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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to have sacked the cleaner?

112 replies

ladylily29 · 05/02/2015 18:27

*Disclaimer: I'm quite possibly suffering from pregnancy hormones and therefore perfectly willing to hear IABU.

Got back from a mental day at work today to note from cleaner. It said she was shocked at the state of the house, that she didn't expect to pick up clothes (there were three socks and a pair of pants on the bedroom floor that had fallen out of a drawer...) and that the state of my house had cost her the clients after me because she had to stay so long. To be fair, it was a bit messy, but I'm pregnant, sick, and have had a manic week at work, so it's not been my priority.

I never asked her to stay more than her hours (and actually she usually cops off early!), and to be honest, I've come home early a couple of times to find her partner or kids here, which has made me really uncomfortable. And there have been quite a few broken items that have turned up... Also, I pay her 30% more than she asks for, so she gets a nice tip every time she comes here.

Was IBU to send her a text to apologise that she'd felt so unhappy about the state of the house, and to say that as we both now felt uncomfortable, it was probably best to call it a day? It's done now, but I feel a bit guilty.

OP posts:
BallsforEarrings · 05/02/2015 22:33

£10 per hour is VERY cheap for professional services, however this was not a professional service - she had family in the client's home! £10 per hour is about right for that service level!!

eurochick · 05/02/2015 22:35

Bastard, if the trainee surgeons catch the cold from your son handling door handles or whatever in their house, it is possible that surgeries will have to be cancelled. I don't mind my cleaner bringing her child but in this case I think yabu.

TheChandler · 05/02/2015 22:41

Wow. She sounds like the cleaner from hell.

I hate, hate, hate conflict. To send the text at all was very brave for me!

I suspect she had already worked that out. She wants to be a bully, and do hardly any work. She'll probably try to come back.

WineIsMyMainVice · 05/02/2015 22:45

YANBU. She left a note saying your house had cost her the job after yours? What? Did she come back to your house after that had happened to write the note?

BallsforEarrings · 05/02/2015 22:51

Wine - fabulous point! Grin

I can't believe we all did not notice this! She was bullshitting for sure!! she obviously just wanted an easy way out of the job without being 'the bad guy who sacks the client' - happens all the time in our industry, cleaning business owners 'constructively dismiss' clients, but I don't think she was justified at all in this case!

She sounds a knob, I bet she just landed a more profitable client so made an excuse up to get away and made OP feel like crap in the process!

Runnyhunny · 05/02/2015 22:55

I clean for my cleaner because it's easier that getting my kids to sort their individual pigstys..

watchingthedetectives · 05/02/2015 22:56

BastardGoDarkly just text them and explain - I work in similar job and would say yes no problem.

After a v long on-call it is bliss to have a tidy house. They will be well used to people being unwell and DS on the sofa is hardly a major infection risk

Loletta · 05/02/2015 22:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BallsforEarrings · 05/02/2015 23:01

Loletta - how RUDE of her!! Do these people not know about customer service at all??

giraffesNeedBigPoloNecks · 06/02/2015 04:44

bitch

pearpotter · 06/02/2015 05:10

Yanbu. We do try and tidy up so that the cleaner gets more cleaning actually done, but I have texted before her to say "Sorry about the mess" but she immediately texted back "Don't worry about it! x"

I think you did the right thing and were actually pretty kind about it. Try and get some local recommendations.

pearpotter · 06/02/2015 05:15

£10 an hour is not "cheap for professional services". It's about £4.50 an hour more than they get paid by an agency and more than a lot of people earn.

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 06/02/2015 05:19

Yanbu. I second changing the locks, or maybe changing your alarm code if you have one.

Woodenheart · 06/02/2015 05:20

Bastard, just ask them, In case they come home early, Im sure they wont mind,

Lottiedoubtie · 06/02/2015 05:47

You are absolutely not being unreasonable!

I am horrendosly weak and have had cleaners who take the piss- but never to that extent! I wouldn't tolerate rudeness/bringing family/regularly breaking stuff.

I should have sacked my last cleaner for unreliableness- turning up late/texting on the day to ask to come another day/leaving early. But I was a coward and didn't, she left in the end of her own accord.

New cleaner (same agency) has (so far) arrived ten minutes early every week and done everything more thoroughly and worked her full time without complaint. I am ridiculously grateful but determined not to get over friendly this time in case she starts taking the piss like the last one...

Mominatrix · 06/02/2015 05:53

How odd. I pay my cleaner to tidy and clean - that is why I have her the number of times a week I have her, and the hours which I give her at a competitive wage. It is only here in the UK where I have heard about people tidying up before their cleaners come! YANBU!

