That I shouldn’t have paid cleaner for four full hours

[Bizawit]

I have recently had a baby. I’m a single mum and in need of help, so I hired a cleaner through a friend’s recommendation.

I originally asked for 3 hours every 2 weeks. After coming once, she insisted it was not possible to fully clean my flat in 3 hours and she needed 4. I said ok.

The next time she came, after about 3 hours and 40/45 minutes, she announced she was done, and was leaving. I was surprised that she still charged me for the full four hours.

My bf says that’s fair because it’s a charge for every hour started. I think she was being a CF and she should have either stayed the full 4 hours as agreed, or expect to be paid less. AIBU?

You are being ripped off. 4 hours is too long to clean a flat if its tidy.

My tidy 4 bed semi takes 3 hours including laundering bedding and i feel like my cleaner is a bit slow. Used to be 2h15mins with the last cleaner (paid her for 2.5 but she always left early.

Thanks all! My bf told me from the start that 4 hours was ridiculous given the size of my flat. At the time I wasn’t so sure. Our conversation this morning:

Me: everyone on mumsnet thinks 4 hours is too much and I am being ripped off!

Bf: I’m glad a bunch of strangers on the Internet can convince you of what I can’t .

I think it’s cheeky - there’s always things to do, so she should have stayed the full 4hrs. Especially on a second visit.

I regularly pay my cleaner for 2h when mostly it takes 1h45 (for a 4 bed 2 bath house btw)

BUT I don't mind because I like her and trust her and She's worked for
me for 10y and I don't want her hanging around pretending to work for 15minutes!! If I'm in she always asks if there's anything else I'd like done.

Think it's totally different with a new person. If i was new and just asked for more time I'd have stuck around for the whole time to make a good impression. I predict declining standards down the line... I would stay in a few weeks and see how she does it

Your cleaner is ripping you off. Doesn't take 4 hrs to clean a 2 bed flat.
I sacked my cleaners for leaving early constantly ( we are talking half an hour to 45 mins here), with stuff half done. I paid for 3hrs for a 4 bed house. Was willing to pay for 4 to get it done properly. Place was always tidy. Apparently they could do it on 2hrs 15 mins...

4 hours is taking the piss for a 2 bed flat. My cleaner cleans my whole 4 !bed house in 3 hours with time to skate for extras.

I think I'd like a cleaner😂 how much do they roughly charge per hour?

Also YANBU she could of done something else in that 15 minutes even if it was just wiping fridge out.

Ours is £12 an hour in big city which is Not London.

I'm with your boyfriend.

Ex-cleaner (and not above returning to it) - average three bed house would be three hours - and once it was 'up to standard' that would then start to include deep-clean stuff - or people could choose to downgrade to 2 or 2 and a half hours of course.

But I was massively in demand as a cleaner.

Same - £12/ hour.

@ChristmasFluff if you go back to it can I hire you please?

@Bizawit Not even joking, I'm relocating soon, if you are in the mid wales coast area (Barmouth/Aberystwyth etc) PM me, cos I'll soon be looking for work, including cleaning

@ChristmasFluff dammit sadly I’m in London. But if you know any good cleaners over here let me know!

Our cleaner comes and does 4 hours a week. We have a five bed house which is a pain in the backside as it's a conversion-loads of nooks and crannies, different floors, three bathrooms and two toilets. She gets it done and often has time to fold laundry etc. I wouldn't quibble over a few minutes, but I do think that unless you live like a pig between cleaner visits, that she's ripping you off.

Glad you agree she's ripping you off OP! What are you going to do? Try someone else?

Plus if she's skimping on hours now when they generally try and make a good impression who knows what she'd be like in future!

When we used to have a cleaner he came once a fortnight and would do our two bed in an hour (and if I was in, he was a bit of a talker, tho still managed to get it done).

Aaaw, shucks, @Bizawit. I have no connections with other cleaners :-( If I ever set up an 'Allied Health Professionals who clean on the side' company, I will let you know.

This wouldn't bother me in the slightest. Our cleaner arrives when she likes and leaves when she's finished. She does a lovely job, so not at all fussed if she's managed to blitz it a bit quicker one day.

2 bed 2 bath shouldn’t take more than 2 hours but cleaners don’t like coming for less than 3.
12 hours per hour is expensive (I am in London too and pay 10)
If you are prepared to pay 12 you don’t need to go via friend’s recommendation, you can just use one of the agencies, they all charge 12 and if you don’t like one cleaner they send another.
Having said that expecting her to leave at at dot is unreasonable. My cleaner has been with me for years and she sometimes leave after 2,5 hours (now we have bigger place and she is supposed to be here 4 hours) but the other times she is here for 5 hours, so I never question her on that as long as flat is clean and everything is done.

We live in a two bedroom flat and our cleaner does everything to a high standard in two hours. Could you get a new cleaner?

£12 an hour? Expensive?!
You are having a laugh aren't you?

IME £12 per hour is average, both when I lived in a city and in a semi rural village (both southern half of the country, nowhere near London).

She is being cheeky just give her three hous and a list of what needs doing

@MartiniDry I had 2 cleaners in the past 10 years, my friends all have cleaners - we all live in 2-3 zone London, which is pretty central. Never heard of anyone paying more than 11 pounds unless you go through agency. These cleaners stayed with us for years and we all are happy with them...
We all must have been very lucky with the price then...

I used to get paid £10 an hour for cleaning 9 years ago, living in rural East Sussex at the time. I'm surprised to hear someone in London is doing it for that now. I'd hang onto them with both hands & treat them well. If I were to do it again I'd be asking about £14 an hour.

I'm a cleaner and can I just say MY GOD how big is her house that needs 4 hours !!... I literally had a toothbrush in one clients house .(. 3 bed 2 bath) in between the hinges of the toilet and around the bottom of the shower seal and it didn't take me this long and this was a new client so I know next week I go it will cut the time down
I had a 3 hour weekly clean when I first went to another clients house , I concentrated on problem areas the first few weeks , now she's 2 hours ... because I keep on top of it and it doesn't need the 3 hours ... I could charge her but I'm not a CF and it's a win win for both parties
As an aside
I left a job early today .. 10 minutes earlier in fact , I felt terribly guilty but how do I break the cost down... every week I leave bang on time but this week ( they had been away so my clean today was their last clean last week ) was super easy... if your cleaner is a good cleaner , hang on to them... like I say I'm a cleaner and I'm a good one, if I get fucked about I will definitely drop them as I know my worth and I know I can get other clients

Also can I add if I have extra time say 15 minutes I'll concentrate on the doors or skirting board , this way it doesn't build up that it takes up a lot of my time another day and literally is incoporated in the bi weekly clean

Looking at the other comments I'm Essex and charge £10 an hour using your products ( I do bring things to help me along like a sterdent tablet down the loo ) ... i can then increase my price if I need to but haven't felt the need so far ... I get extra here and there and on my birthday i got a £15 bottle of wine which I was most chuffed about as I'd never would have spent that much on myself on wine..... it was very nice and was much appreciated and unexpected