Should I tell our cleaner we no longer need her

[Catbell82]

We hired our cleaner in early Sept on a fortnightly basis, but there seem to be regular reasons as to why she can't come. The first time she turned up but had to leave shortly afterwards as she hurt her back, a couple of weeks later she had a family emergency (although she did come on a different day instead), last week she said she had to take her car to the garage and she would come today instead but now she has just sent me a message saying she has been in contact with someone who has covid symptoms and so she won't be able to come until that person gets their test results. Of course this may be genuine but given the other occasions so far I'm finding it hard to believe her. I don't want to come across as unsympathetic so would we be completely out of order to cancel her services and look for someone else?

It sounds as if she's taken on the job but doesn't really want it! She sounds a bit flaky.
I would look for someone else. Does she have a contract with you or have to work any notice etc? Is she part of a team of cleaners or on her own? If it's a company you could ask for someone else to come in maybe?

If these issues had arisen after she'd been working for you for a couple of years then it might be okay to accept it. As this is right from the start, I would just tell her it isn't working out and find someone else. You need someone you can rely on to do the cleaning on the day they are supposed to, so that you can plan around it.

It's a shame if she is genuine but that really isn't your problem.

We cancelled our clean for more or less the same reasons; she couldn't commit and when she did she was here well over the 2 hours I asked her to do (although to be far she never charged for those hours!)

YANBU. She’s unreliable and seems to treat it like a drop in centre.

My cleaner has worked for me for 12 years and cancelled maybe twice ever, before covid.

If you don't have any long term contract just tell her it doesn't work for you anymore.Just this,don't feel guilty and don't fall for any promises.
Find new one .

Good luck

I wouldn't keep her on, it's so important that they are reliable and turn up when they say they will.
My cleaners worked for me for the last 16 years and has only ever let me down once for a genuine reason.

You want her to work for you, she clearly doesn't want to work for you.
Cancel the arrangement as it clearly hasn't worked at all.

Thank you for the replies. I was worried that by cancelling I would look like a horrible person. We don't have a contract so I can cancel at any time. It's so frustrating because we've really struggled to find a cleaner. Every cleaner we've had has either had multiple excuses as to why they can't come or when they do come they don't seem to actually do much cleaning. Our house is kept tidy and I hate dirt and mess so it's never very dirty anyway - I'm not why we can't seem to find anyone reliable!

Good cleaners are like gold dust! Unfortunately this one sounds unreliable and I would be stressing all the time about whether she was going to turn up so yes, I would definitely get rid and look for a new one.

Do you know anyone on personal recommendation? That's often the best way to find someone good.