Am I expecting too much from a cleaner?!?

[MumOfLittleOnes]

I had the same cleaner for the last 10years who unfortunately retired she was absolutely amazing!

I found a new cleaner who started a couple of weeks ago I’m paying £15 an hour for 4 hours and I’m totally unimpressed just wondered if I am being picky or if some of these things are unacceptable. (I have a 4 year old and an 8 week old so things have been a bit manic lately so some toys do get left out as sometimes as you know it is impossible to find the time to tidy every single one away before the cleaner comes!)

I asked if she could do the beds (not change them just make them) she said she charges extra for doing beds I found this really bizzare?!?

When moping the floor in our kitchen they are tiles she has obviously used the wrong type of cleaning product or mop and left it horrendously smeary meaning I had to re do myself.

When cleaning the bath she didn’t actually move any of the kids bath toys from the side of the bath she just cleaned around them.

The glass sliding doors in our kitchen hadn’t been cleaned and had hand prints all over them still

I left to pick my son up from school and during that time she left (before the 4 hours was up)

I text her saying how much do I owe you and she said I did 3.5hours today.

Surely if she has left early then in those 30mins she should of been here she could of made the beds and quickly vinegar sprayed and wiped the glass doors?!

Cleaner here with a wide range of clients so agree its not being unreasonable to expect her to change beds but it is down to communicating between the two of you what you need/expect from her and what she is happy to do.
I do beds for some clients if they ask but i do expect the house to be reasonably tidy before i start because that can eat up a lot of time whilst then creating pressure on getting the overall job completed.
I recently went to a new clients house who informed me i was to scrub the kitchen and utility tiles from floor to ceiling which involved me then being up a ladder and took me 2 hours to do. Which then only left me an hour to blitz the rest of the house. I will NOT be going back there!
I am constantly turning down work so like most cleaners i can afford to pick and chose who/what and when and i dont want to work for people like that.
Have a talk with your cleaner and explain clearly what you would like her to do and if she is happy with that. If she works for an agency then they probably make her charge for any 'extras' like beds or fridge/oven cleaning ext.

@mathanxiety

Changing beds, filling the dishwasher, emptying bins, bringing down dirty crockery - yes these are all standard parts of a cleaners job.

You said this, @Luredbyapomegranate.
Also this:
No, as I just pointed out to the bonkers poster who suggested this, no one is suggesting that cleaners should bring down a weeks worth of crockery. Just that it would be normal to pick up the odd plate or cup, not leave it there.

And just to repeat, a cleaner who comes once a week is going to have a week's worth of dirty crockery to deal with, because they come once a week, not every day, and an odd plate or cup multiplied by seven is a tray full of dirty crockery, and that's just for one family member with slovenly habits. How many odd plates and mugs would be generated by a family of slobs comprised of mum, dad and three teens, in a week?

I honestly don't know the answer to that question because I did not allow my DCs (now aged 20-31) to eat anywhere except the kitchen and dining room.

I don’t mind mine eating upstairs but the day I find plates and cups left on the floor is the day I change it to nobody eats unless sitting at the dining room table. Even my six year old knows if she has a drink in her bedroom she brings the cup downstairs and rinses it. It’s just basic manners and cleanliness.

But either way I dislike this mindset of ‘leave it for the cleaner.’ The cleaner will clear away all the cups and plates. The cleaner will pick up the toys. The cleaner will make the beds.

I think kids and teens need to learn these little things of picking up after themselves, or not leaving their mess at their feet for someone else.

Having read this thread and being a first-time employer of a cleaner, I think I'm being taken for a ride! - My cleaner does not tidy as I always make sure the house is tidy beforehand. She doesn't wipe down the kitchen cupboard fronts, dust the tops of picture frames, dust the pesky ceiling cobwebs away, she doesn't clean the toilet, wipe skirting boards or vac/sweep under units that are accessible...Do I have a lazy cleaner?