To wonder why every cleaner I've ever had leaves early?

[N0rfolkEnchants]

Do you have a cleaner? Is this normal?

I have one as a treat I suppose. Although I work from home for the most part, I have 2 hours a week to do bathrooms and kitchen and floors. It's a big help

Anyway I had to ditch my last cleaners as they were sloping off early, bringing children with them and not doing a good job. So I've found a new one and she comes highly recommended

We chatted about what I wanted and she asked to do 3 hours as an initial clean, it'll be just the 2 hours I want afterwards. Fine I said. So why oh why did she arrive at 8.35am and leave at 11.10am? A shortfall of 25 minutes. I'd left the cash for her as she's asked for this for the first week or two and then we will do it via bank transfer

I was at home when she got there and I then went out to give her space and I cane back at 11.10am and she'd left. She had done a good job but I've paid for 25 mins that she didn't do

Is this normal? Do I just suck this up? Or when you're paying an hourly rate should they actually stay for the time you're paying them for?

I was going to suggest what @Lovestonap said.
My old cleaner when I lived in London used to cut the job short too but she was so bloody good that I let it go! So ended up being a per job payment rather than per hour, I only paid her for two hours and she had to travel, and not much more she could do in a one bed flat so I turned a blind eye
I wish she'd move to Manchester

N0rfolkEnchants mine come when I am here. Two of them run around for 1 hour then leave

I’m in a similar situation. Good cleaner - reliable and has cleaned for us for a few years - but tends to do 1.5 hrs rather than 2. Would be fine if house didn’t have more cleaning to do but I tend to do things like skirting boards. and dusting of light fittings myslf as she doesn’t do them , so more than enough work to keep her busy for the full time.

But she is reliable and does a good job on kitchen and bathrooms so I don’t want to stop having her.

Difficult isn't it rookie? I suppose if you're happy and have used her for ages then maybe view it as paying her for the entire clean as a whole

Bitey - ah you never get caught out then

Yes and I like the fact that they just do the rooms and leave. The downside is that I pay considerably more than most on here (dare not say how much as I have seen the prices listed on threads on what's considered high ) but then I like the fact that I don't deal with the cleaners direct and I always get cover so no holidays to manage.

I'm paying what I consider top whack - £15 an hour

well i personally want to be able to absolutely trust anyone who will be in my house alone, so given that this is the first time and SHE asked for 3 hours, to leave early is just not on. I would try someone else. and keep going til you find someone you do trust. it's about honouring an arrangement. being professional.

Again, it's about perception.
If a plumber comes to do a repair on your house, and estimates it's a 3 hour job and charges £100.00, but completes it in 2.5 hours, do you expect a discount?
If you do, then the plumber will just slow down the job to ensure it takes 3 hours.
It all comes down to the perception of what you're paying for. Are you paying for time, or for task?
I think paying for the task is better, because you have a definitive goal and a known price. All that then matters is the quality.

But it's not the same as plumbing is it? Once my leaky tap was mended that was it. I paid for call out, labour and parts. The cleaner is contracted per hour not for a specific singular task.

It depends on what you're asking the cleaner to do.
Most people want specific areas cleaning, so it's better to agree that and pay for that. If it's done to the standard you require at the price agreed, then there's no issue.
If you pay purely by hour, then you're left in this situation where a) they don't get as much done as you expected in the time, or b) they don't spend the agreed time doing the job.
Get a cleaner on a fixed price, it's a far better option.

Technically cleaner is self employed so works to task not time.

I guess I buck the trend here as unlike the majority I don’t care if our cleaner leaves early. She probably cuts about 20 minutes of a 2.5 clean most weeks but she dies the whole house plus shirts in that time and is very thorough and reliable. I don’t expect her to stay and find extra work to do although I’m sure there are bits and pieces.

We’ve had her for two years and the standard is still high. That’s all I care about and hasn’t always been the case in the past.

