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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To pay less?

61 replies

WWYDwiththisone · 08/07/2024 15:26

I did another thread some days ago about how our cleaner that we booked to do a deep clean of our new house and they did not do a satisfactory job. Doing a new thread as it’s a different question and not many will come back for the update I’ve just done

She said they work in pairs and would stay for as long as it took to do the job. £23 an hour each. I requested they prioritised the kitchen and the bathroom, particularly the toilet and the bath.

They arrived an hour late after running over from another job. She stayed for just under 1.5hrs before going home because they were ‘hungry’ and hadn’t eaten since breakfast. This was despite telling me they’d stay however late because they’d sorted childcare and so weren’t in a rush.

Now have a bill for nearly £70 for 1.5hrs of the two of them ‘cleaning’ my house. Our bathroom is small, 2mx2.5m max. They cleaned the bathroom walls (apparently there was loads of limescale), bath, sink and half of an IKEA wardrobe. The other half of it was dirty and covered in pet hair. They didn’t clean the toilet or the bathroom floor. There were two of them. Before they left, they said ‘we’ll come back tomorrow’ to DH. DH hadn’t booked them so just agreed, he was decorating and I was at work so nobody directly watching over them. I text her in the evening to thank her for what she’d done (before I saw how little they’d done) but please not to come back as we needed it that day, so I was going to have to tackle it myself in the morning instead

I’ve reasonably approached her and said we are dissatisfied with the service and she is refusing to budge on price saying they’d be working for less than the minimum wage. She has also said I’m lucky she hasn’t charged a late payment fee as we haven’t cleared the invoice 24hrs after the work was done.

Is it reasonable to pay them for 1hr each instead, or even just minimum wage for the time they were there?

I don’t know where I stand on it legally and don’t want to invite trouble given that they know my address- maybe overthinking here

WWYD?

YABU - you’ve got to pay the £70 and chalk it up to experience

YANBU - pay less / will comment

OP posts:
WWYDwiththisone · 08/07/2024 15:54

GinForBreakfast · 08/07/2024 15:43

I would pay half and let them take you to court if they like. They sound like complete con artists!

I feel conned!

OP posts:
WWYDwiththisone · 08/07/2024 15:49

BuggeryBumFlaps · 08/07/2024 15:37

And £70 isn't less than min wage. It's £23.33 per hour each.

As for not pissing people off who know where you live, if they cause issues call the police. Unless of course you have the cleaners mafia where you live Grin

They said if I pay less than £69 they’d be working for less than minimum wage because their insurance is expensive……. Lol

OP posts:
GinForBreakfast · 08/07/2024 15:43

I would pay half and let them take you to court if they like. They sound like complete con artists!

MoveOnTheCards · 08/07/2024 15:42

Nah I wouldn’t be paying that for such a poor job. They set the expectation and bailed. I would pay 50% and tell them i wouldn’t leave honest reviews to draw a line under it. If they kicked up a stink I would probably tell my local network how crap they were.

BuggeryBumFlaps · 08/07/2024 15:37

And £70 isn't less than min wage. It's £23.33 per hour each.

As for not pissing people off who know where you live, if they cause issues call the police. Unless of course you have the cleaners mafia where you live Grin

WWYDwiththisone · 08/07/2024 15:34

TinyYellow · 08/07/2024 15:33

They did a shit job, they deserve shit pay. There is no way in the world I’d pay £70 for what you describe.

Would you have reservations about paying less in terms of annoying them though?

OP posts:
TinyYellow · 08/07/2024 15:33

They did a shit job, they deserve shit pay. There is no way in the world I’d pay £70 for what you describe.

WWYDwiththisone · 08/07/2024 15:32

BuggeryBumFlaps · 08/07/2024 15:30

I'd call their bluff and let them take you to the small claims court.

Essentially you are saying that two people spent 1.5 hours cleaning your house and only managed to clean the bathroom walls, bath sink and half a wardrobe?

They were also late

Said they'd stay as long as needed but bailed after 1.5 hours.

They sound like a shit show.

PP on other thread brought up the point that it’s better not to piss people off, as if they know where you live and hold a grudge… I dunno what I think they’d do though. We have home security alarms and cameras.

OP posts:
BuggeryBumFlaps · 08/07/2024 15:30

I'd call their bluff and let them take you to the small claims court.

Essentially you are saying that two people spent 1.5 hours cleaning your house and only managed to clean the bathroom walls, bath sink and half a wardrobe?

They were also late

Said they'd stay as long as needed but bailed after 1.5 hours.

They sound like a shit show.

ByCupidStunt · 08/07/2024 15:30

Don't pay them anything at all until they come back and do the job properly.

HolyMolyMan · 08/07/2024 15:28

If they've done 1.5 hours work each they need paying for 1.5 hours each.