I noticed on another thread a couple of people mentioned about not being happy with their cleaning service and having to get them back to do 'a few bits' they had missed. Well..........seeing as i am a cleaner at the mo i wondered, from the customers point of view, what are your main complaints and/or what do you wish your cleaner would do more thoroughly and is there anything that most cleaners seem to miss out????
Would love to know your views as i kind of do stuff 'my' way and maybe i drive my customers mad lol!

Not looking above their heads for cobwebs! Having selective vision that excludes doing round the skirting boards where we get woodlice collecting.

Seriously, my cleaner is great, and she tidies and makes beds beautifully! I have her for 8 hours a week, not enough!

not seeing dusty skirting boards!
not pulling the sofa out from the wall and hoovering behind (tis a light sofa and easy to move) even when asked!
not using the scrubby sponge that I leave in the bathroom to clean the tiles properly in the shower

apart from that I love my cleaner and therefore am not that bothered by the above - I just do it myself!

I love my cleaner
Sometimes she doesn't put the mop and bucket away again. And she is very petite so it is hard for her to reaxh the cobwebs, should she be inclined to have a go at them.

But it would be utterly churlish of me to complain because she is so brilliant, even babysits for me. I lvve her I really do

Agree with meep! Mine tends not to see the dust on the skirting, also our sofa is the type that has 'legs', IYKWIM, and you can easily see if there's fluff collecting under it... but it gets missed too.

However she is otherwise great so I haven't said anything about it!

Yup - cobwebs are a biggie here too. They are getting ridiculous but our cleaner (lovely too, babysits our chickens when we are away ) doesn't seem to see them or doesn't think they are in her job description (not that we have one).

Mop and bucket here too. A bit annoying when you come back to an "almost" perfect house - we do a big tidy on Sunday night, she cleans Monday morning, but when we come in it's all sparkling apart from the mop & bucket out and a few cleaning products left lying about.

Aaaah! So not too much to complain about then!!! I always do the top dusting so thats good. But i think i might be guilty of the 'not moving the sofa' thing.......will try harder!!!
Anything else?

mine tidy up too much and i can never find stuff! my dh can never find his slippers and they recycle the mags/newspapers by my bed i haven't read!

Lol @ the cleaners who 'tidy up too much!'

Selective vision is one of the biggest problems. A cleaner who only cleans part of a room when I ask her to clean all of a room is worse than useless as then I have to go around after her to do the bits she left, scrutinising all the while to ensure I don't do things which actually managed to do.

Also - not moving furniture to clean (there is no point at all on parquet floors to hoovering around the furniture as dust collects under it and redistributes itself very fast indeed); not cleaning mirrors.

Mine mops around things and doesn't move them. She also does an hours ironing and has the iron too hot so everything is shiny.

mine is a lovely lovely lady but her english isn't great and I dont think she fully understands the E cloth thing! Also, she doesn't rinse the bath round enough after she has cleaned it so although it is clean it seems to have a film over it. But, they are minor things and I love everything else she does also the fact that she is very cheerful and delightful with my DCs.

I also have a lovely, lovely cleaner but, in fact, I wish she used her initiative a wee bit more, instead of waiting for a list of instructions.

Not cleaning the tops of skirting boards.
Using a hoover on the wood floor and never mopping it so that sticky marks remain.

I have a very good cleaner, she loves doing the ironing and is happy to do every aspect of cleaning, but she's not very orderly - she doesn't tidy anything, in fact she chucks it out of her way into a big mess sometimes. I am not going to say anything to her because I think this is just the way she is and there are worse things. She's never broken anything, is completely reliable time wise, I trust her with the kids etc and hope that she stays with us for some time!

We have a great cleaner/babysitter but she has certain blind spots eg not cleaning around the basin plug, not cleaning skirting boards,mopping around things.

However I would not be without her. She is totally trustworthy and looks after dd once a week too, also cleans our office.

Whenever I moan to myself I wonder what life would be like without her and shut up!

She does all the ironing and changes the beds too. I love her!

my mum was a cleaner for a posh couple who lived nearby and when she got there to start work the lady of the house would be hoovering or dusting so my mum did'nt have to do it!!! now where's the sense in that.
i think she just wanted the company because often they would sit and chat for an hour while she was supposed to be cleaning.

My complaint about cleaners is I can't afford one!!!!The one I have (me!) is rubbish.

Mine doesn't clean the plughole - she puts the plug in while cleaning the sink and doesn't seem to think to clean the plughole when she takes it out! However, the real problem with my cleaner is that she is retiring in June when I come off on maternity leave - she's given up all her other clients and is only working for me at the moment as I think she feels sorry for me.

