Terms and conditions

1. About us

Sandhills Cleaning is run by [owner's full name], a sole trader, at [trading address]. Email: contact@sandhillscleaning.co.uk. In these terms, "we" and "us" means Sandhills Cleaning, and "you" means the person who books the clean.

You must accept these terms to book. By booking, you confirm you're 18 or over and allowed to arrange the clean at the property (for example as the owner, tenant or their agent). These terms don't affect your legal rights as a consumer.

2. Our cleans

We offer regular, deep, end of tenancy and office cleans, plus the extras shown in our instant quote. What each clean includes is set out on our What's included page. Anything not listed there is not included unless we agree it with you in writing (email is fine).

We don't take on jobs involving heavy mould, pests, hoarding, needles, bodily fluids, hazardous waste, or anything we consider unsafe. These need a specialist cleaner.

3. Prices

• Regular cleans are charged at £20 an hour for the time taken. The hours in your quote are an estimate.
• Deep and end of tenancy cleans are a fixed price, based on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and on the description and any photos you give us.
• Office cleans are charged at £20 an hour per visit, confirmed after a free site visit.
• Minimum charge: every clean or visit has a minimum charge of £50.
• Extras are charged at the prices shown in our instant quote.
• We are not VAT registered, so no VAT is added.
• Online quotes are estimates. Your price is confirmed in your booking confirmation. If we've made an obvious mistake in a price, we'll tell you before the clean and you can cancel free of charge.

4. Photos and the condition of your home

Our prices are for homes in a normal, lived-in condition. To give you an accurate price, we ask for a description of your home. Photos of your kitchen and bathroom are optional, but we recommend them, as they help avoid price changes on the day.

• Please make sure your description, and any photos you send, are accurate and show the areas that need the most work, such as limescale, grease, mould or heavy dust, not just the best areas.
• Your price and time are based on what your photos and description show. If they leave out areas that need much more work, or the home is in a noticeably worse condition than shown or described, the price or time may change.
• When we arrive, we'll do a short walk round and take photos of anything in a worse condition than shown or described. Before we start, we'll agree one of these with you: extra time at £20 an hour, focusing on your priorities within the price or time booked, or rebooking a longer visit.
• If you don't agree to any of these, we'll clean what we can in the time booked and note what we couldn't cover. You pay the price booked, and our guarantee doesn't cover the areas we couldn't do.
• If the clean can't go ahead because the home isn't as described, or it isn't safe, a call-out charge of £35 applies.
• A first regular clean, or a clean of a home that hasn't been cleaned professionally recently, often takes longer than later visits. We'll always ask before going over the time booked.

5. Booking

• A booking is confirmed when we email you to confirm it.
• We may decline or cancel a booking, for example if the job is outside our area, not something we do, or the details given are false. If we do, we'll refund anything you've paid in full.
• For deep and end of tenancy cleans, we email you a link for the 20% deposit. If it isn't paid within 48 hours of that email (or 24 hours before the clean, if sooner), we may release your date.

6. Payment

• Regular cleans: nothing to pay up front. After each clean we email you a secure card payment link, or you can pay by Direct Debit or bank transfer.
• Deep and end of tenancy cleans: a 20% deposit holds your date. The rest is due when the clean is finished.
• Office cleans: invoiced monthly, payable within 14 days.
• Home cleans must be paid within 3 days. If a payment is late, we may pause future cleans until it's paid, and we may recover unpaid amounts together with reasonable costs of collecting them.
• If you're unhappy with a clean, please tell us and let us put it right under our guarantee rather than withholding payment or disputing a card payment.

7. Changes and cancellations

• You can move or cancel a clean free of charge with at least 48 hours' notice by email. Deposits are refunded in full.
• With less than 48 hours' notice, a charge of £35 applies (for deep and end of tenancy cleans, this is taken from your deposit and the rest refunded).
• If we can't get in within 15 minutes of the booked time, or the clean can't go ahead because of something within your control, the same £35 charge applies.
• If we need to cancel or move your clean (for example because of illness, severe weather or anything else outside our control), we'll tell you as soon as we can and offer another date or a full refund of anything you've paid. We're not responsible for other costs this causes.

8. Your right to cancel

If you book online or by email as a consumer, you have a legal right to cancel within 14 days of booking without giving a reason. If you ask us to clean within those 14 days and then cancel, you pay for any work already done. Once a clean has been fully carried out at your request, you can no longer cancel it. To cancel, just email us. This doesn't apply to office cleans booked by a business.

9. Access and keys

• Please make sure we can get in at the booked time, and let us know about alarms, parking and anything we need to know to get in.
• If you give us a key, we store it securely and label it with a code, never your address. We return it when you ask, or when our service ends.
• If we lose a key you've given us, we'll pay the reasonable cost of replacing the affected locks.
• Please make sure we have hot water, electricity and enough light to clean safely, and somewhere legal to park nearby. Parking charges are added to your bill.

