To feel annoyed I have to pay?

Op she is also cheeky suggesting you cancel another time as clearly this is the time when you do need a cleaner in the coming weeks as you’re recovering from surgery.

I would message her back again and say on review of your finances, you’re going to struggle tbh as you hadn’t budgeted for that clean as you had cancelled it.

Sorry that is you being silly with your money if you pay for something you don’t need when it’s a business. Cleaners are in demand all the time and she would have easily found another slot.

Yanbu, obviously. Just tell her you won't pay.

It didn’t take as long so you only owe for 3 hours not 4 as the house wasn’t too bad!
She can't think much of her own cleaning

Cleaners are notoriously rich, you should hammer down on her and squeeze every last drop.

I would be very annoyed too, especially with the lack of apology/immediate expectation of payment. I'm wondering how many times she does "forget" cancellations and gets a nice easy clean and payment as usual. Plus I bet she didn't go in and think "oh it looks clean already so I'll wash all the windows or something I never usually have time to fit in" but just did some half hearted wiping of lovely clean worktops.

The thing is you've now indicated that you will pay her so you now have to. But I suggest delaying payment and explain she'll need to wait a bit as you're short this month because off sick and this is an unexpected expense. She'll still get the money but it might make her acknowledge her error to herself a bit more.

As for all the "I'd have paid her anyway" crowd ... I'm always surprised about the guilt complex people have about their cleaners. They are self employed and holiday/sick pay is already factored into their rates. If I told my clients I was going on holiday for 2 weeks they wouldn't offer to pay me for work I hadnt done! And if I tried to bill them for non existent work or work they had told me not to do I'd be told to fuck off and not be so ridiculous.

You're making a lot of assumptions there. You've no idea what the cleaner charges, but it will be more than minimum wage. There's no need for the aggressive tone or attack on the OP.

Would that apply to all other jobs where people are on minimum wage? Someone turns up on a Sunday when the office is closed and says oops I forgot it was shut I did some work anyway so I want paid for it? It’s a big company so they can afford to pay it. So should they?

My insomnia is cured

I wouldn't make assumptions if I were you

For all those saying they'd pay her anyway, even if she hadn't turned up in error, how about when the cleaner uses one of her cancellations, the OP says "oops I forgot. Can you come and clean for free anyway?"

Even if she us not it's hardly the point. I'm going to bet she earns less than someone who can afford her.
Temporary though the OP financial strain might be, she surely will make it up in the future.

I wouldn’t pay her, it’s likely she didn’t do anything for 3 hours if it was already clean?

I would 'forget' to pay (seeing as you've already said you would), and blame it on meds from your hospital stay.
Then pay for the next visit when she does that. And if she dares to ask for the unwanted clean, act confused and say 'but I cancelled that one when I went into hospital, you replied and acknowledged me, remember '. And pretend you completely don't understand why she would when she said she wouldn't , because why would she come and clean an already clean house.

Sorry, but you don't pay her! You cancelled and she turned up anyway - that's on her and maybe it'll ensure she's more diligent in noting down a cancelled appointment.
It maybe a risk you'll loose her but equally she should respect what you say, and she also charges more to cover those 4 weeks of not working! So don't feel guilty.
FWIW we had a cleaner for 10ish years and even had her house sitting when we went away. Last time though, she overstepped the mark in several ways. Despite it being difficult, we stopped employing her.

How do you know she's on minimum wage?

Who's Arsey?

Anyway, that's a dumb question

YANBU to be annoyed, but yeah, if wanted to keep the cleaner I'd probably suck it up this time. But yes, it was her mistake. Really if people are away so the house is clean I'd expect the cleaner to do one off occasional jobs like pull out the fridge etc.

The cleaner is a businesswoman with a contract which the OP signed and then adhered to.
Your post is ridiculous and contributed nothing helpful at all.

OP I’d be furious. Not only that she didn’t apologise but also that you now feel morally obliged to pay.

Maybe reply and explain that On reflection, you're not happy to pay because you had actually cancelled and it wasn't your mistake.

However, I do think it's risks her quitting or sulking.
She's a CF though.
I actually think that had she just explained she'd got confused and it was her mistake/don't worry about it, I reckon you'd have sent her something anyway.
But it's the fact she's brushed over it and made out like she's doing you a favour in only charging you for 3hrs instead of 4...CF!

This.

Yanbu to be annoyed but a good cleaner that you can trust is more precious than rubies so if you don't want the hassle of finding a new one, it's best to not fight. However as it's going to cause you financial difficulties and she's acknowledged it was a mistake, suggest that you pay off this unexpected extra at £3 per month for however many months rather than having to pay full whack in the month where you have taken unpaid time off, or arrange for her to come every 3 weeks rather than every 2 for a short time until your finances are better.

No need to be patronising. It is a big deal if the OP is already struggling with money

She's the one who's set out the terms of the contract. If she couldn't afford to have any cancellations she would say that in the contract

Yup hindsight is a great thing. You have done it now but if it ever happens again you will know to be firm. 'I can't afford to pay you Laura, I am off sick and living on SSP.'
It is a pain for you in every way. She was wrong but doesn't realise how wrong she is, if that helps.