Rating of 2 out of 5 starsJune 6, 2021 BUYER BEWARE!
I purchased three packages for Bear-Clean through Living Social – pressure washing the house, pressure washing the driveway and sidewalks, and gutter cleaning. To begin with, it was very difficult to contact them to schedule. I called the number several times and only got a recording stating the phone lines weren’t working. I texted the number with no response. Finally I emailed them, but couldn’t get an appointment for 2 months. We went back and forth via email for dates/times and I stated it would be easier to schedule if we could actually speak to each other, but that wasn’t acknowledged and no working number provided. That should have been my first red flag.
I scheduled all three services for the same day, which would save them time and money. They seemed to think they could do all the work in two hours. I questioned that, and they said they would send a crew out to take a look and if they needed more help, call another crew to come in. They sent one guy. Rather than walking around the property discussing the services, the first thing he wanted to do was measure the gutters using a tool he rolled on the ground. Right away he wanted to charge me more for the gutter cleaning, even though I had bought the larger package for a 2-story house up to 110 sq. ft. rather than the smaller package for a single story. My house is 1800 sq. ft. single story so I figured the larger package should more than cover the gutter cleaning.
I also asked which sidewalks would be cleaned (since it said sidewalks in the description). I was informed it was only from the driveway to the front door, even though my front sidewalk goes from the front door to the driveway and splits across the yard to the street. I didn’t expect them to clean the sidewalk along the street, but certainly the whole front walk. He only cleaned one section and left the rest even though it was all part of the same sidewalk. The difference between the cleaned section and other is very noticeable. I guess I’ll have to buy a pressure washer to finish the job.
I had asked if he could clean the pathway along the side of the house and my back patio if I paid a little extra. But between that, the extra gutter charge, and to finish the front walk, he wanted to charge an additional $200! Seemed a bit like a price gouging scam to me, so I told him to just do all the services I already paid for, and definitely the gutters in the back as they had the most debris.
Apparently their idea of gutter cleaning is to get on the roof and blow out the debris with a leaf blower, which he did in about 20 minutes and did NOT do the back gutters as instructed. I ended up paying more for that. I asked if he was going to clean and flush the gutters with water and was told that wasn’t part of the service, costs more and that I was getting a good deal. Other gutter cleaners I’ve hired did use water and were very thorough. On top of that, when he blew out the back gutter, he left the debris laying on my plant beds, lawn and the patio I had just cleaned myself. I would definitely NOT recommend using Bear-Clean for gutter cleaning.
The house pressure washing was fine as far as I could see, but I had to ask him to go back and clean up some debris left on the front and entryway. He did do a thorough job on the driveway, but left all the debris in the street which I had to clean up. He also connected my expandable water hoses to his pressure washer, stretched to their limits, which I’m sure they aren’t designed for. They should’ve used their own heavy duty water hose.
Bottom line: you get what you pay for, sort of, but these are not good deals if you want things done right.
Rating of 5 out of 5 starsDecember 8, 2020 Right on time, did an excellent job explaining what pressure they were using and why (older home, siding weak in areas) and noted other issues like gutter needs to be cleaned (we will be replacing them soon) and how they got rid of the moss/mildew/mold on a spot on the patio covering/roof. Great job, the siding is so much cleaner now for us to make repairs and paint.