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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not clean a 1 bed flat if I'm charged a £30 cleaning fee for a long weekends use

82 replies

speedyboardersuzanne · 04/11/2015 15:53

I stayed in a one bed for a long weekend. Everything was left pretty much as I found it apart from I stripped the beds and because we were running late I didn't have time to do the breakfast pans and dishes. It did need a bit of a clean after we were gone, but no more than two hours to get it back to being perfect.

Owner is being assey with me saying I left the bedrooms in a state, kitchen dirty with dishes and the whole place dirty. Apparently I should of left it as I found it, ie cleaned. But surely as I'm being charged a cleaning fee I shouldn't need to clean?

30 would cover 4 hours of cleaning IMO, and no way did it even need half of that.

OP posts:
JeffsanArsehole · 04/11/2015 16:20

Had this after a week in a cottage with a £60 cleaning fee upfront as part of the cost of the cottage.

The owner emailed me before to say they expected the cottage to be 'clean enough for the next user'. I said 'No, that's what I'm paying £60 for'. They said that was just the cost of getting someone to check it. Hmm

We didn't clean it, it was dirty after being used for a week. Normal family dirt. They left no cleaning products or Hoover and they charged £1400 for the weeks rental.

It wasn't possible to clean it without buying products and bringing my own Hoover, not doing that after spending that much on the rental plus 'cleaning'

You were in the right imo. If you charge for cleaning then the renter doesn't clean!

rookiemere · 04/11/2015 16:25

YANBU.

Apart from the dishes maybe. We stayed in apartment resorts whilst in Canada and they appeared to have a "thing" about the dishes. One place which was lovely in all other aspects were going to levy an additional $40 fine ( about £20) for unwashed dishes. It's a bit of a faff as usually breakfast is the last thing you have before you leave, but I guess I wouldn't want to clean up somebody else's manky frying pan. Having said that nor would I want to be the person who drank next from our coffee mugs which DH gave a very cursory rinse.

I hate the way this country appears to be turning into France where they charge you for frankly ridiculous things such as sheets, towels and cleaning. And yes if they have charged you for it then they have no right to demand that you clean it.

I'm happy enough to strip beds and put some bleach down the bog, but really any more than that and I'd rather just stay at home where we have a wonderful weekly cleaner.

SenecaFalls · 04/11/2015 16:27

it pisses me off when I've paid to stop in a cottage on holiday and there has been a long list of stuff they want you do at the end.

Really. Some places ought to pay the renters to stay there and clean.

There have been several instances in which we have been surprised by extra things we were expected to do set out in a list found after we arrived. I now email specifically asking what we will be expected to do so I will know up front.

And I never leave a place with the washing machine running. That is a hazard waiting to happen.

AliceInUnderpants · 04/11/2015 16:28

You shouldn't have left your dishes dirty, imo. You should have done that instead of stripping the beds. Even leaving them to dry on the draining board would have been preferable to leaving them dirty.

I always wash up and put away, strip beds, clean kitchen surfaces and a quick whizz around the bathroom with a cloth.

rookiemere · 04/11/2015 16:33

But washing the dishes takes roughly the same time as stripping beds.

I would have thought the cleaner would have found it preferable to clean some plates and mugs rather than getting up close and personal with renters bedding.

specialsubject · 04/11/2015 16:35

if this was recent, the clocks went BACK and you had an extra hour.

you signed a contract. What you signed applies. Did you agree to this fee if you didn't clean up?

DoreenLethal · 04/11/2015 16:36

I'd tell them either they charged a cleaning fee or expected it to be cleaned. Not both.

Judydreamsofhorses · 04/11/2015 16:38

We stayed in a place in the Scottish Highlands in summer and there was a cleaning fee included as part of the cost. In the "house manual" there was a note asking for beds to be stripped before vacating the house at 1030am because there would be a tight turnover for the next guests - we did that, and washed breakfast dishes before we left, but wouldn't have expected (and didn't do) any more. After a week with five people the place would have needed a proper clean - we did do things like empty the kitchen bin and kept the place reasonably neat when we were there - and that's what the cleaning fee was for.

Tartyflette · 04/11/2015 16:38

This infuriates me. You're already paying a cleaning fee, fgs! And so is the next renter; the landlord or owner is effectively being paid twice for the same cleaning. It's just another way of extracting money from renters and it drives me bonkers. Very common in France for holiday lets too, we were once charged an extra cleaning fee because we hadn't polished the leather furniture Confused when we left a perfectly clean and tidy gite after renting it for a week. Who DOES that on holiday????

DurhamDurham · 04/11/2015 16:38

You were only there for a long weekend and left it looking like it needed moping and hoovering......what were you doing?

