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.

I see why you want photos. Who is making all this terrible mess and not attempting to clean up?

Only on mumsnet would people have a go at OP for cleaners having to clean a dirty floor and being paid for it. It’s dirty yes but that’s why you hire a cleaner. OP don’t let this lot upset you. Your house isn’t a dump it just was needing a cleaner. Which you paid for but didn’t get. In the real world away from this nest of vipers,you are right to expect a cleaner to deep clean when asked. Sounds like the company owner is trying to blackmail you using your photos into not posting bad review online.

Sorry but I need to disagree with many of the posters. You pay a cleaner precisely to clean - not for you to make sure it's acceptable for them to clean, not too dirty for them - that's just ridiculous. I am sure she is being paid good money and to take pictures of your house and send rude messages just because you are not satisfied with the standards (it's your right) it's unprofessional and unacceptable imo. Find another cleaner that is happy to do their job.

She probably 'moved' to 15 Yemen Road, Yemen after having to deal with the state of OP's house.

#babybrain yes window sill not seal 😭

That's immaterial. OP hired a cleaner and even specified a deep clean. Even if it's 'serious slobbery', so what? Fixing it is what OP's hiring the cleaner for!

You have got to be joking! That’s weeks worth of mess surely? It would take 5 mins to pick up the worst and turn a robot hoover on.

I’m a cleaner, I wouldn’t blink twice at that floor, I’ve seen much worse (and cleaned it without comment in less than 4 hours). She was a shit cleaner and took photos to defend against criticism when she knew she wasn’t doing a very good job.

Oh, the window sills. Not seals!

What do you do in your home that would create this much crap on the floor in a day?
I wouldn't in a week and we have 2 dogs and 4 adults 1 teen

There are actual CHUNKS and rubbish on the floor. You think this is normal? Good Lord. How often do you wash your sheets?😂

Standard 3 bed house in London with kitchen extension

its not standard size.its massive. Good luck doing that in 2 hours.

Yes!! Exactly that! A cleaner is a cleaner, not a tidier ffs. Make sure your house is tidy so the cleaner can CLEAN.

How people can live in filth amazes me.

MN is weird. That mess could easily have been made in a morning of people making breakfast before rushing off to work. Bowl of weetabix with crumbs, toast crumbs, dog walking around in the kitchen.

I tidy before my cleaner comes but I wouldn't be rushing about sweeping the kitchen floor before heading off to work so that the cleaner could come and sweep the floor.

Who are these other people who think cleaning is for other people? Not sure there is anything to ‘lol’ about really. One of them is obviously your husband. Does it not get you down that you have to live like this?

I assumed OP wanted the actual window seals wiping down which seemed a bit OTT 🥴

Yeah, I mean, I am relaxed, have three very large dogs, two children and what is essentially an open house on a farm, and my house is a palace compared to that floor 😁 that is some slovenly disrespect from the other adults.

I also wonder if OP has lost a bit of perspective about how icky it is seeing as she’s posted it online. 🫢

Me too! 🤣

I remember dm saying she realised she wasn't the sort of person that got a cleaner when someone said they had to get home because they needed to clean because the cleaner was coming. She asked what the point in having a cleaner was if you had to clean first and the person replied "I would be ashamed if they saw my house before it was cleaned." 🤣

If the cleaner had come back to the OP and said "I don't think I can do all you want in that time, what do you want prioritising?" then it would have been a different discussion.

But, yes, the floor's got quite a bit of dirt on it. But surely the cleaner would be hoovering followed by mopping anyway, and so it's not really very different if it's clean or dirty if they're doing it properly. I find it easier to clean when it's a bit dirty anyway because I can see where I've done and not miss any bit out. 🤣

By the sound of it the cleaner didn't really try.
Four hours is plenty of time to do a normal sized house - where I work has 10 hours of cleaning a week and is considerably bigger, including 2 kitchens and several sets of toilets that get a lot of use.
And I know the cleaner feels the timing is fine and does a good job. (including the window sills)

I hate this attitude. I pay a cleaner to take a load off of me, not to judge me. Come round and give me a price for the job in hand. Cleaning and tidying are hardly a world apart. If someone is messy charge them for the time it takes to tidy. It’s so petulant to refuse to tidy.

I am quite shocked at that floor. I couldn’t ignore that, even if it was due to be cleaned - that’s very slovenly.

I would invest in a robo vacuum and mop - that’ll solve half of your problems. Presumably there’s a week between cleanings, you can’t have floors like that in between, especially with kids and a baby on the way!

If you don't have one get a cordless Dyson. Have it plugged in in the kitchen or utility.
You can get the Dyson wet mops too. Worth investing in if you are a big family.
Cut down on a dirty oven by getting a huge air fryer. Safer with a baby and less bending down.
I'm newly disabled so I've made things easy for myself.
A cleaner is £15 an hour in my location.
I hate housework so I have a cleaner starting next week. She's a family member so she knows what to expect.

It looks as if there's rubbish on the floor-not just crumbs/dropped cereal.

That's really bad, OP.

Never mind the cleaner, that must be getting walking all over the rest of house.

Maybe get one of those petrol powered leaf blowers and blow the worst of the debris out of the door before the cleaner comes?

Or at least take a shovel to it and muck-out the bulk of the waste.

The disgusting crumby floor I could just about forgive. However there is what looks like an empty packet on the floor. It is incredibly disrespectful to leave actual rubbish for the cleaner to pick up.

Honestly, I’m struggling with the outrage on this thread.

If the cleaner had an issue with the amount of cleaning to do, she should have said that when the OP showed her around. Something like ‘I think it will need a deeper clean today, I’ll probably only be able to do X and Y. I’ll be able to do the window sills next time’ or whatever.
But in 4 hours, I’d expect her the cleaner to cope tbh. The floor in the kitchen needed sweeping. That’s it. It’s not like there was months and month of grease stuck to the floor.