I have mixed feelings about this as sometimes my cleaner leaves a bit earlier, but sometimes she stays later - it all depends on what she has to do on that day.

However since this was a one-off 3 hour clean she had to stay for 3 hours and do everything. I would message her along the lines of PP suggestions just saying can she make up the extra 25 mins next week. I think it’s very cheeky.

I don’t know I just got a new cleaner for four hours. I think possibly she could do it in 3.5 and she seemed to be wiping the counter in slow motion

Not sure whether to ask if she’s dragging it out as her employer said four

My friend- who owns a cleaning company- told me that it is often by “job”, rather than time, and often what starts as a 2 hour job, will evolve into a 2 hour 25 min job as the cleaner speeds up. Maybe have a list left of bits ‘n’ bobs she could tackle if there’s remaining time, then she could tick each one off so you get an idea of what’s achievable?

• 1 hour 25 mins, not 2 hours 25 mins, what cleaner in their right mind would do extra?!!

Yes that's it! It feels cheeky. SHE said she wanted 3 hours to do her first clean so she should have told me she managed it in 2.5 hours. Because you're surely on best behaviour on day one?

I've decided I'll not say anything for now. I will see what happens on Friday as that is when she next comes. I'm going to pop out anyway as have some shopping to do but I'll be back on the dot of two hours

We originally agreed that our cleaner stayed for two hours but she's done in an hour and half. So that's what we pay her for - an hour and half. Pay her for the time she's actually there, surely?

I work for a tradesman. If he estimates that a job is going to take 3 hours but it turns out to only take 2, he charges for 2 hours only!

Your cleaner was dishonest and cheated you on her very first visit. That does not bode well. I know it's a pita but I'd find someone else right away. I would say "it's not going to work for me because you only worked 2.5 hours when you asked if you could do 3 and I paid you for 3". There's no arguing with that.

Ahhhh I know Christmas. That's what's bothering me so much

So I'll see what happens on Friday

I've had cleaner troubles too. Doing a half arsed job, or leaving early being the main issues. It seems so hard to find someone that's thorough and reliable!

On one occasion that I came home and the cleaner had left super early, I text with surprise and concern saying just got in and you've left early, I do hope everything is okay. It gave them an opportunity to either be honest or save face with an "emergency" but for me someone coming into my home regularly, having a key, etc I want to fully trust them and I can't do that if they're doing a half arsed job and leaving early.

For now I've stopped having a weekly clean. Recently I booked a one off clean, and I think I may just do that once a month on an ad-hoc basis. I'm not sure I can be doing with trying at a 3rd attempt to find the holy grail of a regular, reliable cleaner.

A trade man says he will do a job in 3 hour and he does in 2 . He goes to next client early next job should take 4 takes four. Client moans and pays . But he does not return to clients till they need him again .
A cleaner clean A for 2 hour 1/2 traveling B for 2 hour. A hour travelling C for 2 . Traveling fine 1an mins D 3 .
Clients are not wait on her coming so if she late it does not matter. If she finishes early . You can clean quick when you know what what . So got on next client.
She needs to earn a fixed rate like we all do . So has a set pattern . You are paying for the job not the hours .

Sometimes my cleaner leaves a little early, sometimes she leaves a little late. I don't bring her up on it when she leaves a little early as I know from seeing her work it evens out over time. I would however have a big problem if she left early every week.

I did have a cheaper one but every week there was a call or text to move the time twice or three times
Which felt like a chore

No jo Boy . I'm paying for the hours as this is WHAT MY CLEANER HAS SPECIFIED. Hope that's clearer. She's also not a plumber coming to mend a boiler which takes as long as it takes, she's a cleaner who's told me her HOURLY rate and has sloped off early because she thought she'd get away with it despite telling me specifically that she wanted to stay 3 hours for her initial clean. And no, it wasn't a case of the job being done in its entirety either

I quite like the idea of a one off clean each month actually, that may work better or at least it's worth consideration