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

@BoldAmberCatOP, why on earth are you waiting until next week to talk to her about it? Today isn’t a bank holiday and if your conclusion after speaking to her, is to no longer employ her, then if you wait until next week, she might expect you pay her for one last clean due to lack of notice. I’d speak to her asap if I were you.

When I worked for a cleaning company decades ago they always charge per clean as opposed to per hour, as then they weren’t beholden to an hourly rate which would have brought down how many houses could be cleaned in a day.

I guess if it’s a ‘per clean’ rate you have to grind into what expectations you have as to what needs to be cleaned each time. Then you get a quote and then you decide if it’s a good deal or not. It’s also then up to you to inspect and see if everything on the list was cleaned.

Thank you very much to everyone who has taken the time to reply. I should probably have been firmer about obtaining an hourly rate in the first place. I initially had this cleaner for a couple of one-off cleans last year and she charged £40 for a 2 hour clean. We went round the house together before she started and I pointed out what I would like doing. She got loads done in the 2 hours and I was really pleased. I was obviously wrong to assume that her new pricing system would get me a similar hourly rate. This time I was pleased with the standard of cleaning for the things she did clean, but felt ripped off that she was only here for an hour. There were plenty of other jobs she could have done to make the £75 good value. Lesson learned for next time, thank you.

I’d pay up to £30 an hour and expect this to be normal, £25 would be reasonable but I wouldn’t expect any less. £75 for an hour is crazy and there’s no way she gave a 4 bed house a deep clean in an hour.

Yes, not good. I pay £90 a week for a large 4 bed house. Officially it’s for 5 hours but she often stays longer to finish the job. I am equally relaxed if she very occasionally takes a bit less time for whatever reason.

Point is, I totally trust her to get the job done brilliantly.

I pay hourly - as long as it takes, sometimes I throw random extra asks of her a she’s said “3 hours today” it “3.5”. I pay £15ph. She charges friends £1 more but she’s been coming a few years and think she’s low the flexibility as she can switch times, has her own key etc. never fussed if she does last minute trips home to Poland. She now cleans for 4 referrals I have made. trust her completely. Has another cleaner before her, same rate. She was better in terms of the cleaning. One before her was good but became terrible over time so let her go.

Anyway, she’s taking the piss. An agency would never charge that and they charge more than independents.

I have a fortnightly cleaner who comes for 2 hours. She does everything she can in that time as I prefer a set price, and she charges £34. I keep on top of everything else but her 2 hours is a massive help to me. What you're being charged is crazy.

Parents have a cleaner. 4 bedroom house. Comes once a fortnight. She does 2 hours. In that time she cleans the bathrooms (3 - two with bath & seperate shower) and one large cloakroom. Hoovers down the stairs. Cleans the large kitchen and mops the hall floor (as well as bathrooms and kitchen). My parents keep it clean so it’s never dirty.

She does a proper job - they had different cleaners whilst she was ill (cancer) and honestly, took the same time but nowhere near as good

They pay £40 (not the South East!) and she does an amazing job

you are being ripped off. I cleaned for years, there is no way on earth you can properly clean a 4 bedroom house in 1 hour - anyone that says they can is not cleaning to a professional standard (if you’re paid to clean you make sure you do a bloody good job)

She was taking the piss. It’s been a while since I’ve had a cleaner as I got a bit fed up paying for something I wasn’t convinced I was getting full value from. Initially I used an agency and had a brilliant lady. She was thorough and did the exact time she was paid for. She didn’t last long at a the agency as she got a full time employee job and I was happy for her as it brought more security, pension etc. Next lady was also good- sometimes didn’t do the full time
but was like a machine. She also got a different job (her background was events). Last lady took the piss. Despite paying for 3 hours often did 1h30 and did a crap job. I gave my notice and left the agency.

I then had a wonderful lady who did a good job for a year. When she did 3 hours herself she was brilliant but she got into the habit of splitting the shift and bringing random people into the house with her to help. I didn’t get anywhere near the same quality for 1h30 with the two of them and I didn’t like not knowing who she was bringing. I gave notice and haven’t had a cleaner now for nearly 2 1/2 years. My kids are now a bit bigger and I don’t find it terrible to keep on top of. i’m not sure that I will bother again as I used to find it stressful tidying up for the cleaners coming in. For me it’s often the tidying that is harder work than the cleaning itself.

£75 for an hour! I pay £80 fortnightly for 4hours and im in a 4 bed too.

I would expect 3 hours for £75 so I'm sorry I do think she's taking the mick.

I pay £18 ph for my cleaner and she very good. She does 2 hours twice a week. She cleans far more quickly than I can. She has been with me over a year now and I no longer need to tell her what to do she just looks and does what she sees needs doing. She changes the beds each week too for me. I just leave out clean bedding for her. Sometimes she has finished 15 or 20 mins early but she always asks if there is anything else I want doing before she goes. Sometimes I ask her to do an extra 2 hours for specific jobs. She sorted out my airing cupboard last week. She's going to spring clean my conservatory in 2 or 3 weeks time. She'll clean all uPVC and take off cushion covers for washing, steam mop floor and cobwebs. She'll probably ask what else I want doing if she finishes early.

Absolutely yes, you have been ripped off. I used to pay 70 for 4 hoursI decluttered and tidied before they came and it always took at least 4 hours for a 3 bed 2 bath.

I've given up on cleaners now. They either start well and go downhill, or start taking the puss or leave you in the lurch. I'm a cleaner myself and really want a cleaner for my own house because I've had enough by the time I get home.

It's quite easy to make a place "look clean" but you can't do a real clean in an hour. She's dishonest. She's charging rates that are not reasonable or honest. I wouldn't trust her with anything.

I’m a professional cleaner and charge per job solely to ensure I have enough time to clean homes properly without running out of time. I’d expect a clean of your home to take around 3 - 4 hours. What on earth did she manage to do in an hour? It would take this amount of time to vacuum and mop hard floors alone in most houses. Bathrooms take a good half hour each minimum, kitchens take around an hour too. Did she provide a list of jobs she would do on each clean?

I do private cleaning,a 4 bed house every 2 weeks should be 3 hours max and 75 pounds is too much 😑

us too for a weekly clean and she does 4 hours. 5 bedroom house, large kitchen, dining room, 2 lounge , playroom, and utility room. We only use 2 bedrooms so the other 3 are just hoovered and windows open and closed. I clean in between!

Bloody hell I don't get that hourly for my skilled roll. Anyone can clean are you being ripped off?

£75 an hour is my rate as consultant Behaviour Analyst. Maybe I should consider cleaning, less responsibility, training and stress…

There’s a group for cleaners on Facebook. It’s a real eye opener. They’re mainly grafters with the occasional grifter who stands out a mile. I think yours falls in the latter category, but you already know that or you wouldn’t be here.

Yes. Let us know how you get on cleaning up sanitary towels and hair from plug holes.

As a sly brag, that fell flat.

Another sly brag. Fucking skilled “roll” indeed.

£45 for 3 hours per week here. She has been with me for 30 years.

I surely have no problem with that, I used to do cleaning job when I was a student and I worked in care home, so sanitary pads, vomits and hair from the plug holes don’t move me a bit 😃

We have a 3 bed/1 bed terrace. Fortnightly clean. Takes 2.5 hours per clean at £50. Leeds based. I’d expect a 4 bed would be 3/3.5 hours at £60/£65 as a rough idea