Is this standard practice having a cleaner?

[lightcurtains]

I posted last year about DW wanting a cleaner and I didn't.

Well today was the first day of us having a cleaner. We tidied the house beforehand. It wasn't dirty as we cleaned it last week but obviously I know cleaners will do a more thorough job, and a deeper clean.

We booked a cleaner.
It is 2 cleaners who come for 1 hour.
The fee is £30 for the 1 hour.

The cleaners have now messaged to say that they were here for 2.5 hours so the fee is £75.

Is that usual practice?

It's totally normal for a new cleaner to take extra time to bring things up to standard. It's sounds like they didn't inform you though which is a bit poor.

@CombatBarbie
That is what we said. 2 cleaners for 1 hour altogether.
They said it's 1 hour but classed as 2 as there are 2 cleaners here for 1 hour.
As I have said in the previous comments, we didn't give a list. They did.

If they said they might go over by 30 minutes then it does sound like they’ve charged correctly. I’m assuming it’s £30 per hour for one cleaner, so £60 per hour for two. Did they tell you it was only £30 per hour even if you had two cleaners or did you assume?

Perhaps this is the miscommunication. 2 cleaners for an hour = 2 hours

New cleaners have always asked me for the first clean (before they start) whether they should do less, e.g. by skipping a couple of rooms, or stay longer.

I think they charge each what you thought they charged for two

For 3 bedroom house, 2 person hours fortnightly is very little.

For my 3 bedrooms I have 4 person hours weekly, and they don't do everything.

I think your situation is set up to fail as in the time agreed they can do a part job or a bad job but not the whole job properly.

I've seen cleaners do extra cleaners for less time before (so then it's billed as hour per cleaner) but they need to make that clear up front. I also think if you've agreed an amount they ought to stick to it? So that might mean leaving something to avoid going over the time. Unless they discuss with you ahead that they'll clean until its done and charge the relevant fee.

We have this set up. Two cleaners come for an hour and we’re charged £30.
We make sure everything is tidied away so they can just get started very easily. It does sound as though you need to clarify everything. £30 for one cleaner would be very excessive.

A. Generally 1st clean take longer.

B. I’d be concerned 2 hours every fortnight isn’t enough. Definitely not if you have kids.

C. They sound like a bad fit for you.

If they were there 2.5 hours, then the price is correct. 2 cleaners, cleaning for 2.5 hours, is 5 hours cleaning. At £15 per hour. I'd be surprised they did so much extra though without discussing it.

2 hours cleaning a fortnight is nowhere near enough. I had 2.5 a week when I could afford it.

It's normal for the first clean to take longer, but sounds like there has not been adequate communication. Where you there? Happy with their work?

Have tried having cleaners a few times. I can never make it work because of stuff like this. Turns out people who are organised turn up on time and are brilliant communicators tend not to become cleaners.

If someone told me two cleaners were coming for one hour and the price was £30, I’d believe the £30 was the total price ie £15 per cleaner. I’m in South East in a very expensive area and cleaners here cost £12-20 per hr, I’ve never heard of one costing £30!

That said, last time (this yr) I hired cleaners they said they cost £12/hr, I said I need 1-2 hrs, and so I expected to pay £12-24, but they brought a team of 3, charged around like maniacs for 2.5 hrs then charged me £90 (£12 x 3 x £2.5). I was not expecting that but I should have stopped them earlier and they’d done a huge amount of work so I paid, but did not have them back. I think cleaners just assume the homeowner is made of money 😐

Not sure what I’d do in your position, depends what exactly you said and if you can see £75 worth of cleaning.

“2 hours cleaning a fortnight is nowhere near enough. I had 2.5 a week when I could afford it.”

I hate this sort of comment. My cleaner told me I needed 3 hrs a week. I don’t want to spend that much! It is up to the customer what they buy. I just wanted a deep clean on the bathrooms and a vacuum all over, but they kept doing weird crap like folding blankets and moving furniture.

So now I clean it myself 🤷‍♀️

@EzzieM
Yes that is what it was (£15 per cleaner). So £30 for the 1 hour. That was what was agreed.
We have now said that we will pay the full amount. But this isn't something we can pay each time. We only have one wage coming in due to 1 of us on shared parental leave

I very much doubt any cleaner wound charge £30 per hour...

@EzzieM
Yes they folded everything - towels, tea towels, baby blankets, dog blankets etc.

And styled the toilet paper like you get on holiday. All that.

It's irrelevant what they think needs doing ! There has been an obvious miscommunication. You need to take charge - write out a list of what you want done in priority order. Even knowing it is a 3 bed doesn't tell us much eg are they changing all three beds?

My cleaner came today, she comes every two weeks and cleans for two hours each time. I pay £30 in total, ie £15 an hour. That appears to be the going rate near me - South Manchester. In that time she cleans the kitchen, bathroom, lounge, dining room, my bedroom and the hall. Then one month she adds on one spare bedroom, the next month the other spare bedroom or my craft room, I usually tell her which room to do depending on if I’ve had visitors.

If I want her to do the inside windows or my blinds, then we leave out the dining room. I live alone so the house is not very mucky and my house is quite minimal so easy to clean quickly.

I think £75 is a lot but I guess if you live in London, rates might be higher. I would query the price if you are unsure how it was worked out, it should have been agreed before hand.

It's your choice but if one person is home can they not do 15 minutes cleaning a day and save all that money a week?

Miscommunication.
My cleaner comes weekly for 3 hrs
Used to be 4 hrs a week but she can't currently do that. I still need to deep clean on occasion.

@NormaTheWife
There's only 2 beds as the 3rd doesn't have a bed in.

We stripped the two beds and they put the new bedding on.

Sounds as if they're trying it on. Presume you didn't get anything in writing? I had endless problems when hiring cleaners through agencies. I finally found a god and honest cleaner through a friend's recommendation.

But two hours a fortnight isn't enough to clean a three-bedroom house, nowhere near if they're doing a proper job. And I'm surprised they agreed to come for one hour; I've rarely met a cleaner who will make the journey for less than two hours. So on second thoughts, maybe it's a misunderstanding.

1 hour a fortnight? This doesn’t sound anywhere near enough.

No not normal. You tell them how long you want them. They don't land and expand. If they don't get it down they still stop at the hour or whatever has been agreed.