AIBU or cleaners?

[Moominmummyzzz]

Background: We have been using a cleaning company to clean our house for the last three years. We had seven different people and all of them (bar one) left the company. The last five months, the owners (age 72, 73) have started doing the job. We employ them to come to the house two hours twice a week (4 hours a week in total). They have also done a deep clean of the house (8 hrs) in April. We pay £12.50 per hour so around £200-225 a month.

DH and I have a toddler and we both work full time. I mainly work night duties. DH and I are really knackered as we have no family nearby to help us. We have someone to help us clean our house for our mental well being.

Since the owners have taken the role, I have noticed the following

• cancelling the job at the last minute (like texting at 12:00 to say they cant come in for 12:00 noon job)
• charging us for days they did not turn to work (this happened twice but did not question it for goodwill as we have used them for three years)
• last week owner/cleaner was to do a two hour clean but she left after an hour but still charged us for the full two hours.

The owner/cleaners were suppose to come yesterday but they didn't turn up. We got this email from her today:

_
Dear Moominmummyzzz,

I have given the cleaning of your home considerable thought, and no matter how I try I can no longer contend with the state we find your home in each time we come.

I really do not want to offend you but when we spoke last you asked me to be honest, are efforts are in vane, the constant wiping of the sofa which is covered in dried on food, picking up stuff from the floors, clearing food and cereal bowls, clearing food and various other things.

Putting washing in the baskets picking up toys and various other things from the bath.

My staff and I are not servants having to clear up behind people.

You are a young couple and there is no reason why you cannot pick things up so we are able to clean, you have the capabilities of making your home a well kept and pleasant place to bring your little toddler up in.

Please take all this on board as being constructive. You are really nice people and I have enjoyed knowing you.

I put your key back through the door yesterday I hope you have found it . If I can be of any help please let me know.

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I'm just confused at this. It sounds like we're disgusting pigs but we are just a real tired couple with a small child. AIBU?

What a hurtful email. If they wanted to stop cleaning for you they could simply have given notice.

As kids we had to tidy our rooms for the cleaner, but it was ok to move everything off the floor and onto the bed lol. Cleaner always did the washing up, though not laundry.

Also £12.50 seems steep particularly for elderly cleaners who must be less sprightly and perhaps take longer to do tasks.

I hope you find some more polite cleaners who are better suited to you.

I hired a cleaner - actually a couple - recently, and during the interview I made it clear that tidying was part of the agreement. I don't leave dirty laundry on the floor, or cups by the beds etc., and I load the dishwasher before they arrive, but I find it hard to keep the children's room tidy (getting better storage in September) so tidying and cleaning that room from bombsite -> pleasant was specified in particular.

I had a cleaner start with me a couple of years ago who came once or twice and was supposed to clean the house for the 3rd time while we were away, and right before my in-laws came to stay. Was horrified to find on my return that she had not cleaned (in-laws were arriving in an hour), but had left me a note telling me that my house was too dirty for her to clean, and she was quitting and could I please post her that day's pay. I had left the place extremely tidy for her so that she could just sweep in without any distractions, but in her case she had been an office cleaner for some years before, and this was her first foray into domestic cleaning. I reckon she had a bit of a shock when she discovered the very real difference between cleaning a nice modern office and the small, Victorian home of a family with tiny children!

I've seen a cleaner in our area, advertise that she's quite happy to clear mess/ tidy/ help you sort through teenagers rooms for example...so there are cleaners out there who will clear up and clean too...and for £225 a month, I a lot would offer this..

Or perhaps look for a housekeeper...(not live in, but perhaps the description implies you need a bit more than simple clean)

We had seven different people and all of them (bar one) left the company.

Did they leave? Or did they just not want to clean your house anymore?

I hope you find someone new because I do know how tiring it is, but I've worked with families who would fit the description in that email and it's horrible

"my house was too dirty for her to clean"

WTAF????

