Abusive cleaner took pics of my home

[ChicExpert]

My lovely self employed cleaner went back to her own country. New cleaner started this week. House is tidy but dirty floor and surfaces, needs a good vacuum/mop/wiping up. We hire 4 hours a week for a deep clean of the downstairs(kitchen dining living room)/hallway and stairs. Standard 3 bed house in London with kitchen extension, takes me 2 hours to do but pay for 4 so the job gets done properly.

New cleaner came and in 4 hours couldn't clean what we asked which is just vacuum/mop and wipe down all surfaces. Had to ask her to clean individual window seals as she didn't and when she left I noticed the living room window seal wasnt cleaned. She broke my glass chopping board and didn't say anything and left chemicals in the oven which I told her not to clean. Last cleaner was able to wipe the skirting boards and didn't leave a spec of dirt in corners, this cleaner left many areas dirty.

I said nothing and thought I won't hire again. The company messaged me why I don't want to hire again and I said I wasn't happy with the clean nothing else.

I then get very abusive messages and pictures of my floor being dirty saying my house is disgusting. Didn't get to respond before I was blocked by the company.

AIBU? I feel completely violated and want to complain some how. She took photos of my home without permission.

Don't even know what to do now and feel uncomfortable using another cleaner. Husband says I'm over reacting :( am I?

FYI I've added a photo of my home before the cleaner came. Floors are clearly dirty but the kitchen is tidy/needs wipe down.

Op I think this is one of those times where mumsnet goes completely outside of what is a normal response. Kitchen floors get grubby when you’re cooking, looks like it’s the access to the garden too so people and animals track dirt in. It could very quickly look like that, but it’s very quickly dealt with with a hoover and a mop. So completely appropriate for a cleaner to do!

I wouldn’t cook for them unless they emptied it and I say that as someone with an absolutely bone idle husband who does nothing. The fact that your brothers are doing nothing is disgraceful- they don’t live in the Middle East and they are taking the p

Also, nobody said that it’s not possible for fooors to get this dirty. It’s very obvious that people are saying, it’s not normal to step over the filth for 7 days until the cleaner arrives!

Again, I’m referencing the men in the household and not OP who is clearly trying to stay on top of things while living with a bunch of lazy slob men. I’d 100% refuse to cook for them or clean up after them. Actually, I’d move out and take my mum with me so they’d starve to deal in squalor (assuming their penises don’t allow them to cook either 😂)

Time to have a tough conversation with your family, OP.

"I engaged a cleaner to do the cleaning that I can't keep on top of all by myself and basically she has fired us because she thinks we live in squalor. If the rest of you leave the house so dirty that even a professional cleaner won't do the job, what am I supposed to do? The reason for getting a cleaner is so that I don't spend all my time cleaning the house because none of the rest of you lift a finger. But apparently we can't even have a cleaner unless you have at least some minimum standards of cleanliness. If you won't do that I will move out to an Airbnb and let you live in a pigsty."

And yes, refuse to cook for them.

I know you were referencing the men but to say her kids deserve better and she should move out is hardly an appropriate response to some grime on the kitchen floor.

Why do you have to live with your adult brothers? Can't you and your husband and child move out into your own place?

I’m sorry that the cleaning company shamed you. There are also some Hinch style nutters on this thread. I know a few hoarders who have cleaners and the cleaners manage best they can and come back. Also cleaners do student houses, offices (blocked loos!) etc- so yours (dirty but not messy) should not have been a shock at all. 4 hours for a normal sized downstairs only should be more than enough. Just get a new one, look for an independent and word of mouth- ask neighbours who they use.

I would not get a robotic hoover with cats/dogs, unless someone is around to supervise. Imagine the smeared mess if one had shat or vomited!! I would get a stick one and leave it in the kitchen for a quick whizz round every few days, must be horrible to walk on crunchy floor.

I can't believe people are saying the floor was dirty before the cleaner came. Why would you have a cleaner and clean it yourself?

My slate floor is far harder to clean properly, I would never have one by choice. The OP's floor would be super easy to vacuum and the rest of the kitchen looks easy too for a professional cleaner. Plus the cleaner had no business in contacting her in any event.

MN is such a batshit place at times.

I love the way this is couched in terms of “culture”

It isn’t “culture” at all. All the men in your family Op and their peers have done a number on you and your female peers.

It is good old fashioned abuse.

But by all means carry on thinking it’s “culture” and have your children grow up thinking exactly the same. Depressing

Hear hear.

I stopped using the robot vacuum as it gets tangled in wires which we can't properly keep putting away.

I can’t believe you would not look at that floor and think…. WTF

I mean male, female, pregnant, not pregnant…. stepping on that to make a cup of tea, watching it accumulate and not just reaching for a broom… un fathomable !

