iMessage didn't deliver... she wants me to pay her.

[LiveLiveAnna]

Cleaner text me via iMessage asking if she can change her days. I responded through text saying 'no problem see you on ...' - my message didn't deliver to her as she hasn't connected to WiFi over the weekend and has her iMessage enabled. I text her again to confirm and had no response. I had no idea it hadn't delivered to her. She's now turned up on the original day (I haven't been at home to let her in as she has no keys yet) and she's claiming that I need to pay her the £30 for cleaning as I didn't ensure the messages had delivered.

My argument was that if you have your phone set up to receive iMessage, and you send ME an iMessage, you should then ensure that you are connected to WiFi in order to receive my response. If you have iMessage turned on and aren't connected to the WiFi, it's your fault you didn't receive the message...

Who is BU? Me for thinking it's a mix up and I shouldn't have to pay her £30 for cleaning that didn't happen? Or her, for expecting me to pay her £30 when she hasn't done the work because her phone couldn't receive my message?

I sound really annoyed but I haven't actually responded to her voicemail yet so trying to get some honest perspective from AIBU!

Thanks.

Don't pay anything, it was not your fault. If she was rude to you and you feel you cannot work with her anymore, just tell her and find someone else

I think you have to part ways. Say that it's a shame she responded the way she did to the mix up, but the relationship has now soured.
Tell her you appreciates her work and are happy to give a good reference of her work to future employers.

It's her own fault. She chose to message you that way and should have had her phone set up for a reply. Any sane person would have followed up with a text or phone call to their employer rather than just showing up.

Don't pay her. Be clear and concise when you explain your refusal. Don't use anything personal or say anything mean. Then tell her you no longer feel you can continue in a professional relationship with her.

Then leave it.

If she was my cleaner and I thought she did a good job and I trusted her I would pay this,as its such a hassle to get a new cleaner

How long has she worked for you? If it's a long and trusted relationship I'd suck it up a bit (and expect her to do the same) and come to some sort of goodwill compromise.

If it's not long, then I would get rid as it's pretty flakey of her to not bother chasing up your response and then leaving you a shitty message too.

Because the thing is, it sounds like a scam.

Maybe it's not, and it was a genuine mistake, but it sounds like an easy way to get some extra cash to me.

Send a message asking to change days. Switch off your phone so you can't get the response. Turn up and demand cash for your 'wasted time'...

Even if she's genuine, she ought to be able to see how that looks.

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all, OP, but in the cleaner's defence:

I have an iPhone. I had no idea what an iMessage was until I read this thread. As I understand it, if you send a text message on an iPhone, when you happen to be connected to wifi, it will detect that it is sending it to another iPhone and send it as an iMessage, without telling you that it has done so.

If I sent a text message to someone, I would not notice that it had gone as an iMessage and even if I had, I would not have understood that I would need to be connected to Wifi to receive a response. She could quite easily have assumed that she'd sent a text message and was waiting for a text response. She would only have needed phone signal, not Wifi, to receive one of those.
None of that means that she shouldn't have chased you up, or that I think you owe her the money, but she might well not understand that her lack of Wifi meant she was doomed not to receive a reply.

Reading one of your messages it looks like you had the message failed to send thingy in iMessage- if that is so I would say it’s your fault- you should have checked your message actually sent, and if iMessage failed sent it as SMS. Sorry!

If she was the one that wanted to change the existing arrangement, then she should have chased positive confirmation that you had received a responded to her message.

Maybe give her the benefit of doubt. I would imagine anyone to be upset if they turned up on the wrong day standing outside waiting for no one to answer the door. Whether it was her fault or not, maybe you just need to have a chat with her. Like another person has said, she just assumed you didn’t reply and turned up at the original day, probably thought you were ignoring her and didn’t want to chase you up?

Anyway, i thought that if a message doesn’t get sent by iMessage it will come up with a red exclamation mark saying it hasn’t Sent and whether you want to send it as text message. So she sent you a message by iMessage and you replied by iMessage but she didn’t have internet so cleaner couldn’t receive it? But if she didn’t recieve the message then wouldn’t it come up as undelivered? .......correct me if I’m wrong. Sometimes my brother has iMessages turned off so it won’t send and I have to send it as a text message. But it will say, undelivered- do you want to send by text msg? Or have I got this completely wrong

Just read the other posts and seems like they are saying the same things regarding the iMessage bing undelivered and sending it as an sms instead

I wouldnt give her the benefit of the doubt. She asked YOU a question and shouldnt she have checked for a response. Given that she chose a specific method of communication , it's her problem to ensure she gets a reply.
Overall her attitude was poor and for that I would let her go.

If I had messaged my client to change my working day, and I hadn't had a response, then I would have called before leaving the house to clarify what day I should be working. I wouldn't just turn up without having had a response. This is basic Work 101 surely?

Yanbu. Id let her go

Here’s a recent example. I can see that the iMessage hasnt been delivered but the other person wouldn’t have known that. Of course the cleaner should’ve rung you to check but just explaining why.

The iMessages sent. They are blue. They just don't say 'delivered' underneath them. Lots of messages take a while to deliver. For example when I am on the underground, my iMessages come through at each stop as my phone connects to the WiFi. I don't check all of the messages I've sent to make sure they've been received as someone might just have their phone switched off. They didn't deliver because she has her iMessage turned on but obviously hasn't connected to the Internet.

You don’t need WiFi to connect to iMessage, though - ?

If you haven't spoken to her since she left the rude message then she probably doesn't realise your iMessage didn't deliver and thinks you just didn't reply. You shouldn't pay her tho, it's not your fault.

@PlatypusPie no but she obviously had no data left so in her case she would've had to connect to WiFi. That's my theory anyway!

Not read the full thread but I didn’t really know the difference between iMessage and text. I thought it was just what an iPhone now called a text message 😬. Maybe she didn’t either. I’d offer her half the money.

Do NOT pay her! She is a complete chancer, she sent the message in the first place, she should have been checking for replies, and then she was rude to top it off. Definitely don't pay her

You responded using the method of communication she used for you, and she didn't do the work.

No, she doesn't deserve to be paid!

She didn't do the work so she isn't entitled to be paid for it! Simples!

In fact, she was the one who requested the change in days, and she was the one who didn't enable the WIFI.

She's a bit cheeky!

I am giving her the benefit of the doubt. Doesn't mean I'm going to pay her though!

I disagree. You sent iMessages which didn't deliver, I always check they deliver and you always wait until you get a response to make sure they got your message.

You are in the wrong here.