To think £14 an hour for a cleaner is too much??

[LucieLucie]

Booked a regular 2 hour cleaning slot with a local business on the understanding it was £14 an hour and work in pairs.

Discovered today that 2 hours actually means 1 hour with 2 people.

I turned up mid clean last week to find just one person doing the cleaning - I was charged for 3 hours.

Challenged her today after coming home to a half hearted attempt at cleaning, beds not made, bins not emptied, glass & mirrors not polished, only floors mopped.

Owner went mental at me on the phone for , only questioned how I can be charged for 3 hours when I was only out for 2 hours and it was some time during this time the clean was done.

When I asked for key back she hung up.

If she'd explained her terms and conditions properly and calmly rather than acting like a loon I may have given them another chance.

AIBU? Is it really the norm to pay a cleaner £14 an hour EACH??

If she won't give you your key back change the locks and send her a see you never text. £14 an hour is extortion; I pay £11 ph and live in Surrey, so would expect that to be £12 max for central london.

£14 per hour may be a lot, but £7 per hour is below minimum wage so I would expect to pay more than that.

£7 per person per hour was never going to be realistic. It's less than min wage. Clearly they didn't do a good job but I think you've been a bit naive.

Naive maybe as I've never had the luxury of having a cleaner before but I do feel mislead.

It's not £14 per hour, it's £28 per hour to have this company clean your home.

When i asked the price I was told £14 per hour.

I asked for a two hour slot expecting the clean to take 2 whole hours.

I know she doesn't always send two cleaners together either, last week she claimed to have just sent the 'other girl' away 5 mins before I came in to find her cleaning alone.

I used to pay £30 for two cleaners for an hour. £15 each per hour. Fairly standard rate here. Confused why you were charged 3 hours for two hours for one persons labour though?

Going through a company always adds more on as the owners need their share after paying the cleaner. I would be worried about the key situation. Ask around for a personal recommendation.

Sorry crossed post op, mmmm I'd check your invoices and the terms & conditions. Did they quote a "probably £28 to clean your house at £14 an hour" ? It's a common way for them to quote, but I'm a bit dubious about the someone was there and only popped out for 5 mins. My original cleaners were fab, both excellent. One left and the replacement was rubbish. We had a security tag on our back door & when we checked the records they were only there for 30-40 minutes. I gave notice and made excuses for cancelling (change of circumstances) - I know cop out, just so hard to prove, even with the timed evidence!

I'm in the NW - it's between £11 and £15 per person hour: so if I was getting 2 hours of person time, at the top end, it would be £30, whether it's one cleaner for two hours, two for one hour or four for half an hour each to make up the two person-hours.

So I think YABU

I pay £12.50 an hour in zone 3 London, £14 isn't extortionate

But I would always go through lots of checks for stuff like this to make sure it's exactly what both parties think / agree on

I'm in the north east where the average hourly rate for cleaners is £8-£10.

There's no way there's been 3 hours worth of cleaning done here today.

I booked a 2 hour slot (or 1 hour in her book) but they apparently needed longer and worked an extra half hour each.

I'm baffled.

No paperwork or formal written agreement. Nothing signed.

Just an invoice for hours.

I'm really puzzled as to why people have cleaners.

Not trying to be pedantic or goady. I just don't get it. I have worked all my life, (half of it 3 days a week whilst raising kids,) raised 2 kids, looked after DH, looked after our home, looked after elderly parents etc, and it never occurred to me to have a cleaner. Never wanted one, never needed one. Why do people have them?

Serious question.

Well it really doesn't matter whether it's 2 people for an hour or 1 person for two hours - still the same amount of cleaning.
£14/hr is a bit on the high side, but £7 would have been too low. I would expect to pay between £10-12/hour.

Littlefrog because they don't like cleaning or value the time to do something else more highly than the cost presumably. Why do people do anything? Not everyone is your clone with identical priorities and opinions fortunately.

littlefrog3 I'd imagine people have cleaners to clean their home to a professional standard and take a burden off the home owners.

For me, I have an active manual job, have health problems including slipped discs in my back and struggle day to day let alone keep up with the house.

I have pets, a husband who is ill with stress and a teenager who doesn't lift a finger.

My home is not a mess, but I just would have liked it to be hotel standard - at least for a day

We paid £12.50 an hour in a bit particularly expensive part of the country. £14 isn't particularly expensive but if you're not happy with what's been done you should look for someone else.

That should say "not particularly expensive".

Fair enough 5moreminutes. I just don't get why anyone would pay someone to do cleaning in their house - especially just for 2 hours a week. I can't imagine the cleaners doing much in 2 hours!

Just seems very odd to me. And I can honestly say I have never personally known anyone who has a cleaner (for their home.) Ever. Only people on message forums seem to have them.

Each to their own I guess...

littlefrog so I don't have to clean my house. I'm not sure why it's hard to understand. I'm out the house 12 hours a day and gave two small children. I'd rather spend time with them than cleaning.

I'd pay a cleaner £14 per hour if they brought their own cleaning products and did a really good job, even though I currently earn slightly under £12 per hour :o I hate cleaning, I find it really depressing. I don't have a cleaner though - we've actually tried to hire one before but live in the back of beyond abroad and nobody wants to drive all the way out to us to do 2 or max 3 hours cleaning a week.

Fair enough Lucie Each to their own.

littlefrog our cleaner used to clean our house from top to bottom in two hours. We both work full time in busy jobs and wanted to spend our free time enjoying beingboff rather than cleaning.

I'm sorry for calling you naive OP but the min wage maths didn't add up.

And while you say you're not judging, that's really not how your posts are coming across. Is it really that difficult to see some people would rather spend their time doing something other than cleaning?

I just don't get it myself, but if people choose to hire a cleaner to do their housework, that's their choice I guess. It just doesn't 'compute' with me. especially if it's only 2 hours a week. Not much can be done in 2 hours.

Littlefrog my cleaner does the jobs that I can't do in the week - it means I come home from work on a Friday to a sparkling house and weekend can start straight away. I work long hours, am a single mum and carer for elderly and disabled parents. In my very limited free time I want to be free