If you want a deep clean then you need to pick up rubbish and sweep floors otherwise there isn't enough time to get it all done.

I'm with you OP, a cleaner is hired to clean ffs! If the floor is dirty you are paying her to clean it.
Don't feel bad, 4 hours is a long time, she should have been able to make it spotless.

"Oh the floor is dirty, but cleaner is coming soon, so it'll soon be clean".

It's unfathomable to clean up for a cleaner.

Do you also have a dog and bark at the postman?

Another vote for a Eufy robot vacuum. If you wait for Black Friday you'll be able to get a bargain. The prices go up to over £1k so it's impossible to recommend a specific model without knowing your budget. I suggest getting one that vacuums and mops and has a station to collect the dust and dry the mop. You can set them on a timer so they automatically turn on in the middle of the night so you'll come downstairs to a clean floor every morning. The only downsides are that the floor will have to be reasonably clear when you go to bed and they can't handle loose wires on the floor so these need to be clipped to the wall.

Just me being nosy, but how do 6 people and a kid fit into a 3 bedroom house?

There are some very unpleasant people on this thread and some who just can’t be bothered to read what the OP said explaining that she meant sills and not seals.

What the bathrooms are like is irrelevant as the cleaner was hired for downstairs only . 4 hours is long enough to have a decent go at it , especially as OP had made sure the kitchen surfaces were tidy and the previous cleaner managed in this time.

I’m laughing at the poster who said the cleaner fired her, this all started after the cleaning company messaged to ask why OP hadn’t rehired - not exactly getting fired is it?!

There’s a bit from MN below the box where people type replies asking for people to be respectful, some posters need to read it and remind themselves as there are some very nasty responses whuch are totally unwarranted and give the impression of people posting to be deliberately nasty.

Honestly, some people on here! The state of the house (presumably because the previous cleaner hasn't been for awhile) is irrelevant, the cleaner should just say it wasn't enough time to get everything done this time, not have a strop and get all defensive. So unprofessional.
Just look for a new cleaner OP but give them your priorities to clean and do a walk around with them to tell them what you need doing.

What level of stupid could produce a comment like this?! How is it "disrespectful" (God give me strength!) to expect someone to do their job? OP didn't "leave mess" - she tidied the kitchen (just as the photo shows) so the CLEANER could CLEAN it - it's LITERALLY what they're being PAID to do!
Thank heavens the "vacuous with a vacuum" brigade on this thread are in the minority! 🙄

Just ignore cretinous comments like the one you're responding to here, OP. Actually, the majority of comments are very supportive of you and think that the behaviour of the cleaner and her agency is reprehensible. I honestly wouldn't be wasting any time on judgemental comments from posters who are too lazy and/or too thick to use the "OP Posts: See all" functionality to understand the whole story.🙄

You had a lazy cleaner working for an unprofessional agency with dismal comprehension skills. If they were so horrified by the state of your kitchen floor and therefore her working conditions, why would they have asked when she could come back?

As you can tell by many of the posts here, she has probably got used to people doing most of the job for her before she turns up. Nice of her to sweep the floor crumbs to one side for you and leave them there plus waste time doing jobs you didn't ask her to do. I think I'd get a robovac to clean up the floor overnight especially in the kitchen area. It's bits of foodstuff that's going to get stuck on the underside of feet/slippers and traipsed through the rest of the house which is just gross. Will help you keep on top of it whilst sharing the house with slobs. Hope you have better luck with the next cleaner.

Me too. Some very nasty replies only made to make the OP feel bad and for no other reason. Seriously, who on earth would be stupid enough to hire a cleaner, then clean before they come. Do you do that with other people you employ as well? Hire a brickie and build a wall for him before he arrives? Hang your wallpaper before your decorator arrives? Hire a chef and cook the food before he arrives to show him how efficient you are? I can't work out if people are just piling on to the OP to headfuck her or are genuinely very thick.

If the OP was in a position to clean before the cleaner got there she wouldn't need to hire a cleaner would she. It doesn't matter if the floor is spotless or has a 100 crumbs on it, the cleaner will still brush and mop. Same job. An absolute waste of time and effort to brush it before she arrives. Tidy so the cleaner can do her job, yes, but nothing more needed.

The cleaning company sound unbelievably unpleasant and unprofessional. I'd just let people know how awful they were and ask for recommendations for a new cleaner. OP, often sites like Next-door are good to ask for personal recommendations.

But this is what their job is?

It’s just general household dirt not a biohazard

I don’t have a cleaner and while I’d leave the house tidy if I did I wouldn’t be carrying out the cleaning she was paid to do

Ooh, "Black Friday" is always around my birthday - I know what I'm going to be asking for this year! 😃 (And yes, I know it's tragic to be asking for a cleaning appliance as a birthday present. 😟🤣)