I'd never leave dishes, I know you were running out of time but that isn't the owners fault. I probably wouldn't bother striping the bed but would put dirty towels in the bath and leave the place tidy.
I do worry too much about what people think of me........even if I'm unlikely to ever see them again !

TheOriginalMerylStrop · 04/11/2015 16:40

Dishes and picking up any empty pot noodle cartons and doritos packets bits of rubbish would be expected IMO, regardless of whether you pay a cleaning fee. Possibly stripping beds too, depending on what you had been up to the cost of the accomodation. Running out of time not really good enough IMO.

Being slagged off for not doing is well out of order however. Not on.

BubsandMoo · 04/11/2015 16:45

The £30 cleaning fee was always a surcharge, not added due to additional unexpected cleaning?!! I've never had that and stayed in lots of cottages.

I would normally wash up, tidy, hoover/mop, wipe clean kitchen & bathroom, and strip beds. But then I wouldn't normally pay £30 on top of renting the place - if I was paying for cleaning anyway then yeah, why bother cleaning!

I get the people who will say leaving dirty dishes is manky. It is, I have a stack at the moment. But OP was on holiday and being overcharged anyway.

YANBU, OP. Leave a sarky review. bangs gavel

Artandco · 04/11/2015 16:48

Yes you should have done the dishes and left it clean. The cleaner is suppose to clean ie wash bedding, iron it, remake, clean bathroom and kitchen sides and floor, Hoover, dust etc, not tidy

We live in a one bed flat, it takes longer than 2 hrs a week to clean if including bedding. ( it's £15 an hr here for cleaner). Remember it's not a basic Hoover landlord needs but they need to get cleaner to check under everywhere/ take sofa apart etc incase last tenants left crap hidden or food down sofa etc

If they only thing left was from dinner, why would it be there in the morning? Surely you wash dinner dishes after dinner

DoreenLethal · 04/11/2015 16:51

Yes you should have done the dishes and left it clean. The cleaner is suppose to clean

What would be the point of leaving it clean if the cleaner is supposed to clean it?

Pobspits · 04/11/2015 16:53

You should've done the dishes but otherwise YANBU.

However I always strip beds and put bedding towels in the bath, wipe counters and tables, make sure look and sweep up or brush. Dh hates me doing it though!!!

Alibabsandthe40Musketeers · 04/11/2015 16:54

If there was ever a reason to stay in a hotel, this thread is it Grin

SenecaFalls · 04/11/2015 16:55

Tidy and clean are not the same thing. I always leave holiday rentals tidy, and I don't leave dirty dishes, but I don't clean. And I don't book anywhere they expect me to clean.

Artandco · 04/11/2015 16:56

Doreen - I think people mean tidy. Leave it tidy ie no dirty dishes/ wrappers on side and everything as you found. The cleaner then cleans as in Hoover/ mop/ bleach

My children know that if they leave toys out the cleaner has full rights to move/ bin as she is there to clean not tidy

mellicauli · 04/11/2015 17:00

If they pay an inspector to inspect a guest's cleaning more than it would cost a cleaner to do the cleaning, they are clearly unhinged or dishonest . I wouldn't bother engaging any further with them.

gamerchick · 04/11/2015 17:02

Yeah clean and tidy are 2 different things and as has been mentioned the clocks went back so you had been given an hour.

That's what winds me up on I live in a shithole threads... Get a cleaner Hmm

Tidy up next time OP. You don't leave dirty dishes and whatnot.

evilcherub · 04/11/2015 17:02

I would have just left it all. £30 is for the cleaning!

Original poster
speedyboardersuzanne · 04/11/2015 17:10

Yes the clocks went back, but we didn't know that phones did it automatically, so we put it back twice. Silly apple should tell you after the hour has gone back!

Anyway it wasn't a shithole, but I payer for a cleaner at home and for this rental precisely so I don't have to clean.

OP posts:
SilverOldie2 · 04/11/2015 17:12

YABU I think it's really manky not to do your washing up and wipe kitchen surfaces and since the clocks went back, you had an extra hour so not sure what that has to do with anything. Cost of an average cleaner is PS10-15 an hour so not sure how you get 4 hours of cleaning out of PS30.

DoreenLethal · 04/11/2015 17:12

Doreen - I think people mean tidy. Leave it tidy ie no dirty dishes/ wrappers on side and everything as you found. The cleaner then cleans as in Hoover/ mop/ bleach

I know what cleaning/tidying is - I was asking why they thought cleaning before a cleaner is a 'thing'. Surely a person leaving a rental tidies by taking their stuff and going home?

SuperFlyHigh · 04/11/2015 17:13

washing up you should have done and left the stripping of the beds. I would email back what you did though and why and say you don't appreciate abuse.

It doesn't really matter if you pay for a cleaner at home its where you've stayed is a bit different where leaving the dishes seems a bit slovenly to me.

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