to be so pissed off with cleaner I fear my head may explode?

[geordieminx]

Started back f/t work 4 weeks ago.

Have struggled on for the past few weeks, but eventually decided it was time to get a cleaner, as I am out of the house 12 hours a day, and prefer to spend weekend doing nice things

So, instead of hiring from an advert in the newsagent I contacted a few agencies, had a lady come out on Tuesday to see me - she reckoned 3 hours for the first one, then 2-3 hours every week after that. I said that this was fine, agreed for one of her staff to come in today.

Gets home tonight, so excited about having a sparkly home.

Porch not swept
Bits still on floor
Rug half way up the wall... bits still under rug
Cushions not arranged
Glass on doors not cleaned
hob top not cleaned at all... still has last nights tea on it
None of applicances wiped down
Bin not emptied nor wiped down
No dusting at all -
tv not cleaned
sink not washed.. still bits of food in the plug bit
None of the window sils wiped down
Mirrored wardrobe doors not polished.

The list could go on. It isnt just that things havent been done very well - they havent been done at all. What kind of fool would not even clean the top of the cooker or make the cushions look nice.

As far as I can see she has cleaned the bathroom (well admitedly), and hoovered(ish)

I have spoken with owner of company -she is going to sort it on Monday but tbh I am completely disillusioned with them.

I cant believe anyone would think that it was acceptable to leave a house like this after you were paid to clean it. If it had been me I would have cleaned to a reasonable standard, and then mentioned that it took longer.. not just fucking left it.

Oh and I live in a 3 bed detached with 1 bathroom, so not exactly a mansion. Oh and there is only 3 of us.

Grrrrr

Did you specify what you wanted done? 2-3 hours isn't much to clean a whole house and make it sparkle. I wouldn't have xpected my cleaner to empty the bin for example, or arrange cushions, but dusting/cleaning the kitchen yes.

so they had definitely been??
even I, on an exciting MN day, could manage better than that

The owner that had visited on Tuesday had said all of these things would be done, and had recommended 3 hours.

I know cushions isnt part of cleaning, and its pretty wee in the scheme of things, but it just would have helped the place look "nice" IYKWIM - there is only 4 on each sofa so less that 30 seconds?

Did you talk with her about what exactly you wanted done? Some of your demands are a bit petty; arranging cushions?

I used to live in a 5 bed 3 reception house with huge rooms - my cleaner spent 3 hours a week cleaning and it was done to perfection. So you are definitely NBU - find a new cleaner.

Three hours is not long enough to do all of that. You need to decide on exactly what she should do and have a reasonable expectation of a time limit.

Our cleaner cleans our 3 bed house in 3 hours - admittedly she doesnt dust brilliantly (but I do that during the week anyway) but otherwise is fine. First clean she did though we had her here for 4 hours to make a good start and then thereafter its a weekly 3 hour clean.

Next time I'd leave a list of precisely what you expect to be done so the cleaner/cleaner co are aware of your expectations. To be honest, I used contract cleaners in my last place and got through around5 or 6 that the agency sent before I found a good one - they've got loads of cleaners on their books who arent v good so get farmed out to new clients. Keep complaining until you get one who lives up to your expectations.

I mentioned the cushions, as it would have taken less than a minute to make them look nice, whereas doing the glass on the door would have take maybe half an hour, so maybe she didnt have time to do this.

She didnt even move the rug to hoover round it, or straighten it up.

If I had been asked to do a job and had put in this sort of effort I would probably be sacked.

For reference - lounge, kitchen/dining area, porch, bathroom, and 3 bedrooms to hoover & dust. Surely that wouldnt take much more than 3 hours?

You are being sligthly anal about the cushions - however I would have expected most of those chores to have been done.

YANBU

Mine does 2.5 hours (our house is small but grubby as an old, rural cottage), manages the whole house and rearranges the cushions. And she makes the tea and biscuits for our midmorning natter break.

What on earth was she doing all that time?

I live in a three-bed detached house and I can get it looking respectable in three hours: everything tidied (and sofa cushions straightened ); bathrooms done, all surfaces dusted/polished, kitchen done, hoovering done.

So you are not being unreasonable - I would start looking elsewhere for a cleaner!

If stuff hadnt been done brilliantly I would have been a bit , its the fact that stuff hasnt been done at all that is getting to me, and how she could have thought it was ok not to dust at all, or clean the hob or sink - surely basic thing no?

