Rene’s of La Jolla

After reading all these reviews, I wish I would have earlier.
The two maids I had come on Monday shocked me with their nonchalant approach to cleaning my place. They had actually not made the Saturday appointment due to car trouble and me calling Rene’s instead of Rene’s calling me to advise me.
To oil the wood furniture, the gal didnt even move books around, she just cleaned around them… huh? I pointed out dusty areas and since I do not speak spanish, you cant tell-​me they don’t know what Im pointing at, it means to clean it! I even had my boyfriend write it all down in Spanish. Dust at base of my bar stools, didnt even move the drain catcher in 2^nd kitchen sink to clean, whutttt… and get this… when I took a cloth with soap and water to my kitchen floor, it was like she had not even washed it. It was filthy. When I showed her the cloth, she said I washed and dryed it… ok then, what is this! She unwillingly rewashed all my tile areas with an angry force. and using almost all my Mr Clean… she was so busted.
It consistently has been a disappointment using this company. They do not even stay the two hours and dont go the extra mile to do any more to make my home clean, maybe something I’ve overlooked. There is no pride in their work and it shows. What are their homes like if this is how they treat my home?
While we used to be Mexico, this is not 1888 — this age group of people have to know some kind of spanish if I know a little spanish… what is that cop out?
I’ve always done my best, not my worst, so why cant they? No matter what you undertake, if you dont want to do it then dont, and let someone who will do it right do it!
Thats too bad, wont be using Rene’s again.

i have had rene clean my house for over 8 years… they sometimes run slow or a little late… but follow my instruction on what i waht cleaned… rene is concerned with her employees atitude and their quality of work… i check what they do … but do not have to look over their shoulders… the house always smells and feels cleaner… hope you have the same good results

I am contractor from Orange county, I did the small remodeling job in san diego and when I was down with my job the owner wants me to clean the property so they can rent it out, I called more than 5 different shops to help me on the very short notice, no body return my call except Rene’s Of Jolla, she said they will be there net day at 12:30, Her crow shoed up on time and they did wonderful job. I will kept her phone number for futures jobs,

Let me just start out by saying that I never, EVER write Unilocal reviews, but this company is so exceptionally bad that I hope my review will prevent others from wasting 65 $-100 $ for horrible cleaning and even worse costumer service.
COSTUMER SERVICE:
First off the lady in charge of this business (Rene) is extremely rude and unprofessional when you call the costumer service line. Once in a while you will get their call answer service line if its off hours and they relay a message to you but if you call during normal business hours its Rene who answers and be prepared for an unenthusiastic, disgruntled attitude.
Multiple times I have called because the maids were late (45+ minutes late, not just a few minutes) and she annoyingly tell me to «just wait!» because the maids will eventually come (with no update on where they are or when they would be there). When I ask to reschedule due to the maids lateness, I am told that I will still be charged full price regardless of if i reschedule /​cancel (24 hour notice for cancelation/​reschedule policy).
Keep in mind we have used them multiple times (only because our landlord pays for their service) and each time I have called to either schedule an appointment or complain about lateness i get the same bad attitude with no apology or basic costumer service.
On our move out day I stressed the importance of the maids being on time because I had scheduled carpet cleaners to come right after they finished. The maids were again 45+ minutes late and when I called to complain, Rene got mad at ME for always calling to complain of lateness. She then gave me the excuse that when I said «please make sure the maids are on time to our appointment at 3pm», she thought I meant they can come anytime after 3pm… and then proceeded to hang up on me.
CLEANING:
The maids themselves are all very nice in nature and I will refrain from being too harsh since Im sure they are tired by the time they get to my late-​afternoon appointments but the cleaning is extremely sub-​par .
First off, our landlord pays for the 65 $ 2 hour, 2 maid cleaning service and I can say for sure that at least 6 out of the 12 cleaning appointments we have had, only 1 maid has come. Furthermore, regardless of 1 or 2 maids, the maids never stay longer than MAYBE an hour and a half AT MOST.
That being said, our apartment is just a 2 bedroom but if that is the case I would expect better cleaning with the ample time they have. They do vacuum and dust but if anything looks like you wouldn’t notice it being dirty (countertops, TV stands, toaster oven, microwave) dont expect it to be cleaned. Furthermore they have never once cleaned any of our windows even specific directives. Once I asked one of the maids to please put the dirty dishes in the sink into the washer so I could later run the dishwasher and she could clean the sink and I was told that she «doesn’t do dishes». Overall, the house will look neater but not 65 $-100 $ cleaner.
I will say that I have never had any problems with theft or broken items during the cleaning so that is a plus. BUT one time I left the apartment for a bit because the maids were late (again) and when I received a call from Rene saying the maids were there, I kindly asked them to wait a few minutes for me to get back. When I got back in the apartment the maids had gone into the apartment (it was unlocked) without permission and no one else was home at the time to let them in O. o
Hopefully this review helps you make the right choice to NOT CHOOSE RENE’s!

