Would you ever open a strangers door to accept their delivery?

[Giantjuicyskittle]

As a cleaner who is in the house alone and doesn’t know the family who live there, would you open the door if someone knocked?

the family had ordered their weekly food shop to arrive while I was there without warning me. They expected me to accept the delivery and put it away.

1. I wouldn’t be comfortable with that, how do you even pick a strangers subs!? Or if there was something wrong with it? Or I damaged something like dropping eggs!?
2. I don’t know where they store specific food items.
3. I don’t have time and I don’t get paid for it.
4. it would feel incredibly rude to open the door, plus make me feel vulnerable “ I’m so and so’s mum” when actually they just want to steal from the house.

They are angry I didn’t answer the door and they missed their shop. They don’t want me to return.

So am I a bad person or are they CFs?

You’re not their house servant.

They aren’t unreasonable to ask but didn’t, so Yanbu.

Some deliveries are knock on the door and immediately leave so if you saw a package on my doorstep when I left, I would have appreciated you bringing it in but that’s not the case here.

YANBU maybe if they had asked nicely as a one off emergency but you're not the Downton Abbey style servant.

Good cleaners are hard to come by so it's their loss.

My cleaner will take a parcel for me if she’s in the house and I’m not, but I’d never in a million years expect her to deal with a food delivery. That’s insane.

I think say Royal Mail or Evri delivering is fair enough as you can see the van, who they are etc and it's just a parcel or letters
But an entire food shop, nope

I think they should have asked you in advance if they wanted you to deal with it.

Yes, they should have asked and organised it with you, and paid you for the extra 15-20 mins or whatever if it was a big shop, for you to check and put away in various parts of the kitchen/house on top of your actual job.

You are supposed to be their valued cleaner, not the housekeeper.

They are being daft.

They absolutely should have asked you in advance and checked you would be able to manage this. It was incredibly rude of them to just assume you'd do the extra un-agreed task.

But equally, I couldn't imagine not answering the doorbell wherever I was. What if it was an emergency?

If it had been me, I would have taken the delivery as received, not bothered to check the subs or whatever else, put the fridge and freezer stuff away and left the rest out for them. That would have taken 10-15 minutes? I would have done it and charged them a bit extra.

No, that's not your job. You are there to clean their house, not manage their food shop. If they want you to do that they need to negotiate that with you and pay you for the extra time.

I’d answer the door and take in a parcel for sure, to save it being left on the doorstep and rained on or stolen. For a food shop I’d put away frozen and fridge stuff but leave the rest tbh. It’s not a massive ask and if I ran out of time to clean a bathroom or something I’d let them know why so that they can decide next time whether their priority is having someone put shopping away or clean their bathroom. I’d much prefer to be putting away shopping than scrubbing limescale anyway!

Not sure why anyone thinks you should be paid extra if you’re paid hourly.

When I was cleaning some weeks I’d hang out washing or bring it in, sometimes it was more tidying before the cleaning, sometimes concentrate on one particular room etc - I got paid my two hours and did what needed doing.

I wouldn't describe them as "strangers" if you're providing a professional service to them, regardless of whether you know them personally, but apart from that YANBU, they should have arranged with you in advance.

my cleaner takes in parcels for me but I know her, she’s been with us ages. I wouldn’t expect her to take in a food shop though.

you say strangers. is this your first time cleaning for them?

My cleaner will take in a food shop- she’s been with us for years and does lots of extras like this. I’d always mention it though and not just assume.

They should have mentioned it ahead and checked you were happy.

Oh, come on, OP. You should have prepped their evening meal too and left it in the oven. (Some people have brass nerves.)
CFs.

I’ve cleaned for them for 3 months but I’ve never met them, the company I work for gave me a key. It’s quite standard here to never see the family you clean for.
I’ve taken in parcels during previous cleans as I’ve been asked to and it takes a matter of seconds, but a full food shop seems cheeky to me.
I get 3 hours to clean 5 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, a large kitchen diner, 4 bathrooms and 2 large hallways.

They’re taking the piss, both in terms of the food shopping and what they expect you to clean in 5 hours. And doubly so to expect you to take in the shopping during those 5 hours! I’m not surprised they won’t have you back: entitled people like this think they deserve the moon on a stick.

If I’d had my wits about me, I would have taken the food in and just left it on the hallway floor. Made a point.

They are beyond unreasonable. Bullet dodged, they will probably be a nightmare to work for, always expecting you to do things that aren't in your job role. My cleaner opens my door to accept deliveries, but I would never order an entire grocery order without asking if it was ok with her in advance. And I don't expect her to answer the door at all, it's entirely her call. I personally wouldn't answer the door in someone else's house.

But they’re paying for household help while you’re there, and if that’s taking in a food shop one week rather than wiping out the fridge or whatever, then I don’t really understand the issue? It’s not demeaning to take in shopping.

They absolutely should have told you to expect it, but turning it away has probably cost them the full cost of the delivery, so I can understand why they’re grumpy about it. Asking you not to return over it may feel harsh, but it sounds like they would prefer someone with a can do attitude rather than someone who will only ever do exactly what’s asked.

They definitely should have told you in advance. I would (in theory) ask my cleaner to do this as a one off if I was stuck that day or week but not see it as a regular part of the job. However I would expect something else to not get done in this case, as it takes 15 mins or so to unpack and put away a shop.

But they’re paying for household help while you’re there, and if that’s taking in a food shop one week rather than wiping out the fridge or whatever, then I don’t really understand the issue?

@ApoodlecalledPenny no they're not. They're paying for cleaning services. Not dog walking, or food prep, or cooking, or any one of a hundred household tasks. They've asked her to do specific work and she's agreed a rate for that work. This wasn't it.

They’re not paying for household help. They’re paying for cleaning. Not ironing, not gardening, not managing laundry, not dealing with parcel returns, not taking out dry cleaning, not replenishing the wood stock - and not dealing with groceries.

To answer your question though I would expect them to have a ring doorbell and answer it themselves through their phones. Tell any delivery to leave on the doorstep etc. So in that case you would need to be told in advance if they needed you to take anything in for them

Not a full shop delivery! An Amazon parcel etc yeah sure, but they're not paying you for taking in organising and putting away a grocery shop. CF behaviour