Fabulassie · 06/02/2015 10:51

If you engage a cleaner and want them to tidy, then you should set those terms out from the beginning. There are cleaners who will pick up clothes off the floor, iron them, and put them into the correct drawers. It's not cheap but of course there are those who will do it. (I would have declined such a job because that wasn't the service I offered.)

But if you take a cleaner on when your home is tidy and then progressively become more messy so that things are not what they were in the beginning, then your cleaner will become irritated. They will either drop you as a client or try and get you to mend your ways/pay more for their time.

And, yes, £10 is pretty bottom-of-the barrel for pay. Who cares what they would have gotten with an agency? Cleaners who work for agencies are not fairly compensated for their time and travel. A self-employed cleaner who takes cash in hand can't necessarily be expected to behave with real professionalism and so you shouldn't be surprised when they are flakey and when they don't have insurance to cover damages. After all, they're just working for some extra cash income. They don't get holidays paid or any income if they are ill or injured.

A cleaner who has proper insurance and a professional attitude towards their work will cost more. I quoted based on a rate of at least £15 an hour and then I carried out my work to a high standard. Plenty of people were very happy to pay me and plenty were shocked that I asked for so much money.

LittleBairn · 06/02/2015 11:08

I agree with fabulassie a cleaner is for cleaning not tidying up. The hint is in the title otherwise you need a housekeeper.

But having guests over without my permission would have resulted in an automatic dismissal.

championnibbler · 06/02/2015 11:24

Sack her asap.

Viviennemary · 06/02/2015 11:48

's certainly worth paying more for a good cleaner. I honestly can't be bothered with cleaners who won't do this or do that. If a cleaner has to spend her time tidying then she won't get as much cleaning done. But a professional cleaner would explain this or offer to do more hours.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 06/02/2015 11:54

Do cleaners not work by time eg you pay for them for an hour/2 hours etc?

If so why does it matter if house untidy? Surely it just means they spend more of the allotted time tidying and less time cleaning?

ImperialBlether · 06/02/2015 12:05

I can sort of see why she brought her children with her (though obviously I don't think she should have) but her husband too? What kind of bloke doesn't know that you don't just tag along to your wife's workplace?

WizardOfToss · 06/02/2015 12:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BastardGoDarkly · 06/02/2015 13:01

Hello lovely Toss how the fuck are you? That's exactly what I did text her this morning! She declined to have a coughing sniffing child on her sofa! So, have to go in on Monday instead.

TheChandler · 06/02/2015 13:53

Fabulassie And, yes, £10 is pretty bottom-of-the barrel for pay. Who cares what they would have gotten with an agency? Cleaners who work for agencies are not fairly compensated for their time and travel. A self-employed cleaner who takes cash in hand can't necessarily be expected to behave with real professionalism and so you shouldn't be surprised when they are flakey and when they don't have insurance to cover damages. After all, they're just working for some extra cash income. They don't get holidays paid or any income if they are ill or injured.

A cleaner who has proper insurance and a professional attitude towards their work will cost more. I quoted based on a rate of at least £15 an hour and then I carried out my work to a high standard. Plenty of people were very happy to pay me and plenty were shocked that I asked for so much money.

Talk about self-aggrandisement. There is no profession of cleaning - it is not a professional job, however much you would like it to be. You don't study for 4 years or more at university, in a field where you are required to get top marks in your A levels for entry and pass a searching interview process. You don't then do a professional qualification, administered by your professional governing body. You don't require a license to practice and you can't be struck off for malpractice. Nor are you subject to continuing professional training requirements.

It is a job, and a fairly lowly skilled one. You can talk it up as much as you like but the problem remains that you will only get away with charging silly amounts and acting like a prima donna for a certain time, or for certain people who for some reason fall for it. Most people see through the exaggerating cleaner who makes a big song and dance about never having seen a house so dirty before the first time he/she cleans it, so thereafter they can claim any missed dirt is due to the original state of the house and not their lack of cleaning.

Most cleaners I've employed are happy to have tidying away items of clothing, etc specified in their contract of employment. Its fairly standard practice. I would only consider paying a cleaner £15 an hour if I wanted a stately home or period townhouse cleaned and they had specialist qualifications relating to the care and preservation of antiques and period features and furniture (such qualifications do exist!), or alternatively, if I had more money than sense or wanted a one-off job done to an exceptional standard. I certainly wouldn't want to be bullied or harassed by anyone I was paying to do a job, and that includes cleaners.

Its very difficult to find a reliable and hard working cleaner, because it tends to attract a fair share of flaky, unreliable, not so hard working people who do it because it requires no formal qualifications and is easy to get into. The decent, reliable and experienced cleaners out there will know exactly what I'm talking about.