Our cleaner got offended

[Hocuspoc]

I am confused.
We have a cleaner for a couple of months now, a nice lady, but doesn't exactly stick to a schedule.
We agreed on 2 hours per week after her own assessment how much it would take her to clean the flat on weekly basis.
With the exception of first two times, she started leaving earlier, for a couple of weeks now she is staying no longer than hour and a half.
Yet, she always says at the end - 2 hours done hence x Pounds for today.
Because I don't find money on the street and because there are more things left to do every time she announces she completed the work, we decided to make a list of tasks so there is enough work to use up the 2 hours (which we are paying for).
She was absolutely livid when I introduced this plan. There was nothing out of ordinary on that list, nothing that she didn't do the first time she cleaned the flat. Yet she stormed through the flat for 2 hours to the minute and left without saying goodbye - assuming she is not coming again 🤷🏼‍♀️
I really don't understand people anymore,sigh...

I had a cleaner like this and it didn't last long op! Now I just clean myself, no dramas.

@RosesAndHellebores I am so jealous! We live in a small town with a very English population. We have had two wonderful cleaners over the last 7 years - (one moved and another gave up to work for her husband. Everyone else has been rubbish. One "deep cleaned" (with a list of tasks) a huge room in 15 mins - claiming she HAD dusted everywhere, wiped lampshades, etc. Our current one has let us down approx 1/3 of the times she should have been in the last 6 months and basically ignores the list and does what she wants. She came highly recommended, as someone that cleaned properly, in nooks and crannies, etc. etc. She too leaves 15 mins early, especially when we are not here (we have a video doorbell). I have messaged her and she says she came early (even though I was here at the time .....) We too pay £17.50/hour. She supposedly brings her own materials, but she doesn't.

I love this thread because I always wanted to hire a cleaner but felt I didn’t know how to manage one. I hired one last year who thought our house was clean and left in an hour and 15 mins. I paid for only that, and asked not to come back as I had to do the cleaning afterwards.

I now found a new cleaner, who sometimes is late, leaves slightly early, but a few times she has asked to be paid less. I don’t know why she doesn’t fill in the time with other chores. I understand that our house is generally clean and minimal, but there are lots of windows, cupboards etc that she could clean. I’m currently pregnant so I don’t want to lose her, so I have not said anything. I’m still wondering what to do while on maternity leave.

Did you use a cleaner while in mat leave? I’m sorry I know this is not the topic of the discussion.

All my cleaners have ended up knocking off early after a while. I presume it's along the lines of they have done the same work in less time.

I am so desperate to keep my trusted cleaner that I wouldn't dream of saying anything. I live in London though, high cost of living, high turnover of staff, lots of other jobs.

Definitely.

My elderly parents have a cleaner that was recommended by a friend, and she’s a wonderful cleaner!

She has a set approach for cleaning every room, doesn’t need telling. Works the full 2 hours.

If my mom wants anything specific focussing on she’ll ask her and she’ll do whatever is needed in the cleaning session instead. And she’s a fantastic cleaner. Knows what she’s doing and a lovely lady.

Mom really feels she’s hit gold with her she’s so good.

I do two hour tutoring sessions. I like to be honest so the time doesn't start until we do - usually there's chat and a cup of tea first. And I take extra work in case we finish early.

Now I charge less for two hours than per single hour so theoretically it's the same as one hour forty. However I wouldn't dream of stopping until one hour fifty at the earliest. I don't understand why people think they can be paid the same for less time spent.

If it's agreed that you'll do a job for a flat fee, that different. But an hourly rate is just that.

Personally, I would think you'd need a cleaner even more while you're on maternity leave, as you'll be recovering from the birth and caring for a newborn. Plus, at least for me, I find the house gets much dirtier when I'm spending a lot of time at home.

When she was leaving after 1 1/2 hours you should have said no it's only 1 1/2 hours can you please do so and so in the half hour left so she knows not to take advantage of you.🙄

Same and it's not just cleaners. I've done major remodeling on the house I bought a few years ago and I've experienced similar issues with the various tradespeople I've hired. If I want them to do anything close to an acceptable job, I have to supervise most of them one-on-one. Even with detailed instructions on what I want done, they'll rush through a slapdash job and leave the finishing and cleanup for me to do. And this includes highly recommended "best in the area" people. 🤷‍♀️ It's so frustrating.

