End-of-tenancy cleaning

[MrsW9]

Is it normal to be asked to pay upfront?

Out of five companies I've tried to contact, only one has got back with a quote. One was unavailable, the others didn't get back or had the wrong number.

The one that got back has asked for payment upfront. I'm hesitant about this for a couple of reasons, but is this in fact pretty normal?

I’ve never had to pay up front.

Hmmm seems unusual, but maybe its because they can't forward the invoice to you if you are moving?
I dunno OP, it's ages since I've moved, I know I had to pay a deposit, and they request remainder was paid on the day they came to deep clean. Can you check out any reviews?

I would never pay up front. We once hired a cleaner to do this after the tenant let us down. The cleaner came, did 20 mins work, said she needed to go and get a sandwich (which we gave her money for) and never came back. Thankfully only gave her sandwich money, not the whole fee.

You might have to send a portion for booking their services but cleaners tend to be paid after the job. Don’t pay upfront.

Thanks all for your comments. I've gone for something more local and they take a deposit first, which seems a more reasonable way to proceed!

Only paid for it once, and payment was after it was done and I got a chance to inspect the quality