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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cleaner bringing baby

275 replies

Hoppinggreen · 28/07/2022 19:33

Genuinely not sure if IABU so honest opinions welcome. Sorry so long
My cleaner retired so I looked for another and found a small local company. The lady cleans herself and has a couple of people who work for her. She came to see me and we agreed they would do 3 hours per week but doubled up so would be there for 1.5 hours. All good, more than I was previously paying but that wasn’t a problem as they seemed very professional.
We are currently on holiday and the lady suggested they do a really deep clean while we were away. Again all good and I was prepared for it to take quite a while as my old cleaner really only surface cleaned and I just did the toilets etc regularly.
I told lady we had a Ring doorbell so I would know when they went in and out as I dint think it’s fair not to be honest about that. 2 cleaners came yesterday and were there for quite a while but needed to finish off today. Again, no issue with that.
I checked the Ring today and one cleaner arrived and unlocked the door, then instead of going in she stands with her back to the Ring Camera in what looks like a deliberate attempt to block it. There is no other reason to stand in that spot. Once she is “in position” she shouts to the other cleaner (couldn’t hear what) and then that cleaner walks up the drive and past her. The angle of the camera means that it is still possible to see the 2nd cleaner enter the door - with a toddler on her hip but it wouldn’t be obvious it was visible unless you knew exactly where the camera was pointing
They both go in and then both come out very briefly to take a stroller in. They stay for 2 hours and leave carrying toddler again. I messaged boss lady who said she would look into it and then messaged to say someone’s childcare had let them down.
So mnetters am I BU to be pissed off?

There was (looks to me) a deliberate attempt to block the camera
My house isn’t toddler friendly and could have been dangerous if the child wasn’t properly supervised at all times
I dont see how you can effectively clean while supervising a toddler.
I am minded to pay for yesterday in full but only for 1 cleaner today - so 2 hours instead of the 4 I was billed for, would that be reasonable?
Also, I am not sure that I want them to clean for me regularly now
What do other people think?

OP posts:
limitededitionbarbie · 29/07/2022 21:37

SunshineAndFizz · 28/07/2022 19:40

Was the house as clean as you wanted it to be? If so, I don't see the issue.

I'm guessing they put the toddler in the buggy while they worked.

If anything had been damaged or the work was bad, then fine I'd complain. Otherwise cut her some slack, sometimes childcare is a nightmare and she could really need the money.

Yes I agree with this completely

JamSandwich89 · 29/07/2022 21:41

niugboo · 28/07/2022 22:43

Do you have kids? Toddler could easily sit on its bottom and watch telly. I would suggest going home and checking if you’re happy with what they’ve done. But also consider these women will be earning peanuts. And working hard. They will need the money. You were expecting to pay it anyway.

Toddler could easily sit on its bottom and watch telly.

Did this make anyone else chuckle? Doesn't sound like any toddler I've met 🐒😂😂

pinkyredrose · 30/07/2022 15:50

But also consider these women will be earning peanuts.

You know that how?

Nanny0gg · 30/07/2022 18:58

MugginsOverEre · 29/07/2022 15:47

Maybe think about your cleaner who probably can’t afford a nice holiday!

Ah there it is. The poor, dumb, unskilled peasants doing menial tasks for the upper classes and cannot afford luxuries like holidays or a decent meal. They do not have the ability to save either. OR, like everyone else, including the OP, they have a job, go to work and get paid like everyone else does. I've been a cleaner (the term was actually a 'domestic') and I may not have been on mega bucks but I still got paid and could fund my own life. It's actually insulting to say cleaners cannot afford things like holidays and are living below the breadline.

TBF my cleaner's in Spain for a fortnight.

I can't afford that right now

Tiani4 · 01/08/2022 01:38

sunsetsandsandybeaches · 29/07/2022 10:42

But they do. The homeowner gets to decide who comes into their house unless it is directly business related.

Which is why I said they're free not to use me if they disagree with how I work, but they can't tell me how I run my business, no.

I'm sure you pre agree it that you may bring your dog and your mum who works with you and the person has choice whether to contact you or not to do the job. I doubt you are saying you sneak your dog and your mum in without permission. If you do you ABVU.

Of course I mention it first but at the end of the day it's my decision, not theirs.

I would be fuming if you brought a dog into my house!! Your mum works with you so that's different but I wouldn't allowed random relatives who had no legitimate reason to be there. The same way I'd be sacked if I took my mum to work with me!!

My mum doesn't work with me at all. That's the point I'm making. She's insured as a close relative on my business insurance but she's only there to keep me company.