I will tell you now what annoys me about my customers!!!! Leaving dirty knickers for me to pick up (!) unflushed loos with all sorts in them! Washing up (we have an agreement that there won't be any washing up!) loads of kids toys strewn around so i have to tidy before hoovering. But the worst is......when they don't pay on the day!! Mine should always leave cash/cheque for me but they make excuses that they didn't have time....i feel like saying "how would you feel if your boss didn't have time to pay you this month!"
I always do a less superior clean when they haven't left my payment, not particularly on purpose but because i feel about 'put on' etc.,!
Oh and it annoys me when, i have nearly finished my clean at their house and they suddenly ask for an extra job to be done that will take the best part of an hour...grrr!

at people leaving dirty knickers lying out!!

And not paying you... That is despicable.

I always do as much tidying as possible before my cleaner comes so as she can simply get on and do her job. Ooooh, very for you!

That I haven't got one.

Her assumption that if I don't say anything I'm happy for her to get less and less meticulous as time goes on!

Doesn't clean taps well enough, nor toothpaste off tiles behind sink, or splashes off wooden shelf above sink. Despite me reminding her.

Doesn't hoover my rugs HARD enough. They are tightly hand woven ethnic jobbies and are slightly wrinkled so the dust collects in the uneven surface. (It's a brand new Miele)

TBH I think she can't see too well...she's in her 50's.

Also, it's a decrepit old flat we rent so it seems a bit petty to want shiny taps when the 1930's bath enamel is so worn you could file the bottom of your feet with it...

Just wait till we move into our new house tho, there'll be no excuses then!

One thing I do like is she wears a hands-free radio/mobile phone thing so when people call her she just keeps on working!

My biggest complaint is that she cleans the oven every week whether it needs it or not. She's fantastic. She does have a slight blind spot about ironing and will go to great lengths to avoid doing it (dd often has immaculately arranged bookshelves on a Wednesday evening but no ironed shirts for dh) but I don't particularly mind ironing.

If you really want to know how your customers feel, why not say you'll sit down with them once every 6 months or so and go through the routine again as if you were just starting out with them? That way they might feel free to point out things they don't want to mention otherwise - you know, "could you just make sure you give the skirting boards a quick wipe?" type of thing. I find after a few months it feels quite awkward to comment - if I didn't say something at the beginning I don't like to later on. I think I'd be very impressed if someone did that.

I didnt realise cleaners were meant to tidy? Am quite surprised.
I think Id quite like to be a cleaner in peoples houses Im a complete clean freak, and enjoy it also!!
There'd be no ironing though.

Oooh, Flubdub, come to mine...!!

My (lovely) cleaner uses inappropriate cleaning products on the wrong surfaces...I have just had a new solid oak worktop fitted with stainless steel splashback and I am going to ban her from cleaning it. She'd get the wire wool and Jif powder out otherwise!
Don't we all sound like toffs moaning about our cleaners!

Ssnack, quite a good idea, about talking to customers...but knowing my lot they would add about another 10 jobs to the clean!! Might think about it though!!!

I think we should all agree that cleaners are fabulous though, and whatever they miss (cobwebs), there is a lot that they do!

My biggest problem with cleaners is that they are so unreliable.

My first cleaner cleaned on average every second week as she always had to go to the hospital with someone, her daughter, auntie, neighbour's dog. Funny how she never remembered to tell me until the night before or the morning she was supposed to clean.

Number 2 never ever turned up despite me giving her 3 attempts.

Number 3 was more reliable, but got the sakc from the agency.

Number 4 I have only had for 3 weeks and weeks 2 and 3 I've had a replacement cleaner from the agency as vrarious family members have been sick .

Then when they do turn up, they always just hoover the middle of the carpet, never round the edges and never clean the taps.

Mine were shite, rude, unreliable con artists.

On the cleaning front, apart from lots of stuff already mentioned by others, they NEVER dusted the tops of the door frames. It's not something that needs doing terribly often, but it does need doing once in a while, and ours were caked in dust without them ever bothering to do it.

Well.....their not all shite, rude etc.,!!! Can't you get one recommended by a friend?
I have to say though i have done the 'got to go to an appointment' thing a few times.......{blush] Oh, and i ALWAYS do the tops of doors etc., it is kind of my 'thing' always top dust and do skirting boards, never miss it!
I wish you could all get someone lovely like some of the other posters, would make such a difference.

