15 Solid Reasons to Avoid Cheap Office Cleaning Services [2025]

The competition between commercial & office cleaning companies in London is fierce. Cleaning contractors are ready to do anything to get clients and sign cleaning contracts. Companies and businesses too are in desperate need of office cleaning services and they constantly look for reliable contractors with reasonable prices. However, in the process of finding an office cleaning company, clients may see lucrative offers at a very low price, much lower than what reliable and reputable commercial cleaners offer. What is the story behind it? Are they any good or you should avoid them?

In this article, we’ll explore why some contractors are able to offer low service prices and why you should avoid them at all costs.

#1 Low Cleaning Staff Wage

Employer’s ethics and fair pay for cleaning staff are the first and the most important reasons why you should avoid cheap cleaning services. Cleaning contractors have to cut their staff salaries to reduce their service pay. Therefore, they offer their cheap service at the expense of the misery of their staff when they’re trying to make ends meet.

Instead, reputable commercial cleaning companies pay their staff the actual living wage, like the London Living Wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, to ensure their financial, and ultimately, physical and mental well-being.

#2 Poor Cleaning Quality

Cheap office cleaning services often cut their operation costs to reduce their rates. This means little to no training for staff, poor quality supplies and unacceptable cleaning quality. Therefore, while you pay to have your office cleaned regularly, you really won’t see any effective changes in your cleaning arrangements.

On the other hand, reliable cleaning services closely analyse cleaning needs when they calculate cleaning service fees to prepare a quote. Their service rate may not be more than 25% more expensive than cheap cleaning services, but the difference is exceptionally noticeable and makes the money you paid worth every penny.

#3 No Relevant Accreditations

In the commercial cleaning industry, there are several relevant accreditations a contractor should hold. These accreditations and certificates validate the contractor’s knowledge of cleaning practices and standards, Health & Safety standards, COSHH risk assessment and others.

Contractors should pay membership fees and make changes in their company to get these accreditations and maintain them on a yearly basis. This cost, therefore, adds to the service fee, which ultimately increases the service rate while providing the client with the confidence to decide whether the cleaning contractor is reliable.

However, cheap commercial cleaning services not only lack such accreditations but also may forge them or come up with made-up certificates that don’t mean anything and hope the client won’t check their validity.

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#4 Fake or No Valid Reference

The story is similar for references and previous clients. Cheap cleaning services may not have any valid references or their past clients aren’t happy with the service they are receiving. Also, they can make fake company names and call them clients.

But reliable office cleaning companies provide references from their clients when they offer quotations. You can call their clients and ensure it’s genuine and the service is satisfactory.

#5 Untrained Cleaning Staff

Lack of proper training is another issue with cheap cleaning services, and it’s a big one. When cleaning contractors cut costs by providing little to no training for their staff, the cleaning quality will be affected. Also, untrained cleaning staff not only increase the health & hygiene and the risk of cross-contamination but also may injure themselves or cause damage due to improper use of cleaning equipment.

#6 No On-Site Supervision or Management

A good cleaning service for the office means you set it and forget it. Cleaning staff and their supervisors should take care of everything. However, cheap cleaning services often don’t have any supervisors or operations managers for clients. It costs more money to hire supervisors to check on cleaners on-site. Therefore, no supervisor or manager means a cheaper service rate but also means bad service and poor sanitation quality.

#7 No Substitute Cleaner

One of the main reasons why businesses and companies outsource their cleaning services is to relive themselves from cleaning staff HR management. This means they don’t need to look for substitute cleaners when they go on holiday or take sick leave. The commercial cleaning company always send a substitute when the usual cleaner can’t make it to work for any reason.

However, cheap cleaning services not only don’t send substitutes in most cases, but their staff won’t make it to work on time.

#8 Poor Communication

Many cheap office cleaning companies don’t even have an office to begin with. They go around the city in a van and the only way to contact them is to reach them over their personal mobile number. It’s cheaper this way and allows them to maintain low service rates.

On top of this, there’s no supervisor on site. Therefore, there’s no real communication between the client and contractor in case something is wrong, the cleaner hasn’t shown up or the cleaning quality is problematic.

On the other hand, good commercial cleaning companies have an office in the city. You can reach them easily over the phone or by email. You can also communicate your needs and concerns with on-site supervisors or operations managers. They will listen to you, take notes and try to solve the problem themselves. Otherwise, they’ll escalate the issues to directors and quickly respond to your concerns.