So I hired this company this weekend. Oh and let me tell you the women that always answers the phone is rude and needs a attitude adjustment! First she quoted me $ 55 and the day of the cleaning, the cleaning ladies tell my husband the total was $ 65 and on the receipt it says 4 hours cleaning when they only cleaned for an hour and 10 minutes although they did a pretty good job. The manager needs to be fired! Don’t use this company!!!

The maids never showed up on time, if at all. I was scheduled for mornings every other week and they wouldn’t show until the afternoon. One time they didn’t show up at all. I tried calling several times and got no answer. Very late in the afternoon I was told their car broke down and they couldn’t make it. I was sent another team late that day. The next go around, the maids never showed up again. Although the cleaning was good whenever they decided to come, it’s just not a way to do business. When I informed the manager regarding the inconsistencies, she just apologized, but seemed indifferent. Not a way to treat customers.

I paid $ 75 for a move out cleaning, which was supposed to include 4 hours of cleaning. I had already moved out of my small house so the land lord let them in. They came around 8:45am and left just after 10am (according to my land lord). So much for 4 hours.
Plus, they did a poor job. Oven dirty, dirt and dust in corners, bathroom only moderately clean. It was only an 850 sq ft house, so it shouldn’t have been too hard to do it right.
The only reason I give them 2 stars is when I called to complain they offered to come back and finish the job. Unfortunately it was too late as the land lord had to finish the cleaning and the new tenants moved in.

The employees don’t seem to be direct employees, rather friends or family or something. There was no training, no thorough work, and barely any effort on almost everything. My bathroom was «cleaned» but both shelving units in there were left undusted, and the back of the toilet wasn’t cleaned, neither were any bathroom light fixtures. I had to ask them to come back in there and dust.
Any item dusted was skimmed, where corners and edges of almost everything were left dusty, just a wipe and moved on! In my living room, items were picked up and dusted under, but the items themselves weren’t dusted!
And the 3 people, Esperanza and her 2 kids, were only here 1 hour (3 hours work) when I paid for 4 hours and had a $ 30 tip prepared, another hour of dusting would have been nice but they didn’t even put things back where they belonged so I just let them go! I had to reorganize my living room and bathrooms after they left!
Not impressed. Pick a different company who cares about quality and employees held to a standard!

0 Stars! So horrible that they encouraged me to write my very first Unilocal review! I so badly wish I had looked at reviews before I used them and taken the warnings. Can’t say I was surprised to see the negative comments. The first time I used them the gal was very sweet and did an okay job cleaning. However, after she left I noticed two very expensive glass candle holders were broken and instead of being honest she set the broken pieces back on top, leaving it to fall and shatter when I went to light the candles later on that day. I called the manager/​owner named Mary and she apologized and said that the cleaner admitted it to her. Mary offered me a credit of $ 60 for the candle holders and this was the only reason I gave them another chance as I don’t like dishonesty, especially with someone in my home with valuable items. Today they came to clean at my new home and I am still continuing to clean as they were here for a very short time and half assed everything (didn’t move items to dust under/​behind, dust still on fans, stains In bottom of tub I easily removed with a little bleach cleaner and picking up little pieces of stuff after they cleaned the floors and the list goes on and on). I called Mary to thank her for the credit but let her know about the poor cleaning job and that unfortunately I would not be using them again. SHOCKED with what just happened! Mary answered and as I was telling her my frustration, she cut me off, asked if her maids were still here, I answered no, and then she completely went off on me and told me she could care less! I let her know I would be writing a Unilocal review and she continued to raise her voice and go off. Terrible way to treat any customer and horrifying business sense! I do not recommend them whatsoever because if you have any issue, you can count on it NOT being handled properly!

