AIBU to think my cleaner is too expensive?

[BoldAmberCat]

I have a new cleaner. She charges £75 for a fortnightly clean. I have a 4 bedroom house. Before she started, I asked her how long she would be at the house for each time. She said it would, “take as long as it takes”. The first week she stayed for two and a quarter hours. When she came for the second time she only stayed one hour. I feel ripped off. Is this ok or not? Thank you

For 75 id expect 4 hours.
Unless she is bringing people with her?

Yoi are being ripped off! What a casual attitude to your money. Did she even ask if there was anything else you wanted doing in the session you were paying for? It would take me more than an hour to hoover and dust let alone bathrooms and kitchens. Bin her.

So she's charging £75 for 1 hour?

£75 isnt extortionate for. Fortnightly clean for a 4 bed house I think but this would be 4 hours. However obviously if she’s only staying an hour that’s not ok. How much cleaning does she get done?! I would get hardly anything done in an hour but if she’s super woman maybe she works quickly and does the job

Impossible to clean a house in an hour. You need to tell her what you expect. Although I guess you'll be looking for another cleaner soon.

No I pay less than that and get 4 hours.

I pay about this for a weekly "as long as it takes" for a 3.5 bed house. She stays hours typically.
There's absolutely no way she's done it all in an hour.

I pay about £60 for two cleaners for two hours (four hour clean)

If you're not happy then there are other cleaners.

You can't clean a 4 bed house in an hour. Even a super tidy, all surfaces cleared takes at least 2.

I get four hours for weekly clean for about that price

i I use an agency and some cleaners will do slightly quicker job on the basics then do extra eg windows or fridge

what is getting cleaned in an hour? How many bathrooms do you have? There is no way you could clean a kitchen and bathroom and vacuum a four bed house in an hour

£70 for four hours here.

I pay £20 per hour

3-4 hours would be reasonable. Surely she can't have got the house clean in an hour?

Absolutely not £75 for 1hr. I’d get rid, have someone who does a set time, and if they don’t get it all done, then can sort next time.

Yes you are 😳

Of course it’s not ok. Going rate is £15 -£20 an hour, give or take, depending where you live. You’ve been ripped off both weeks. Terminate the arrangement now!

She’s not going be staying 7 hours next time to make up for the 1 hour last time is she?!

We pay £22.50 an hour for our cleaner.

Thank you very much for all your responses. I will tell her that I’m not happy to pay £75 for one hour of cleaning and look for someone that I can employ on an hourly rate instead. The house has 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, an en-suite, a downstairs toilet, a kitchen and a lounge. Plus hallway and landing. I was expecting at least 3 hours of cleaning for £75

I have exactly the same arrangement with my cleaner - as long as it takes for £70 in a four bed house. The quickest she has ever been is 2.45hrs but usually around 4. This price also allows me to add on things at no extra cost as long as it's reasonable. So things like: Can you clean inside the fridge today for example - things that don't need doing every time.

how much of the house is she getting cleaned in 1hr ?

Cleaning is not like paying for a tax return where there is a defined outcome, and it doesn't matter how long it takes.

It is a service where you pay for labour, and the cleaner needs to keep going for that time.

MN can be ridiculously tolerant to poor cleaners, but glad to see a united front here.

I don't have a cleaner, but if I did, I think I'd go on outcome not hours. So if £75 is enough to end up with a clean house, and i did get a clean house for that price, I probably wouldn't care how long they were there. It seems unlikely someone could clean your sized house in 1 hour, but what is the resultant cleanliness like?

Paul O'Grady once said, (of his time cleaning), make sure you polish the telephone handset and spray a bit of pledge around before the lady of the house returns..

No sorry she'd have to go, the trust is broken. She must know as well as you do that taking £75 for one hour isn't okay. What did she say when you talked to her about it?