to be fed up with my cleaning lady?

[nowwearefour]

she is a very nice person and i trust her completely. she babysits for me from time to time and is sooooo good with my dds. Her cleaning is even ok!! the arrangement used to be 2-4pm on a tuesday. she then decided she wanted to come on a monday morning. not ideal for me but i agreed 10-12 with her. only trouble is she keeps on trning up at 9.30. doesnt sound like a big deal but after i have done the school run i wanted the time to sort things out a bit for myself before she turned up. i have tried the 'oh you are early or wasnt expecting you quite yet line' but it isnt working. should i let it go as it is only 30 mins or should i say something??

yes dandylioness. now that is a great idea. i like it! phone easier than face to face. i will try hard to do that.

Can you not see the prime opportunity presenting itself to you here????

She apologised for being late!! You could read that she actually thinks she should start at half nine (even if we both know she knows she starts at ten). Clearly if you don't say something she will be there at nine thirty next week. I would jump on the phone and say that you think you have crossed wires, that actually you meant her to start at ten and you would really prefer that to be her start time in future

job done!

I don't like the fact she ignored what you said. You have to be absolutely plain with her - no apologising. Agree you should call her. Remember, nobody is indispensible, especially if they are not even that great at what they do.

No time like the present. Call her now...

I would definitely agree with everyone who said that you should phone her and sort it. YANBU to expect someone you pay to do a job to stick with the original terms! ie not before 10am.

I used to go to people houses to do piano lessons (they come to me now), but if I was early because traffic was good, I waited in the car outside. You can't just rock up to clients houses whenever it's convenient to you!

The way I see it, I'm not doing them some kind of favour - I'm their employee, and if she fails to grasp that, then she probably isn't taking much of the job that seriously. Maybe why her cleaning isn't great?

You're paying her to be there at a 10am not 9.30 a.m. Just give her a quick call or drop a note through her letterbox saying that you'd like her to be there at 10am in the future rather than 9.30. No uums, errs or "do you mind if." You're the employer. If she does it again after you've made it clear, just don't answer the front door. It sounds harsh, but she's inconveniencing you. Just say, you were in the shower/taking an important phone call, had your headphones on and didn't hear the door as you didn't expect her until the agreed time. If I turn up to an appointment, I don't expect to be seen any earlier just by virtue of turning up early and if I'm late, I consider myself lucky to be seen too.
Sometimes the lines of employer/employee become blurred through too much chat. Be friendly, polite, have a sense of humour etc but keep it brief and show her that you're busy and have a life to lead. Other cleaners aren't impossible to find if she doesn't like it.

I clean for other people and, to whoever made the comment about 'why do mn's want cleaners'....well, i am glad that they do!!!! I would be in big trouble if my customers decided they would do it themselves!!
As for the time thing, I maybe a little guilty of that aswell, i tend to turn up a little early sometimes....have never thought that the owner might be a bit 'put out' by that!

Just be very clear to her that you expect her to keep to her hours because you have other things to do outside those hours. Cleaners who do not understand that they cannot just swan in and out whenever they want are a PITA.

Count yourself lucky, mine is supposed to do 10-1 and she often turns up at 8.30 when I've just stepped out of the shower!

As for annas comments that cleaners that just swan in whenever they like are a PITA....!!!! If that is how you feel you must tell them very firmly the start time you require, no messing about, just tell them!! I would be upset if i thought my customers thought that of me, luckily mine are wonderful, i mostly chose the jobs i want to do. Luckily when i start jobs we always chose a day but never a time really, because most people are out. Occassionally if i am running late i do feel a little that i am getting in their way, but i always apologise profusely and they normally say that they are just glad i am there!!