ᐅ Unsatisfied with the final cleaning after construction – am I being too particular?

Hello everyone!
We just got back after our cleaning company finished the final construction cleaning.
We had a fixed price booked through MyHammer. Final cleaning including windows – ready for move-in. The company has 7 reviews there, all five stars, so I thought nothing could go wrong.

First, they arrived half an hour late – not a big deal, we were home anyway. Then they came with two people instead of three. One worker had called in sick.
That wasn’t a major issue either since we had a fixed price. Later, it turned out that the young man who was on site with the supervisor was completely new to the company. You could tell by the results. :/

It started in the kitchen. I had already mentioned that our cabinets have matte lacquered fronts and that the kitchen builders specifically told us not to use microfiber cloths for cleaning. I passed this information on and reminded the cleaning company when they arrived. When they got to the living/dining area, the young man immediately used a Swiffer on all the fronts. When I asked if those weren’t microfiber cloths, they said, “Swiffer won’t do any damage.” I hope they were right about that.
At that time, they were already done upstairs. I went upstairs on socks to have a look and wanted to take some pictures of the bathroom. The floor and wall tiles in the bathroom had been wiped but still had numerous stains everywhere. Not small ones, but paint drops, some up to 10cm (4 inches) long streaks of white paint, drops of tile adhesive or grout – I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I definitely didn’t want to see any of that in a finished, cleaned bathroom.
I asked if the upstairs cleaning was finished, and when they said yes, I requested they go over the floor again because there were still many paint stains. The young man went back up, touched it up, apologized, and said, “That really wasn’t thorough enough.”
So far, so good.

When everything was supposed to be finally done, I went upstairs for a quick walk-through with the supervisor – mostly spent in the bathroom – and together we scraped off more paint spots, tile adhesive/grout residue, and God knows what else from the tiles.
But I’m also not happy with what the supervisor delivered. Yes, the windows look noticeably better than before. BUT none of the windows are truly clean. Not in any room. I can still run a scraper over each window to check if the marks are dirt or actual scratches. So far, everything has come off with my fingernail, so it’s just cleaning errors up to now.
Am I being too picky? I mean, this is exactly why I hired a final construction cleaning: so I could judge afterward whether the windows are okay or not.

Other things I’m not happy about:

• Cleaning/wiping inside all kitchen cabinets was explicitly part of the offer since it was supposed to be ready for move-in. In the kitchen, the young man only went through the drawers with a Swiffer once. I opened two display cabinets, and at the bottom, there was still wood dust from cutting/drilling. The drawers in the island area have water spots/splashes on the front. Those were NOT there before the cleaning company came. You could say the kitchen actually looks worse afterward. :/ During the final inspection, I pointed out that the toe kick (baseboard near the floor) was still covered in sawdust, which should be fixed. But when they left, the dust was still there.
• The vinyl floors were mopped but also look worse than before cleaning. I don’t know how, but when you come up the stairs now, everything is streaky/smeared somehow.
• Despite damp mopping, there were still small piles of crumbs/dust/dirt upstairs.
• Still paint splashes on the stair railing
• Front door – a black mark on the white door frame, I don’t understand how that was missed
• In the hallway, my shoes and the supervisor’s shoes were there because we walked upstairs in socks during the inspection – the young man just mopped around them. Seriously?!
• All strap winders still covered in paint/plaster
• Many window frames still have plaster/paint on the edges

I could go on like this forever.
Overall, you can say: it’s just not really clean.

Am I expecting too much? Is a final construction cleaning only meant for the big stuff, even when the offer says “ready for move-in”?
I’m attaching some pictures, but they are just examples. This is what it looked like when they had already left, so “finished.”

Have you already paid? Unfortunately, in my experience, platforms like MyHammer often attract contractors who are so unreliable that they can’t get jobs through regular channels. I wouldn’t be satisfied with the result either. How much does something like that cost? But what can you do? Refuse payment or ask for a refund—you’ll have to clean up yourself anyway.

That's why we did it ourselves... I didn't want anyone touching my new black kitchen front. Also, it was only when I was cleaning the kitchen that I noticed everything that was wrong with it and had to make a complaint.
Instead of that, I used the money to have the old apartment cleaned because I didn’t have the energy for it, and it didn’t really matter there anyway. I have to say, it was cleaned really thoroughly.
You were probably a bit unlucky with that... How much was the whole thing supposed to cost?

Pinky0301 schrieb:

Have you already paid? Unfortunately, from my experience, MyHammer often attracts craftsmen who are so bad that they can’t get a job on the open market. I wouldn’t be satisfied with the result either. How much does something like that cost? But what can you do? Refuse to pay or ask for a refund? Either way, you’ll have to clean it yourself afterward.

I haven’t paid yet; the invoice will arrive by mail.
It wasn’t expensive, I have to admit. 420€ (about $460) including travel. Other quotes were around the same price. I actually chose the provider with the best reviews. So far flawless 5-star ratings and 100% recommendation. I just can’t understand it.

But I can’t simply refuse to pay, right? I mean, I confirmed that they completed their work. Basically, they did—just not thoroughly.
For example, the front door was cleaned, I saw that. It just wasn’t left clean in the end.

Oh man, weren’t you afraid that they might damage your new door or the kitchen?

Snowy36 schrieb:

Oh man, weren’t you afraid they would damage your new door or kitchen??

When I hired them, no – based on the reviews.
But when they started working on site, I did get a bit panicked, yes. I was standing nearby most of the time while they were in the kitchen.