TERRIBLE! This is the WORST company I have EVER dealt with. I would give them Zero stars if I could. They are incompetent in every way! I don’t even know where to begin. I had them scheduled for 2 hours and when I returned 1 hour 45 minutes later to pay them I found them sitting on the floor, this was after they were late to begin with. After they left I noticed what a horrible job they did, shower hadn’t been cleaned and soap scum, hair was still visible. None of the mirrors had been windexed. Kitchen counters still had crumbs all over them. Microwave wasn’t cleaned and had grease and food still stuck on it. Kitchen and bathroom floors still had crumbs and dust everywhere. Vacuum job was pathetic. I have no idea what they actually did the entire time they were there. I called to complain to the owner and she said she would send someone back over that afternoon to finish cleaning what the other 2 ladies hadn’t done. They were again 15 minutes late so I called back to see if they were still on their way and the owner said she would call her and call me right back. Well I waited another 15 minutes and called back to see if they were still going to show up. I couldn’t get a straight answer (only attitude) and she said to call her back again if they weren’t there in 10 minutes. About 10 minutes later the cleaning lady called and I spent 20 minutes on the phone with her trying to direct her to my apartment. Her very bad English made it extremely hard to communicate directions to her. I finally had to run her down in my apartment building’s parking lot since she didn’t know how to read the building numbers. She showed up with no cleaning supplies and asked if she could use mine? Finally after being 50 minutes late she walked into my apartment and said something about me needing to reschedule for another time and literally ran back to her car. I just wasted ½ of my work day dealing with these incompetent people and then she leaves as soon as she gets there?! I called the manager back and explained what just happened and her only explanation was that «maybe she is going through menopause». Seriously, that is your response! No apologies or anything. The owner had the nerve to tell me to call back another time and reschedule the appointment for another day and she wouldn’t charge me. No Thanks! What a waste of time and money. I’m surprised this place is still in business. STAY AWAY!

Lousy. Missed cobwebs in the bathroom. They asked me for cleaning supplies such as bleach and garbage bags (seriously?). They left before they finished, tried to charge me to come back. Uncaring about their work. While cheap, definitely not worth the headache and probably having to do it over again after they leave.

Terrible.
The owner has an attitude problem.
And the housekeeper she sent did a very poor job and started with some attitude as well. After a while her attitude improved but the level of cleaning is very subpar.
Beds poorly made, dusted around some items, never fully cleaned, left many items in rooms she claimed she cleaned really dusty or untidy. Would not recommend this company for delicate homes and I wish I had checked Unilocal before as reviews speak for themselves.

I used this service once before and was not impressed and gave them a second chance due to a coupon. Very unprofessional! Showed up 30min late without calling for the second time. This is the most horrible cleaning service, the maids are so slow– our house is very clean and they took over an hour just walking up and down stairs and cleaning 1 bathroom. I’m 9 mo pregnant and had to repeat the bathroom, I could have cleaned it better the first time myself. They barely spoke english and I felt like they were just delaying their time. Last time they dinged my entire staircase paint with the vacuum. They didn’t even have adequate supplies to clean!- Horrible horrible service!!! Their supplies are horrible, shame on the owner for not giving these maids adequate supplies to work with!!!

Terrible service. Got a coupon so used them and they were awful. The two ladies did not understand a word i said and continued to clean in whatever order they wanted even though i had a priority list. When i asked them to vacuum the house they looked at me like i was crazy. Finally had to call the owner and ask her to explain to the ladies what i wanted. I also had to spend the whole time following them since they did such a shabby job and they spent most of their time just talking with each other. Am never getting them again!

Will never use them again myself, and certainly will not recommend them to anyone. In fact, I would warn anyone to stay clear of this operation.
Manager is rude, offensive, and a liar.
It’s a long story — but I had to pull my jaw up off the floor after my telephone conversation with her. It’s amazing that they’re still in business at all.

I had not used Rene’s in sometime and shame on me for using them again. They showed up 2 ½ hours late worked for 1 ¼ hrs and I had to still clean after they left. I advise you to save your money. I threw away $ 65.

11.11.11
I have used Rene’s of La Jolla for over a year and I finally decided that it was not worth it to pay them for poor service. They take short cuts and miss the basics. They had alot of turnover and I was not getting the consistancy of having the same ladies clean my house. I found myself leaving notes and post it notes around the house for areas to clean. Ladies do not speak English so this was how I had to communicate with housekeepers. They were constantly late and poor communication on what I had as a set schedule of Fridays. One Friday they did such a poor cleaning I called to complain, they told me that they sent two new ladies because some of regulars were demanding cash payments vs. paychecks so they could have unreported taxes on pay checks. So I got two unexperienced housekeepers who failed to do basics. Rene’s sent two more ladies out the next day. The following week, the ignorant housekeepers washed the cleaning rags and mop heads with my nice bathroom towels. I left all the towels with a partial payment, receipt for the replacement of towels and note of what they had done. Needless to say, they did not return for next scheduled service. Poor customer service, they never followed up with me to see if the maids meet to my satisfaction when they had to send them out next day to clean. They did not call to say they would discontinue servicing my home. I am very happy to move on and find a professional cleaning service. I will definitely know to work with a service that offers English speaking help. Dealing with non-​speaking, poor performance labor is just unacceptable. By the way, I did not mention in detail how they leave early and I have walked in and found one of the two maids sitting down eating Carl’s Jr at my table.

