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

Not insurmountable tho is it. Hun

@EnjoythemoneyJane response is the best. It's honest and polite. Don't be a push over OP. Why on earth would you pay for something you didn't receive?

I'd tell her you booked for a 4 hr clean on xyz days and from your ring doorbell you know she didn't clean for all the time you hired her for. So I'd say you're happy to pay for the hours she was there but you won't be paying extra for hours she wasn't in the house for. Just be direct.

OP has implied she has some health issues that will make cleaning harder. It's also ok to hire a cleaner.

The comments in here are wild. No one gets paid for their free time so why should your cleaner. A simple “I noticed you didn’t work your contracted hours this week and I therefore won’t be using your services again” will suffice.

@User0000009

well it clearly is for Op otherwise she wouldn’t be forking out money for a professional to do it!

OP, sadly I have seen many similar threads recently. I think you are being too nice! ignore the people making weird comments. get rid of her and next time spend time at home while they clean so you can assess them more clearly. and also ask them to send photos of each area after clean if you are not going to be home maybe?

You are providing a service, she fucked you over and jeopardised your reputation for that service. Where is your anger here?! A man wouldn’t be diplomatic. A man would doc her wages, and dismiss her immediately for dishonesty. Seriously OP why all the diplomacy and politeness towards someone who’s taken you for a total mug twice!

I wouldn't pay her for work that she hasn't done. Ask her for an invoice that details the hours worked, then if she overcharges you, all you need to do is tell her that the doorbell showing the times she arrived and departed and that you will pay her for those hours.

Then tell her that due to the guest complaints, it is clear that she cannot provide the service that you need and that you don't need her again.

Just be firm. You don't owe her anything as she has been ripping you off!

I'm astonished that cleaners think they can get away with it when they know the property has a ring doorbell. It displays an extra cheeky level of cheeky fuckery!

OP let her do the final clean and put your chilled stuff away. Check the doorbell to see how long she stays. Then for any outstanding sessions not yet paid (I'm not sure if she's been paid up to date except for this last one) pay for the EXACT time she's spent there.

Send a polite message to say that you were concerned about complaints from guests so checked the doorbell footage and realise that the reason was the limited attendance time such you have now paid for. As she clearly does not have sufficient time available to attend for 4 hour cleans you have decided not to continue with the arrangement but wish her all the best.

I really do think you need to tell her why you are dispensing with her services. Think of it as a duty of care to future trusting customers who she is less likely to rip off.

It is understandable to feel disappointed and let down but you really have no need to feel hurt at a personal level. I have adhd too and I tended to overthink all sorts of stuff as "rejection" (I.e. why would she do that unless she thought badly of me etc. ) but I've managed to train myself out of it.

"Do your own cleaning" is not very helpful. People have cleaners because they can't or don't want to! If everyone said overnight OK I'll do all my own cleaning, that would be hugely problematic for the many people (mostly women and typically those who don't have professional qualifications and sometimes language barriers to doing more skilled work) who rely on income from cleaning.

On mumsnet there seems to be a sort of guilt complex about cleaners - middle class women feeling bad or judgemental about engaging working class women to "do the dirty work", as if it forces them to remain poor and downtrodden. From some of the replies on this and other threads it seems to translate into not actually expecting the poor woman to clean in return for the money! Oh she was booked for 4 hours but only did 1? Well pay her for 4 anyway you bourgeois bitch! Did a crap job of actually cleaning? So what, get on your hands and knees and do it yourself you lazy cow! Madness. And an absolute insult to cleaners who do a fab job and deserve every penny of their fees.

I don’t think you need to justify yourself to anyone else here!

Yes, you thought the 2 previous guests had been fussy about cleaning and now after seeing evidence that this one hasn’t cleaned, justifiably you’re annoyed and feel cheated. I’d either pay her as you’ve done but say you don’t want her back or pay her hours she’s worked.

No.

rich people problems is “I paid for a cleaner to sort my house while I was at a villa because I didn’t want to do it when I got back”.

It is not I use a cleaner because we house swap as a cheap way of getting regular holidays.

Forgive me if I've missed it but I haven't read what her excuse was for only doing part of the agreed time, not once but twice. Possibly 3 times.She obviously knows you can see her arrival and departure times so it's odd. Once maybe but 2/3 times without an explanation?

I don’t feel theres any need for anyone to feel ‘sorry’ for cleaners tbh. Round my way cleaners command the same or more per hour than many professionals. To be honest if I was in good health I would consider it!!

OFGS

Why would you be paying for 8 hours when you have proof that the cleaner was there for 1.21m and 1.20m on both occasions - you'd be paying her for 3 hours at most.

First you need to ask her why she was only there for the 1.20 and 1.21m as you can give her a chance to explain. Then explain that you have had complaints about the cleaning from your guest swaps. Does she want to work the hours or just be paid for the 3 hours she actually worked?

I wouldn’t fob her off, she hasn’t done the job as set out. You’ve had two complaints (which you should have addressed better at the time, did you give a discount to the poor people turning up to a dirty home for example?).

Tell her you’ve had another complaint and when you checked the camera you saw she was only there for one hour and twenty when she was paid for 4. If you brought it to her attention after the first complaint and she did it again then don’t use her anymore. It’s really not fair on the people you’re house swapping with.

Um, that's not how it works. Can you imagine?
If you don't stand by your response .. don't post it. Definitely don't get huffy if OP responds to you.

I would just write a comprehensive room by room tick sheet.

If it were me I'd go much harder (though i understand why you don't want to).

Hey (name) - I can see from our Ring that you only did 1'20 although you were contracted and paid for 4. That's money you shouldn't have taken from us - plus, because you didn't clean the house, we've had a bad review that will affect us going forward. How are you going to fix this?

1/10. Must try harder.

If you are paying her for 4 hours.
That’s what she should work.
Dont pay for something you don’t get.
Meanwhile I wouldn’t use her again.

As you are worried about her putting up bad reviews I would not make too much of a fuss. Just don’t use her again. Say you’re going to do it yourself instead. Then employ someone else.
Reply to negative posts about the house not being clean with “ apologies, we have now employed another cleaner and will check everything personally aswell “.

i dont understand why you had to even ask
what is the likely answer,

@TruthSeeker2023 I suppose you feel the same about restaurants, babysitters, gardeners, grocery delivery services, car washes or any other service? Ridiculous comment.