Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

New cleaner doesn’t seem to be cleaning

74 replies

crumble82 · 16/03/2018 09:36

More of a WWYD really. I’ve just hired a new cleaner, she started this week and in the time she was here she dusted 2 and a half tables (she didn’t bother moving anything on the third one and only did the very front of it), cleaned 3 sinks, wiped down the kitchen surfaces and hoovered the hallway upstairs. She managed to drop toast crumbs on the kitchen floor which she left and yesterday I found she had put a couple of pieces of rubbish that was on a sink in the medicine cabinet rather than the bin. It was an old clothes label and a used cotton pad!

I hired her so I didn’t have to spend the one day off I have in the week cleaning when I could spend it with my DC. She’s slow and really bad at her job but I know she really needs the money. I won’t see her next week, I want to give her a chance to do a better job but what do I write in the note to make it clear I won’t keep her on if she doesn’t actually clean?!

OP posts:

PaperdollCartoon · 16/03/2018 10:06

If you wrote a list and ignored it you need to raise that swiftly. I understand not wanting to make things awkward but if she’s not actually doing the job she’s been given clear instructions for you can’t just pay her out of pity.

Wdigin2this · 16/03/2018 10:07

Yes, I'd give her a bullet point list of EXACTLY what you want done, and suggest she ticks them off as she completes them. You can then check a) what she's actually done, and b) how well, she's doing it.
If after 2 or 3 weeks of this, there's no improvement, then you're going to have to bite the bullet...none of us can afford to pay someone to do nothing!

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 16/03/2018 10:10

You could give her one more chance I guess in the hope that it was just a bad day. I doubt it was though. She sounds lazy to me. Give her the list again spelling out exactly what you need doing and see how she goes.

Original poster

crumble82 · 16/03/2018 10:11

I like the idea of getting her to tick off what she’s done, it means I can quality control her even though I’m not there. Honestly I though cleaners were meant to take some of the stress away

OP posts:

user1490607838 · 16/03/2018 10:11

What @wdigin said. ^

WeAreEternal · 16/03/2018 10:11

If this is how she was on the first day it will only get worse, giving her another chance will just make things difficult and let her think you were ok with what she did.

You don’t need to fire her or make this difficult, just say you don’t need a cleaner.

I would just text her and say,
“Hi X, thanks for your help this week but circumstances have changed and we no longer need a regular cleaner. Take care. Crumble.”

WeAreEternal · 16/03/2018 10:13

And then go and find a new cleaner.

SaucyJack · 16/03/2018 10:18

If you're going to send her a text, and then never see her again then you may as well just be honest.

No need to be rude. Just something along the lines of paying her to clean isn't providing you with value for money compared to what you can get done yourself with the kids under your feet.

You won't do her any favours in the long run by pretending that her work is fine, but that it's your own personal circumstances that have changed.

MyBrilliantDisguise · 16/03/2018 10:22

Look, she's done the best job she's ever going to do for you. Get rid now - the longer she's with you the harder it'll be to sack her later.

Just send a text, "Hi X, I won't need you to clean in future. I had to do everything on my list when I came home. Thanks, X"

MiniEggMeister · 16/03/2018 10:23

Get rid. If she can't be bothered to even attempt to impress you on the very first clean, she's not worth the hassle

Original poster

crumble82 · 16/03/2018 10:24

Argh I’m being such a wimp. I know I should fire her but I’m going to give her one more chance and then fire her the same day if I need to. I think I’ve left it too long to fire her this week.

OP posts:

Chocolatewafer · 16/03/2018 10:26

No advice but sympathise as paid nearly £100 recently for a deep clean and was so disappointed! Cleaner there two hours in our little house and although things looked nice and tidy there were loads of things that needed doing (toothpaste smears under sink etc, dusty windowsill) and I couldn’t work out what was deep about it!

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 16/03/2018 10:27

Yes you could give her one more chance but surely firing her after that will be harder than just sending her a text now saying thanks but you won't be needing a cleaner after all?

CousinKrispy · 16/03/2018 10:27

Hey, don't beat yourself up, maybe she was feeling terrible that day and will do better this week (or not). No real harm in giving her another chance.

