Questions to ask before you hire a maid
Ask these before the first visit, not after the first problem. Every one of them comes from an arrangement that went wrong for a predictable reason.
About the person
Verification is not an insult, and a professional route will have done it already. What you are checking is whether it was done before the first visit or is being improvised now that you asked.
- Has a government ID been verified, and by whom?
- Is there a contactable address on record, not only a phone number?
- Who is accountable if something goes wrong in my home?
- Has this person been trained for the work I am asking for?
About the work
Almost every dispute in month two is a scope dispute from day one. Get the list agreed in writing — a plan name on a booking counts — and the awkward conversation never happens.
- Exactly which tasks are included, task by task?
- What is explicitly not included?
- How long is the visit expected to take?
- What happens if the work turns out to be more than described — does the price change or the scope?
About time and reliability
A slot that drifts is the leading indicator of a hire that is about to fail. Household help runs on rounds, and yours needs a fixed place in one.
- What time exactly, and is that time reserved for me?
- What happens on the days the person cannot come — replacement, or a lost day?
- How much notice do I get for leave, and how is festival leave handled?
About money
The last three questions are the ones people skip because they feel rude, and they are the ones that decide whether you can leave cleanly if it is not working.
- What is the price, and what precisely does it cover?
- How is it paid, and do I get a receipt?
- Can I pause when I travel, and what is the notice period to stop?
How to ask without making it an interrogation
None of this needs to feel like a cross-examination, and it goes better if it does not. Ask the placement route — the agency, the platform, whoever sent the person — the verification and accountability questions, because those are theirs to answer. Ask the professional herself the practical ones: what time suits her round, what she is comfortable doing, whether the scope is realistic in the hours.
That second conversation matters more than people expect. A professional who tells you honestly that a four-bathroom house is not doable in an hour is the one worth hiring; the one who agrees to everything on day one is the one who quietly stops doing half of it by week three. You want the scope tested before it is agreed, not after.
Write down what you settle on, even loosely. On a booking, the plan name does that job for you — the tasks are in the name, so there is a shared list to point at rather than two different memories of the same conversation.
What the answers should sound like
A good arrangement answers all twelve quickly and without hedging, because the answers were decided before you asked. A shaky one produces "we will see" on the missed-day question and vagueness on scope — the two that cost the most later.
On maidigo most of these are answered before you speak to anyone: professionals are identity- and background-verified before taking bookings, the plan name carries the scope, the price is on the rate card, payment is online with a receipt, replacement cover is a stated promise, and monthly plans can be paused.