WIBU??

[WIBU]

I do a bit of cleaning for people and was due to "do" for them today.

They're on holiday at the moment but I have a key.

Their house is down a longish street that's got one side devoted to parking for permit holders and yellow lines down the other side.

They've got a drive - where I usually park - but their car was too far forward for me to fit my car in front of it. Mine would have been completely blocking the pavement.

I had a little drive round and all the neighbouring streets are the same.

The options were:

Possibly find a space - a good 5 minute walk away even if I'd found one I reckon - and struggle on foot, juggling mop/bucket full of cleaning solutions/long cobweb brush/tray of cloths and polish etc.

Or

Drop all aforementioned stuff off by front door, leave it there and hope nothing gets nicked, find a space (maybe), walk back to house and do the same thing in reverse when I finished.

What I did was, check the adjoining streets (no luck - all permit only/yellow lines), phoned DH to check whether I'd be subject to a ticket if I blocked the pavement (I would, apparently), gave up and came home.

If you were the cleanee, how much hassle would you expect your cleaner to go to, in this situation? Would you be miffed?

I'd probably have expected you to do the 5 minute walk, and obviously I wouldn't expect to have to pay you for today, as you did no work.

But.. I'd expect my cleaner to find everything they need in the house, certainly polishes, mops etc.

We have a very ordinary house though, so no special cleaning stuff required

id have blocked the pavement with a note on the windscreen, if it wasnt a busy road

yeah i would be annoyed. have they already paid you to clean? you didn't need to drop the stuff in front of the house hoping it wouldn't be stolen. you could have used your key and put it in the house while you found a space.

Park on drive - unlock house and unload stuff into hallway - lock door so all safe

go find parking space and walk

Could you go back before they return from holiday?

Same as Canus. I think you've got a bloody cheek not turning up for work because you couldn't park on their drive, and had to walk a bit.

I trust you'll be going back at a different time or day to do the work you should have done today.

Ooh you know what it never occurred to me to drop the stuff inside the house!!

Yes of course I've let them know. I get paid as and when I clean, not in advance. It's a very fluid arrangement; people can - and have - cancel at the last minute if something comes up, or rearrange days or whatever. I do these people fortnightly but if they want me an extra day or whatever I always try to accommodate.

I'd find a space and walk. Whether I'd leave the cleaning stuff at the door or tried to juggle it would depend on the area and where it could be left.

Of course you were bing unreasonable to just not bother working because you couldn't get a convenient space, that just sounds like the height of laziness to me.

Take the ten minutes walk out of the cleaning time if you really have to, although that would also indicate laziness to me, but don't just not bother at all.

Why leave it by the front door?If you have a key couldn't you just shove it in the hall quickly?

Oh it's not laziness. I like cleaning and I could do with the money!

Anyway I'll get DH to drop me off later - it's only a 5 minute car journey - and pick me up :)

Ooh you know what it never occurred to me to drop the stuff inside the house!!

But really, you could carry the mop and duster in one hand while carrying the bucket full of stuff with the other.

Worra - I know!!

I have no common sense whatsoever.

Not without dropping stuff. Believe me I've tried. I've got a lot of stuff.

There's always a tomorrow. What's the matter with another day? Or have you other clients for other days?

Yes Happy I'll do it either later on, or tomorrow, or whenever suits them. Waiting to hear back :)

Well, at least they know you are trying to fulfil your appointment.

It's a wind up!!!

Nice touch with the "borrowing the people carrier" though. It's that sort of attention to detail that shows a poster is willing to go the extra mile :)

Wrong thread....

Yes they know I'll always move/change/add/cancel appts to suit if I can :)

It's not so much that they don't need to pay you if you don't need to do any cleaning - for me it would be more that I was expecting to come home to a nice clean house, and now I'm not.

But you have said you'd do it another day though - so fair play for that. If they're on holiday however, I wouldn't have bothered them - I would just have made sure the cleaning is done by the time they get home.

Maybe having a word if they go away again, and asking them to park so as you can also park on the drive.

well you do not always think of the obvious when stressed. i have never been told the obvious solution by my five year old, oh no