10. During the clean

• Please put away valuables, cash, fragile items and anything precious, and clear away clutter so we can reach surfaces. We clean around items we can't safely move.
• We don't move heavy furniture or appliances unless agreed, climb above a small step ladder, or clean outside windows.
• Please tell us about any surfaces or items that need special care, such as natural stone, untreated wood or antiques, and any allergies. We bring our own professional products and equipment.
• Please keep pets secure if they may get in the way or be at risk, and let us know about anyone who'll be in the home.
• We can stop a clean if we feel unsafe, for example because of abusive behaviour or a hazard in the home. If this is due to something within your control, the time worked or the call-out charge applies (whichever is more).

11. Our guarantee

Our guarantee applies to every clean: regular, deep, end of tenancy and office. If we miss something on the checklist for the clean you booked, or an extra you booked, we'll put it right free of charge.

• How to claim: email us within 24 hours of the clean (end of tenancy cleans: within 72 hours, or before the inventory check if that's sooner) with clear photos of each issue. Please take them before the area is used or touched again, and don't re-clean it yourself, as we need to see it.
• Checking a claim: we look at your photos alongside our own before and after photos of the clean and our notes. We'll make a fair decision based on that evidence about whether a task was missed. If the evidence doesn't show that a task on the checklist was missed, or shows it was done, the claim isn't covered and we don't need to return.
• Putting it right: we'll choose the fairest way to put a covered issue right. Usually that's a return visit at one of the times we offer you. Where a return trip isn't practical, for example for a small issue or a home further from our base, we'll give you a partial refund for the missed task instead. We decide which, and the refund amount, fairly based on the size of the missed task. Each issue is put right once, and a full refund is not part of this guarantee.
• We don't pay for, or refund the cost of, another cleaner or anyone else you arrange to do the work.
• Not covered: tasks not on the checklist or not booked; areas we couldn't reach or you asked us to skip; anything used or dirtied again since the clean; stains that won't come out, damage, or wear and tear; anything we agreed with you on the day couldn't be done in the time booked; or end of tenancy cleans where the home has been lived in, or belongings moved back in, since the clean.
• Fair use: if claims are repeated, not supported by the evidence, or appear not to be made in good faith, we may decline them and end our service with you. You'll still pay for cleans already carried out.
• This guarantee is our own promise, in addition to your legal rights. It doesn't take away any rights you have under consumer law, for example to a price reduction if a service hasn't been carried out with reasonable care and skill.

12. Damage and breakages

• We take great care in your home and hold public liability insurance. If we accidentally damage something, tell us within 48 hours with photos. We'll put it right by repair, replacement or a fair contribution towards its value (taking its age and condition into account), at our choice.
• We're not responsible for damage caused by existing faults, wear and tear, items that weren't secure, or surfaces and items needing special care that we weren't told about.
• We're not responsible for losses that weren't foreseeable, or for business losses when we clean your home.
• Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that can't be limited by law.

13. End of tenancy cleans

• The home should be empty of belongings and rubbish, with electricity and hot water on. We don't remove rubbish or items left behind unless agreed.
• Freezers must be switched off and defrosted before we arrive if you'd like us to clean them.
• We work to the agent's inventory where you give it to us before the clean. We can't guarantee the return of any deposit, as that depends on things outside our control, such as damage and the agent's decision.
• If your agent flags anything on our checklist within 72 hours of the clean, send us their report or photos and we'll put it right free under our guarantee (section 11), as long as the home hasn't been lived in and no belongings have been moved back in.

14. Regular cleans

• You can pause or stop your regular cleans at any time by email, with 48 hours' notice before the next visit.
• We may review our prices. We'll give you at least 30 days' notice of any change, and you can stop your cleans before it applies.
• We may send a different member of our team if your usual cleaner is unavailable.

15. Office cleans

• We agree the checklist, visit times and price with you in writing after a free site visit.
• Either of us can end an office cleaning agreement with 30 days' notice by email.
• Please provide toilet paper, hand soap, bin liners and other consumables, and tell us about alarm codes, access times and any areas we shouldn't enter.
• We clean around desks and screens but don't move papers or equipment, and we're not responsible for data or devices.
• For business customers, our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim (except for anything that can't be limited by law). Late payments may carry interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

16. Our team

Our cleaners are part of our business. While you're a client and for 6 months after your last clean, please don't employ or hire any of our cleaners directly or through anyone else. If you do, we may charge an introduction fee of £250 to cover our costs of recruiting and training.

17. Photos we take

We take before and after photos of every clean, to check our work and to deal with any questions about the condition of your home or our guarantee. We'll only use photos of your home in our marketing if you agree, and never with anything that could identify you or your address. See our Privacy notice.

18. Complaints

If you're unhappy with anything, please email us and we'll do our best to put it right quickly. We aim to reply within 1 working day.

19. General

• We may update these terms. The version that applies is the one on our website when you book. For regular and office clients, changes apply to future cleans after we've given you 30 days' notice by email.
• If any part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.