New cleaner took 4.5 hours instead of 3

[Plum02]

I contacted a cleaning company to arrange a weekly house clean. I gave a detailed breakdown of each room and what I wanted in each room and was told it would take around 3 hours at a cost of £20 per hour but they couldn’t say for sure the length of time it would take the first time. It actually took 4.5 hours and that was with me telling them not to bother steam the living room and hallway floors and not to bother hoovering the playroom (which were on the original list) because they’d been here so long. There were also things on the list that I realised weren’t done after they left - e.g. I specifically asked them to hoover under the sofa, beds and other furniture which wasn’t done. The person I spoke to who gave the quote / estimated time wasn’t the cleaner who came.

As a result of it taking so long I was charged £30 more than expected for less cleaning. They did explain they couldn’t say the exact time before seeing the house, however given I’d provided such a specific / detailed breakdown I don’t think it’s reasonable for the estimated time to be so wrong (half an hour or so out would be fine) and if they’d realised it was way out when they arrived at the house it should have been discussed again when they arrived to agree how long it would take and see if I still wanted everything done or what could reasonably be done within around 3 hours.

I cleaned for a while. The first two cleans are such hard work because you don't know the house, it's usually not been cleaned to a high standard, and expectations are high. It's very different cleaning someone else's house because everything has to be left dry and sparkling whereas if I'm cleaning my own shower I can just throw a bit of bleach around, rinse it off and leave it wet.

It sounds like a 3 hour job but you've not said how many rooms there are. It takes thirty minutes to clean each bathroom to a high standard and thirty minutes for the kitchen. And then one hour or so for the rest of the house. Steaming would increase the time by quite a lot because of the faffing about. Same with vacuum cleaners that are prone to blocking or aren't emptied and ready. You mention beds...if you want beds to be changed you've got to add that to the time and also bear in mind that it's hard work changing a double bed alone when you've also got a whole house to clean.

That said, most of the cleaners that I've witnessed the work of do a very poor job and I wouldn't employ them myself.

A 3 bed new build is hardly a mansion

It’s up to you whether you have a fixed time amount of cleaning, or fixed tasks. I have a fixed time and ask my cleaner to do tasks in that time knowing that she can’t do the whole house. That’s hoovering, dusting, and the kitchen and bathroom. No mopping of floors, no windows, nothing too deep cleany! I prefer that as I know the cost. If I had more money I would just get the whole house done!

I live in a tiny 2 bed house- would take longer than 3h

I don't know how big your house is but I think hoovering under beds and sofas is a lot more than would usually be covered in a regular 3 hour weekly clean.

You agreed to a set number if hours, at a set price against a set list. That was the contract. If they've gone over on time, then that's not your cost to cover.
I wouldn't be booking them again.
FWIW we had a cleaner booked for 3 hours a week and she did an excellent job. Not going over time, even the first week. She had to work around building projects and all sorts, but never an issue!

Christ on a bike, what an inane comment to make.

Was the cleaner working efficiently and effectively? 3 hours sounds absolutely plenty for what you describe, I would not be happy with that either. I could absolutely blitz my house in that time and it's a complete mess.

Dirty enough for you to need a cleaner!

I absolutely guarantee you couldn't thoroughly clean it from top to bottom in that time unless it's a basic one bed flat. Curtain rails, cobweb dusting, blinds or shutters, all surfaces, windows and frames, light bulbs, lamps, skirting, picture frames, hoovering, mopping, door frames, radiators, cupboard doors, hoovering sofa cushions, sticky lint roller on soft furnishings and that's just living/dining rooms. Lugging cleaning equipment from room to room takes time too. You can go fast, sure but you can't go at breakneck speed otherwise you'll knock things over, bash skirting boards etc. Add in moving ornaments, vases, picture frames, candles etc and it takes even longer.

My cleaner comes weekly. I don't expect her to hoover under carpets, beds or furniture.

