To feel annoyed I have to pay?

[Babablacksheep12]

Cleaner…

We have a cleaner who does every 2 weeks. She’s lovely and does the house well.

I have been in hospital for a few weeks following an operation that was planned.

I messaged her to cancel a clean whilst I was in hospital, ages ago - way more than the required notice time. I cancelled it as she cleaned the day I went in and then my house has been empty with me being in hospital so it’s perfect and not been touched and no one’s been in it so there would have been nothing to clean since she was last in.

In my contract I am allowed to cancel 2 cleans a year and she allowed 2, without payment which is very fair.

I got back from hospital today and noticed from my ring door bell that she’d been and cleaned despite me cancelling it , as per the contract and her acknowledging the cancellation.

I emailed her to ask if she had been , thinking she’d say no she was just dropping something off type thing and she just said yes, whoops she’d got confused. So now I need to pay. I’m slightly upset. I’m very short this month as I’ve had to have unpaid time off work to recover from my op so I don’t have the spare money and I feel like I’m literally throwing away money I don’t have when the house didn’t need cleaning.

There was also no apology just an oops type thing.

I value her so much so I know I will pay but I feel slightly miffed about the lack of accountability and that it’s on me to just pay.
I mean I know id pay as I respect her time and work but If it was me I would have said … I’m so sorry it’s my mistake please pay half etc and I would try and find the money to pay it all. But it was the lack of apology and just dizziness of whoops

oops 😅 I did clean , I must have just got confused!! It didn’t take as long so you only owe for 3 hours not 4 as the house wasn’t too bad! We can always cancel one of your future cleans to make up for it. Laura

No. That's bloody cheeky! She's acknowledging you cancelled. It's her cock up. Not yours.
You don't owe her anything.

So she cleaned for 4 hours, you went into hospital almost straight away and then she came and cleaned again for three hours. What did she do on the second visit? I know someone who has a very efficient cleaner, but if she finishes the clean early she will clean the windows etc.

I think you need to work on your comms.

Hi Laura,

I hope you are well. I’ve just got back from hospital - it’s good to be home.

I’m a little confused because I noticed from the Ring doorbell that you had visited my house on the day I had cancelled the clean; you’ll remember I emailed you to cancel as soon as the operation date was confirmed. Did you need to collect some equipment?

See you next week.

Best wishes,

Sally

I agree. My message was just a bit wishy washy- as I really did not expect that she had cleaned. Had I had suspected she had I would have been much clearer from the outset . Hindsight 🙈

Why did she clean a clean house?!! I don’t believe she did anything frankly and is just trying it on!

id message her back saying she can’t have cleaned anything surely as the house was already clean and you had also made it clear you wanted to cancel so this oops is on her clearly?

I think you're within your rights to push back on this rather than just paying. You cancelled with proper notice, she acknowledged it, and the "confusion" was on her end, not yours. Paying without question sets a precedent that her mistakes come out of your pocket. I'd go back with something like "I don't think it's fair I'm charged for your error" and see how she responds — a decent cleaner who genuinely messed up will apologise properly and let it go; if she gets funny about it, that tells you what you need to know.

I would have cancelled her and paid her for it anyway, that’s what I do. How is she supposed to make up the money instead, if that’s your regular slot? If you can afford to pay her when you need her, you should be able to afford to pay her if you cancel.

Did you not read the inteo with the contract terms? Your comment is irrelevant.

She charges more per hour to cover the 4 cleans she’s potentially not working each year. She’s not a charity case , she’s a business

I totally sympathise

Mum would pay a window cleaner, once a month, dead cheap at a tenner , but all he ever did was hose the windows

Anyways mum passed , he did turn up about 3 weeks after her death , so I paid him and said mum had died but just couldn't get the words ' dont bother any more ' out

I finally got around to cleaning the windows myself. They were so shiny - two birds lost their lives flying into them. I texted him said no need to come back, we were now retired, we could do them, thanks very much - and then, a week later, while I was out walking the dog - up he turned. And hosed all my sparkling windows in the bright sunshine and heat !!! I was fuming. He denied getting the message, I showed him it. I said well I will pay this month but no more - he was good enough to say no and I didnt press him

I then had to go clean all my windows again !!

I laugh now, but I was ready to throttle

My windows had never been so bloody clean, the bird shit he had left for two cleans, I had finally got off. It was obvious to a blind man my windows were clean so why he even though they needed doing when mums car wasnt there, she wasnt in view of the window in her usual seat

Not to sound Arsey but can you afford a cleaner?

Eh? I can afford taxis, but I’m not going to pay for one for a journey I don’t want to make.

😂😂😂 brilliant 😂😂😂

No that’s exactly why I’ll pay her but I can still feel annoyed she hasn’t taken accountability for her mistake or even apologised!

Just cancel the next one, so you’re not out of pocket.

Did your ring camera let you how long she was there. Hardly 3 hours if the house was already clean. Like you i would be pissed but would probably pay also.

Your mistake was messaging her to ask if she'd been.

It's not fair though really is it? I'm not sure if I'm getting the situation wrong.

Am I right in thinking;

The cleaner went in and cleaned OP's house, when OP had already cancelled well in advance, (as per her contract with the cleaner allows), and no-one had been in the house to make it need deep cleaning since she cleaned 13 days before?

Sorry if I'm completely wrong!I

Did the cleaner acknowledge your cancellation at the time OP?

OP probably wants to save her other cancellation. Sounds like she'd planned the hospital stay and cleaner really well to avoid this.

It sounds like you're friendly and get on well, I'd probably reply something like
"ah that's such a shame you had a wasted trip, see on on the 14th".

I'm only saying this as you said you budgeted to not pay it this time while having lower salary and can't afford to. That's on her then to be honest.

If I was the cleaner id probably just think I need to double check my calender more, but thank God I didn't need to do a full clean.

Laura is a cheeky fucker. She knows you’re in a vulnerable position right now and she’s taken the liss anyway. I wouldn’t pay her. She has already soured the relationship and proved that you can’t trust her so I wouldn’t worry about li as I no her. She clearly has no respect for you so she doesn’t deserve to be trusted with your home.

As a former private cleaner and I went into a house that was already cleaned previously by myself , it's clear to see if its not been touched, I would've had a quick dust but just because I believe it's just what you do as a professional cleaner just for your own satisfaction in your job.

Charging for that I wouldn't have done as its my own error however if I got a bunch of flowers or a token gift for it then that would be more than enough, but nothing at all wouldn't deter me either as would've been my own error.

‘Oh you messed up, here, have a bunch of flowers!’

It's not always about the money !

This is irrelevant to the OP. She stated above her cleaner had a cancellation period, and she cancelled well before the time requested by the cleaner.

OP, I think you just have to be more firm and less friendly in your messages and cut the emojis.

I would use ChatGPT or Google AI next time, to refine what you want to say.

This

Don't pay

Oops indeed. Why is she getting confused? She’s a business woman so that shouldn’t be happening, she’s supposed to be organised with cleaning schedules. I wouldn’t pay her.

What was she even doing for 3 hours considering there shouldn't be much to clean? Sounds like she might be trying it on anyway. She 'forgot' sounds like a good excuse to get paid for an easy job.