AIBU to think that £35 an hour is a lot for a cleaner

[Mamamia2020]

My elderly parents are moving house. My Mum has recently been in hospital with pneumonia. She is the sort of person who in the past when moving house would have all carpets cleaned and scrubbed the bathroom with a toothbrush. The thought of moving out and not doing this is abhorrent to her. Her home is immaculate.

Anyway, she is panicking about moving day and wanted a cleaner for the move day as she has been under the weather. It literally just needs someone to whip around with a hoover because as furniture is moved there will be dust behind etc. My Dad said he would do it but she says she wants a 'professional'. My Dad will scrub the bathroom and insides of the kitchen cupboards the day before but we wanted someone just to do a last-minute wipe down. Someone is already coming in to clean the hob and oven two days beforehand.

I contacted a cleaner and explained that I just wanted to book 4 hours, one-off, to hoover through, mop the kitchen floor, clean the bath and toilet, and a final wipe down of the cupboards. I said the property would be empty from 2pm and would probably take 2 hours but would pay for 4. I stressed it is not a full-on 'end of tenancy clean required' just a final whip-round. They are moving 2 hours away and wanted to get off as soon as the van is loaded before it gets dark. She originally quoted £20 an hour which I said was great and I said that I would confirm with them then arrange payment to book the slot. When I came back to her, she asked for photos of the property which I thought was odd as we'd already agreed on a price.I sent them to her from Rightmove and she then changed her mind and said it would be £140 for the four hours. Is it just me that things this is really OTT? I emphasized that it wasn't an end of tenancy clean but she still kept saying to me that I would never get someone to do an 'end of tenancy clean' for £20 an hour. I stressed (again) that I don't need that - just a hoover around, a quick wipe down of the bath, toilets and wipe down the insides of kitchen cupboards (that would already have been cleaned).

I live abroad otherwise I would do it for them, it would take me 2 hour tops.

AIBU to think that £35 an hour is OTT? She said it was also because it was out of hours but only because she couldn't come at 2pm and would have to delay it until 4.30 pm

YABU and therefore I need to start my own cleaning company and earn £35 an hour.

As a comparison, I paid a self-employed tutor £35 per hour - she had a collection of qualifications and experience and was well worth it. £35 is not the going rate for cleaning - which should attract a decent wage but not that.

Wow yes I used to clean and I'd say that's really expensive even for a deep clean.

You could get someone else who would do a good job for about half that for a deep clean.

There is a difference in what you pay a regular cleaner by the hour and what you pay for a 1 off. You can try and find someone else of course but most good cleaners have a regular client list and arent just sitting at home ready to drop everything for a random day's work.

I agree with PP, she has seen the photos and added a posh tax to the price.

When we moved a couple of years ago, we phoned an electrician to come and fit some lights. Initially he gave us one rate, then when he found out the address the price went up by 50%.

Marchitectmummy has a good idea. Ask the estate agent, they are likely to know someone who isn't a con merchant.

Absolutely taking the piss at that amount.
It does baffle me all this cleaning when people move. I always clean thoroughly but whenever I have moved into somewhere it's been beyond minging!

I agree with others that she just doesn't want the job.

My first impression from the photos is that it's a big house, so may be that's why the price went up. She also doesn't seem to believe your claim that you don't want "end of tenancy" standards but mainly, I think, she's just decided the one off job isn't worth it to her.

It's a high rate for a cleaner, but really only because we don't value women's work much and most cleaners are really underpaid. Someone self-employed has to cover so much extra. When I was self-employed (not as a cleaner) the rule of thumb was that your rate was equivalent to a salaried position paying about 1/3rd once you accounted for additional expenses (equipment, travel, NI, holiday, sick pay, marketing, down time, etc. etc). And with all the stress of running your own business (of course there are perks too, but it seems most people would rather be employed and I don't blame them).

@BoomBoomsCousin yes it sickens me when I see “I only pay my cleaner £12” that’s below min wage when she’s paid her costs

£20 an hour for 4 hours sounds both generous and reasonable - I know you will get others who would happily do it at this price

That’s a lot but end of tenancy cleans and similar one off deep cleans are usually more expensive than regular weekly cleans.

I would get other quotes but don’t expect them to cost the same hourly rate as a weekly cleaner.

The price went up to £140 after I sent the photos.

She saw the photos, decided you were rolling in money and upped her price.
That and the size of the rooms are large so will take longer.
Beautiful house.

I live close to Reading and I'm sure i could find you someone who would do it for a lot less...

It looks quite big, I thought £80 was cheap to be honest.

Its charged high as a one off job your not employing her long term

Yes about the "big" - those are estate agent listing photos and make the place look massive!

Have a look on Helpwiz for a cleaner in Reading. Hopefully you'll be able to find one more reasonably priced.

For that price I would rather call an agency. They may even charge less, the other posters are right she either do not want to do the job or is taking advantage because the house looks like the owners would be able to afford it.
I would rather get someone from Task Rabbit I bet you get someone to do it for a more reasonable price.

absolutely ridiculous.

I am nearby-can you go on a local Facebook group and ask for recommendations?

She’s trying to charge you a nice house tax. I can’t stand people who rip others off and that’s what this lady’s doing.

Get some more quotes and this time just say two hours cleaning not four if that’s what you want to pay for.

Why are you cleaning it looks clean as it is! Quick whip around with the vacuum and wipe over and voila! YANBU

I was self employed up to 2 years ago and charged £13 ph standard and EOT £20.
Plus EOT I would charge extra for travel though depending on how far.
I would still class this as a one off EOT.
£35 seems a little steep though.

Well for comparison an NHS senior ward sister/manager earns less than £20 per hour where I work.

A one-off job is going to cost more than a regular thing.

Does the cleaner think it's a deep clean as opposed to just a clean? The only way I could justify it.

Why don’t you just tell your parents you’ve booked someone in, and not bother. It sounds like it will barely need touching, plus they will have left by the time this cleaner was coming anyway. Do they ever need to know?

I pay my cleaner £11 per hour. So yeah, £35 is more than I even pay for my 3 hour weekly clean. They're taking the piss.