Cleaning is not a spectator sport, houses are private dwellings and my house is not a hang out for random peoples children, relatives or their pets!

And that's your choice, but that doesn't mesh you can tell a cleaning company how to operate. You just don't use them afsuv.

Oh my Lord
Your business arrangements are irrelevant to this situation. Can you just RTFT and stop derailing.

You bring your a dog and your mother to home cleaning jobs - I hope you are upfront to your customers that you do that. But it's also so irrelevant to OPs situation

Tiani4 · 01/08/2022 01:51

Jeez who brings their dog and mum for company to a cleaning job? I feel like I've entered a how to be unprofessional

All very irrelevant detail though

OP of course one of the cleaners for that company should never have brought their young toddler to your home when they wee supposed to be working. Your home is not a childcare centre. It's shitty cowboy outfit if they charge you for that 2nd "cleaner" who clearly spent more than half her time caring for her child at your home! Without any permission or knowledge to bring her child into your home. I would write a review stating this and sack this firm immediately or they didn't deal with it and remove any charges for that unprofessional employee .

Weird that a couple of PPs say "oh think of the children for this poor destitute mother"
Wtaf do they think us lone parents do with our children? We arrange childcare and we can't work if that falls through bc ..: professional people DO NOT TAKE their toddler DCs into work !!

Fgs can you imagine your GP, your nurse, your social worker doing this??!! It's a sackable offence in my field. And I don't have spare money!!

So no I would not accept a cleaner entertaining her toddler in my house when have paid for her to clean house !!

I can clean myself around DCs but it isn't the same as a focused deep clean that I have saved up to pay someone else to do as a supposed professional. Except that cleaner and her pal were not

Tiani4 · 01/08/2022 01:56

- Jeez who brings their dog and mum for company to a cleaning job? I feel like I've entered a how to be unprofessional
Sorry I got side tracked before coming back to finish / edit this first sentence

I feel like I have entered a whole different world which I would not employ - no thanks, I want to employ a cleaner //not a cleaner + their dog + their mum for company for the cleaner !! // Soooo weird!!! GrinGrinConfusedConfused
..

milesymoo · 01/08/2022 07:55

@Tiani4
I think even more of a derail as I don't even think it's a cleaning business but a dog walking business so absolutely no comparison at all!

At the end of the day, it's my business - I'll run it how I choose to run it. If they're unhappy with my mum or dog joining me occasionally (which I make clear is what happens at the meet and greet), then they're free to find another dog walker.

Tiani4 · 01/08/2022 09:57

Thanks @milesymoo !

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 01/08/2022 10:18

milesymoo · 01/08/2022 07:55

@Tiani4
I think even more of a derail as I don't even think it's a cleaning business but a dog walking business so absolutely no comparison at all!

At the end of the day, it's my business - I'll run it how I choose to run it. If they're unhappy with my mum or dog joining me occasionally (which I make clear is what happens at the meet and greet), then they're free to find another dog walker.

Taking your own dog to a dog related business or your own child to a child related business is very different to sneaking a baby into someone’s house without permission when you know it’s not allowed by your employer and will hamper your efforts to do a proper job

OP posts:
Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 01/08/2022 10:20

And that person says “it’s made clear” beforehand
At no point when I was arranging this deep clean was it mentioned that the cleaner would be bringing their baby - for obvious reasons

OP posts:
GonnaGetGoingReturns · 01/08/2022 10:40

I wouldn't be happy with this as it's a first visit and they're bringing a baby without asking if it's ok to do this. If OP hadn't kept an eye on them with the Ring doorbell she wouldn't have found out and if she'd kept them on they could bring the baby every time.

It's a trust issue. No you can't clean as well if you're also providing childcare for a baby.

Another PP mentioned about cleaner's grandson playing on the PP's games console - there's the worry that if anything was broken who pays for it? Would the cleaner own up?

EmeraldShamrock1 · 02/08/2022 21:07

I hope the house is sparkling on your return.

What a treat to come home too providing the job is done well.

I hope you had a lovely holiday.

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 02/08/2022 21:08

Thank you
Not home for a few more days but it will be lovely to come back to a shiny clean home
And the holiday has been great too

OP posts:
Tiani4 · 03/08/2022 00:25

Taking your own dog to a dog related business or your own child to a child related business is very different to sneaking a baby into someone’s house without permission when you know it’s not allowed by your employer and will hamper your efforts to do a proper job

Absolutely @Hoppinggreen

You have multiple PPs supporting you ! Silliness by a previous Pp and some others, who were de railing thread as @milesymoo and I were saying

We are all agreeing with you!

