To talk to cleaner about this and not use again

[betray]

We went away and paid our cleaner 4 hours to clean the house
She came and spent 1.hr 20 mins there and saw it on the door bell
We home swap and our last two guests said the house was not clean
We thought they were being fussy and couldn't understand
This home swap she spent 1hr 21 minutes there
I'm worried these guests will complain house isn't clean again
I need her to sort the house for our return
I want her to do the return clean as I haven't got any notice but she needs to unpack our groceries too
If we get another bad rating for cleanliness it's going to jeopardise our future swaps which is how we go on holiday
I'm so hurt
What shall I do? Say something or just leave and not use again? So so upset

Call her out.

They haven't really thought have they. The others have said don't rely on someone unless you know they are good and consistent. Or while you're looking for someone else do it yourself. Not just a plain stupid comment like yours was.

I'm not sure why you can't just talk to her and explain the bad reviews, the ring door proof and pay her for the hours she did.

I don't understand the worry of a bad review from her, surely you can leave reviews for her business and explain the dishonesty re hours worked and standard.

It's a non issue. She's shit and lied. Fire her get someone else.

It's a suggestion.
Apology for jumping to conclusions accepted.

It's there as a suggestion, from me and from others.

I would pay her to mitigate the risk of retaliation that the OP has mentioned.

Also mitigating the risk of an actual bad review as well as the risk of stress of worrying about the potential of a bad review.

It is just the easier option for a lot of reasons. It may not be fair but it’s sometimes worth the cost to reduce further risk of stress.

You've paid her to do a job and she's not done it. She's put your business at risk as a result. She absolutely has to go, but of course you're worried about her maliciously damaging your business. I would tell her you're no long able to pay her, wish her well, and then look for someone else. Of course you should be able to outsource cleaning. Why not? If you get someone great it will make a big difference to your life. No point adding stress when you can pay someone to help.

@Finestreason

Yes that's the thing our business is entirely unrelated to home swapping which btw has been amazing for our family
Think I'm inclined to agree on paying and fobbing off but no explanation

I'm very over emotional over everything it is my biggest flaw. I'm pretty sure I've got AdHd and I feel rejected and hurt by the tiniest of things incl the comments on here telling me to do it myself etc

Thank you all for the support after the initial bites from posters who might be resentful or jealous I have the option to use a cleaner

You are feeling rejected and hurt at the suggestion you clean your own property?
It really was only a suggestion (because it might have saved stress, at least in the short term), please try to take it as a simple suggestion and in no way a criticism or comment on you as a person.
I hope you get it sorted - the reality is that even a cleaner who is the perfect fit for one situation might be an awful fit for an apparently similar set up (and vice versa).

To let someone into your home to do a job without you there needs a level of trust. The trust you have in this woman has been broken. She has effectively stolen from you and is damaging your reputation by not doing a proper job. Cut your losses now and find someone else. Don’t bother listening to any excuses from her, it’s not worth it.

I agree with @Warum . It sounds like rich people's problems to me, all this air bnb whatever it is. Why if you have three kids are you swapping their home all the time and causing them upheaval? I mean, I could understand it if your children were grown up, but this doesn't sound good for them.

betray
Great suggestion

To do a service I am paying for 🙌🙏 thank you for this!
*
I don't need to justify anything to you but maybe you should try travelling with three kids and getting your home into an air bnb state of cleanliness and tidyness before a flight 😂😂😂😂

I agree with @Warum . It sounds like rich people's problems to me, all this air bnb whatever it is. Why if you have three kids are you swapping their home all the time and causing them upheaval? I mean, I could understand it if your children were grown up, but this doesn't sound good for them.*

Wow! Just wow! What a nasty and unhelpful comment.

How is it nasty? She herself said that travelling with 3 kids is arduous, yet they experience upheaval from their own home. I feel sorry for the kids. It doesn't sound like they have stability.

What is the point of this comment - other than to try and shame people who employ cleaners?

@Warum
To be fair suggesting she cleans her house herself isn't a particularly helpful comment. Anyone who gets a cleaner does so either because they are unable or unwilling to clean their own houses for whatever reason. That's a given. So if she is employing a cleaner, she will have reason for doing so. If cleaning her own house was an option, then I'm sure she'd be doing that already.

"It sounds like rich people's problems to me"

You can't see what's wrong with this?
Not all people who employ cleaners are rich and a cleaner not working their full hours is not a rich people problem. You have no idea how often she house swaps or her personal circumstances. So yes your comment was nasty and judgemental and not necessary.

I think in this circumstance your worries are such you should just put some elbow grease in and do the cleaning yourself

OP, honestly, it's stressful enough going on holiday without all the additional worry re getting your house up to rental clean standards and then worrying about reviews. I think I'd be inclined to just book a holiday cottage rather than swapping.
Re your cleaner, she's taking the piss. You are too nice, get rid of her.

I would have to let the cleaner know that there was a complaint and that they were not doing the work. No way would I pay for four hours for 1 hour 20.

I would not worry about about the cleaner leaving a bad review or retaliating. You have evidence, should she submit an invoice for 8 hours' of service provided, that she is defrauding you. That evidence being the camera footage and possibly the complaints about the cleanliness.

Re you being 'soft and anxious' I expect she's relying on this to get away with scamming you. I was similar in nature to you. BUT maybe think about it in the following way.

Raising the issue with her is going to be, what, 5 or 8 minutes of an 'uncomfortable for you' discussion and then you'll get on with your life. Compare that small amount of time to your lifespan and it puts it in perspective. And it gets easier to do each time and it's good for your self-esteem.

If it were me, I would write brief notes to ensure I covered the points I wanted to make in case I got flustered. I would keep my tone as calm and factual as possible. Tell the cleaner how much you are prepared to pay ie just for the time she was present. If they are unhappy with that they should take you to the small claims court. I doubt very much they will.

By going back in a time machine?

You may not be able to do this anyway now.

Certainly in Scotland, holiday swaps are classed as short term rentals and are covered by the new fire regulations. This means hard wired linked fire alarms in every habitable room ( I've had to put 7 in my tiny 3 bed FHL), fire doors and non key operated locks, emergency lighting and a whole raft of regulations.

Check the rules where you live. Wales and England are covered by the new legislation too from the 1st October but I don't know if swapping here is considered a STR.

The house swap idea sounds brilliant for holidays - can you link or PM the service please.

To make a suggestion which might cause less stress, at least in the short term.
As for shaming anyone having s cleaner, why on earth would I do that?

She's talking about the next clean though, so no time travel needed.