Cleaner bringing baby

[Hoppinggreen]

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?

It's such a shame that women/mums can't ever be given a break. Sack her immediately. She needs to get a decent job so she can afford childcare not be a lowly cleaner who deserves no respect at all.

I agree with you op. They are being paid to work which they can not do effectively with a baby.
They also attempted to conceal this from you.
I wouldn’t be using them again.They knew that the camera was there because you told them.

Literally not a single poster has said this

A living nightmare who has paid in full but is slightly annoyed about them taking a toddler to my house and attempting to hide it.
You must not come across any truly awful people if you think the above makes me a “living nightmare” . Maybe calm down a bit and reduce the drama

That’s a reach.
And as she doesn’t work for me I can’t sack her even if I wanted to (I don’t)

Maybe calm down a bit and reduce the drama

Oh, the irony. You must be having a very tedious holiday if you’ve got the time and inclination for the drama you’ve created.

I'm going to leave it after this but no, it's not the issue.

This is OP's house. She has agreed for two cleaners to do a job for her. She has not agreed for them to bring a child, a baby.

She can see that they have deliberately tried to conceal what they are doing.

The terms & conditions that she agreed to this work do not include bringing a baby.

It is a safety issue; it's a trust issue, and the only metric for employment is not if the task was done to the required standard.

Not one sane person would rock up to their office job with a carefully concealed baby, without their employer's knowledge, then claim the boss was a 'nightmare' if they found out & objected, on the basis that all that mattered was if they could do their job to the necessary standard.

I can’t believe people think YABU OP.

Should we all do it? Airline pilot? No problem - just sit the kid on the co-pilots knee. Train driver? Yeah, no problem, in the second man’s seat with the baby. Chef - absolutely, they can go next to the side plates.

Their childcare problems are not your issue. I might pay, but make it clear to the manager that I wouldn’t be using them again for this reason. I don’t have kids so no way would I want anyone else’s in my house when I’m paying them to do a professional job.

Yeah, I basically agree with this.

From the thread title I was ready to read that the cleaner brought a baby with them but you were there, so knew about it at the time. I think that would be fine, if it wasn't every time and they did a decent job still. But the blocking the camera and not asking if it was ok for them to bring the baby is.... off. I'd tell the person in charge you don't trust the company now, as they weren't upfront and tried to cover the camera, then find someone else. They had the opportunity to be honest. They weren't.

It seems to me that there are a lot of people on here who would think nothing of trying to pull the wool over their employers eyes instead of just asking if it would be a problem, unforseen circumstances etc and if it is a problem looking for another solution or not being able to do it. I think most reasonable people would be fine when asked.

Also, isn't the point of a Ring doorbell that you can see what's going on? Looking at the video isn't spying anymore than shop CCTV is if people know there's a camera... and they obviously know there was one 😂

It’s lovely that some people are so worried about me not enjoying my holiday
We have had a lovely day sightseeing and swam in a lake. We also went out for a nice meal and The Teens are now doing whatever it is they do on their phones in their rooms, DH is watching something I am not keen on on TV and I am chilling on the balcony and Mnetting.
Got a nice day planned tomorrow too
Appreciate the concern though

The cleaners obv thought they were BU as one of them tried to block the camera

As a one off I probably wouldn't mind but I don't think I'd like it every time

As for "spying". Next time you go for a walk have a look how many houses have cctv and Ring doorbells. I'd say at least one in four. That's a lot of spying going on lol

I used to occasionally take my children to a cleaning job during school holidays and it was an absolute nightmare but the cleaning was still done.

She could have been honest and asked you but if you’d said no (which I suspect you would have) she’d really have been stuck.

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

@Hoppinggreen

That sounds lovely! Enjoy.

I actually would.
Its the sneakiness that really bothers me I think. One of the cleaners deliberately blocks the camera (she thinks) so the other one can bring the baby in and out

There are a lot of people who can’t afford a lot of things unfortunately, I am not sure how that’s relevant.
Well done on highlighting why certain people have been such Dicks on here though

I agree with that OP...its the sneakiness, if they had asked you beforehand you have been more receptive . The cleaners childcare isn't your problem.

As I said I have been ok with a previous cleaner doing this after she asked and they had been coming for a while.
First visit and sneaking a baby in is a bit different

Presumably the “dicks” are those posters who don’t agree with you?

That is absolutely nothing to do with OP, and not her concern.

Who doesn't check their ring doorbell while they're on holiday? That's the whole point of them, to keep an eye on activity.

Thank you

Totally agree