Tis first cleaner so had an open mid about what to expect and how long - it was agency woman who came to house, looked round and recommended 3 hours.

small 4 bed
2 hrs to do basics ) not dusting bedrooms)

belgo - three hours is only not long enough for me to do the cleaning if it is a slow MN day

Otherwise, it's plenty of time.

When I had a cleaner she always made things look nice, sofa cushions, niknaks straightened, books aligned etc. I'd definitely expect a decent cleaner to get through a 3-bed house in 3 hours, esp to have AT LEAST got the kitchen, bathroom & floors (hoovered & mopped) done.

It does depend upon the state of the house -whether she is cleaning it for the first time or maintaining the state of the house.

My cleaner spent 3 hours on cleaning a 3 bed end of terrace with sitting room, conservatory, dining room, and eat in kitchen, and one bathroom, and one small cloak room. She also changed the linen on our double bed, and the kids 2 single beds, and replaced all towels with fresh towels, tidy the entire house, vacumm, mop, she even folded clothes and put away, AND tucked in the ends of toilet paper, "hotel style". Oh, and she took the rubbish out, and put new bags in the bins. She arranges cushions and curtains, dusted, and dusted ornaments and polished mirrors and glass. She put cups and plates in the dish washer, and cleaned kitchen worktops, and the oven. 3 hours should be plenty.

Hello,

We've been using agency cleaners for 5 years now.

First 2 cleaners we we fired because they just didn't clean. Since then they have been excellent. Agree with dinkystinky.

BTW we never really tell them what to do, we just leave them to get on with it. Occasionally we might ask they do something in particular, but generally we assume they can just clean.

Of course, no cleaner will do everything exactly as you want, but I'm of the opinion that it's easier to spent 5 mins doing it yourself than explaining it to them!

Good luck

I just wanted my house to look a bit nice to come home to

Hoenstly, apart from hoovering and a clean bathroom you wouldnt know she had been.

If it makes you feel better, my friend came home to a resignation note from her cleaner..and she hadnt even done the cleaning first, just left the note! I was going to get her number, but wont be now!

I had an agency cleaner come. She was late, stayed past the finish time and charged me, didn't even finish one room. Never again.

My bosses cleaners didn't turn up this week, car trouble, so I (stupidly!) offered to do it for her this morning. Boys were at school.

I did 2 bathrooms and a shower room (including cleaning the floors (on my hands and knees).

Hoovered and dusted 3 (2 huge) bedrooms (including tidying up copious amounts of toys from boys room!)

Hoovered and dusted the study, playroom and sitting room (including turning the seat cushions and arranging the cushions so they looked nice!)

Wiped down all kitchen surfaces, (including cooker top!) dining room table, oven, fridge and freezer. Swept and mopped kitchen/dining room floors.

Also, washed all the towels and dried them.

It did take me 3 hours and I was exhausted afterwards and have told my boss, next time I offer to do something like that, her response should be "Oh no! I couldn't possibly allow you to do that for us!"

I've had a cleaner for years and I still get worked up about them to this day. Sometimes I find it hard to discern if they have been or not (I always tidy up before the come so they can spend time cleaning) and get pretty peeved when they dust photographs and leave them at strange angles and things like that.

I've also seen that they've not stayed the full 3 hours so have suggested that they use the time after they have done the basics to do things like wipe down kitchen cupboard doors and do the windows inside.

They'll maybe do it the next week but then nothing after that.

To be honest, I wonder why I don't do it myself and then I need to remember all the stuff they do, do - cleaning all the toilets, showers, bath, hoovering, dusting...

Sometimes I think you need to lower your expectation with a cleaner, I think I great one is a gem a so, so one more the case.

I used agency cleaners and they were cr@p.

They would turn up late constantly which was annoying as they were scheduled in at a handy time for me, and were just below par EVERY week.

I kept complaining but the last straw was when I saw the cleaning van pulling out onto the main road near our house 15 minutes before they were even meant to have finished (and there were 3 of them so amounted to 45 minutes they had not worked)

The house still didn't look great so the next week I left a note and asked for my key back I was so cross!

Got a better one now, a non agency one who I found through word of mouth.

Im a cleaner, in an old folks home, and I have 5, yes FIVE hours to clean all the public areas: Staff bogs X2, 2 lounges, 2 dining areas, nurses room, offices, hoover all corridors and last but not least FORTY-TWO bedrooms which have on-suite bogs!!!

There is actually supposed to be 3 part-timers or one full-timer plus me, but im the only c*nt mug enough to stick it out, well not for long

YANBU I could probebly do your house in about two hours!
Hope you with-hold payment to that agency, make them re-do it properly!!!