Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To NOT pay the cleaner DOUBLE what was agreed?

54 replies

NinjaBunny · 21/12/2013 14:40

Aaarrgghhhh!!

I booked a cleaning company to do a 3 hour 'End Of Tenancy' clean.

Small company, operates from a home address.

Was told on the phone it was £17.50 an hour. So £52.50. I'd have either 1 cleaner for 3 hours or 2 cleaners for 1.5 hours each.

2 cleaners turn up 30 minutes late. I was hanging out at a neighbour's house over the road. Told them where I was and to knock/phone if they needed me.

3 hours later I go back.

I'm told they've 'gone over' their allocated time. Hmm I point out that I paid for 3 hours and they'd been there 3 hours.

Oh, no. Because there was 2 of them it's 6 hours work.

Fuck. I can't afford that. And it's NOT what was agreed.

I tell them I'll have to pay their boss later as I don't have £105 on me (that was true - I didn't).

On the way home I get a shitty call from their boss saying that the girls had 'gone over' their time. I repeated what we'd agreed on the phone and she denied it, saying she 'wouldn't have said that'.

I told her it was exactly what she said. I can remember conversations word for word and I know what I was told.

She's also insisting that I go to her house and pay. Can't wait until Monday for some mad reason. I was prepared to pay the cleaners on the spot, I just didn't have the unexpected extra 50% on me.

Hmm

3 hours is 3 hours, right? It's what we agreed.

And if the cleaners thought they were only supposed to be there for 1.5 hours why didn't they STOP at that time? They knew where I was. Why not say, 'Okay, we're done.' and piss off?

I'm both irritated and confused.

I have the invoice for the original £52.50 which I can pay when DP gets home and can drive me (she lives miles away and it's bucketing it down). But will she pursue me for the rest?

What's most annoying is that I was so full of festive spirit I was going to tip them (which I never do), now I'll be grudgingly counting out the amount in coppers on her doorstep.

Sigh.

OP posts:
IThinkThat · 21/12/2013 15:35

NinjaBunny
It does all seem very confusing and I think you sound a bit confused yourself. Sad. The fact you have an invoice for three hours work is the most important thing. Are you sure it's an 'invoice'. Is it official looking?

The fact that the cleaners and the owners have said they have gone over their time is their fault not yours UNLESS you had agreed it before.

IneedAsockamnesty · 21/12/2013 15:43

We had a cleaning company near us that ended up ceasing to trade for this exact reason

Original poster
NinjaBunny · 21/12/2013 15:57

Are you sure it's an 'invoice'. Is it official looking?

Oh, yes.

I'm no expert but it looks like the PayPal invoices you get when eBay sellers post to you.

All printed out on headed paper with address, email, etc.

And yes, I am a tad confused myself. Not done this kind of thing before. Generally I 'know' people (decorators, plumbers, etc) so I get recommended good companies. These guys just fell off google.

I'm 100% certain of what was said on the phone. Was definitely 3 hours, not 6.

I'm a sucker for people like this. I hear a friendly voice and I think, 'Ooooo, they're trustworthy.'

I never learn!

Grin

She's shot herself in the foot now because the earliest I can get a cheque is tomorrow. She was demanding payment today..!

OP posts:
addictedtosugar · 21/12/2013 16:08

Can you get the invoice copied?
Then return copy and cheque with some sort of note like "Thank-you for the end of tenancy clean, payment as per invoice"
And don't forget, your moving - she won't know your new address!

Original poster
NinjaBunny · 21/12/2013 16:15

I've moved already!

She only has the old address.

Copying the invoice will be awkward. Nearest photocopier is the library which is miles away and not open tomorrow.

She'd have a copy of the invoice though, yes? So I could still write the above and it would still make sense.

I actually do think she's pulling a fast one now I've given it some thought. Surely if she wanted the £105 I'd have to have a fresh invoice anyway? Who just hands over cash?? Maybe she does this to all 'one off' people?

OP posts:
LynetteScavo · 21/12/2013 16:30

Sounds horrendously cheeky of them. I would pay invoiced amount by cheque and tell them because of their unprofessionalism I won't be using their services again or recommending them to others .

hedwig2001 · 21/12/2013 16:35

If you need a copy, take a photo on your phone.

inamerrymuckingfuddle · 21/12/2013 16:36

Take a pic of invoice with your phone if you can't copy it

inamerrymuckingfuddle · 21/12/2013 16:37

Great minds hedwig!

lizzzyyliveson · 21/12/2013 16:39

Don't send back the invoice, keep it as it is the only proof you have of the sum agreed. If she takes you to the small claims court you can produce it then. She doesn't need it as she can print off another at her end.

addictedtosugar · 21/12/2013 16:42

yes, keep the original!