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#9 Complaints Don’t Go Anywhere

When communication is poor between the client and the cleaning contractor, complaints will not be handled correctly or at all. Customer service and handling client’s complaints are important parts of every commercial & office cleaning service. Without it, clients will quickly get mad at the service and terminate their contracts.

However, maintaining customer service and complaints handling is a costly process and requires extra office employees. Therefore, you won’t see it with cheap office cleaning services.

On the other hand, reliable companies seeking to improve their service not only quickly respond to their client’s concerts but also periodically survey their cleaning service to ensure their clients receive the best service quality.

#10 Enhanced DBS Checks

Cleaning staff usually arrive at client’s sites when the office is empty. This is necessary to prevent interruptions during office working hours. This is also a big liability and responsibility for cleaning contractors.

Therefore, they regularly run background checks on their staff to ensure everything is in order. In the UK, cleaning contractors run Enhanced DBS Checks to ensure their staff are reliable and trustworthy. They are representing the cleaning company and any misconduct will severely harm the brand.

However, cheap cleaning services usually hire staff willing to work for less for “some reason”. This means DBS checks might be nonexistent since it costs extra money to run. In this case, the cleaning staff are highly unreliable, a danger to the client and a liability to the contractor.

#11 Health & Safety Violation

Adhering to the Health & Safety guidelines and regulations is mandatory for all businesses. This also includes commercial cleaning companies. Their staff, therefore, should follow every H&S regulations to prevent accidents and injuries.

While reliable cleaning companies professionally train their staff for Health & Safety, cheap cleaning services don’t offer such training. Therefore, their staff, who are unaware, may injure themselves or cause harm to others. The main reason is not using or improper use of personal protective equipment when cleaning. For example, the cleaner climbs a ladder to dust a light fixture without any safety helmet.

#12 Low-Quality Cleaning Supplies

One of the areas affected by extreme cost-cutting measures is using low-quality or even hand-made ones for cleaning. Cheap commercial cleaning services often use unknown and brandless cleaning supplies. This will affect the cleaning efficacy and may render any sanitation and disinfection, especially in office kitchens and toilets, ineffective.

Therefore, cheap and low-quality cleaning supplies not only reduce cleaning effects but may also put employee’s health at risk. Reliable commercial cleaning companies use reputable brands to ensure cleaning is thorough.

#13 Incorrect Use of Cleaning Supplies

While the use of low-quality cleaning supplies is one issue, incorrect and improper use of them is another issue. When cleaning staff aren’t trained professionally, they may mix cleaning supplies together into hoping to boost its effects. However, the mixture may emit toxic vapours that may cause serious health issues.

Also, incorrect use may include using too much or too little cleaning supplies. The latter is more probable with cheap cleaning service since they are looking to save money on every front to maintain their suspiciously low service rates. Using too much cleaning supplies may ruin certain surfaces and using too little may not have any cleaning and sanitation effects.

#14 Contracts With Lots of Loopholes

The biggest problem with cheap cleaning services is their contracts. Cleaning contractors offer cheap services that are hard to get out of. This will ensure their long-term profit while not providing a solid service. Another term for such contracts is “Money Extortion”.

Cheap cleaning services often have complicated and ambiguous contracts full of loopholes that force the client to stay in it for a long time. Terminating such contracts is difficult and often requires the interference of lawyers and legal services, which is a huge expense in & of itself.

On the other hand, reputable office cleaning companies prepare their contracts based on what their clients require. Therefore, there are no fixed terms or commitments. They do this because they trust their cleaning staff and their cleaning service quality and are sure their clients are happy and satisfied with the service and won’t terminate the contract.

#15 Liability & Insurance

Any physical service with the risk of injury or damage should be covered by reliable insurance. Commercial cleaning services should also be insured. Insurance and liability are the responsibility of cleaning contractors. They have to make sure their services are covered up to a very high amount by insurance companies. The amount of liability should go into millions.

Getting such insurance premiums is, of course, expensive. This means cheap office cleaning companies often get their insurance from unreliable companies or the insurance liability is low and doesn’t really cover significant damages when it happens.

Conclusion

There are several commercial cleaning companies in London competing to get more clients and stay on the top. Among them are some who are offering suspiciously low service rates. Many clients see these lucrative offers and get into poor-quality cleaning service contracts that are difficult to terminate. In this article, we explored why cheap cleaning services for your office space are dangerous and why you should avoid them at all costs.

The information in this article will help those looking to review their cleaning arrangement or start a new contract with a cleaning service. It is also helpful for those who are researching why certain cleaning services are much cheaper than others and why they should avoid them.

You Should Avoid Cheap Office Cleaning Services: Here’s Why!