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Cleaner drank the juice, ate the salmon and charged her phone

479 replies

Shadow743 · 16/08/2024 17:52

I have a cleaner who has been coming for 2hrs a week for approx a year. She is unreliable, often texting the day before with a wide selection of reasons as to why she can't make it, and she doesn't always do a great job. I've been thinking about getting rid of her for a while but I have a lot of guilt around having a cleaner in the first place, as it feels like such a luxury and I feel like a bit of a snob for having one. I've come home whilst she's been there before and seen her charging her devices, noticed that the cordial seems to have been drunk and a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure (but can't be 100% certain) that she finished of the smoked salmon from the fridge. Today, my kids marked a line on the juice bottles as a little experiment and lo and behold, I've come home to find not only has she drunk the cordial, she's finished it AND put the empty bottle on the top of the bin.
Am I being unreasonable to be furious and feel like she's taking the mick now or am I overreacting to some minor issues which I should overlook because a little bit of juice and a little bit of electricity here and there won't kill me???

OP posts:
KerryBlues · 17/08/2024 19:10

Half an inch of cheap squash hardly even qualifies as a beverage, @mathanxiety

mathanxiety · 17/08/2024 19:05

AquaLeader · 17/08/2024 11:03

What a mean comment.

I disagree, obv.
Drinking beverages other than water in someone else's house when you're there to perform a service you're being paid to do is taking the piss.

Would you allow a plumber or electrician or painter to help himself to whatever he fancied from the fridge? Coke? Beer? Your iced coffer? Leftovers you were going to have for your supper that evening? Yogurt you bought for your children's packed lunches? Berries you bought to make muffins with?

justbeingasmartarse · 17/08/2024 18:54

Fire her?

llizzie · 17/08/2024 18:50

iamtheblcksheep · 17/08/2024 18:19

Give up. She didn’t eat your salmon. I pick my cleaner up and drop her home. She can charge her phone as much as she likes and I wouldn’t begrudge a random on the street a drink never mind the woman cleaning my home.

if her cleanings terrible get rid of her. For everything else you are being pathetic

I agree. I am disabled now and have helpers. Everything I have in the fridge to drink/eat is in single cartons or tins or individual packs. No one has to eat or drink something that someone else has opened and used.

It is common sense. Any of my helpers can have anything they want to eat and drink, and I have lost count - without looking on the computer - how many are using my wifi and charging their phones.

My helpers stay a long time.

llizzie · 17/08/2024 18:46

Shadow743 · 16/08/2024 17:52

I have a cleaner who has been coming for 2hrs a week for approx a year. She is unreliable, often texting the day before with a wide selection of reasons as to why she can't make it, and she doesn't always do a great job. I've been thinking about getting rid of her for a while but I have a lot of guilt around having a cleaner in the first place, as it feels like such a luxury and I feel like a bit of a snob for having one. I've come home whilst she's been there before and seen her charging her devices, noticed that the cordial seems to have been drunk and a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure (but can't be 100% certain) that she finished of the smoked salmon from the fridge. Today, my kids marked a line on the juice bottles as a little experiment and lo and behold, I've come home to find not only has she drunk the cordial, she's finished it AND put the empty bottle on the top of the bin.
Am I being unreasonable to be furious and feel like she's taking the mick now or am I overreacting to some minor issues which I should overlook because a little bit of juice and a little bit of electricity here and there won't kill me???

If you don't like it, the longer you allow it to continue, the harder it is to give that as a reason for sacking her.

It doesn't matter, but she might have a whole lot of cleaners in your area and find it difficult to replace her.

You are not being a snob for having a cleaner. You can spend your money how you like. When my kids were young I had cleaners. I went out to PT work to pay for them. It bought me peace and I didn't have to come home to do housework one day a week.

I had three children, my friend had 5. One day a week we would have all the dc for after school, or in holidays, which gave us both a rest at least once a week. Not only did it cost us nothing, but the dc were better behaved with their friends.

Animatic · 17/08/2024 18:28

Why would you feel a guilt about having a cleaner? And why is that a good enough reason to put up with a bad unreliable one?

iamtheblcksheep · 17/08/2024 18:19

Give up. She didn’t eat your salmon. I pick my cleaner up and drop her home. She can charge her phone as much as she likes and I wouldn’t begrudge a random on the street a drink never mind the woman cleaning my home.

if her cleanings terrible get rid of her. For everything else you are being pathetic

TooManyBookcases · 17/08/2024 18:16

Do you ever charge your phone at work?

nuttyroche2 · 17/08/2024 18:08

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines - previously banned poster.

