Who really likes to clean up their own house? No one, of course! Vacuuming, dusting and cleaning every corner of the house can be time-consuming, so many people choose to hire a cleaning service. However, it is not easy to spend a decent amount of money while at the same time finding reliable help. Putting your keys, valuables and possibly pets in the hands of a complete stranger can have serious consequences that will make you wish you had swept the broom yourself.
1. Genevieve Snow is a 29-year-old financial consultant who lives with three roommates in a loft in East Williamsburg, New York.
When she received an email about discounts from a cleaning company she had previously used, she thought it was the perfect time to use her services again.
2. She hired two cleaning ladies from Joanna’s Cleaning Service.
Then Geneviève organized the common areas of her apartment and let the women by paying them the $185 fee plus a $60 tip at the beginning. She then said goodbye to her two cats and went to work.
3. Shortly afterward, one of Genevieve’s roommates caught one of the cleaning ladies doing nothing on the couch.
Her colleague, for her part, entered the other roommate’s shower after being told not to go. It didn’t start well, but it was only the beginning…
4. Around noon, Genevieve’s trusted neighbors stopped by her house to pick up her keys from the cleaning crew.
She was surprised to see that both employees were sleeping on the couch. Was Genevieve aware of this?
5. The neighbor immediately alerted Genevieve, who was still at work.
She sent an email to the owner of the company, Joanna. She had paid both women to clean her house, not to take naps. Maybe they were overworked…
6. When Genevieve and her roommate came home after 5:00 p.m., they were scared to death.
The front door was open and two bare feet came out of the kitchen. They instantly dialed 9-1-1. “At first I thought someone had inhaled cleaning products and passed out or died.”
7. Garbage and food had been spilled on the floor, the shelves had been knocked down and the spice rack had been completely destroyed.
In the living room, Genevieve found her coffee table upside down – the place was completely messy.
8. That’s when Genevieve noticed that her previously full bottle of vodka was almost completely empty.
The women were drunk. One of them had escaped with the keys to the apartment while the other was barely conscious on the floor, wearing a t-shirt inscribed “Drink and be happy”. What an irony…..
9. The police, an ambulance, and a fire truck quickly arrived at Genevieve’s apartment.
After ensuring that the drunk woman was physically fine, the police woke her up to talk and took her to the station. Unfortunately, that was not the end of this absurd story.
10. After everyone left, Genevieve sent Joanna an email again to explain what had happened and ask her to reimburse all her expenses.
She first apologized, offered a free cleaning, and said she would “fix” her cleaning women’s mistakes, but that’s not quite how it happened…
11. First, Joanna texted an apology to the employee who was found on the kitchen floor.
Then she refused to pay anything and criticized Genevieve for taking pictures of her employee.
12. Genevieve began to suspect that the whole operation was a scam.
The real identity of the person Genevieve had spoken to was unclear, and the company’s Facebook address was in the middle of an intersection. The company was almost untraceable.
13. Genevieve decided to leave a negative review on the Yelp page, and her friends followed her, much to Joanna’s dismay.
A woman who thought she was Joanna sent a text message to Geneviève in response to these messages, blaming the disastrous service on another cleaning company run by another woman also named Joanna: Joanna Oltuszewska.
14. Thanks to the Internet, Genevieve’s friends were able to do some research.
When they found Joanna Oltuszewska’s Facebook page empty, they noticed that she only had one friend. When they sent a picture of her to Genevieve, she said, “Unbelievable! It’s Pink Shirt! It’s the lady who was lying on the floor of my kitchen!”
15. Although Genevieve and her friends are suspicious, Joanna’s identity is still unclear.
This “company” accepted cheques, so it had to have an address. However, Genevieve was never able to find it. Pink Shirt recently changed its employment status on Facebook to “self-employed”.
16. Genevieve waited until the end of September for Joanna’s Cleaning Service to pay for the damage and clean-up costs (plus tip), but the problem was not solved.
In early October, she planned to take the case to the Small Claims Court for justice.
17. Not only did his house not respect and be damaged, but the pets in the house could have escaped through the front door that had remained open.
Genevieve loves her two cats, Bandit and Calvin, and would be upset if anything happened to them.
18. Material damage to the apartment has been repaired since the incident.
However, Genevieve and her roommates are still shaken by the fact that this happened in their home. Determined to make the most of the situation, they took matters into their own hands…
19. “I’ll try to work with the neighbors to extend formal meetings for the whole neighborhood with risk reports, etc.”
Let us hope that in the future, neighbors can work together to help each other in situations like this.
20. Some of Geneviève’s friends encouraged her to use her new notoriety to create a GoFundMe page, but Genevieve doesn’t want innocent people to pay for the cleaning company’s defects.
Instead, she encourages people to make a donation to the Trevor Project, a helpline for LGBTQ+ youth.
21. The outcome of this case is still pending, but Genevieve does not intend to focus on the negative aspects.
She wants to move forward. How incredible that she was able to take a bad situation and use the media attention to do good around her!
Such horror stories will make you think twice before letting a stranger into your home. Let’s bet you’ll think about it more before you hire someone to clean your home, won’t we?
