WWYD Cleaner still not back

[PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks]

I need some advice please! I hired a new cleaner shortly before lockdown, highly recommended by a friend, she came one time, did a great job. Fair hourly rate. All good, scheduled to do 4h/week.

Then the week after that she sent a group text to all her clients saying she was self isolating for two weeks. Fair enough, I sent her a message to say we would continue to pay her.
This was almost 3 months ago... I asked her two weeks ago if she believed she would be back soon and she said yes in a week, then the next week came and she said actually she is not comfortable taking the train so doesn’t want to come back yet. She has other clients in my neighborhood and I know she doesn’t clean for them either.

WWYD? I don’t really want to continue paying her to stay at home when the guideline is to go to work if you can’t WFH. I don’t want to go without a cleaner for longer, I hate cleaning the house and work hard do be able to afford to have someone do it for me. But then I don’t want to loose her as she seemed really good.

[quote typewrriter12]@heartsonacake
I work FT my husband does all the cooking and cleaning [/quote]
What’s that got to do with anything?

You still want to put cleaners out of work.

ohh fuck off you any excuse for you to sit on your backside and let others clear up after you
I wasn’t expecting the thread to go this way So, you never eat out (= sit on your backside and let others cook for you / serve you)?

I have now told my cleaner (ex cleaner?) that I won’t pay any more, I still intend to pay her the money accrued up until now (to the PP accusing me of holding on to it: she is the one who refused a bank transfer!!!).
I have an agency cleaner booked for tomorrow - yay! Long term I don’t know, I truly believe she is a genuine person, afraid to travel by public transport at this point. Her other clients that I know all told me that she isn’t back with them either. We’ll see!

Thanks for all the advice :) and thanks to the «why don’t you clean yourself, you lazy person» brigade, you made me laugh.

Why would anyone who can afford a cleaner not get one? If I could afford it I'd have a cleaner, a tidier, a laundry maid, a gardener, a chauffeur, a PA, a chef and a feckin grape peeler.

I would hire a cleaner in a heart beat if I could afford to. And a cook. And a nanny (when my DCs were small). It’s not laziness but just making life easier for you. Wouldn’t anyone? I’m rubbish at cooking and just about manage to do a half decent clean around of the house, so would actually love someone to do it for me.

Ah glad you got it sorted x

And to all those with gripes... we could cook our own food (restaurants) make our own beds (hotels) paint our own walls (decorators) home school our own kids (teachers) - ffs get a grip

I am genuinely baffled at why anyone has carried on paying their cleaners. If they are self employed, they would have been eligible to the self employment grant (very easy to claim - I did it myself), or if employed by an agency presumably they would have been furloughed? Either way they would be entitled to 80% of their earnings, so if people have been also paying them for not coming then they’ve been getting paid twice?

Am I missing something?

Are dog walkers okay on MN or does that count as being lazy too. Asking for a friend..😂

No dog walkers seem to be fine. Anything traditionally done by men is fine to outsource - DIY, gardening, car repairs and maintenance.

It’s just womens work that can’t be outsourced as that’s lazy and selfish .

Wow! How wildly unnecessarily generous are you? She is massively taking the piss!

The self employment grant isn't a miracle fix for everyone ffs. I'm a self employed single parent. I get universal credit as well as my earnings. They're about the same amount. When my grant came through it counted as income and left me with £0 universal credit for this month, so my £2180 grant became £1000 after I'd put the difference away. £1000 for 3 months of lost work. Remember the benefits cap too, so universal credit didn't increase enough to replace the money I couldn't earn March-May. I've lost around £500 each month. Similar amount to my neighbour who actually is a cleaner.

Ah yes didn’t think of people on UC @shinybeans. I’m still on TC so got to keep my grant as well as my TC.

with the money you save you could treat yourself for what you have accomplished.

This makes no sense if you are cash rich and time poor, when it makes much more sense to outsource anything that you can.

Cleaning, ironing, anything really. Why would you not?

I really think you are strange paying someone this money when they have worked one shift, so there’s no loyalty or commitment. Give the money to a worthy cause instead if you can afford to fritter ot away.