Cleaner driving me mad!

[Strawbsss]

Been getting annoyed with my cleaner for a few weeks now.
Cutting corners, standard not as good etc.

Noticed a few times on the Ring that she's left earlier than usual... she quite often brings another cleaner with her and says "it's still a 2 hour clean but as there's two of us it only takes an hour", which is fine...

Today I check the camera to find they arrived at 12.07pm and left at 12.52pm.... I paid £50.

How do I politely let this woman know I don't want her to do my cleans anymore? She's finished now does Christmas but I'm booked in for a deep clean the first week in January (and paid the deposit) so I will want her to fulfill this, but after that I don't want her anymore.

Feeling like a wimp but I'm really fed up now.

£50!!!!!!

we used to pay £30 for two hours earlier this year. I wouldn’t be paying more than that

What does she do for a deep clean?

Cleans up all the dirt she’s allowed to build up by being a shit cleaner.

@WickedlyCharmed 🤣🤣🤣

London is one of the cheapest places to hire a cleaner. I have my own theories as to why, but it's not important. I know someone who lives in inner London and pays almost half what I do. I really don't care, because having a cleaner is a commitment and a very intimate process...those of us who give keys to other people and let them have free reign of our homes put ourselves in an incredibly vulnerable situation.

It wouldn't matter what my cleaner did, or how disappointed / let down / p*ed off I felt, there's no way I'd tell them. I would simply find a reason never to have them back. At the end of the day, I'm sacking them off, and telling them why won't enhance my life - if anything it could make it a whole lot worse, because I'd expect them to exercise their right to reply.

Added to which, you never know when you might need them to come back, or at the least bump into them in the supermarket - that's going to be awkward & a half. My mother told me it's important in this life never to burn bridges, and I live by that.

OP - your problem is you want to sack your cleaner, so find a way. Shoulder all the blame if you have to. But don't make your situation harder by off-loading all your dissatisfaction about the service she'd provided on to her. At best it will only make her sit up & improve for all her other clients. But not you.

No .... Tell her AFTER the deep clean, not before. Deposit is already paid.

25 an hour? Maybe tell her after the deep clean or she’ll do less. Just text her. I won’t be carryong on…

15 an hour is decent. I paid that

What about ask to postpone the deep clean, get her to do a normal clean for the $50. Then tell her due to her standards dropping you won’t need her services again.

was going to suggest the same

tell her you can’t afford the deep clean so just a normal clean that you’ve paid for already and then only after the clean let her know you’re stopping services - simple enough to say you’re having to cit back and cost of living etc if you don’t want confrontation

If she cleaned today then don't pay her and tell her to take the money from the £50 deposit for the deep clean!

Hi I've been a housecleaner for 20 years. Obviously this is unacceptable however it may be worth giving your cleaner another chance. Remind her you have a ring camera that notifies you of all comings and goings and to be sure to stay for the correct times. Regarding missed tasks, anyone can clean but not everyone can do it well. Best to always leave a list of tasks you want doing. It's a nuicsnxe but maybe type and print out some lists? Some agencies will have tick sheets on their website. Long term i would look for someone else who has more respect for you. Also never pay cash. Always use bank transfer. She's avoiding tax and benefits reduction and your being complicit I'm afraid.

Well if you think she's cutting corners at the moment, her deep clean is hardly likely to be very deep is it?
You don't have to politely let her know anything. If she has a contract with you, give her the required notice. If you have her via an agency, let them know you want axreplacement person.
If you are cash-in-handing this arrangement, just tell her to fuck off because she's taking the piss.
Again, another example of women retreating into the 1950s, too scared to deal with the trades people (that's man's work) or answer the doorbell.

It could be the other cleaner that comes with cutting corners and not the actual cleaner you deal with… pull her up on it and she will make sure she does it by herself or atleast double check everywhere before leaving

This. And collect your keys.

I think I’d say I didn’t need the deep clean in January so can it just be a normal 2 hour clean at £50 (bloody hell that is A LOT though), and not rebook it.

Be home when it’s done, and then terminate the arrangement and request your key back there and then.

Agree with this.
Once she's done the next clean, say that you've decided not to have a cleaner now so that was the last clean from her and get your keys back.
Don't make excuses or try to explain.

Does she have a key? Just tell her after deep clean she does not need notice

My cleaner used my products

Is your house clean ?

What would concern me is that she has a doorkey. Even if she gives it back, she may have a copy. Probably a key change needed to add to the cost.

Great idea

I'm so sorry this has happened to you 😭
I run my own tiny cleaning business and it's so disappointing that there's people out there doing this.
I sometimes genuinely miss the odd thing but doing half a job isn't ok, neither is charging £50 for two people to do less than an hour's work!

Please know that just saying "thank you but we've decided to no longer have a cleaner" or even "we're trying to cut costs so unfortunately we can't afford to have a cleaner anymore" is more than enough, if you don't like confrontation then those are easy ways to stop it.
I've had similar messages from customers and I of course understand and don't probe them, I ALWAYS worry that it's because of something I've done but then I always do the best job I can possibly do, so worrying comes naturally to me as I want to be the best I can be - it sounds like this cleaner(s) will only be concerned that she can't rip you off anymore 😔

Personally I'd also cancel the deep clean (depends on her cancellation process but mine is if cancelled in less than 24 hours then part payment required but with a deep clean I usually don't even ask for that!) as there's plenty of time to cancel but that's of course up to you.

I hope you find an honest cleaner, bless you 😭

Cheeky mare!
I once had a cleaner who was absolutely useless. She wouldn’t do the best job and, wimp that I am, I couldn’t summon up the courage to get rid of her. I came back unexpectedly from work one day to find my washing machine and tumble dryer on and my own cheeky mare of a cleaner jumped out of her skin when she saw me coming in the back door. She said that her ‘washer was broken, so she had to borrow mine!’ 😳 Not sure how long she had been doing her laundry at mine, but it would explain the sky high electricity bills I used to have!
When we moved house, I told her I wouldn’t be needing a cleaner any more as it was a much smaller house! (told you I was a wimp!!)

Is she just getting the job done in good time and therefore leaving? If the standard is to your liking and her usual I don’t see the issue with her leaving early

if however she’s not cleaning properly that’s another matter

we get so fixed on I paid for an hour we don’t often see if the job is done if it’s done early

if you don’t want to use her services just tell her, a simple text I no longer require your services should suffice