Viviennemary · 16/03/2018 10:35

She does sound a bit hopeless even trying to be positive. First time and so on and on. You could be kind and give her one more chance with a list but it doesn't look promising. I think it's better to either use a cleaning agency and at least they should have some clue or get somebody recommended.

FinallyHere · 16/03/2018 10:41

She ignored the list and just did a really lacklustre jobs the things she did do

And you want to give her a second chance because?

The first cleaner I ever had wasn't great. For two weeks I kept trying to explain what I wanted... fortunately for me she decided not to come back after the second week, because I was trying to micromanage her

The next lady was just brilliant. Dunno whether she ever read the list but she had gone through the house like the clear g hurricane, everything was sparkling. I have never had to mention the list again

I might leave notes about specific new things or about to be thrown out but generally you don't have to wonder whether she had been. The house is sparkling clean and smells fresh (not just chemicals sprayed around).

Find another cleaner. All the best

thecatsthecats · 16/03/2018 10:43

Chocolate - how on earth was the service advertised as a deep clean for only 2hrs for £100?

If I want my cleaner to deep clean one room, it's knowing that she'll do at the very most about 30m whizzing a hoover around the whole rest of the house.

Our cleaner is fantastic. Really proactive, it's such a relief not to have to think about exactly what I want doing each time.

AutovillaGirl · 16/03/2018 10:45

I clean for a living. In two hours I would hoover all through, do a couple of bathrooms, dust all through, clean kitchen surfaces and mop the floor. You can't be paying out good money for somebody who isn't cleaning your house. At the end of the day it's a business transaction and you are paying someone to do a job. Some people are just not up to the job. Sometimes you do have to go through a few cleaners before you find a good one. To give her one more chance give her a list of what you want doing - such as I've put above. If it's not done, just say sorry but I'm going to have to let you go. If I advertise for a new client I always mention that I have references, then my new client can phone up someone I already clean for and that gives the new client peace of mind.

FinallyHere · 16/03/2018 10:45

If you really are a wuss and feel you have left it to late to stop her this week, I would honestly leave out the money for her and tell her that 'it's not what you expected and you want to stop the arrangement now'.

Let her take the pay for no work this week and not come back.

Let's face it it won't be any more work for you than last week. She will be distracted by a weeks pay for nothing. Win win

Good luck finding the next one.

DragonsAndCakes · 16/03/2018 10:47

TheCats you’d hope there was more than one cleaner for £100 and two hours?

DeliberatelyAwkward · 16/03/2018 10:54

If you find yourself needing a new cleaner, we use a cleaning company, rather than an individual. I don't know if it's more expensive - £13/hr and we have 3hrs every fortnight, but it saves the British embarrassment of having to complain to an individual about what they are doing/not doing.

We can tell that it's not the same cleaner every week (the way they fold things!), but I guess the company puts in place with them a "procedure" (?) for every clean - we never leave lists, but the job is consistently pretty good and thorough. Maybe it's a bonus to have different people! One week you get someone really into dusting, another week someone who's going to put extra attention into your shower...?

One week we were v amused to find the cleaner had climbed up onto the DCs bunk and high rise beds (not easy) to arrange toys and make their beds soooo beautifully!

Also amusing when we find the football-team related mug we keep on display as a kinda ornament had been hidden behind a photo frame

Lweji · 16/03/2018 10:54

she has a cleaning job in the morning and evening at a large company nearby

That's usually a couple of hours each at most. Not really a full time job.

Most cleaners I know easily work 6-8 hours per day. Or on top of another full time job.

Kookies76 · 16/03/2018 10:55

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

HumpHumpWhale · 16/03/2018 11:01

I think it's kind of you to give her another chance but I don't think she'll get better. My cleaner speaks no English so I can't communicate with her at all but she is AMAZING. She cleans everything to a higher standard than I would myself and it's such a pleasure to come home when she's been. That's what having a cleaner should be like. A good cleaner is worth their weight in gold (& 10% more than the going rate, plus I still pay her when we're away or if she's ill. I'd be gutted if she left us, so i take no risks!)

Ellendegeneres · 16/03/2018 11:07

autovilla thank you for your post. I’m looking into hiring a cleaner soon for the things I’m not up to doing (disabled) and that post was really helpful for giving me an expectation level.

Op I’d go with mybrilliants message. No point throwing good money after bad, it becomes more awkward as time goes on

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread