To complain about this cleaner?

[nameinlights]

Yesterday we hired a cleaner through an agency. We specified this was for a one-off spring clean for 3 hours, to do things we didn't get round to doing ourselves. The cleaner could barely speak a word of English. I had expected to be able to have a discussion with her about what could be achieved in the time she was with us, what cleaning products or methods were appropriate for different tasks, and check with her what she had got round to doing in tht time. All of this was impossible. We used google translate to communicate but this wasn't good enough for those kind of questions, and of course communicating in this way was quite time consuming. For example I asked her to clean the nappy changing mat but I wasn't clear if she had cleaned both sides and wasn't able to ask her. I specifically asked her to use the hoover to remove the dust from a particular area but she used a cloth instead which was not as effective. I saw her doing jobs that I didn't specify but I would have rather she did other tasks. What she did do was to a good standard and she worked fast, but tasks I wanted doing weren't done, or not done in the way we wanted.

The agency want feedback, AIBU to say that her English wasn't good enough for the role? On one hand I am annoyed that the cleaning did not go to plan. On the other hand this woman probably has a tough life, working in low paid physically demanding work and is probably on a zero hours contract. Negative feedback would not be nice for her and might affect her employment opportunities.

Well personally I wouldn't use kitchen towel. Id use a microfibre but if she displaces it as long as its removed (ie with the dusting and vacuuming) then it shouldn't matter.
I get where you are coming from though. I hired a cleaner this year to work with me and his method of cleaning is a bowl of hot water and a cloth whereas I use a million cloths and environmentally unfriendly sprays. But our end results are the same.

We are a cleaning company and clients are only allowed to book additional non standard work through the office in advance of the clean and we add these to the clients notes if these additional requests have been ordered, that way we know to add these to the invoice, if clients were allowed to order work from the cleaners directly we may not be able to schedule it all in for that visit and they may forget to tell us what has been ordered to add it to the invoice.

I prefer to handle the business side of things myself, therefore clients order work from myself and then I communicate any non-standard requirements to the cleaning staff, therefore they always know what they are going to be doing before they get to a home and I know to charge for it.

I appreciate that agencies operate differently sometimes, we are a private company and not an agency so maybe it's a little different as our staff are employed by us and not self-employed.

Thanks very much for all your comments.

I standby my concerns that her lack of English made it impossible to communicate with her to ask her to do the tasks that I wanted her to do. However, I am not going to say anything about the communication problems when I fill out the feedback form they've sent me. They clearly must know her language abilities so there is no point in me saying anything anyway. I would feel bad saying something negative as I don't want to decrease her work opportunities. I think Birdsgottafly is right, there are limitations to what a one-off cleaning visit can achieve anyway.

I am a bit perplexed about the amount of focus from PPs about me asking her to clean the changing mat. This was one tiny job whilst she was cleaning it that area. No Ppppenguin I do not need a cleaner to clean the changing mat. I quite clearly said this was a one-off clean. Myself and dp have managed to clean the changing mat ourselves the other 1,000 times it has needed cleaning since DD was born, clearly.

quietbatperson I LOVE your post!

Please don't say her English was too poor for the role

Why not? It was.

Is it ok to do a shit job if you don't speak English?

I will go against the grain here and say that actualy if you are paying for a service and the service is not what you have asked for then you should complain. Nicely, obviously, but it is not unreasonable to expect to be able to communicate with the cleaner about what you want done.

If you're not going to mention the thing that was a problem then there's no point filling in the feedback forms. If her English wasn't good enough then that needs to be made clear.

Actually if you paid the agency a higher rate for a "spring clean" and then had difficulty getting the person they supplied to do that work, such as window cleaning, then I think that the ones who are at fault are the agency. Who let's face it, are happy to take money from you, and give a portion of it to her, for no real effort in meeting expectations.

I think I'd explain to the agency what your problem was. It's not her cleaning abilities you had an issue with but that the cleaner they sent to do the job was not well matched to the situation - a one off job where you didn't have the time to explain to a non-English speaker what exactly needed done.

You paid your money but didn't get what you needed. There's no harm in making that clear. The issue is with the agency, not the cleaner, I think.

And to some posters on here: why do you care if someone else has a cleaner, or that she wants that person to clean the changing mat, FFS? Envious, much?

I think the issue is that you didn't want a straightforward clean but something more specific, and it was impossible to convey that to her. Unless you'd explained this in advance to the agency then I'm not sure how they were supposed to know, but it would frustrate me too, if I couldn't communicate with someone I was paying to do as I asked.

With regard to the changing mat, quite honestly whether she spoke English or not, it would have been quicker to wipe it down with anti-bac spray yourself than to go back and check with someone that they'd done both sides!

I find that most cleaners do tend to go on automatic pilot and do things in their own way, irrespective of what actually needs doing. If you'd had a two person team in for 4 hours you'd have got a decent spring clean but trying to get one person over three hours to just do things like wash down paintwork and pull out beds and sofas etc, while ignoring all the usual stuff was never going to work.

I think you should say something to the agency though.

And I agree, it doesn't matter how great her cleaning is, if she is incapable of understanding basic instructions and requirements from a client then she is of little use, unless you are the kind of person who doesn't really care what is done, or how it is done.

But then what happens when you find she's sprayed your leather sofas with wood polish, or used flash with bleach on your hard wood floor because she can't read the labels?

Yanbu, I understand your frustration. I would contact the agency and let them know that communication was an issue. Next time they may be able to get a list from clients and give it to her so she understands. Ignore the "why can't you clean your own changing pad". It is silly nitpicking.

Shock horror my cleaner cleans the changing mat and I don't even ask her to... Give the OP a break!

Why shouldn't op mention the communication barrier? You couldn't work on a checkout in a supermarket if your English was poor.

Maybe next time provide a written list of what's to be covered to the agency, whilst it isn't the cleaners fault it wasn't clear what was expected, it is the company's fault for sending someone you couldn't communicate with. Give feedback that complements her speed and efficiency (if your happy with that) but mentions the communication issues you experienced, always be honest. I can't comprehend how rude some posters are being over you hiring a bloody cleaner!

I don't think you should complain, but I do think you should tell the company that though she worked hard and cleaned to a good standard, communication issues made it difficult for her to understand exactly what you needed.

This gives the company the opportunity to use a different procedure for the next customer - I'm sure they would rather know and rectify the problem. They won't want to run the risk of negative reviews and complaints from future customers who might be less diplomatic than you.

I agree with the people who say that ability to communicate is important feedback. It can be given in a constructive rather than a damaging way, and if she is good at her job then she will be used again. In my experience good cleaning trumps ease of communication, especially over time.

However, other people have also mentioned other factors that impact on this particular situation. I agree with the person who felt that a spring clean by one person in three hours seems a bit of a tall order.

As it was a one off spring clean, sorting what you needed doing directly with the agency first seems the most sensible option. I'd hate to waste time, in that once-off scenario, explaining things to a new cleaning lady. It takes time to develop a relationship with a cleaning person and for them to understand your preferences - this can be for a myriad of reasons other than just language. On a first meeting there is not always time to explain why they clean one way rather another (your lamp shade example), but their reasoning for that could be logical if explained, and its effectiveness might become obvious over time. I've found this on a few occasions when I've originally thought a particular method or choice of product was odd.

I hate the 'new' stage (we usually have the same cleaning person for a number years) and I know many agencies allow you to build that important relationship with the same person. I have found, for example, that as the shyness of a new encounter diminishes, even those with poor English communicate more effectively. Would you consider more regular cleans to allow this to happen? If you don't want to go for weekly, what about monthly?

Once you get to know them and trust them, then you can let them get on with their job and you don't even need to be there when they clean. That's when the real time saving kicks it.

Does it make me a bad person that I wouldn't sugar coat my feedback? Being able to understand what she is required to do is an important part of the cleaner's job. The fact that she couldn't meant you didn't get good service. The cleaning company will want to know that (and the cleaner should work on her English).

I wondered that too, FoodPorn. It was my initial reaction. But now I agree with people who said that doing a spring clean in 3 hours is a big ask for one person, and I think what was expected of her should have been made clear beforehand. Some responsibility needs to go to the agency for not enabling her to go into it fully briefed. And if the op has particular likes and dislikes (clean lamp shades with a vacuum not a cloth, always clean both sides of changing mat), that takes time to explain. Many cleaners (especially experienced ones) turning up for a one off spring clean job might have expected to just get on with it without being observed or communicated with much at all.

