Self employed cleaner only going back to clients who have continued to pay/support.

[shonapop]

Seriously considering ditching the people who didn't give a toss. Anyone out there the same?

I'm surprised that you expect clients to carry on paying you when you're not providing a service. If it was the other way round and they weren't getting paid and therefore couldn't pay you I bet you wouldn't carry on cleaning for free. It would perhaps be nice to consider paying you for a month or so but they certainly shouldn't feel obliged to.I don't have a cleaner but if I did I would think twice about continuing to employ them anyway even if "allowed to". Firstly, having someone in the house will increase the risk of infection. Secondly, many people will want to save money. You may find you can't pick and choose your clients in future anyway.

God Monkey
I know the elderly lady I do an hour a week for had a bad experience with a big well known cleaning company. They insisted on a team of 2 cleaners for 2 hours minimum and it was always different people turning up and not doing much, not communicating with her and leaving early.
All she wanted was a quick clean, her bed changed and someone to talk to.

There are advantages to using established companies but you might be best looking for a SE cleaner who comes on recommendation!

Re the NMW comment agencies tend to pay office cleaners NMW but not house cleaners who are able to command significantly more, although obviously not the full amount an agency charge (which was in excess of £20ph last time I used one which was years ago)

Having employed office cleaners and house cleaners it’s a very different job with a different skill level required.

Anyone who has had a bad cleaner knows what a good cleaner is worth.

YABU

I think any self employed worker who discusses ‘ditching’ clients in today’s predicament because them not keeping them on during lockdown suggests they ‘don’t give a toss’ is not the sort of person most people would like to employ.

//// This.

Whilst we've not been furloughed or lost our jobs (yet) there is a very likely possibility that at some point down the road our employer (banking) will absolutely make "cost savings" = job losses, to pay for the Covid disruption. So although we are ok now we may not be in 6-12 months so we need to know we can afford to live then.

It's incredibly generous if people have been able to pay to retain your services OP however it's unreasonable to assume those who have not don't give a toss. What the client earns or how wealthy they are is irrelevant.

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz

But it’s ok for me to accept by a text message that they’re enjoying saving their ‘still being received’ 6 & 7 figure salaries because I’m suffering from financial hardship now having had no income for the last 8 weeks?

You’d be ok with that if you were me?

Well no I don't think I would, that sounds incredibly gloaty and from someone with zero compassion or self awareness. Clearly that person sounds a bit of a dick.

As I said if people can keep paying it's very generous but not doing it doesn't make them a bad client that should be dropped.

NMW is a joke, most low earners have to rely on government top ups (working tax credits for e.g.) just to survive on it. That is perhaps not for this thread though.

No disagreements from me whatsoever about that.

I'd agree with you on the whole- but attitude would also make a difference. If some had just laid you off and been not particularity caring about it, I'd never go back to them.

I'd suspect most of them have kept on drinking wine- so they might have offered you something in the interim!

Yeah that sucks ClassicCar no need to rub your face in it!

I suppose it's nice to have some recognition as a SE cleaner that things are difficult. Most of us are not "fine because there's a generous SEISS scheme from the government". that hasn't materialised yet so it's been a real struggle.

I'm not expecting handouts from customers I've worked for, but they've all been sympathetic and been in touch. I'm too embarrassed to say anything other than I'm fine! It's not really their problem that I can't pay my bills.

I'm mortified that I used the food bank last week that I used to donate to. It's a shit situation.

@Classiccar They were bad clients but that is because of the text they send rather not paying you. It's totally unreasonable to ask people to pay for a service they are not getting.

I'm a SE cleaner. Needless to say I haven't worked for the past 7/8 weeks as people do not want me in their homes. It's not a personal thing. Some have kindly offered to continue to pay me in full, some have offered an amount to ensure I'm OK and I'm also guessing to ensure I return. Some haven't. It has taken me four years to build up a fabulous client base of people I would happily also call friends. In fact I hate the word "client" tbf. Anyway, when this madness ends I will be returning to all of them. I certainly don't think any the less of people who haven't offered to pay me.
Today I have finally got confirmation from HMRC that in 6 days time I will receive money for being off work for march/April/may - it's not a great deal as is based on my first year and a half of going SE so in no way a true representation of what I would be earning monthly in 2020, however it's better than nothing.
All those people saying "don't pay your cleaners they're receiving money from the government.... Bear in mind they may well have been living off fresh air from March 23rd as only TODAY we have been able to apply, and hopefully in six days time we will be recompensed 80% of our salary worked out from an average of our earnings since 2016.

