Bad experience with "Merry Maids"!

[TimeForChange]

Recently we used Merry Maids Cleaning of Ocala for a second time to clean our house. We were told that only one person would clean. That day two women arrived and one was referred as "trainee". The "trainee" cleaned our Master BR and left early for a Dr. appt she said she had. Later we found that my wife's prescription medicine was missing along with my $2000 gold bracelet. Some of my wife's medicine was found on the floor in a walk in closet where the person had dropped it while opening the bottle . Police report was filed but the court did not press charges. Mary Maids manager in Ocala says they fired the trainee. That to me is an expression of guilt. They misinformed us saying that their workers are background checked. They misinformed us that only one person would clean. Now they are refusing to reimburse for our losses.

[BobnBev]

I think you mean "Merry Maids". If you're going to pursue this legally, make sure you get the name right on the court papers. BTW, we use "Molly Maids". Very satisfied.

[retiredguy123]

I think the only way to prevent the situation you describe is to clean your house yourself, or hire someone who you know and trust. People who clean houses are low income, and background checks are not always effective. The cleaning company really cannot ensure you that the people they send to your house won't steal something. And, they probably cannot afford to adequately investigate a theft or to just pay you $2,000 for a bracelet that they know nothing about. It is an unfortunate situation with no solution. Just my opinion.

[TimeForChange]

I think you mean "Merry Maids". If you're going to pursue this legally, make sure you get the name right on the court papers. BTW, we use "Molly Maids". Very satisfied.

Your right....I changed it. I had not had my coffee.

[TimeForChange]

I think the only way to prevent the situation you describe is to clean your house yourself, or hire someone who you know and trust. People who clean houses are low income, and background checks are not always effective. The cleaning company really cannot ensure you that the people they send to your house won't steal something. And, they probably cannot afford to adequately investigate a theft or to just pay you $2,000 for a bracelet that they know nothing about. It is an unfortunate situation with no solution. Just my opinion.

I agree with most but this is a National Company out of Memphis. They would for sure have insurance in case something of value is broken. They also advertise that their employees are "level 2" checked. A police lady laughed when I told her that.

[B-flat]

Not sure about anyone else but we have riders on my wife’s expensive jewelry. I believe there’s a clause called mysterious disappearance that could have covered the loss of the gold bracelet. With drugs I’d hide them.

[retiredguy123]

Your homeowners insurance would probably cover the loss, if you have the add on coverage. However, I think that the only way the cleaning service's insurance will cover a theft is, if the maid is arrested and convicted of the crime. They may cover something that is broken in the house.

[TimeForChange]

Your homeowners insurance would probably cover the loss, if you have the add on coverage. However, I think that the only way the cleaning service's insurance will cover a theft is, if the maid is arrested and convicted of the crime. They may cover something that is broken in the house.


Home owners is $500 deductible. Jewelry max in $1000. I really don't care about the money but I posted to inform others that this company advertises they have background checks level II. (what ever that means) They also say that one person will clean the home. That is not the case and they did not notify us that two would be coming that day. My wife was sitting on the sofa while they were cleaning. I am some what upset with the local detective who handles this case. He told me the trainee had pawned a ring a few weeks before. He would not even provide the name of the pawn shop. The girl could have had someone else pawn for her in their name but he did not even check it out when I sent him a photo of the bracelet. I could have gone there and identified the bracelet.

[blueash]

I am some what upset with the local detective who handles this case. He told me the trainee had pawned a ring a few weeks before. He would not even provide the name of the pawn shop. The girl could have had someone else pawn for her in their name but he did not even check it out when I sent him a photo of the bracelet. I could have gone there and identified the bracelet.

That seems like a very legitimate complaint. It would seem that if a suspect has a history of pawning jewelry, that notifying pawn shops to be on the lookout for a recently stolen item that may have been taken by that suspect would be absolutely required. Care to share with us the name of the police agency and the officer who treated you thusly? Perhaps the investigation is not done. Are you aware if there has been a search done of the suspect's home and car looking for the jewelry and pills? Perhaps the cop is doing more than you are being told but even so, I don't understand why they would not share a simple detail like "we sent your photo of the item to all the pawn shops in the area" if they did.

[retiredguy123]

Apparently, the police do not want to help you. With the evidence they have, any competent detective could recover the bracelet and arrest the employee for either the theft or for something else. Sgt Friday and Officer Gannon could have solved it in 30 minutes and still had time for several commercials.

[TimeForChange]

Anytime you pawn an item it goes into a police computer file. They can look it up. In this case there was no gold bracelet showing as pawn by the person who cleaned our master BR. That does not mean that the person could have a relative or a friend pawn in their name so it would not show on the police records. The detective was with Sumter County and I have his name. We are still working to find out where this woman pawned a ring earlier. I will let you know the out come. My wife is a two time cancer patient and this female stole her medicine and a gold bracelet my wife gave me for Christmas. It makes you feel violated. It makes you mad and the police don't seem to care.

[retiredguy123]

I wish you luck. I would be mad too. Unless the woman is squeaky clean, the police should be able to find out what happened and get the bracelet back, if they really want to.

[Shimpy]

Being single, I'm ready to hire a cleaning service but I will stay home while being done and NOTHING of value will be seen.

[Boomer]

A little off topic -- but -- when we had our houses for sale, we had a briefcase where we kept prescriptions (even something as mundane as Lipitor) and jewelry. Papers that could have too much information were locked in the file cabinet and the sock drawer cash was not in the sock drawer.

When there was to be a showing, we could just grab the briefcase and get out of the way. (I assume realtors now tell sellers to do this -- or they should -- especially for open houses.)

I would be inclined to do the same thing if I were having someone clean that I did not really know. In fact, I probably would not even leave the house at all under that circumstance and I would still have that briefcase packed and in sight.

I am sorry this has happened to you.

[TimeForChange]

Apparently, the police do not want to help you. With the evidence they have, any competent detective could recover the bracelet and arrest the employee for either the theft or for something else. Sgt Friday and Officer Gannon could have solved it in 30 minutes and still had time for several commercials.


Yesterday I found the address of the person who worked for Merry Maids in Ocala who we are sure stole my $2000 gold bracelet. I also found on Facebook she is married to another woman who recently was locked up at Ocala Correctional. I went to four or five pawn shops in Ocala but did not find the bracelet. I even showed the Pawn Shop owners a photo of the bracelet and none of them said they remembered having it. Merry Maids advertises that they do a Level II criminal record. Beware of Maid services!

[asianthree]

Have you turned in the claim to your insurance. The bracelet will be replaced, and let them do the recon on the persons involved. Just a thought.

[BK001]

What an unfortunate event - I'm sorry you had to go through this. I had a somewhat similar event. I hired a company to do some steam-cleaning that involved work in my bathrooms and the rest of the house. The next day I checked the medicine cabinet wherein contained a prescription painkiller. I don't know what made me take the pill bottle and count the pills. It seems to me that some were missing. My guess would be between 5 and 7 were taken. But, since I had not counted the pills before and it was a nagging suspicion that I was not 100% sure of, I declined to call the company.

However, a good lesson learned. I now hide my medicines, along with cash and jewelry, thereby removing both temptation and access.