New cleaner - am I expecting too much?

[DisappointedHorse]

I recently got my first ever cleaner, hired through an agency.

I have a 3 bedroom house and have her for 2 weeks. What I have asked her to do is the following:

Hoover living room, hall, stairs and landing. Clean bathroom, kitchen (no floors), surfaces, dust shelves and furniture in all rooms.

Now I'm not sure if what I have asked is ok, she said she could do it all but it's just a little bit, well, slapdash. I will find one shelf not dusted, scum and hair still in the bath, the loo not cleaned, rice crispies stuck to the kitchen table etc.

Basically, before I approach her, I need to know if this is reasonable for a professional cleaner? I'd rather one room was thoroughly clean I think than everything done badly. I don't know what to do.

No, this does not sounds like good and acceptable standards of cleaning, I would complain to the agency and ask them to send somebody else.

Even I could do that lot in two weeks OP, ad I am a fully paid up slattern

Did you man 2 hours? If so I'd say its a bit much.

Try doing yourself what you want done and see how long it takes you. My mum did this as she kept losing cleaners. Turns out she was expecting way too much and I was right

Yes, hours! She has been in my employment for 2 weeks.

Oh, mixed opinions. So I might have to consider cutting it down a bit to get a better standard. Ok.

We get two hours for a one bed but get all floors done and bed changed, rubbish taken out too. Imagine we would need three or four for a similar standard in a 3 bed.

Apparently, according to MN previous, asking a cleaner to clean your toilet is a no-no (I have no cleaner so no opinion on it)

Yes to trying to do it yourself & see how much you manage. Depends how fiddly stairs are how tidy shelves are etc

What's the point of getting a cleaner if they don't clean your loo?!

Really? It's on the task sheet.

Ok, I think I will try it myself. I'm not a professional though, I was kind of hoping she had some superpowers.

My cleaner needs three hours for our three bed house. This includes changing bed linen.

When I worked f-t I had a cleaner for 2 hours per week and we have a 4 bed, with a large kitchen, separate extended dining room etc. That sounds really boastful - it's in a grotty area! but it is larger than your average 4 bed. Anyway she used to make the house gleam, everything you've asked except the bathrooms, which I used to do. I don't think that's too much for 2 hours TBH.

That said, we have no clutter, so cleaning here is easy.

I too have just hired a cleaner, we have a four bed house and she's doing three hours a fortnight. I'm hoping she'll clean the bathroom, ensuite and downstairs loo, hoover up and down and stairs, clean kitchen floor and downstairs laminate and dust the living room.

Ring the agency and go through the list with them, they'll give you advice as to whether it's enough or too much for the time.

If too little work, then ask that they send you someone else who can do the work, other than the one you have.

Don't approach the cleaner yourself with any complaints and expect any joy.

Also, I worked as a maid in college, and always cleaned all the loos and bathroom fittings. Why is it suddenly no no now.

That's definitely not good enough. I could do all of that AND mop the kitchen floor in probably less than two hours. I mean, unless you are a cat hoarder who likes throwing food at the walls or something.

More crucially, what she's doing is "slapdash." It seems to me that if a cleaner has too much to do in two hours, an entire thing might not get done. But, what is done will be done thoroughly.

Call the agency and complain.

If you have asked her to do much then she should be doing what she can properly and then not having time to do the last ie 2 things. So there are definite issues about the quality of her work.

I wouldnt bother speaking to her about it, go straight back to the Agency and say about the standard. I'd also ask their advice about how long things should take, but this is a different issue from poor work.

Cleaners dont clean toilets - is this a new EU Health & Safety directive?? Thankfully isnt implemented in Wiltshire!

OP, how long does it take you to do all of that?

I'd rather clean ten toilets than make one bed.

In two hours our cleaner manages the whole house (3 bed). Kitchen and bathroom all floors hoovered and mopped. She will even wash up. She is amazing

I don't think you're expecting too much.

We have a 3-bed town house and it is cleaned for 2.5 hrs each week. The usual cleaning, hoovering, dusting but no changing of beds, so it sounds like the same work as yours but we have more stairs and she cleans the kitchen floor too. We have recently discovered that our cleaner was getting this done in 2 hrs but still pocketing the cash for 2.5 hrs. We have now asked her to spend the full 2.5 hrs but be a bit more thorough.

The agency will deal with this for you and speak to the cleaner or will send someone else. This is the best thing about using an agency. IME standards usually slip after a little while when goalposts are tested, so if this is how she has started, it doesn't bode well for the future tbh. And the agency will want to know how well she's doing.