to expect the cleaner to actually clean when she comes?

[woahthere]

Please dont lynch me, I am not posh or spoilt or rich. I need a cleaner because I am a childminder and have up to 12 kids in hte house everyday, I am just mentally busy at the moment so felt it was good practise to delegate some work so I can focus more on the children. I have been having some problems with our cleaner but wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, last week came home and wanted to cry because I had left the house clean and tidy so had left her a list of jobs to do. She did precisely none of the things I asked her to do and did something else really random...so I specifically told her what I needed her to do. I came home today, she had done the kitchen and hoovered downstairs and made the kids beds - that was it. This week she ahs done no polishing, no hoovering upstairs, she hadnt cleaned the bathroom, she hadnt even set foot in my room. Im so frustrated, I really cant afford to piss 40 quid a week up the wall but thats what it feels like Im doing. its made even more awkward by the fact that I know her from school. Oh, and I noticed that she had been on facebook via her mobile while she was here saying how fed up she was, AND she wrote down that she arrived at 9.10 when I know for a fact it was at least 9.20 because I was here until then!, and she signed out 5mins earlier than she was meant to and does this regularly. Please tell me what I should expect realistically from my cleaner.

[thisisyesterday]

i think you should stop using her
she is taking the piss.

have you talked to her about any of it? like the fact that you know she wasn't there at 9.10?
not that i htink it will make a difference ultimately, only cause bad feeling

i think if it were me i would look for someone else

[hairyfairylights]

Sack her she's taking the piss.

[ClaireDeLoon]

Just get a new cleaner. How many hours are you paying her for? I assume 4 unless you're in London. In which case she should be doing a lot more than you describe.

[MollieO]

How long is she supposed to be cleaning for? I assume at £40 it would be 4 hours. Has she ever done the cleaning to the extent you expect/agreed?

[iamamug]

Get rid of her - I get really upset when I get home to a mess when my cleaner has been but that is only because my bloody untidy husband undoes her super work. I would be gutted if she ignored what I wanted her to do.

The problem is that most of us feel so flipping guilty for paying someone else to do what we think we can do ourselves that we are pathetically grateful to them.

You don't have to be beholden to her - you employ her - she should do the job or ship out.

Good luck.

[Frazzledmumwithsmudgedmascara]

Get rid, get rid, get rid!

I used to have a cleaner, well a pair of cleaners, that used to come for an hour a week (it cost me £20 for the hour), and they royally took the piss. They would whizz through the basic chores very badly, and then rather than look for something else to do to fill the time, would bugger off early. It got earlier and earlier each week. When they were off after half an hour I decided enough was enough and asked them not to come back. Their cleaning was really crap and they were lazy shits really, not moving anything on the side of the bath to clean, and only dusting around things.

If I was to get a cleaner again, I would be very specific from the outset about what my expectations and standards are.

[woahthere]

its for 2 hours twice a week, I asked her to do a general through the house clean on the first time so good hoover, polish, bathroom, a little bit of tidying, emptying bins...but on hte 2nd time i ask her to do other more specific jobs like wiping walls, getting cobwebs off lights..only because I try and keep the house nice from first visit to 2nd because I want extra things doing. I have emphasised to her that I find it really important for her to do hoovering and polishing and that when she hoovers she gets the nozzle out because this is the one thing I find it hard to keep on top of because if Im looking after babies I dont want to start hoovering, but despite this fact that I raised last week she still didnt do it this week. I mean as a cleaner do you not have to get the nozzle out and do round edges of room and sofas?Im just abit aghast that Ive got a cleaner, yet my house looks dirty, my upstairs hasnt been dusted and my bathroom hasnt been cleaned, and this is on top of the fact that I do clean as well.

[pagwatch]

Stop apologizing for having a cleaner. She is paid to do a job, you haven't roped some kid in off the street to skivvy. I am a sahm and have a cleaner. It isn 't like hiring a hooker fgs

She is paid to provide a professional service. If she is not doing her job , sack her

If you paid someone to come in and fix your washing machine but they pissed about in the garden for hours would you pay them and say 'see you next week'

[woahthere]

what does your cleaner do pagwatch, so i can get an idea of what is reasonable x

[woahthere]

she has my key so I feel like I may have to sack her nicely iykwim

[pagwatch]

They do 6 hours a week
Ground floor and upstairs on one day, ground floor and downstairs on next.

Clean and polish where needed all surfaces. Clean the bathrooms/ loos including all porcelain ware and showers. Wash or Hoover the floors. Straighten the childrens rooms and play rooms. Clean all surfaces in kitchen thoroughly , including hob . Wash all the tiling in the butlers pantry.

They do extra jobs if they have time on a rotating basis - cleaning windows, cleaning inside fridge etc.

I and the children keep rooms reasonably tidy with made beds etc so they don't waste time cleaning crap up before they can clean iyswim

[hmc]

Lol at not posh, spoilt and rich. I am spoilt and rich and have a cleaner (jury still out on posh).

She cleans none too well (God love 'er). Also spends a long time hoovering with one hand whilst glued to the mobile with the other. Don't be like me and prevaricate for 6 years (yes 6 years). The longer you leave it the harder it is to get rid.

[hmc]

Oops, I meant procrastinate

[pagwatch]

It's true. After a couple of years it get hard to drop 'btw, you are a bit crap at this cleaning malrky ' into a chat

[classydiva]

I think you need to give her a verbal warning, tell her that in paying a cleaner you do not expect to have to do the jobs you leave her yourself.

If she doesnt want the job tell her to fo and get someone who does.

[enabledebra]

Yes, give her a warning and if it doesn't improve get rid of her with a clear conscience.