I agree with what TwinklyMusic said. One of my best ever cleaners had rubbish English. It took ages for us to be understood by each other, and it could get really frustrating. But I was gutted when she was snapped up by someone offering substantially more hours than I was. She was just a brilliant cleaner, and a really lovely person.

I think the focus on the changing mat is because you made it a focus in the op, which was a little bizarre and did make it seem that you were bu. I think your op actually clouded the issue because it did sound like micromanagement and did make you seem a little...grand?... Including the cloth/vacuum issue.

However I totally get your problem and actually as your posts have gone on I tend to agree that the language issue should be fed back kindly amongst lots of praise for what she did do well.

I also think you were bu about what you hoped for her to achieve in 3 hours. I think you were setting yourself up to be disappointed and that's not her fault.

Yes it has to be said - I am all about customer service and there is no way I would let anyone order a spring clean from our company in three hours.

A spring clean takes a team of two the best part of a day and I would allow around 12 man hours for this, we are especially detailed but I think that even a more basic spring clean would be taking around 8 man hours if the team crack on.

There would be no time to do it if the homeowner was using the rooms or trying to talk to us. All work really needs to be ordered in advance throught the company.

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable hiring someone without good English skills because I feel it would get in the way when I was training them and they may not understand our methods or chemicals properly, but I would still expect all client communication about scope of service to come to me rather than the cleaner. This would be placed on their client notes so that any cleaner who attends them would know the spec before hand.

If you hire a private cleaner then the scope of work should be set out at the original quote so you both know what to expect and what is not covered within the price.

I worked for a cleaning agency a long time ago and the pay was absolutely dire.

My suggestion would be to try and find someone local , through word of mouth perhaps or through local shop adverts. I would try very very hard to not give money to cleaning agencies having experienced the nightmare of working for one.

Just to add a caveat to what I said above and to be clear, we are not an agency but a private company and pay our cleaners well above minimum wage (otherwise you can't get the type of person you need to apply for the job!)

I do understand that we run a different business model to an agency and I admit that I don't know how that works, I know agencies are cheaper than us and have less involvement with their staff since they are more a 'match-making' service and cleaning staff on their books are self-employed not employed directly by the company, this would give the agency less control over the staff than we have but then is cheaper to run because they don't employ the staff or train and equip them.

I still feel that surely even with the agency model the scope of the work must be arranged in advance, otherwise the cleaner would need to spend time talking to the homeowner instead of cracking on and with only 3 hours there would only be time for a very light clean of a few areas as it was without the specifics being thrashed out on the job, it takes me around an hour with a prospective client to listen and understand their needs, explain any health and safety or insurance issues or anything beyong the scope of domestic service and create their notes using the information communicated at that meeting. i could never do thus and clean at the same time, when I clean I won't even answer my phone, the customer service role is a separate role to a cleaners role.

What you do with your money and your annual leave is up to you.

Re the report. I would focus on the positives. Write about how fast, assiduous and thorough she was. Comment on her pleasant attitude, punctuality, and smart appearance if appropriate. Be as optimistic as you can. Then, finish by pointing out the one criticism, namely that the language barrier was problematic. The company might be able to access a course for her or something. I have worked with refugees, and I think it's vitally important for immigrants (refugee and otherwise) to learn English, for their own sakes as much as anything.

Rather than 'complain', maybe lead with praise of her efficiency and hard work but mention that communication was an issue and ask if they could put procedures in place to help future clients - whether this is specifying jobs to the agency ahead of time for them to translate for her, using picture sheets or similar, or the agency supporting her with EFL learning to help her in her work.

Ignoring the other spectacularly unhelpful comments. I had a similar situation with a cleaner from an agency. We tried google translate, and for small things its fine, but I realised that as I am paying an agency fee as well as her hourly rate, I'd get my money's worth from the agency. If there are specific things that need to be done, I type up a list and email it to the agency. They convey, and to be honest, it works. She is the best cleaner we've had and in the 6 months she has been with us, her English is really coming on too. Without sounding condescending, it must be so hard for these women to find work and many are studying or holding down several jobs. If her cleaning is a good standard, and you can ask the agency to help with the language barrier try to stick with it.