Fleta · 21/12/2013 16:44

Don't send teh invoice. Send a piece of paper with the address of the property, invoice number, date of clean and

"As per above invoice, I enclose cheque in full settlement"

Yours sincerely

Ninja

starlight1234 · 21/12/2013 16:49

I agree...If she phones I would say I will be sending a cheque on Monday...I wouldn't be going to her house...She will probably not get it till after Christmas but that is her problem...

Keep the original invoice too.

NigellasDealer · 21/12/2013 16:50

if she invoiced you then that is it....end of story, once you have paid it....
cheeky cow. What kind of company issues an invoice then changes the price?

birdybear · 21/12/2013 16:50

I don't understand why you waited three hours to go back. If you booked three hours and two cleaners turned up surely it is obvious they should be finished after an hour and a half? Why did you wait so long?

sapfu · 21/12/2013 16:58

So you thought one cleaner would do 1.5 hours and then another cleaner would start and do 1.5 hours?

I think someone is scamming someone - either the cleaners themselves or their boss.

agree - keep original invoice and if it's asked for at a later date, you have time to get a copy (do you have a printer/scanner, or a nearby friend with one?)

LeaveIt · 21/12/2013 16:58

Birdybear - I think the OP was told by the owner/boss that a cleaner would start and then they would swap halfway through.

whatever5 · 21/12/2013 16:58

I don't believe for a minute that the agency said one person would work for an hour and a half and then the other person would take over. Why on earth would they say that?

I'm sure you realised that wasn't going to happen either. The fact that you said you would be back in three hours suggests that you expected them to clean for three hours which would be six hours cleaning. I think that you are trying to take advantage of the fact that they have made a mistake with the invoice.

Original poster
NinjaBunny · 21/12/2013 17:04

So you thought one cleaner would do 1.5 hours and then another cleaner would start and do 1.5 hours?

Yes, if there was 2 cleaners.

But on the phone she made it sound more like there would just be 1 cleaner.

I was surprised that 2 turned up. But yes, I thought they'd 'swap'. I have no idea how these things work.

OP posts:
Original poster
NinjaBunny · 21/12/2013 17:08

I think that you are trying to take advantage of the fact that they have made a mistake with the invoice.

I'd never do something like that.

And if it was 1.5 hours why didn't they leave? Or come and get me? Or mention it when I said I'd be back at 1.30pm?

OP posts:
Peekingduck · 21/12/2013 17:10

Pay the invoice. If they made a mistake that's their problem. I can't understand why anyone would think you should do anything else. It's not your problem to work out how they decided to manage the time, how many cleaners for the job etc - they quoted and invoiced you, that's the end of the story. Any problems tell they you will contact the police re harassment, and Trading Standards re their business practices.

Peekingduck · 21/12/2013 17:15

By the way, the boss herself has even told you that they had "gone over" - so by her own admission they went over the agreed time without first checking with you if you were prepared to pay.

whatever5 · 21/12/2013 17:16

I was surprised that 2 turned up. But yes, I thought they'd 'swap'. I have no idea how these things work.

Why on earth would they swap and take twice as long to do the job??? You don't need to have employed cleaners before to realise that this wouldn't make sense. Also, you state in your OP that the agency said one person for three hours or two people for 1.5 hours each.

Original poster
NinjaBunny · 21/12/2013 17:20

Why on earth would they swap and take twice as long to do the job???

I have no idea. It's bonkers.

But that's what I was told..!

Maybe I totally misunderstood that part, or they worded it weirdly. But we definitely agreed on the £52.50 for 3 hours of cleaning. They shouldn't have randomly doubled it.

I don't understand why they did that without contacting me.

OP posts:
moominleigh94 · 21/12/2013 17:20

whatever yes, the agency said two people for 1.5 hours each. Not exactly unreasonable, when two turn up, to think that they might just be lift-sharing and one may take over in an hour and a half or something similar. I'd have thought the exact same thing, also having never hired a cleaner before. If people are new to things, they generally don't like to rock the boat and question things.

I think the OP has been scammed.