To get rid of my cleaner

[Lotty456]

I’ve had a self employed cleaner (same person) for about a year now & I’m generally happy with his work but last visit he was on his phone for about half hour. I asked whether calls could be made outside work hours & his response was that sometimes calls are unavoidable as it’s lockdown & childcare is an issue so he needs to take calls, he also said that as he is self employed he may needs to take calls from other potential clients although he will be quick. I don’t know whether I’m over reacting but I feel that he shouldn’t be on his phone when he is supposed to be working (although he doesn’t stop working he just carries on one handed)

You haven't got time to see if your home is clean after the cleaner has been?

I've heard it all now! Do you walk around with your eyes shut?

You've got a horrible attitude @Lotty456, even your title speaks volumes "get rid", what a way to describe stopping the services or a contractor.

And FYI I have a cleaner and I'm able to see she leaves the home clean.

Not difficult really,

I don't know where you go, but all the hairdressers I used concentrate, and chat, with THEIR current client.

I have never seen them starting a conversation with someone else across the room, or even worst their colleague.confused

I can't imagine someone doing my hair while discussing somebody else's holidays or children. It's not even rude, it's weird!

It’s not weird at all. It’s very social. The hairdresser isn’t talking to colleague/another client and ignoring the client they are with. They’re all part of the conversation.

It’s not weird at all. It’s very social. The hairdresser isn’t talking to colleague/another client and ignoring the client they are with. They’re all part of the conversation.

not in any of the salons I have ever been to. I am glad I have avoided these, they sound horrendous.

😂😂😂

@therealteamdebbie it sounds horrendous

Get a grip!

@therealteamdebbie

It’s not weird at all. It’s very social. The hairdresser isn’t talking to colleague/another client and ignoring the client they are with. They’re all part of the conversation.

not in any of the salons I have ever been to. I am glad I have avoided these, they sound horrendous.

Ooo, get you.

@UhtredRagnarson

This smacks of putting the menial worker back in his place tbh

Absolutely.

[quote Blockedoff]@therealteamdebbie it sounds horrendous

Get a grip! [/quote]
If you are happy to waste money and be dissatisfied or uncomfortable, it's up to you.

If I spend a couple of hundred quid on my hair, it's not to waste my time having to join in some weird communal and boring chit chat with some random stranger. Which I have never even witnessed anyway.
I like going to the hairdresser. I would be stupid to turn it into a boring chore.

I think I’ve worked out why no one speaks to you at the hairdressers.

@UhtredRagnarson

I think I’ve worked out why no one speaks to you at the hairdressers.

whatever makes you feel better about yourself

Because yes, it's likely a salon fully booked and busy with clients and stylists would suddenly get silent for the duration of my visit 😂

I think you'll find every tradesman takes calls while on jobs.

As long as he's cleaning what he's contracted to clean, whats the problem?

I'm sure your employer has made allowances during Covid?

you are lucky he's not an employee, you can get rid and find a better one. There's no shortage of professional cleaners available - many more when the schools reopen who will be free to work during school hours.

Because yes, it's likely a salon fully booked and busy with clients and stylists would suddenly get silent for the duration of my visit

Silent? Your salons are silent?

@therealteamdebbie I also spend a couple of hundred quod on my hair ;to match your stealth boast)!

It's not firing chit chat, it's called social interaction.

You may be boring, but not everyone is

No wonder you can't understand anyone chatting on a phone. .... try it, it's fun!

Boring not firing

Gosh, I don’t understand the pasting you’ve got.

Assuming you’re paying per hour I don’t think I’d be happy with my cleaner taking calls/being distracted.

Would you say the same thing about a chef who tried to cook with one hand in a restaurant?

Michael Caines seems to have managed his entire career as a one-handed chef with exemplary (Michelin-started) success. What some people can do with one hand, others couldn’t deliver if they had five. It all depends on your personal skills, expertise and determination. Or lack of the same.

I don’t think I’ve ever asked or even wondered how many hands the chef used to cook my meal in a restaurant. I mean If someone happened to say “you know the chef did that all with one hand” I’d probably say “wow, really? That’s pretty cool. I could never have guessed from how it tasted”

So if you had an appointment with a lawyer, would you be ok if they took a personal call during the meeting and billed you for that time? Or if a driving instructor stopped a lesson to make calls? Or a tutor spent half their lesson on the phone?

Why is a cleaner any different? You pay them to clean. They should clean - not take calls for half an hour.

@ThereOnceWasANote

So if you had an appointment with a lawyer, would you be ok if they took a personal call during the meeting and billed you for that time? Or if a driving instructor stopped a lesson to make calls? Or a tutor spent half their lesson on the phone?

Why is a cleaner any different? You pay them to clean. They should clean - not take calls for half an hour.

Comparing those to a cleaner😂

OP has said his work is still up to standard and fine, so completely different to a driving instructor stopping in the middle of a lesson, isn't it?

@ThereOnceWasANote

So if you had an appointment with a lawyer, would you be ok if they took a personal call during the meeting and billed you for that time? Or if a driving instructor stopped a lesson to make calls? Or a tutor spent half their lesson on the phone?

Why is a cleaner any different? You pay them to clean. They should clean - not take calls for half an hour.

Can a lawyer take my instruction, refer to relevant legislation and provide legal advice while simultaneously speaking to someone else on the phone? If they can they bloody deserve their very high fees. I suspect the cant, which means they would have to halt my meeting and excuse themselves and make up the time afterwards to provide the full Service which would inconvenience me.

The same with a driving instructor- can they fully supervise a learner driver and provide 1:1 tuition whilst on the phone? No the cannot so they would have to halt the lesson and make up the time afterwards which would inconvenience me.

Can a tutor provide 1:1 tuition to a student whilst on the phone? No so again, they would have to halt the lesson and make up the time which would inconvenience me.

Because all those services require the customer to be present to receive them on a 1:1 basis.

Why is cleaning different?

Because the cleaner isn’t cleaning the client. The client doesn’t have to be there. It would only be comparable If the cleaner can’t provide the full service in the allotted time and staying longer to make up the time inconveniences the client. But as we know there are many aspects of cleaning that don’t actually use two hands and are normally done with just one hand. So the other hand holding a phone is neither here nor there. And there are also hands free ear piece/headsets for phone which means any tasks that require two hands are not an issue.

@ThereOnceWasANote

So if you had an appointment with a lawyer, would you be ok if they took a personal call during the meeting and billed you for that time? Or if a driving instructor stopped a lesson to make calls? Or a tutor spent half their lesson on the phone?

Why is a cleaner any different? You pay them to clean. They should clean - not take calls for half an hour.

Weird comparisons. Cleaning can be done while talking on the phone or just talking in general. It doesn't need full concentration to scrub skid marks off a toilet or buff up one of those god awful gloss kitchens.

@ThereOnceWasANote does the postman who is paid to deliver mail have the ability to do his job and chat on the phone, the widow cleaner?

does the postman who is paid to deliver mail have the ability to do his job and chat on the phone

Mine does. Exactly the same service except I can hear him coming from further away

Not sure about widow cleaners- do widows get very dirty?

I guess it boils down to can you do your job without concentrating? I suppose you could argue someone who operates a till in a shop could chat on the phone whilst they are scanning stuff. A teacher could chat away whilst the kids were doing set work. People in factories could chat while they were assembling/making stuff. But they are not allowed to by their employers either. What is it about cleaning that means they don't have to focus on their job? My cleaner earns more per hour than my daughter in her graduate entry level job. And my daughter can't make personal calls for half an hour whilst she's working. Bracket she is supposed to be - you know - working.