to get our cleaning agency to send another cleaner round?

[HeadFairy]

due to a slight mix up, our brilliant cleaner couldn't work the hours I needed her to work (I need someone in the mornings as I do night shifts and need to sleep in the day time, can't have someone hoovering at 3 in the afternoon when I'm sleeping) so the agency we use sent us another cleaner. The problem is she doesn't understand a word of English, not one. I cannot make it understood what I'd like her to do, and also I can't explain to her that she needs to double lock the front door.

I've contacted the agency about the front door thing, and they've told her, but I can't really contact the agency each week and give them a list of things I'd like her to do can I? I was trying to tell her that I'm on nights so that I was going to pop upstairs to bed to sleep, I've got to be up in 6 hours, and she just barged it to my room with the hoover. I couldn't explain to her not to hoover in there, so I'm sitting here waiting for her to finish. I've been up since yesterday morning and desperate to go to bed.

Do you think it's unreasonable to ask for someone who speaks even the tiniest bit of English?

How does the agency communicate with her?

It sounds like you need to speak to them again.

I generally think that if I am paying for a service, then I should be able to get something verging on what I want.

Good luck. Hope you get to sleep soon.

Well they're all Eastern European at the agency, so I guess they speak to her in her language (I think she's Latvian) but everyone at the agency speaks pretty good english so I guess they don't realise how hard it is to communicate with their cleaners for us mono linguists! Off to bed now she's done. My bedroom is lovely and clean now at least

i think its ridulous for them to employ some who cant even speak english or understand it, how the hell are you supposed to communicate with them!!! i would ring them up and say its no good them sending someone round who cant understand what you would like them to do, your paying for something your not really getting...

either that or buy a translation book

Or at least ask the agency to ensure their staff understand basic cleaning terms in English. 20 or so words should cover most of it.

YANBU. We recently had to change cleaner because the lady they sent just did not know how to clean. It was unfortunate because she turned up and weemed to do her hours, but just didn't seem to do much.

She cleans pretty well, though she's quite slow. But I have no complaints about her work really. It's just her lack of understanding. I went back to bed and told her not to lock me in, we've got a silly lock that if you do up from the outside you can't undo from the inside. But lo and behold when she left she locked me in. Just as well there wasn't a fire or anything!