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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is this standard practice having a cleaner?

203 replies

lightcurtains · 30/01/2023 19:59

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?

OP posts:
Jaxxy · 31/01/2023 20:15

so I think the time they have done is fair for a first clean as they will be moving furniture and getting into jobs like you do when doing a spring clean ie skirting boards, kickplates, etc - they should however have checked with you that you were most that it would be more on the first day.

BookWar0m · 31/01/2023 20:23

lightcurtains · 30/01/2023 21:11

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.

Sorry, I couldn’t help. So many people getting confused.

Spelling it out even more.

  • cost of one cleaner per hour = £15
  • time booked 1 hour
  • number of cleaners 2
  • total cost cleaner 1 = £15
  • total cost cleaner 2 = £15
  • TOTAL COST: £30
  • Total time both cleaners spent cleaning 2 1/2hours
  • total cost cleaner 1 for 2 1/2 hours work = £37.50 (£15 + £15 + £7.50)
  • total cost cleaner 2 for 2 1/2 hours work = £37.50 (£15 + £15 + £7.50)
  • TOTAL COST: £75

I don’t have actual advice OP other than what people said about communication.

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 31/01/2023 20:26

First time job always takes a while, especially as they didn't know the house, layout, where to put away stuff etc.

Having done a blast, they'll be quicker next time.

More a miscommunication than them ripping you off and sounds like you've all agreed to keep it at 1 your going forward anyway.

Forgooodnesssakenow · 31/01/2023 20:29

lightcurtains · 30/01/2023 20:12

It's a 3 bedroom house.
They said they might go over by 30 mins as it's a first clean but it went over by 1.5 hours.

2 cleaners for an hour is 2 hours of cleaning.

So that is £60

They went over by half an hour so and extra £15 each which would be £90 total.

If anything they've undercharged you.

BadNomad · 31/01/2023 20:35

Forgooodnesssakenow · 31/01/2023 20:29

2 cleaners for an hour is 2 hours of cleaning.

So that is £60

They went over by half an hour so and extra £15 each which would be £90 total.

If anything they've undercharged you.

Show quote history

2 cleaners for 2.5 hours = 5 hours of cleaning @£15 an hour = £75

CrazyLadie · 31/01/2023 20:47

ringoutsolsticebells · 30/01/2023 20:04

Yes, you are paying £30 per hour. 2 cleaners each working one hour is £60. Thirty mins is £15

Show quote history

It was 30 for both and if it was 60 per hour the half hour would be charge at 30 not 15.

CrazyLadie · 31/01/2023 20:52

Myneighboursnorlax · 30/01/2023 20:16

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?

Show quote history

If it was 30 oer hour oer cleaner the extra half hour would have cost 30 not 15

CrazyLadie · 31/01/2023 20:54

Bemyclementine · 30/01/2023 20:25

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 not, th2 hours are an hour per cleaner at 60 so half an hour would be 30, they are chancing their lucj

harrassedmumto3 · 31/01/2023 20:56

Yes. The first clean is a deeper one. It will be plain sailing from now on though.

CrazyLadie · 31/01/2023 20:57

EzzieM · 30/01/2023 20:42

“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 🤷‍♀️

Proper vacuuming would require moving furniture 😉

CrazyLadie · 31/01/2023 21:03

Tippexy · 30/01/2023 21:02

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

Oh yes 😅🤣

comfyshoes2022 · 31/01/2023 21:14

First cleaning sessions are usually a lot longer.

Hellybelly84 · 31/01/2023 21:24

CrazyLadie · 31/01/2023 20:57

Proper vacuuming would require moving furniture 😉

Show quote history

😂 I’d like to know how anyone can properly vacuum without moving furniture (unless you live in a totally minimalist house). I’d say properly vacuuming is moving everything out the way (coffee tables, rugs etc) and getting under sofa/beds. In a 3 bed house, thats the best part of an hour to thouroughly vacuum.

I wouldn’t be paying a cleaner to run a vacuum around furniture. We do that after we get home from work and wouldn’t call it proper cleaning.

Emsy80 · 31/01/2023 21:29

lightcurtains · 30/01/2023 20:03

We booked for 1 hour as there were 2 cleaners. So thought 1 hour would be sufficient.

They said they stayed longer to 'get on top of the cleaning' so it's easier for next time.

But we have booked them for every other week so surely this would be the case every time they come if it's fortnightly?

I am really surprised they have now said this afterwards and the fee has no doubled.

People really underestimate the time that cleaners put in to getting houses up to the owners expected spec. People will book for one hour and leave a list of things such as dust the 43 shelves with 252 ornaments as well as hoover mop disinfect, windows, pots, dishwasher, cupboards etc BUT if you book for one hour, we do one hour and do as much as realistic. If you want more doing you then agree to pay more. You can't just charge someone without agreement. If it was me I would have done a one hour clean and explained that your expectations are not able to fit in to a one hour time slot. What you don't see or recognise are the places you don't usually look like door frames top of cupboards, windoe frames etc.

