AIBU to question paying monthly agency fees on top of cleaner costs?

It's to save you on hassle. Presumably the fees include making sure that someone is actually there every week, so you don't have to worry about someone being out sick, on holiday etc.

What do you mean by ‘it doesn’t seem right’? They can charge what they like. You can decide whether the return on that for the reliability of an agency is worth it.

If the reviews are good, why not? Just check the contract for what it says about cancellations.

We use an agency and pay a fee on top of the money we give directly to our cleaner. Obviously it’s more expensive but they do things like spot checks to ensure quality, provide cover for holidays or absences and can also provide other services too (like window cleaning). For us, it’s worth it.

I've used a service like this in the past and it has pros and cons. The pros are that you have piece of mind that things like insurance are covered and the agency often supplies cleaning supplies and tools like vacuum cleaners so you don't need to make yours available. You also get holiday cover so if your usual cleaner is away or unwell then they will send someone else. The agency also act as a point of contact for any changes or issues, and that was convenient. The cons for me are that you don't build up a relationship with the cleaner in the same way because you're not interacting with them directly. The person who came to clean our house changed fairly regularly which I wasn't keen on and the standards of some cleaners were better than others. The agency were good at addressing any issues though, and on occasions sent someone out to fix areas that I felt hadn't been cleaned adequately, but this happened more than I would have liked. We eventually stopped using their services and now use a different company where the owner cleans our house herself and I think we get a much better service overall. It does mean when she is away, ill or has a childcare issue we don't get our house cleaned, but I don't mind giving that flexibility. Doesn't cost us any less though than what we used to pay the cleaner direct plus the agency fee.

Wouldn’t touch an agency with a barge pole.

Stick it out with looking for one locally that you pay directly who works for themselves. Took me a while to find one but she’s great and I pay £22 an hour directly to her, she supplies everything. She does beds/tidying as well as cleaning

We did this for a while and the agency bit was fine, I liked that it gave certainty the cleaners had insurance etc, however they are meant to provide cover if your regular cleaner is unable to make it ( holiday / illness etc) but our agency could never find anyone when we needed this so we stopped using them as they weren’t really providing the service we were paying for. We had two cleaners through them one was excellent and the second ok.

So basically you're paying £10 a week to an agency, then 3 hours at £14 for a cleaner.

What is the going rate for an independent cleaner? As if you could then offer £17 an hour to a private cleaner instead.

I refuse to use agency cleaners.

A friend recommended an agency, but when I looked into it, the cleaner would be self employed so didn't receive holiday pay, sick pay etc, whilst we paid them minimum wage. Then paying the agency I decided was paying the agency to do very little other than link us up with a cleaner. I felt uncomfortable with such an arrangement, it felt exploitative.

seconding this - we've just had to hire a new cleaner (our old one moved abroad). We went with a local person who we pay direct.
My friend hired a woman through an agency and it turns out they were trafficking the women!!!

What does it make the hourly rate overall? Most cleaners here are £20 min per hour.

On your ad did you put up the day and time you want the cleaner? If not post another ad saying after a cleaner for this day in-between these hours please only reply if you can accommodate and provide me with your hourly rate. You definitely don't need to waste money on agency fees.

Cover for cleaners on holiday is overrated. It takes several weeks for a cleaner to learn how to clean your house properly so you'll have a crappy job done for the same money.

You might also get frequent changes of cleaner, same issue of poor quality with every change

If the cleaner is unreliable they won't be able to send a replacement if the cleaner cancels on the morning, but you'll still pay an agency fee.

You'll probably have to pay full rate when you go on holiday even though they will be cleaning a clean house.

There will be frequent changes of staff because at £14 per hour they are paying minimum wage so you won't get quality.

It's better to find an independent and pay £20 or so an hour.

I'm a cleaner. Your gut feeling is right. Find a solo cleaner via a task app.

The answer is to see what kind of clear you can source on your own. Brilliant clear who does not go though an agency is the holy grail

If you can find one who has time for you, you are winning.

First time can be a deeper clean and then each time and extra job in top of the clean. Could be skirting boards, spot clean walls or windows

I would never pay agency fees. They probably have limited liability and I’d rather trust my gut or a friend who recommended. Mind you round here girls would rather give you their husband than their cleaner🤣

That's a massive monthly fee.

I can't remember our exact agency fee but it is under £20 a month and for that you get more reliability, more consistent standards, DBS checks, they send someone else if your cleaner can't make it etc. It's worth it.

The fees are there for a reason and I don't mind paying but I would not pay that much.