Am I expecting too much from my new cleaner?

[QuiteContraryMarie]

Trying to figure out if I’m being unreasonable in what I expect from her.

We live in a fairly standard London terraced property. I hired a new cleaner to come once every 2 weeks for 3 hours.
Last week, first week, she cleaned and vacuumed the hall, stairs and landing of which there are a reasonable amount and they were very dusty.
So this week I decided to be more explicit.
I left a list:
-Clean our en-suite bathroom,
-family bathroom,
-downstairs loo
-kitchen surfaces and mop floor (which is reasonably large)
-clean master bedroom surfaces.
No vacuuming.
Is this unreasonable?
When I showed her the list, her comment was “wow that’s a lot” so I advised her to do what she could in the time allotted.

She cleaned
-The en-suite back room
-The family bathroom
-Our bedroom.

In 3 hours.

@FindingMeno, I agree! Tbf I wouldn't empoy agency cleaners as, although they're more expensive they just aren't paid enough to care and you get different people in your house all the time. Some people aren't bothered by this but I've heard horror stories.

Employ!

@user1471523870 your cleaner is amazing! Keep her!

I don’t have a cleaner any more but when I did she did my whole house in three hours. It’s a quite large five bed detached. She also had time to make herself a cup of tea halfway through. She cleaned it really well too. God I miss my cleaner.

As previous poster suggested - do items yourself and see what time it takes to give you a guide .

Having employed cleaners for 20 years I think some people just work slower then other people. Some people are also more thorough than other people. Very quick cleaners leave the house looking spotless but move something and you might find months of dust behind it. But I would also expect a cleaner to clean a whole house in 3hrs.

Your cleaner is taking the piss, it doesn’t take an hour to clean an en suite, or a standard bathroom, or a tidy bedroom.

I could do a bathroom, ensuite, dust 2 bedrooms and living room, clean kitchen surfaces, hoover entire flat and mop the kitchen floor in about an hour if I put my mind to it!

3 hours to vacuum the hall, stairs and landing?!! I'm guessing from your 5 bed terrace description that it's on 3 floors, but even still!

I've just got a new cleaner in the last few weeks. I have a four bed, downstairs loo, bathroom, kitchen/dining room, playroom and lounge. She does almost all of it in 3 hours. Not completely perfectly thoroughly, but good enough I can really see the difference.

Being a good cleaner is a real skill. I think some people take it up without realising that.

My cleaner comes once a week for one house and does the kitchen and two bathrooms. Cleans out sink, hob, surfaces, cleans toilets, showers bath, moos all floors and utility. If I paid for three hours and they'd only cleaned the landing and hall I'd be getting rid.

I'd expect the first couple of weeks to be slow while they got used to everything and also did a deeper clean than would be needed in future. Having said that though, she spent 3 HOURS hoovering the hallway, stairs and landing?! Unless you live in a mansion, that's ridiculous!
My cleaner comes for 4 hours a week. In that time she will clean 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 en suite, kitchen, 3 reception rooms. She will also load the dishwasher, put a load of washing on and do one additional job a week - cleaning the oven, cleaning windows etc. She's the best cleaner we've ever had in 20-odd years though!

Thanks everyone. I feel like she is definitely just taking too long, even allowing for her being new etc.

She isn’t an agency cleaner. A friend of mine recommended her. I feel bad to get rid of her but I think it’ll annoy me too much if I keep her and every week I’m disappointed that my expectations and the reality are so far apart.
I think judging from most replies that my expectation of 1 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 1 large kitchen and 1 downstairs loo in a very tidy house is reasonable. Now to find a new cleaner.

I don't know how cluttered your house is but that does seem very slow.

I clean a two storey three bedroom AirBnB house with three bathrooms, kitchen, and living areas in three hours. And that includes changing beds.

And another job cleaning a doctor's surgery: three consulting rooms, corridors, two admin rooms, staff room, waiting room, two small hall entrance rooms and four toilets. - All surfaces and desktop equipment wiped, sinks (6) cleaned, bins emptied, and relined, rooms hoovered and mopped (diff. mops for toilets and rest), take off PPE and help myself to a chockie from the staff room if I do it under the two hours I'm paid for. I eat a chocky most days.

I've just had a very similar problem. Employed a cleaner on someone's recommendation and she was managing a room a week. I was about to ask her to leave but rang first and had a chat with her. Turns out she was deep cleaning a room a week and once she'd done that she's then doing the whole house in one go. She's actually really good now but I do wish she'd explained that to me earlier before I got annoyed and misunderstood.

Ps I do appreciate that this is a very first world problem

If everything was out if the way & she didn't have to tidy first, I'd say your list is definitely achievable. I can generally get my house cleaned in 2hrs
2x bathrooms
4x bedrooms
Sitting room
Kitchen/diner
Office
I would give it a month for them to get used to the house & routine.

We have a 4 bed with large extension. In that time my cleaner hoovers, dusts, mops, every single room, cleans 2 bathrooms and the downstairs loo. She is a gem, and you cleaner is a lazy mare.

Did you say hoover the hall, stairs and landing or clean it OP? Perhaps she did skirtings, bannisters, doors, frames, pictures, radiators etc, and had find where plug sockets are?
I would be specific about what you expect in each room.

My late mother in law's cleaner used to do the entire three bed semi in two hours and it was immaculate. When she was hired she said, "This won't take long".

I also used to have someone who did the lot in three hours.

Your cleaner is taking the wee wee.

Sometimes agencies are better. They send someone around who blitzes everything.

I am looking for a reliable cleaner to clean a three bedroom townhouse with kitchen, lounge &2.5 bathroom. Required once or twice a week- Wednesday/ Saturday

Our cleaner comes for 3 hours once a fortnight and does:

2 x bathrooms
Dusts
Hoovers everywhere including all the sofas (we have a cat)
Mops everywhere except the bedrooms (carpeted)
All kitchen surfaces and sometimes inside the oven.
Windows when they need doing.

We have a 3 bed house, living room and a kitchen / diner / living area.

Yours sounds extremely slow!