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?

I ask my cleaner to clean for a set amount of time and she does what she can within that time period. She wouldn't go over without agreement ahead of time and it seems odd to be charged more than you'd agreed.

My cleaner sometimes comes alone for 2 hours and sometimes with a friend for 1 hour and charges the same price so that part makes sense. Although my small 2 bed flat usually takes 2-3 hours every 2 weeks so it does seem like your house might be too big for a thorough clean in 2 hours. If they couldn't finish the job within the agreed time they should have told you before they began and agreed a way forward (either by adding time or you choosing what to prioritise and understanding some things won't be done).

@Ilovetocrochet
I'm also in manchester

@SlinkySienna i fired a cleaner for doing just that. She stayed an hour and asked for £30. Ha, don’t think so….

This is so weird. I had exactly the same recently. They did a good enough job, but I wouldn’t have them back. It was not what I expected or agreed on.

I could do the whole house myself in that time. Honestly, I would find a cleaner who comes for 2 hours and is willing to work by themselves.

If they said it's 1 hour, but classed as 2,due to having 2 cleaners, that means you are charged for 2 hours. Sorry OP, but I think that's quite clear. I don't know where £75 came from though - surely it should be £90.Unless one if them left after the first hour.

I say this kindly, but maybe it wasn't as clean as you thought it was.

I'd just say I didn't agree to this and am unhappy that the quoted rate was doubled without my consent.

Not standard practice no. Sharp practice.

I'd be prepared to pay for it but I'd hold out to see what they suggest first.

Folding blankets and primping pretty standard practice. My cleaner spends ages putting my vanity table and bathroom shelves to rights when I'd rather she Clean down the side of the loo and the ledge round the base of the shower.

Still she is off for 2 weeks and I know the house isn't all going to be fully clean at once whilst she is away. Sigh.

This exact same thing happened to me. Wonder if it's the same people?! I paid it and then next week they just did the agreed amount of time.

Unbelievable!

Yes. The first clean will be a deep one and allow them to assess how much time it will take in future. They should have told you though. My cleaning service provided two cleaners for the first clean. It took two and a half hours, so £30 an hour for two persons. After that I have had one cleaner for two hours a week and it works fine.

When we had a cleaner we paid £30 for one hour with two cleaners, or £30 for two hours with one cleaner depending on availability. We had them every fortnight.

First clean we agreed to a double clean but only that once.

I got rid of them when they started taking the mic with what timing they were actually in the house as it ended up never being what we agreed. We handed in our notice when they denied being here half the time despite me having ring doorbell footage and me being in the house! So keep an eye on the time they are there!

@FabFitFifties
They said they will come for 1 hour.
2 cleaners for 1 hour - £15 per person per hour.

No definitely not ok. I am a self employed cleaner and I always agree a time and price with clients beforehand. If i think I need longer I will suggest it but it is up to the client. I clean your house for two hours, not in two hours etc. I would bin them for this, not exactly trustworthy behaviour is it.

Yes, but one hour was clearly not enough as it. Would you have been happy if they'd left before all rooms were clean and tidy ?

Scary how many people are getting the maths wrong on here!

Scamsters.

Move on and get someone else

£30 per hour x 2.5 hours = £75.00

We have cleaners (a team of 2) and they do 1.5 hours each week (so 3 hours total).

We discussed with them what we wanted them to do at the first clean.

They clean, not tidy and don’t do anything like making beds.

We prefer getting each room (except our office) cleaned and we do the bedding etc at the weekend.

I would suggest you agree priorities with them before their next clean.

For my first clean there were 2 of them for 2 hours, getting up to their standards, but they told me that was needed in advance of me signing up. Since then it's 2 of them every week for an hour, one week upstairs one week downstairs

Definitely give them a list of what you want done. I have a cleaner every week for 2 hours. There's no way she could do my whole house in that time. Usually I ask her to do living room, hall and downstairs loo every time, and then a mix of dining room, kitchen, family room, landing/stairs, kids bathroom etc depending on what needs doing most. If I have had friends over for lunch the day before for example I have probably given my kitchen a good clean anyway. If I have people coming for the weekend I might get her to clean the spare room and ensuite and the dining room. Sometimes she does an hour's ironing. You get the picture...you are paying so you get to ask for what you'd like done.

Did they not visit the house first and assess? That is standard practice. If they are professional cleaners they -or more normally their manager - will provide an accurate assessment upfront. For the record my cleaners have always taken a bit longer on the 1st clean, as were getting to know the house etc, but only ever charged the agreed amount. I would try to find another cleaner in your area - ideally someone personally recommended. This doesn’t sound like a good start and I’d be wary about having potentially untrustworthy people in your home.

There is absolutely no way that they can spend a total of two hours (one hour each) to fully clean a 3 bedroom house so you will definitely need to agree a list of tasks that they consider doable in that timeframe. Particularly given it’s only every other week, so the risk to them is you clean nothing in between.

I think I need to say it once more...

They said 2 cleaners. 1 hour in total. £30 for the 1 hour.

£30 in total. For 1 hour. But 2 cleaners would attend.

They stayed for 2.5 hours.
So that is 30 + 30 + 15 = £75.

You need to clarify what you would like them to focus on if you want them to continue. We have the same setup - 2 cleaners come for an hour once a fortnight, and the house is tidied beforehand. They then just do the vacuuming, clean the floors, dust and clean bathrooms / worktops etc. No bed making or folding or anything like that, and no deep cleaning - it's just a general maintenance clean.

They manage the above perfectly well in an hour between the two of them in our house - we have a bog standard 4 bed, so it's very doable as long as you don't expect too much. This is just a miscommunication issue.