Cleaner... am I right to think this is not good enough or AIBU

[spaghettihooper]

Hired a cleaner for the first time in my life as I've gone back to work (from home) but have my toddler here so don't get as much housework done as I would like.
I thought I'd give a cleaner a try, and booked a 3 hour clean (they sent 2 cleaners who stayed 1.5hours so fair enough). Not really knowing what to expect from it I guess but I really thought the basics would have been done so please tell me if I am wrong to expect the following tasks to be done within the time ( I have a 4 bed house with one bathroom which wasn't overly dirty just needed general cleaning and they told me 3 hours was more than enough time to clean a whole house):
-Bathroom window cill not even wiped (toothpaste marks)
-Didn't move washing hamper/waste bin when cleaning bathroom floor so dusty underneath
-Didn't wipe down kitchen cupboards
-Didn't clean inside microwave
-Didn't descale around bathroom tap

I could go on, but I'm just wondering if I'm being petty or if this is the norm. I.e. do I rebook them or look for a different cleaner.

Please take it up with the owner of the business. More then likely the two girls who did the clean will not be the person you spoke with and she will be sending her team out top jobs and if they are cutting comers she/he will need to know. I’m a cleaner and do pride myself on how I leave somewhere. I don’t believe in cutting corners (for this exact reason) and it really doesn’t take long to clean a microwave. Solution sprayed in it and close the door for what 5 minutes and it’s an easy job. It baffles me how people don’t want to leave a lasting impression.

These sound like deep clean jobs to me. id ask for a list of what is included in a basic clean. When I get a new cleaner, I ask for a deep clean first. You pay more for this. Then it’s all cleaned to their standard ready for next time where they will just keep on top of everything by doing maybe one of the jobs you have listed each week. Obviously if you want something specific you need to ask for that to be done and they will quote you accordingly. I wouldn’t switch just yet. Communication is key! Once they have been a few times you will likely find they get a feel for the house and can get more done

It’s quite variable really I think. My current cleaner is amazing. I have a big house; 5 bedrooms 3 bathrooms. My children are all adults now but one lives here with her boyfriend and another is in university and lives at home. Initially I said not to do their rooms but she came to me after a while and said she would as she had time. She comes for 3 hours a week also. She will change bedclothes or clean inside a cupboard etc if I ask.
she does say that our house is quick to clean though as it’s very neat when she comes. Also as someone else says, she’s been coming for about 2 years now so knows the house really well.

I would mention it as none of those are outrageous expectations. I have found, though, that there are a couple of things my cleaner rarely does, despite me asking. I guess they're just a bit of a blind spot for her. Overall she is very reliable, thorough and reasonably priced, so I just do these couple of small things myself each week because the overall set up is good.

Many cleaners won't use viakal now as it can cause damage to taps that they don't want to be responsible for. My cleaner will always clean taps though and give them a good shine.

I think it’s about having a conversation and being clear on what you want to see. I have a 5 bed 2 bath house and we have 3hrs cleaning each week. I’m realistic - I know not everything is going to be done in depth each week. I’ll always talk to the cleaner and let her know if something specific needs doing eg prepare guest room for guests (otherwise that room is not needed really), and often I’m working in one bedroom so leave that one too.
Would expect all bathroom surfaces to be wiped down and everything Viakaled but every now and then she does a deeper clean of lime scale and it does build up (eg kettle, showers etc). Don’t think the microwave is routinely cleaned because I clean it myself after use so not needed.

I’ve never found a decent cleaner. Maybe I have too high expectations but since I can clean my own home to an acceptable standard which includes tidying and changing the bed sheets in 2 hours I expect a cleaner to be able to the same when they don’t have to tidy or change sheets. But the most they’ve ever seems to manage is the kitchen, bathroom and a quick hoover.
Ive given up in the end and do it myself.

What a cleaner will sustainably get done in three hours week in, week out will almost always be less than what you as the person who lives there will. A professional cleaner is doing multiple houses each week potentially for years on end. You're doing your own home and only that. They need to go at a pace that supports this.

I would expect a cleaner to be able to do more than me. It’s literally their job. I’d expect them to be excellent at it. I’m not a cleaner by profession. I’m not excellent at it which is why I don’t do it as a job. I’m cleaning on top of my full time job.

That might be why you have never found one you consider good enough? 🤷‍♂️

I totally agree. I’m not about to pay someone to do a worse job than I can do myself. I don’t understand why anyone would do that

We have a 3 bed house (its big though and does have 4 bathrooms) and we have 2 cleaners for 2 hours (so 4 man hours) - they just do downstairs in that time (or upstairs). I will say that if you don't ask/feedback you won't get, and they'll also do stuff you don't even notice sometimes, so give them some slack, they won't be perfect and they won't do it the same as you. I'd give then a try again and be specific with your expectations. I'd also move anything you want cleaning under - our cleaners are fab for moving stuff and tidying but a lot deliberately won't move things to avoid losing or breaking stuff.

I’m presuming you didn’t book a deep clean. Maybe it’s all they could get gone and it will be better next time they come.

All depends on the state of it before they came I think.

I wouldn’t have Viakal in my house and would be telling a cleaner not to use it. It ruined the taps in my previous house when a cleaner left the spray on too long.

Mine comes for 2h a week, 4 bed 2 bath and downstairs loo.
She only cleans the kitchen, living room, bathrooms, loo, hall and stairs, and the 2 bedrooms in use.
She doesn't do the dining room, spare room, or study.
She often does a bigger job - kitchen deeper clean or blinds or under the furniture. Never does inside microwave or cupboards. She does move things on the floor or sides in the bathroom and kitchen.
She also came to do a 5h deep clean first, so everything was a good standard for her to start.

You need to detail exactly what you want done. You cannot leave it to someone else and then expect it to be 100% to your liking. One method could be having a list of what you would like them to prioritise in a specific week. You could even have some cards and shuffle them each week to your needs. Sounds extreme I understand but when you have dealt with cleaners with different languages then it can be useful. 3 hours? It's not long enough if you want a good job. I know how long it takes me to do our en suite and family bathroom thoroughly.

Mine is very good but has never done inside the microwave

The cleaner that cleaned the bathroom, is not an experienced cleaner.

If the other cleaner done a better job, around the house, I'd ask them not to send first cleaner.

Most cleaners will clean the bathroom and kitchen with a higher standard. They're the rooms that are most important.

I wouldn't be happy with the bathroom, including the taps scrubbed.

-Bathroom window cill not even wiped - YANBU
-Didn't move washing hamper/waste bin when cleaning bathroom floor so dusty underneath - YANBU
-Didn't wipe down kitchen cupboards - YABU
-Didn't clean inside microwave - YABU
-Didn't descale around bathroom tap - YABU

Personally I think Vijay is very strong and can cause breathing problems. I would never expect a cleaner to
use something that could be bad for them.

Vakal

That's not the point,pretty much anyone can clean, it's paying to have a service done for you that you either can't be bothered to do yourself or you don't have the time/health for it. They aren't magical people who can work at super speed. They are cleaning your house as a service for you so you pay them for it. Just like taking your car to a car wash or having a window cleaner etc. You are paying for a service. You could do it yourself but you can't be bothered so you pay someone else to do it. If you are happy to do it yourself then fair enough.

I’m not happy to pay someone to do a job worse than I could do it myself. I don’t expect super speed. But I do expect a job done to the same standard as I do it. Unfortunately I’ve yet to find a cleaner who doesn’t do a crap job

Interested as I've never this was any worse than other cleaning products used, could you link your source of information please?

Yes I think I'll do this in future thanks