EatTheGnome · 17/08/2024 17:37

Josephinesnapoleon · 16/08/2024 17:59

I’m horrified your kids marked the bottle. What on earth are you teaching them. You should be teaching them you treat people in your home. Guests or workers , with respect. You should offer a drink. Or if not,then let her have a glass of cordial , it’s hardly champagne. And you don’t know if she ate the salmon, I would guess not.

treat people with respect. Of course she can charge her phone or have a glass of squash.

Exactly. If your kids marked the bottle as a test then I wouldn't put it past them to eat the salmon and blame her. Clearly you're talking about her in a way that they consider her a scapegoat.

nuttyroche2 · 17/08/2024 17:07

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines - previously banned poster.

Josephinesnapoleon · 17/08/2024 16:59

I doubt the op is coming back. I think this is one of these things when you behave in an unacceptable way and don’t realise until you tell people what you’re doing,

it’s bad enough begrudging the cleaner some squash and a phone charge, but when you involve your kids and get them to treat her disrespectfully too then you should be ashamed op.

WearyAuldWumman · 17/08/2024 16:33

Movingonup313 · 17/08/2024 00:16

Calling squash, "juice", is very pretentious. That's always bugged me. It's like loudly announcing you're a stuck up so and so. Calling squash juice is like calling Rowntree's fruit pastels fruit.

We dont generally the word squash in Scotland - we call it juice or diluting juice. My family who moved to england still call it juice. We are not pretentious.

Agreed.

I'm 64 and it's always been "juice".

Peonies12 · 17/08/2024 15:04

Pooor woman, having some squash and charging your phone at work is very normal. Very concerning the attitude you are passing to your kids about how to treat people. Have a good hard think about that!

Mawak · 17/08/2024 14:55

Charging phone = fine

Having a drink = generally fine, but in some circumstances, such as finishing the bottle of drink, that isn't fine. I don't know how expensive cordial is as I just drink water, but if it's an expensive drink, then that also is not really OK to just help herself to.

Eating salmon = ridiculously out of order.

Cattyisbatty · 17/08/2024 14:27

ive known cleaners to steal clothes so you’ve got off lightly. Get rid.

Movingonup313 · 17/08/2024 14:26

JuicyBlueberry · 17/08/2024 03:25

I'm not talking about people who refer to it as juice because of language/culture/tradition.

I'm talking about people who call it juice because they feel it's beneath them to admit they buy squash, so call it juice.

That's the part I find pretentious.

I'm asking nobody to agree. We all have weird things that bug us.

Ahhh ok - I didnt realise people had feelings about it/thought it was below them. Learn a new thing every day.

Chattie89 · 17/08/2024 13:55

YABU about the phone charger and allowing your kids to set traps.

YANBU to be annoyed at her unreliability or for going into fridge/cupboards and helping herself to whatever she fancies without asking. I wouldn't dream of doing that at a friend's house let alone an employer's!

We once had to fire an absolute nightmare of a cleaner who was constantly helping herself to drinks, bags of crisps, cans of coke, making cafetieres of coffee, none of which I'd have minded but the fact she NEVER asked first had me raging. So I do understand how annoying that is and tbh I'd let her go, you don't sound a good fit for each other.

TheKeatingFive · 17/08/2024 11:31

I cannot imagine begrudging a person working in my home a bit of squash or a phone charge. How petty.

But if her work isn't up to scratch then fine, let her go for that.

Caroparo52 · 17/08/2024 11:30

Get a different cleaner

redalex261 · 17/08/2024 11:08

MumHouseDilemma · 16/08/2024 17:54

YANBU to get rid if she’s not doing a good job but YABU to begrudge her a drink or to charge her phone. Good lord

Agree with this. Should’ve binned her for poor work and being unreliable. At least she put the bottle in the bin and not back in the fridge!

Josephinesnapoleon · 17/08/2024 11:07

I’d put money on the fact the cleaner never touched the salmon and whomever ate it didn’t wish to admit it as the op monitors food and drink so much.

AquaLeader · 17/08/2024 11:03

mathanxiety · 16/08/2024 23:00

What's wrong with tap water?

What a mean comment.

PointsSouth · 17/08/2024 10:32

Maybe she cancels at the last minute when she doesn't fancy salmon.

Startingagainandagain · 17/08/2024 07:41

I would sack her.

It just shows she cannot be trusted to have clear boundaries.

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