Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

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 window cleaner's last two bills?

30 replies

meltedmonterayjack · 09/08/2014 15:13

Please can you tell me if I'm being tight/awful/unreasonable here?

The guy who cleans my windows climbs onto my balcony to access the kitchen window. In the summer, If I'm out, he moves some of the hanging pots out of the way so he can prop his ladders against the rail.

This time obviously he had a problem working out how the detachable hooks on one of the pots fit and forced one back in the wrong way round and it was absolutely stuck. Tried WD40 but I still had to tug the hook to get it out and the whole fitting shattered.

The pot is one of two matching ones which of course happen to be the nicest/most expensive I have. The rest are all a couple of quid and I'd not have minded any of those being damaged. I've been out the last two times he's been and was just about to do a bank transfer for £12. Is it awful to ask him if he minds if I don't pay him the £12 because the pot is totally broken. I'm on a really low income btw.

OP posts:
ObfusKate · 09/08/2014 15:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lottieandmia · 09/08/2014 15:16

I wouldn't pay him - I would certainly expect him to cover the cost of the breakage.

KnackeredMuchly · 09/08/2014 15:17

Pay him and ask for him not to come back.

Original poster
meltedmonterayjack · 09/08/2014 15:24

I wouldn't want to tell him not to come back Knackered because he's a nice guy and in the 5 years I've been here, he's the first window cleaner who has turned up regularly.

ObfusKate I see what you're saying. I will pay him the £12 as that money IS for cleaning the windows which he's done well. But I'll ask him to cover the cost of the damage. He should have just left the hook off and put the pot on the floor for me to sort out rather than rammed it back in the wrong way round.

OP posts:
Clarinet9 · 09/08/2014 15:25

You need to pay him for the work that has been done
there was a similar thread on here about a cleaner and the general consensus was that you just needed to absorb the cost of the breakages he has a right to expect to be able to access the window or you can tell him to not clean it.

(FWIW I remember now cleaner had broken a toilet seat)

ObfusKate · 09/08/2014 15:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheBloodManCometh · 09/08/2014 15:30

OP if you're on a low income, why are you paying to have your windows cleaned?

Original poster
meltedmonterayjack · 09/08/2014 15:36

Not sure that's a relevant question TheBloodManCommeth. I live on a main road and the windows get black and grimy really quickly. It's a first floor flat and can only access one window myself. He only comes a few times in the winter because it's too dark to see the grime most of the time but over the summer it's nice to be able to see out clearly.

OP posts:
Original poster
meltedmonterayjack · 09/08/2014 15:38

Clarinet thanks for that. I'm going to tell him not to clean that window. It's the only one I can actually reach myself, so I'll do it in future.

OP posts:
MorphineDreams · 09/08/2014 15:44

I would pay him then charge for the damage.

But you need to make things accessible for him.

windchime · 09/08/2014 16:21

If you are on a low income, a window cleaner is an unnecessary expense, imo. Clean your own windows.

PeachyParisian · 09/08/2014 19:23

hang on OP, you broke it! If you know the pots are an issue why haven't you been moving them in preparation?

ICanSeeTheSun · 09/08/2014 19:27

You said you broke it, the hook was jammed and you trying to unjam it you broke the pot.

I would pay him.

coolaschmoola · 09/08/2014 19:38

As long as the op can pay her bills, including the window cleaner, why the fuck shouldn't she have one?!

And as the question was about withholding payment due to damage rather than being unable to pay what the fuck is it to do with anyone else?

Jesus.

brokenhearted55a · 09/08/2014 19:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream · 09/08/2014 19:41

He didn't break the pot, you did. He only jammed a plastic fitting completely by accident. I think you should pay him.

Goldmandra · 09/08/2014 19:41

You broke it, not the window cleaner, therefore you would be wrong to withhold payment or ask him for any.

brokenhearted55a · 09/08/2014 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Viviennemary · 09/08/2014 19:46

I think you do need to pay him. And move things out of the way so he can clean the windows without messing about with hooks and so on.

Original poster
meltedmonterayjack · 09/08/2014 20:15

I wouldn't replace the pot. Am well aware a flower pot is a luxury item I can easily manage without. And before anyone else castigates me for having the temerity to own expensive flower pots, I'd like to point out that I bought them with money I had been given for my birthday. I live in a built up area and being able to look out on some flowers and plants gives me a lot of pleasure, as sad as that may seem.

I am not on benefits, I work, am not in debt, have never had an overdraft and pay all my bills on time in full, don't have a tv and I cook healthily and economically. I have budgeted for a window-cleaner as I'm not going to climb a 20 ft ladder to clean my windows. I'm 53, with arthritis, high blood pressure and a collagen disorder which means I dislocate joints easily. I work hard, I live within my means and the issue I asked about was not whether having someone to clean my windows is unreasonable but whether it is unreasonable to expect the window cleaner to foot the damage to the pot.

As the hook was lodged the wrong way into the fitting I had two choices - leave it jammed and be unable to use the pot completely, or try remove it and salvage the pot. I chose the latter. The hook had been so firmly wedged in the wrong way round, that removing it broke the fitment.

I am going to ask him to leave the window in question in future as it is the only one I can actually access and could clean using a step-stool.

OP posts:
MollyHooper · 09/08/2014 20:33

You really didn't have to explain yourself Melted, some posters just enjoy taking people down a peg or two. Ignore.

As for the pot, I'm in two minds as to weather you should bring it up with him or not. I know if it were me I would leave it but I'm a complete pushover. :o

Maybe strike a conversation with him about being a little more gentle with the pots as one has been broken, he may offer to replace it.

Original poster
meltedmonterayjack · 09/08/2014 20:54

Molly thanks. I know I don't have to explain/justify but don't like judgy/goady assumptions. so wanted to point out that having some nice pots or getting my windows cleaned is a perfectly valid choice.

I have no idea why some posters feel it necessary to ignore the question asked and in the process be rude and confrontational or why they think it's their place at all to decide what is and what is not an unnecessary expense. It's very sad.

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 09/08/2014 21:10

But how much money you have isn't a question when you are paying somebody to have work done. If you pay the money is nothing really to do with how much money you have or don't have. It's whether you think you're in the wrong or the window cleaner should have been more careful.

My opinion was as I said you should have made sure the pots were moved out of the way. But that's a matter of opinion and nothing to do with working or not working or being on benefits or not on benefits.

MollyHooper · 09/08/2014 21:22

I guessing income was mentioned in the OP to save from drip feeding if anyone suggested simply replacing the pot.

I don't know why posters are rude for no good reason either Melted, but I could make a few guesses. (Not you Vivien, btw)

Laquitar · 09/08/2014 21:22

Hmm it is your responsibility to provide access so you could have moved your pots before he comes, especially if they are precious pots.

You have to pay him imo,