We were all quoting and challenging another silly PP who hadn't really RTFT

Tiani4 · 03/08/2022 00:25

Bold fail!!
Taking your own dog to a dog related business or your own child to a child related business is very different to sneaking a baby into someone’s house without permission when you know it’s not allowed by your employer and will hamper your efforts to do a proper job

WhoMe231 · 03/08/2022 01:33

Look if they are desperate enough to be a cleaner (no offence to anyone), they are likely to be living on a very low income, prob hand-to-mouth type lifestyle. I think you are being absolutely unreasonable, have you forgotten how unreliable babysitters are? If it becomes a regular thing then I think it’s a different situation. I also think you are bang out of order to not pay her - in fact I think that is illegal.

milesymoo · 03/08/2022 02:03

As I have explained up thread, as a cleaner, this thread has some fucking insulting comments

But well done, you win for the worst 👏🏻
Look if they are desperate enough to be a cleaner (no offence to anyone), they are likely to be living on a very low income, prob hand-to-mouth type lifestyle.

I'd better get back to sleep so I can prepare the kids breakfast in the morning (stale old bread with the mould scraped off as can't afford much else), before putting my rags on and then walking (as I can't afford a car or public transport) to work tomorrow. Every penny counts when you're so desperate, you have to be a cleaner.

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 03/08/2022 06:44

WhoMe231 · 03/08/2022 01:33

Look if they are desperate enough to be a cleaner (no offence to anyone), they are likely to be living on a very low income, prob hand-to-mouth type lifestyle. I think you are being absolutely unreasonable, have you forgotten how unreliable babysitters are? If it becomes a regular thing then I think it’s a different situation. I also think you are bang out of order to not pay her - in fact I think that is illegal.

I agree, that very insulting to cleaners. In many cases it’s better paid than care or hospitality work . My previous cleaner had a nicer car than me and used to go off in her camper van for holidays regularly
Also, I don’t pay the cleaner, I pay the agency - which I did in full several days ago

OP posts:
EarringsandLipstick · 03/08/2022 07:09

Look if they are desperate enough to be a cleaner (no offence to anyone), they are likely to be living on a very low income, prob hand-to-mouth type lifestyle

Unbelievably insulting. Plenty of posters on MN are cleaners & appear far from 'very low income' 'hand-to-mouth' existence.

Imagine thinking that, let alone writing it. 😠

Viviennemary · 03/08/2022 08:19

I think its quite wrong and narrow minded to say cleaners live a hand to mouth existence. Not true. A lot find it more flexible than other work to supplement their family income.

dolphinsarentcommon · 03/08/2022 08:26

The deliberate deception would make me wonder what else they're going to try and cover up.

Had they explained there was a childcare issue beforehand that's one thing, but to block the camera is beyond sneaky.

Trust would be lost and id be finding another cleaner.

Send the Ring video to the employer

Sheery · 03/08/2022 09:35

I’m with you OP @Hoppinggreen

i did t read all the comments but I can tell that Mumsnet has become a very bitchy forum…

the cleaner should have been upfront and ask if it’s okay to bring anyone (whether it’s a small child, a baby, a pet chinchilla or whatever) to OPs house. Or suggest that she will come another time to clean the house, I assume - given the fact that OP is on holiday- that she would have been fine with whatever time the cleaner could have made work.

it’s just the curtesy… we get it, folks struggle with childcare and it’s hard but then ask the question?! Can I bring my child? Yes or no? Or can we resolve it another way.

it’s nothing to do with their low paid job or whatever… it’s just being a honest and upfront.

geeez people….

EmeraldShamrock1 · 03/08/2022 09:52

Cleaning is a good business when you are great at the job, there are endless clients ready to employ you for your skills.

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 05/08/2022 08:49

Just in case anyone is interested in an update
I arrived home last night and the house is lovely and clean (although they did leave a child’s toy on the kitchen floor) so I decided to give the cleaners another chance as I will be wfh while they are here so no danger of a repeat.
Unfortunately I have noticed 2 breakages that they didn’t report - both quite minor and fixable and I wouldn’t have been bothered if I have been told. I am going to check with boss lady if they told her but if not then I won’t be using them again. You need trust when someone is coming into your house and I don’t have it with this firm now.
Its a shame because the house IS very clean but hopefully I can find someone else who is as good. I went with an agency rather than an individual to minimise hassle and it’s not been the case.

OP posts:
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