MoreCooler.com: It's more cooler with the thing

Well, Walt sent me a letter with a check, made out to Christopher Crame. Thats the same guy who went to my high school, but never went to class. Paid my tuition though....

Anyway, we only got back $1,400 as he had to re-clean the house. He explains.

To read the full letter, see the first comment.

Dear Chris;
Enclosed is my check for $1,400.00 return of the original $1,600.00 cleaning deposit. Martin had the carpet cleaned, and reportedly paid some service to clean the house. They only did a sponge wipe job and that does not get 2 years of accumulated soap and normal grime buildup off the tub enclosures, vinyl floors, or kitchen counter grout lines. I had a lady do what is considered a normal after tenancy cleanup; including the baseboards, cobwebs, scuffed walls & cabinets, and windows.

I also had my landscape man clean up the backyard and weed the front. A copy of the bill from the landscape man at $100.00 is enclosed. As you know I had sent them over to do clean up a few times during your time at the property. In consideration of the pleasant tenancy that was shared, and for leaving the clothes washer and dryer, I am only charging for the last yard clean up, and a $100.00 portion of the interior cleaning.

I wish you all the very best, and enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of your Cal Poly experience.

Sincerely; Yadda Yadda Yadda

Martin, if the maid you hired did as little as Walt says she did, which sounds like a blatant disregard for many of the things we paid her to clean, something is wrong. Could you maybe show us the contract that you had with the maid, and what, exactly, she was supposed to clean?

Walt has a funny name.

something's amiss.

that maid martin hired worked for, what, 7 hours or something? And it was a move out clean too..

She DID work for 8 hours minus a one hour lunch break. It was like $175. But that DID include cleaning out the fridge, wiping off all the blinds, scrubbing out the oven, wiping out all the drawers in the bathrooms/kitchen, mopping the floors, etc. That place was FILTHY when we everyone left, y'all. I think the maid was surprised how long it took her, and only left because I sort of pressured her to do so by waiting outside in the car reading a book (she was paid by the hour, and had told me it would take four). And about that sponge wipe mess, she was using some sort of chemical on it all, because she mentioned that taking a while to dry.

All in all, though, I think we got off easy. To get back that much of your deposit after a two year stay is incredible. Most landlords find reasons to keep the whole thing, charging not only for cleanups but for their time to ARRANGE those cleanups. Plus, he could have painted the entire house (some counties require a repaint after EVERY tenant) and charged us 75% of the cost, based on our lease, IIRC. And a measly $100 for the cleanup of our nasty backyard (the lease DID say we were responsible for that) is ridiculously low, as is $100 for a maid to do much of anything (he said he was only charging us for part of that one).

Although, I am a little pissed off, as the maid had a guarantee: if something wasn't done well enough, she'd come back and work for an hour more for free. I told Walt that, but I guess he didn't do it. Ah, well. Live and learn.

And there isn't a contract with a maid. She cleans your house, you write her a check.

Clicked "Post" by accident. I wish I could edit these.

Anyway, when all is said and done, I say we got off easy. I think Walt is being more than fair. If anyone shirked their job, it would be the Maid I hired, but I think she did enough for the money I paid her, and I sincerly believe she did her best in the time alotted. Split four ways, the cost of our move-out was pretty darn slim.

We are done with bills, right? So now we should divide all this up, who wants the honor?

And so it cost us $275 for the cleaning, not bad I guess. And there is always a contract, even if it is only verbal. Don't say there isn't one, it just wasn't written down.

Did the last cable bill come in?

http://www.morecooler.com/comment.php?id=145

The $5 is probably the last one on that.

I even referred to it as the "final bill."