She's a cleaner! Unless you had left a decomposing corpse for her to clear up how can a cleaner possibly complain about a dirty house!

Could be either a cleaner after an easy job or a house that is too messy to be cleaned. Try a new cleaner, you've only had the one agency since having the baby.

Mine does whatever is necessary, but manages the cleaning and the ironing if it is tidy and only the cleaning if it isn't, so we tidy as we go all week, she does the rest.

Aw, you've been sacked as clients!

Just find a cleaner who doesn't mind the tidying aspect. Ours doesn't - she will put a wash on, put clothes away, change the bed, load the dishwasher etc.

On second reading, it is possible that the six cleaners told their bosses they don't like to clean your house as it is messy, so the owners had to do the job themselves to keep you as clients. On finding it is really bad, they cancelled.

Invite prospective cleaners into your house, leave it in the state you expect them to find it and tell them this is what it will be like. This way, everybody knows what will be involved. They are free to turn it down and you don't have to tidy before they come.

Moomingsmummy, if you are anywhere near me , I would be happy to clean and tidy for that rate , I'm a cleaner and have high standards , but would work with you xxx. Pm if you'd like 😊

Can anyone recommend cleaners in Kent as I'd like to employ one in the not too distant future. Would people recommend proper companies or finding an individual cleaner? Where's the best place to find them? Thanks in advance.

Whilst my cleaner is happy to do anything, we always tidy things away the night before because i don't want her to spend cleaning time tidying up our stuff.

it also means that DH and DCs never have more than a few days clutter lying around

The only trouble for the householder with not tidying, as I've found to my cost, is that the cleaner has to guess where to put things and you have to guess where they ended up.

Hello you sound just like the cleaner I am looking for. I live in Bexley and wondered if you had space for an extra client

@HeartsTrumpDiamonds

Nah you just need to find a cleaner who doesn't mind the tidying aspect. Ours doesn't mind, I never tidy beforehand. She loads the dishwasher, changes all the beds, does all the bins, irons.

This.

What are they talking about, with the ‘we are not servants’ line? . It’s a bit like being a waiter who thinks it’s beneath him to clear and wipe tables!

Having been a cleaner, nanny, housekeeper, worked in recruitment for private staff...now got my own children.... I speak from experience.
I have walked out after many “cleaning” jobs particularly on a Monday morning or after the holidays.
For the reasons your cleaner stated in their email.
Unless you spend a lot of time in people’s houses then it’s difficult to judge on your own standards.

A cleaner cleans, they are not there to clean up after your dinner party 2 days after it happened, wash your dogs, tidy up after your kids, work out where such and such lives, empty overflowing nappy bins, cat litter trays, tidy toys, wash, dry clothes, iron
They should Hoover, mop, dust, clean bathrooms, might put washing on if have time, they also squeeze in a lot of jobs in one day

A housekeeper...
*Keeps the house ticking over and generally somebody employed a couple of hours a day every day or every other day for longer.
That is theoretically paid more...they know where everything is in the house, they have time to iron, make bed, wash dogs, clean oven, tidy up, as they are there on a more frequent basis so no task is overwhelming...

Cleaners clean, they do not tidy.
How can they clean the bath if it’s full of toys?
How can the clean the living room when they have to tidy toys and leave the sofa with dried on food?
How can they clean the kitchen when they have to empty the dishwasher of clean dishes to put your dirty ones in or wash your dirty ones in the sink to then clean your kitchen and leave it sparkling?

I don't think the cleaner is rude. OP, however, your house sounds fucking rank.

I worked as a cleaner in my younger days and I was absolutely SHIT HOT at it, because I am process-driven by temperament.

However, there were clients that I refused to go back to after a couple of visits, because they clearly wanted to employ a maid, rather than pay for the services of a cleaner (two very different things, IMO).

Some people are really, REALLY fucking grim and there's no way you could pack that amount of cleaning into 2/3 hours.

This is a zombie thread that @Desdemona777 re-animated 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️