standards. - Privacy Policy:
– Raquel’s Home Services respects your privacy and will not share your personal information with third parties without your consent.
– Any personal information collected during the booking process will be used solely for the purpose of providing our cleaning services and will be stored securely.
– We comply with all relevant privacy laws and regulations.
– To see our full Privacy Policy, click here. - Black Mould Policy:
– If you live in a flood-affected residence, you must inform us in advance. We reserve the right to refuse any service for cleaning services sought for residences affected by black mould.
– We do clean general household mould such as bathroom moulds, but we do not clean black mould.
– By engaging Raquel’s Home Services for cleaning services, the customer agrees not to seek any cleaning services to clean black mould or black mould-affected furniture, walls, foundations, or floors. - Confidentiality Policy:
– All agents of Raquel’s Home Services are required to maintain the confidentiality of any private or sensitive information obtained during the provision of services, including but not limited to clients’ schedules, the location of spare keys, and access details to clients’ homes.
– Agents of Raquel’s Home Services must treat such information as private and confidential and are prohibited from copying, uplifting, or disclosing this information to any third party without explicit consent of the customer.
– Information pertaining to the location of clients’ spare keys, access details, and schedules shall be deleted immediately upon completion of the job, except in the case of recurring services, where such information may be retained by the Contractor solely for the purpose of providing continued services to the client. - Data Handling Procedure:
– Agents of Raquel’s Home Services must ensure that any information obtained during service provision is securely stored and protected from unauthorized access.
– Information regarding clients’ schedules, spare key locations, and access details must be handled with utmost care and confidentiality.
– Upon completion of the job, subcontractors must promptly delete any sensitive information unless required for recurring services. - Key Management Protocol:
– Agents of Raquel’s Home Services are strictly prohibited from disclosing the location of clients’ spare keys to any unauthorized individuals or third parties.
– Spare keys must be securely stored and returned to the designated location after use.
– Any access details provided by clients must be used solely for the purpose of service provision and must not be shared or disclosed without explicit consent of the customer. - Quotes Not Final and Serve as an Estimate Only without Visual Assessment:
– The Client acknowledges and agrees that without visual assessment by a cleaner and without visual documentation of the premises
requiring cleaning by way of provision of photos before a quote is given, an accurate quote cannot be provided, and may result in
an inaccurate estimate, and thus, potential adjustments to the final charges are foreseeable, especially in the event of additional
add-on services requested by the Client beyond the scope of the initial service quoted. Therefore, any quote provided is an estimate
only and not binding on Raquel’s Home Services and/or its agents. - Service Modification Procedure:
– In the event that a client wishes to modify the cleaning services during the course of a service, a modified and amended invoice reflecting the additional services must be issued by Raquel’s Home Services. Payment for the modified invoice is required prior to the commencement of any additional work. - Task Delegation Protocol:
– When an additional cleaner is dispatched to perform specialized tasks such as full wall washing, blind cleaning, and door cleaning, the allocation of spot cleaning duties in each room shall be delegated to the second additional cleaner. This delegation occurs subsequent to the issuance and acknowledgment of an amended invoice detailing the scope of the additional services required by the client. - Add-On Services Procedure:
– Raquel’s Home Services offers supplementary Deep Cleaning Services, including full wall washing, blind cleaning, door scuff and mark removal, and additional room cleaning, which extend beyond the standard offerings of bond cleaning and domestic cleaning. Raquel’s Home Services does not provide assurances regarding the duration required for a cleaner to complete full wall washing and blind cleaning services, as this varies based on the extent of dirt and stains present. Furthermore, Raquel’s Home Services does not guarantee the removal of stains, scuffs, and marks from walls, doors, blinds, and other surfaces in cases where deep cleaning services are requested. The client acknowledges that the efficacy of these services varies depending on factors such as the extent of dirt and stains present, and that these additional services are subject to separate pricing being charged at our deep cleaning services rate of $80.00 per hour with a minimum booking fee of 3 hours, and may not completely remove of all stains, scuffs, and marks from surfaces. - Bond Cleaning Services/ End of Lease Cleaning Services Exclusions:
– The scope of bond cleaning services provided by Raquel’s Home Services is limited to the cleaning of interior rooms within a house. Services for outdoor areas and additional rooms, such as gardens, garages, front porches, patios, outdoor entertainment areas, decks, or sheds, are available upon request for an additional fee. - Timing of Additional Service Requests:
– Clients should be aware that requests for additional services made within 48 hours of the original service may not be accommodated on the same day. - Spot Cleaning Procedure:
– Spot cleaning performed within the scope of our regular domestic cleaning service, green cleaning service, and bond cleaning service is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes per room. Should spot cleaning requirements exceed this timeframe, a Deep cleaner will be engaged to address the additional cleaning needs. - Heavy Soil Surcharge Protocol:
– Rooms heavily soiled by substances such as mould (excluding black mould), oil, grease, flood mud, insect filth, and cockroach filth will incur a surcharge of $65. It’s important to note that this surcharge does not cover the cost of additional deep cleaning services such as full wall washing or blind cleaning, which may be requested separately for an extra fee. Raquel’s Home Services reserves the right to charge an additional surcharge of $65 per room if heavy soiling is detected during a bond cleaning / end of lease cleaning service, in a regular domestic cleaning service, green cleaning service, or an NDIS cleaning service. This surcharge aims to cover the additional time and effort required to address heavily soiled areas effectively. - Costs of Recovery:
– The client/s shall pay for all costs actually incurred by Raquel’s Home Services in the recovery of any monies owed under this Agreement. You agree to be liable for and indemnify Raquel’s Home Services. These costs include recovery agent costs, repossession costs, location search costs, process server costs and solicitor costs on a solicitor/client basis, debt collection commission and legal fees on an indemnity basis. - Amendments to Policies and Procedures:
– Raquel’s Home Services reserves the right to amend these policies and procedures at any time.
– Any changes will be communicated to customers in writing and will take effect immediately upon notification.
– Customers will be notified of any changes via email or phone and are encouraged to review the updated policies and procedures regularly.
Please review these expanded Policies and Procedures carefully. By engaging our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to comply with these policies and procedures. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.