I have a lovely cleaner but she is quite headstrong and bosses me about. That is not really a problem and the thing that really worries me is that nearly every week since she has been working for us she seems to know someone who has DIED or has had a dreadful disfiguring accident / illness etc etc. We've known her for 10 years now and I keep on wondering WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE MY TURN!!!!

Most annoying so far was leaving all the lights on while we were on holiday. I am amazed that we didn't get broken into.

I agree with all the things blossomsmine hates about customers.

i too run a cleaning company and find it incredibly rude when, having slogged myself silly in their house, they cannot leave a cheque when they know i am there every week! i have staff to pay.

Also mums please think if YOU would like to pick up someone elses discarded underwear or clean someone elses toilet after they have been used!

i always do what the customer asks (duties vary) but usually do what i call a 'top to bottom'. This means starting at the ceilings/picture rails (cobwebs) moving down to pictures and mirrors down to surfaces and dados and then finish with the skirtingboards & floors, which INCLUDES moving furniture (not wardrobes etc). Unless a floor is solid wood or carpeted it gets washed. We also wipe down door frames & paintwork. Windows & ovens usually have to be asked for, although some we do regularly.

This is also what i expect my staff to do.

i personally would rather be told that a client was not happy with the service and deal with it rather than them moan about me behind my back.

You are the boss, you are paying for this service and YOU say what gets done and how.

I like my cleaner, I'm just grateful that I'm not doing it myself.

My cleaner does have to tidy toys before cleaning, but I told her that up front and it's factored into the time. Occasionally I will forget about my discarded clothes in a heap behind the bathroom door and be a bit that she has had to dump them in the laundry basket.

There are only two very minor things about her cleaning, she doesn't stack the dishwasher correctly and she doesn't empty the vacuum cleaner often enough. I'm prepared to believe that I could be freakishly controlling about the 'right' way to stack the dishwasher as nobody has ever done it correctly except me, I'm a total slattern about just about every other domestic matter. I empty the vacuum cleaner myself every so often.

none. what's to complain about? she cleans my dirt. nuff said.

sue1911, i used to work for a cleaning company and i was taught to clean exactly how you explain.... glad we are in agreement with the complaints
broguemum...maybe she is making conversation to help the time go by!!!
Like you say bran, i think as long as you clearly state what you expect of your cleaner, regarding tidying etc., it is all fine if agreed at the beginning!
Oh well, happy cleaning and happy being cleaned!!

Not read thread but:
- always cleaning only the same bits each time and leaving the same bits uncleaned....e.g. skirting board tops that get dusty

On the upside my wonderful cleaner recently re-organised my entire wardrobe, folding all the jumbled up t-shirts/ tops etc so it all looked like a shelf in Gap!

I think she's fab!

I think my cleaner is guilty of getting slacker unless I specifically mention things she must do each week. She certainly does tend to miss cobwebs, and sweep or mop around things rather than pulling them out. We have wooden floors so it's quite easy to see the dust collecting, and disappointing if I spot dustballs in the evening after she has supposed to have cleaned.

She's also turned out to be quite unreliable. We've only had her for a couple of months and already there have been a couple of doctors appts and one time she forgot my keys, so she has had to come on a different day or do less than the usual. Her English isn't very good so I think she is wary of communicating with me and always leaves it until the last minute to tell me she can't come or wants to come a different time or whatever. I don't think I'm a dragon, either. I'm usually pretty forgiving but would appreciate more notice. But what I'd really like is someone who always comes at the same time and does what I need without me having to point things out every week.

What is more than a little annoying is that I had hoped to avoid these problems by using an agency. But I think she really needs the money. So rather than telling the agency she can't come, and asking them to send someone else, she tells me that morning or the night before and tries to arrange a different time with me.

Also, the agency have a system where you write out quite specifically what needs doing each week This is supposed to mean you're not expecting the cleaner to 'use their initiative'. I suppose they may risk focussing on bits that you don't care about while avoiding bits you do. But this system doesn't help if the cleaner finds it hard to read English. So if I'm around I try to tell her which parts to do, and if I'm not I leave a short note and take my chances that it will be done.

My cleaner is fantastic - last one seemed to ignore the fact we had a downstairs loo though! The children have to tidy up the evening before she comes - if they don't, they don't get pocket money that week and I tell her to leave it and supervise them doing it myself.
I really appreciate having her and would never not pay her - that's appalling. Ditto the dirty knickers. Shocking!

Thats lovely what you say about your cleaner, swedishmum, my heart sinks when i walk in and they haven't left the money, i feel like just turning round and going again...but i don't.
Brilliant that you get your children involved in the tidying the night before, these habits started early certainly help