I have had this service come to my house off and on and in between I have had another cleaning lady who does a good job but she must have moved away as I cannot reach her on the phone.
I asked them back today because when I have needed them in the past, they always had available appointments, so it was helpful when we needed our house cleaned last minute. I have put aside the fact that they always wanted to use my paper towels, my vacuum, that they cleaned just as well as me and NOT better or the fact that they took a bottle of cleaner and a squeegee once (the little things do add up to the big things).
Today I first heard one of the ladies knock into a glass vase I had in the bathroom, and I was sitting there… hoping that they didn’t break it. Then a minute or so later, I was sitting at the kitchen table and watched the other lady violently move back and forth with her dust cloth and completely knock a statue of ours off of the entertainment center. It fell to the ground with small and bigger pieces breaking off. I was horrified.
I called the manager, she spoke to the cleaning lady, and then the manager basically told me the cleaning lady denied it that she was «just dusting and it fell.» The manager did agree it was wrong and said what she did was «extreme.» My moral beliefs — if you break something, admit it.
The manager did not talk about comping us or anything to do with not paying, I brought it up and she ignored it and kept talking about «an appraiser.» She said they would have someone come by and take our statue away to send somewhere else to be fixed and then if they couldn’t fix it, they would have it appraised. I told her that did not make any sense because a) it was fragile and should not be moved around more b) it was invaluable to us. How could I trust them to take away something we love when they already broke it? Also — how does that equate to good customer service? Her tone became rash with me, she never apologized and she kept saying «we’ll determine the value of the statue.»
We finally told the manager that we were asking the ladies to leave and that we would find someone else to clean our house.
The icing on the cake was hearing the cleaning ladies walk away laughing. Thanks a lot Rene’s, I’ll make sure that no one I know will ever use your service.

I’ve used the ladies of Rene’s of La Jolla for some months now (Lupe and Eva), and for them I give them 2 stars for their cleaning services. They are very nice, efficient, and have always arrived on time. If it wasn’t for them, I would probably have given this cleaning service 1 star for customer service.
I’m not the type to continually change services. If I find a decent one, I tend to stay with them for a long time out of loyalty. However, what I experienced today will now change that and I will have to find another service.
Sometime between 8pm and 6am this morning the water was shut off for our condo complex. Whether it be for maintenance, or a water pipe burst somewhere within my building, I don’t know. Lupe and Eva were scheduled to come at 11am this morning to clean my condo. At 8:10am I called the service to tell them I needed to reschedule them because I will have no water between 10am-​4pm. I can’t believe the guilt trip this lady was giving me on the phone, telling me how busy Lupe and Eva are, and that I causing hardship to them for canceling less than 48 hours in advance. If I had known that my water was going to shut off today, then obviously I would not have scheduled them to come today. I am acutely aware of the job market these days, and I like Lupe and Eva, but now they have lost my business because of this woman.
I can tell that this woman on the phone did not believe me, and I told her that if I was causing such a hardship then Lupe and Eva could come to vacuum, since there was nothing else to do. After a great sigh, the lady on the phone said that water was needed to clean the floors and the bathroom (duh), so it would inconvenient for them. Really? How about my inconvenience for having my water off all day, not being notified until the last minute, then getting a crazy guilt trip from a cleaning service?!? Geez!
This is not the first time I’ve had this type of attitude from this person. It’s too bad too because cleaning services in San Diego are a dime-​a-​dozen, and in today’s market, customer service is everything.
Unfortunately, bad experiences get spread more widely than good ones. Here’s mine.

Bad experience! I booked two appointments with them; 1 for a new house I was moving in to, and 1 for the condo I moved out of and was preparing for renters.
House #1: They arrived an HOUR late and did only basic dusting and counter wiping, even after I’d done a brief walk through showing them exactly what I was looking for. They only came equipped with a few rags, a bottle of all purpose cleaner and a broom that looked like it was from a 99cent store, on sale, half off! I explained I was moving in and wanted a thorough cleaning. These ladies are probably good for a weekly very basic tidy up, but not if you want something REALLY cleaned. I called the company to cancel the 2^nd appointment for later that week for the condo I was moving out of. To my pleasant surprise, the woman offered to send out two different cleaners to make the problem right at my new house. The two replacement women did a much better job, but I was along side them scrubbing the whole time, so I think that helped them understand what level of clean I was going for.
House #2: Since that second set of women sort of redeemed the company’s image, I went forward with the other appointment for my condo later that week. They were supposed to arrive at 10:30. They never showed up! I had only a few hours to work with so I cleaned the place myself. I’d called the company and spoke with the same woman that was helpful that first time, but this time she was nonchalant and didn’t seem to care that her crew was an hour late at that point (when she finally called me back). Cleaning crews are a dime a dozen. It’s surprising these people aren’t worried about their crew being on time or showing up at all. I wouldn’t recommend their services to anyone.