I once saw my cleaner leaving early on my ring doorbell. She didn’t say anything to me and took the money I had left out, even though things clearly hadn’t been done (worktops not cleaned etc, obvious stuff).

so I mentioned I had seen her leave early and she said her DC schools had called and she had to go and pick them up. Fair enough but she didn’t mention it until I did and she was going to take the full money for not doing the job.

Years ago, late 80s, I met an elderly man who was doing some gardening near the Welsh boarder. He must have been in his mid 80s but he was small, wiry and still fit. He said that in his youth he made his way by working quickly and thoroughly. He’d give a quote for working in a field to a farmer who’d think he was getting a bargain, but this chap did the job in half the time the farmer that it would take, got his money and moved on to the next job. He was still proud of that all those years later.

I've had one do that and maybe it doesn't get better.

recommended "best in the area" people.

Recommended by who? Is it one of those companies who awarded certificates to local companies who have put themselves forward? I can't buy in to any of that, or anything "award winning", because when it comes to tradespeople I just feel it's a crock of shite...when you've contacted as many as you can who are all busy & never advertise, I have to question why those who are doing so are, in fact, doing so. Empty vessels make most noise & all that.

I know it sounds like I'm nit-picking, but I'm not - an "agency" in the context of cleaning services is very much a specific term, that is to say that in return for a monthly agency fee, the agency supplies you a self-employed cleaner, who you engage and pay directly by the hour.

The description you give is one of a cleaning service, especially as you say you are paying a per-job price & that several people attend at the same time.

My experience of an "agency" cleaner has been echoed here by that of @KitsyWitsy - despite paying the agency to manage the cleaner, you very often end up having to do that yourself. What I don't understand is why, when even the most mediocre of cleaners and cleaning services are flat-out with work that they've found via word-of-mouth, why a cleaner would want to sign up to an agency and do the same, but for even less money.

As I say, I am really not nit-picking, but the services offered by agencies -and experiences of same- are in a league of their own. And I'm not knocking people who do this work (goodness knows they can be a God-send and it's not a great job if you don't love it), but the lack of reliability is a huge PITA when you're the customer.

No. These are people recommended by neighbors and other acquaintances in the area.

Ah, fair enough. I've been lucky, in that people won't give me numbers of people they don't rate, although years ago someone begged me for the number of my mobile hairdresser...I wouldn't give it as I was desperate to cancel her as it was, if anything we were in the same boat, both wanting someone new. Mine was a good hairdresser and super reliable, but she used to bring her small children with her and of course they soon got bored. I could cope with the children, it was her that was the problem, shouting at them the whole time they were there.

Years ago, I cleaned hotel rooms, when we doubled up the tasks were so much quicker to do, like a bed change. Initial wipe round, then clean over.
check if it’s clean, if they are doing a good job and your home smells great why worry!

Totally me too. I’ve had a few and never been happy with anyone. Always a huge stress

Find another cleaner. This one's a bit a chancer. Wants two hours pay for an hour and a half's work. Not on. With her bad attitude she doesn't deserve a job. Let somebody else put up with her sulks.

That should hold true, at least theoretically, but I haven't found it true with cleaners I've hired. When there were two, they seemed to spend most of their time gossiping and giggling, not cleaning. Two actually accomplished less than one, but at double the price.

True here, too. And I hate to say it again, but it's true with most of the people I've hired to do building, yard work and home repairs, too, not just cleaners. Even if the work quality is acceptable, I find it stressful and time consuming to have to supervise them and check everything they do, especially the first time I have a new person work in my home. I don't dare to just let them get to it, as I've had cleaners and tradespeople do actual damage that I didn't notice until after they left. For instance, cleaners flushed an entire tub of disinfectant wipes down the toilet and caused the sewer line to backup. And on several occasions I've caught people "accidentally" walking away with my property, which definitely didn't sit well with me.

I think possibly you’ve not been direct enough about the issue. You tried to avoid the difficult conversation about her hours and instead you’ve basically tried to tell her how to do her job. Perhaps a more tactful conversation about your concerns that she’s charging two hours but not completing them and you feel she hasn’t done as much as she did the first time would’ve had better results.

Yes I think you are spot on. I do tend to sugarcoat when trying to communicate a complaint....
Not sure if it's too late to say it more directly next time and what effect would it have...

I would love a cleaner but could not bear the stress of it all.

Mine was completely stress free. I paid an agreed rate for the house to be cleaned to an acceptable standard. It was of no concern to me whether it took an hour and a half or three hours, it cost this same. The stress comes with paying an hourly rate and then getting bent out of shape when the job’s done in less than the time allocated.