Why should they pay for a service you didn’t provide?

Lots of people have lost their jobs or taken unpaid leave or reduced their hours to look after kids. I’m sure paying their cleaner a ‘retainer’ fee is the last of their worries?

There will be lots of self employed cleaners searching for jobs after this so I think you’d be foolish to get rid of loyal customers.

It’s generous of some to still pay you but perhaps they can afford to and others are in a more difficult position financially!

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8313121/Cleaner-slams-clients-havent-continued-pay-lockdown

you've made the DM OP... hope you're ok with that.

If you took your view of cleaners from this thread alone, you’d think there was nothing between brilliant ones who are like gold dust, have endless waiting lists and can charge what they like at one extreme, and useless, ten a penny slatterns who take the piss, eat your food and break your valuables at the other. While I’m sure both extremes exist, I’d suggest the majority are somewhere in the middle. Some people might be prepared to pay £16ph for someone in demand, but is say most are just looking for someone who turns up on time, doesn’t steal and does a decent job so that they don’t have to do it themselves. And it’s the average cleaners charging an average price that the OP has to consider.

OP - be honest with yourself about your potential client base and your local market. If you drop these clients, how easily can you replace them? Are good cleaners in short supply nearby - and are there customers with the disposable income to pay for them? If so, you may get new clients easily. If, on the other hand, there are a lot of people charging a similar amount to you or less, your ex-clients may just shrug their shoulders and go elsewhere, while potential new clients will have plenty of choice. Also bear in mind that:

A) a cleaner may be a luxury for many post-lockdown;
B) many more people who’ve lost their jobs - bar staff, shop workers etc. - will be looking for work and might see cleaning as a good place to start. Pub and office cleaners who can’t go back to work in those locations yet may also switch to domestic cleaning.

In short, it’s likely that, over the next few months, there will be a drop in the number of jobs and an increase in the amount of competition. Think carefully before dropping clients.

Depends completely.
If they have been thrown into financial difficulties, then non-essential expenses would be the first to go. In that case, they probably can't afford a cleaner at the moment anyway.

Obviously up to you. I wouldn't want to burn bridges if I needed money, though.

@yoloPenguinsEatfish as this is a first post AND OP only returned once to agree with the one person who "understood" I doubt she is bothered

Why would you even expect anyone to pay you for basically doing SFA?
If you dumped me as your client, I wouldn’t give a fuck.

Well maybe the DM journalist started the thread so they could copy and paste it into their website.
It's been interesting hearing others experiences and viewpoints anyway.

To the poster who asked Why would anyone fall through the (SEISS scheme) net?

Anyone who hasn't been self employed for the last three years, anyone who had low profits in the first year, anyone with profits before tax of 50k (including couples in same SE business) people who took time off (since 2016) sick, injured, cancer treatment, maternity leave are all penalised and will get nothing or very little.

Smiley I asked you and said timing which covers a lot. Over £50k - well there has to be a cut off.

including couples in same SE business why so? Do they not submit individual tax returns?

Well yes there has to be a cut off although there isn't a the same cap for employed on furlough. If an employed person earns a million a year they still get awarded 2k a month on that furlough scheme.

You're probably right that couples tax returns would be separate so I could be wrong on that one. Sorry.

There are a lot of flaws and inequalities in the system though. My point being that it doesn't support everyone as some posters on here are assuming.

I think £50k is right, SE can be profitable for a small minority, the range is big. I’d be interested to see how many on huge amounts are furloughed, a drop by that much and they’ll mostly be using savings. But anyway yes it’s not fool proof, nor the same as employment (which I’m fine with).

But it is a scheme targeted at low to mid SE which if you’ve not had bad luck with timing and have been submitting will support you.

From OP’s silence we can assume she’s getting her 80% funding and expecting all her clients to keep paying.

From OP’s silence we can assume she’s getting her 80% funding and expecting all her clients to keep paying

Do you think? I was wondering if she wasn't getting her 80% because she wasn't declaring her earnings. Hence needing clients to pay but saying nothing about the 80%.

You could be right though!