First time is always a longer clean as they have never done the house before. I explained my expectations and she now gets it done in 3 hours.

Mine was doing this so I gave notice and I’m still waiting for my key back! If I’m paying 3 hours and you finish then do something else -family of 5 - there’s definitely something you can do. Previous cleaner didn’t do room or stair edges 😳

that said, I expect first 2 cleans to take longer.

Depends how good the final post construction clean was. I can tell you from yrs of experience as a new build project nears completion a lot of corners are cut so it looks ' good enough ' for move in sign off. Also in New builds dust continues to settle for about 3 months so there was probably a good amount of dust. Going 1.5 hrs over isn't crazy. A good clean takes time. If you're not happy don't use them again.

Sounds like a lot on your list for a 3 hour clean. It's not standard to pull out furniture to clean under it and it's also difficult for a person on their own to do that as you must know. Next time put the jobs on list in order of priority and specify 3 hours then stop.

Every time I have set up with a new cleaner, the first cleaning has always been by the hour with no guarantee as to length, just a very rough estimate. It’s a set up cleaning and for them to get a sense of your home. Then they provide an accurate estimate for future scheduled cleanings.

I find this fair to both parties. You always have the option to tell them to stop if you aren’t satisfied with their work or progress.

I didn’t expect anything - I asked how much it would cost to complete the list of tasks and they told me they charge £20 per hour and it would take around 3 hours. My issue isn’t with how long it took, my issue is with the gap between the quote and the final cost (50% more) with only 70% of the tasks being completed and the fact that it wasn’t communicated to me. If they’d told me when they saw the house that it would take longer than they initially thought we could have discussed whether I wanted to pay the extra or prioritise certain rooms and leave others for next time. Instead I ended up just telling them to leave the things they hadn’t got up to yet.

They told me the list would take 3 hours not the other way around… if they’d told me it would take 4 hours I’d be fine with that too, if they told me it would take 5 hours I would have asked to prioritise certain areas.

You don’t need to pull the sofa out to hover underneath it but that’s beside the point - they quoted the amount of time and price based on those tasks.

I popped out and told the cleaner to let themselves when done, then came home to find they were still there an hour and a half after they were supposed to have finished and had to tell them to leave the rest. There was never any communication that it would take longer than expected.

I’m not sure why you’re trying to justify the length of time it took. There isn’t dust but the issue isn’t how long it took, it’s the fact it took 50% longer (and therefore cost 50% more) than quoted without the agreed tasks being completed. I think 1.5 hours is a lot over on an estimate of 3 hours (and presumably would have gone on a further hour to complete everything on the list).

The clean didn’t include most of the things you’ve listed here. It wasn’t a deep clean. It was basically cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, hoovering most rooms, wiping down surfaces (all of which were clear) and dusting. She didn’t clean the shutters, vacuum under sofa cushions, clean picture frames and light bulbs. However I’m not saying she was too slow or took too long - the issue is why I was told an unrealistic timeframe (and therefore price) so I only found out the real cost afterwards, when I didn’t have the option of declining because the work was done.

Well yes, all houses are dirty enough to need cleaning aren’t they - whether you clean it yourself or outsource to someone else.

It’s tiles and wood.. I steam clean it a couple of times a week.

Cleaners always take longer the first couple of times whilst they learn what needs to be done. I don’t book my cleaner for ‘3 hours’, I book my cleaner with a list of things that need to be done and however long it takes that’s how long it takes. She doesn’t take the piss though, when she’s here she’s constantly cleaning.

I think you need to give it another couple of weeks. Our cleaner was slow too when she first started but now she does a 4 bed 3 bath house in 2 1/2 hours.

Do you put everything away? Did she have to wash up etc? As I spend an hour or so the night before she comes tidying and make sure there are no dirty dishes etc. Everything gets picked up off the floor. I want her to clean and not tidy up!

I've had lots of cleaners over the years. They ALL take longer the first time.

Did she have to move the beds and sofa to hoover under them or are they on legs ?