CelestiaNoctis · 31/01/2023 21:33

I would make it very clear that you'll pay that this time but the price will not change from what's agreed again or you'll have to terminate the contract. But you don't want to do that because what they've said is understandable and they did an amazing job etc.

IdisagreeMrHochhauser · 31/01/2023 21:38

This reads like a GCSE Maths problem and so many people are getting it wrong.

Two cleaners for one hour each is the equivalent of one cleaner for two hours.

T1Dmama · 31/01/2023 23:15

2 cleaners for 1 hour means you had 2 hours of cleaning.
£30 an hour though???
If you only asked for an hour and they sent two I’d be telling them no way and sacking them!

Zonder · 01/02/2023 03:48

T1Dmama · 31/01/2023 23:15

2 cleaners for 1 hour means you had 2 hours of cleaning.
£30 an hour though???
If you only asked for an hour and they sent two I’d be telling them no way and sacking them!

Poor Op! She has explained this many times.

The arrangement was 2 cleaners to come for an hour for £30.
Effectively £15 an hour per cleaner but she gets it done in one hour by two cleaners.
They then stay 2 and a half hours and charge £75 which is still £15 an hour per cleaner but she didn't agree to them doing the extra.

As someone who cleans said upthread, you expect to pay for the cleaning they can do in the set time, not for a deep clean in as much time as they like.

Zonder · 01/02/2023 03:51

The OP should make the decision really. We trialed a new cleaner last week. We have always had a cleaner for 3 hours and don't expect them to do everything every week. This new cleaner said she would have to do 4 hours to get it all done. We tried to explain our usual arrangement that some things don't get done every week but she wasn't having any of it. So of course we didn't keep her on.

KendrickLamaze · 01/02/2023 04:17

So they have skanked you on price with no notice and then after the fact told you that they broke something so they will reduce the bill? Who are these jokers?

Absolutely not! Pay them for the additional 30 mins you agreed was acceptable but take off the cost of the item.

Find someone else and write an honest review of what happened.

If you were in while they cleaned, you should have asked what they were still doing there. If not, make sure they don't have a key.

I say this as someone who cleaned, ran a cleaning business and has used cleaners.

Lozois99 · 01/02/2023 05:15

i used to pay £30 to have two cleaners come
to my house for one hour. So essentially paying them £15 each. Yours are
taking the piss but it could be a breakdown in communication

ReformedWaywardTeen · 01/02/2023 05:34

It's not a good start is it?

They feel dishonest and did they only own up to a breakage when you queried their fee?

Are they agency or independent?

I think I would want to get someone else in. The fact you had stripped the beds already, and they hoovered and wiped some sides down I think they're playing you and no, I wouldn't pay and would tell them you won't be continuing with them due to their dishonesty.

ArightFruityLoaf · 01/02/2023 07:09

Eixample · 30/01/2023 21:37

I would look for someone else. In 2.5 h they’ve communicated poorly, overcharged you, broken something and folded your toilet paper into a point.
(Only half kidding about the toilet paper — I don’t think it’s a great sign because I’d be looking for someone who cleans like a normal person cleans their home, not the superficial showy job a hotel cleaner does.)

Not sure what sort of hotels you have stayed in. But at mine, the cleaning is thorough and deeply cleaned often. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Additionally, the times being quoted on here are odd to me. You must have teeny tiny homes or find a sweep, polish and squirt of toilet duck an adequate idea of clean.

Eixample · 01/02/2023 08:09

ArightFruityLoaf · 01/02/2023 07:09

Not sure what sort of hotels you have stayed in. But at mine, the cleaning is thorough and deeply cleaned often. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Additionally, the times being quoted on here are odd to me. You must have teeny tiny homes or find a sweep, polish and squirt of toilet duck an adequate idea of clean.

Show quote history

Hotels are notoriously poorly cleaned irrespective of their quality, as hotel cleaners are allowed a very small time for each room and concentrate on leaving visible signs of having cleaned. You can find plenty of stories about it in reputable newspapers if you google.
At a hotel you own or run, the cleaning is deep and thorough? Or in your house? You don’t make it clear.
A normal person usually cleans their home well when they do clean it because they live there and it’s in their interest. It’s the having time and will to do it that’s the problem, not that people don’t have the skills.

Hadtochangeforthisone · 01/02/2023 08:17

Above all else this thread has demonstrated some of the most appalling reading comprehension amongst (presumably) adults, that I have ever witnessed.

Don't get me started on the maths. All the more shocking because Lightcurtains could not have been more clear.

The cleaners charge £15 per hour. This is an average cost.

Therefore one cleaner for one hour is £15.
One cleaner for 2 hours is £30
Just as 2 cleaners for 1 hour is £30

Therefore by both cleaners working for an extra 1.5 hrs the additional charge is £45 making the total charge £75.

All of the above is however irrelevant if the increased time was not agreed or discussed before the clean commenced.