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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Cleaner broke the toilet seat...

45 replies

Treesandbees · 23/07/2014 14:32

We have a newish cleaner. She's done 3 cleans so far and yesterday she broke the toilet seat. It's cracked right through so needs replacing and it was an expensive one (£80). She was a bit fretful telling me but not that apologetic. DS was screaming at time so I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to it at the time. DH on other hand is not happy at all. He also wants to get rid of her as her cleaning isn't as good as our last cleaner.

How would you deal with this?

OP posts:
TurboWithAKick · 23/07/2014 14:33

£80 for a toilet seat?

Missda · 23/07/2014 14:39

You paid £80 for a loo seat!!
So you want to sack her because she accidently broke your loo seat?

Hmm

MorphineDreams · 23/07/2014 14:41

How do you actually break a toilet seat. It can't be worth £80 if it breaks so easily!

Original poster
Treesandbees · 23/07/2014 14:44

We didn't pay for it (in house when bought) but DH checked the toilet brand (posh) and a like for like replacement would be £80. She must of given it a good slam to crack it in half!

She's a crap cleaner so want to get rid of her anyway but now got to pay for a new seat as well!

OP posts:
HermioneDanger · 23/07/2014 14:45

It's an accident and she told you about it. Hardly something for you to be upset about. Loo seats aren't designed to last forever and do sometimes break particularly when you stand on them to change a lightbulb, looking at you DH .

I would get over it and replace the loo seat. If I was worried about the standard of her cleaning I'd have a quiet word with her and if she didn't clean to my standards then I would replace her. The loo seat really is a non-issue. Things get broken if they're in use, it's just one of those things.

MorphineDreams · 23/07/2014 14:47

If you didn't pay for it and it's been there a while it's not really £80 is it? I'd just give it up as a bad job and get a new reasonably priced loo seat.

If she's crap then sack her, but don't use the loo seat fiasco as an excuse

Floggingmolly · 23/07/2014 14:47

She can't have broken the entire thing just by cleaning it. If it really is "cracked right through" then it was either faulty, or someone else broke it and it just happened to come apart when she handled it.
More fool you for paying eighty quid!

itiswhatitiswhatitis · 23/07/2014 14:47

How did she break it? I do think she should replace it tbh. She is a professional working in someone's home so is responsible for any damages.

But I'm sure everyone will just focus on the cost of your loo seat!

cansu · 23/07/2014 14:48

For goodness sake. Stuff breaks, get over it. If she isn't a good cleaner then you should tell her what she isn't doing and if she doesn't improve get a new cleaner. There is no way she should have to pay for seat. If you were at work and say the copier or coffee machine broke when you were using it would you expect to be billed? No I thought not. Only on mumsnet would you find this kind of attitude.

MorphineDreams · 23/07/2014 14:50

Exactly cansu

OcadoSubstitutedMyHummus · 23/07/2014 14:53

Part of having a cleaner is accepting that there will be occasional things that break or get damaged. So that you have to be willing to suck up. And I'm struggling to envisage how she managed to damage it on her own so in your shoes I'd just assume that it had an issue anyway and it was her use that finally turned an internal fracture into a big crack.

But if you think she is overly heavy handed and not a good cleaner then get rid. But you can't ask her to pay for a new loo seat.

Original poster
Treesandbees · 23/07/2014 15:03

I'm considering not paying her for this clean (£27). She did 2 hours and I had specifically asked her to focus on the bathroom...she hadn't even cleaned the taps or dusted the surfaces. The toilet seat was a 'bonus'!

That way we can buy a lovely but cheap replacement toilet seat...

OP posts:
BeCool · 23/07/2014 15:03

How can you deliberately or negligently break a loo seat while cleaning?

It's entirely possible that the seat would have broken very soon by anyone using it. If you cleaned the loo, it may well have broken then by you.

I used to have a very fancy loo seat and broke 2 of them - just by sitting on them. So I replaced it with a much cheaper one and years later it's still holding out and working well - unbroken.

I think you would be VVV U to expect the cleaner to cover the cost of a new loo seat. Shit happens as the saying goes.

Missda · 23/07/2014 15:04

I don't get why you are so mad. She accidentally broke a loo seat that you didn't actually buy.
If she is doing a bad job as a cleaner then tell her how she can improve.

TBH I feel bad for your cleaner.

BeCool · 23/07/2014 15:04

So you couldn't afford a new loo seat unless you don't pay her for the work she has done for you?

Missda · 23/07/2014 15:05

Trees you can't not pay the woman!!!

BeCool · 23/07/2014 15:05

if you want 'cheap' Argos do one for under a fiver

BeCool · 23/07/2014 15:06

Pay her for the work she has done and don't get her back by all means - but not paying her that £27 is very mean.

HermioneDanger · 23/07/2014 15:07

Not paying her for the clean would be incredibly low of you. Pay her. As you're determined to find fault let her go and work for someone who appreciates her, find a new cleaner and put the whole thing behind you.

trufflehunterthebadger · 23/07/2014 15:12

Hardly something for you to be upset about. Loo seats aren't designed to last forever

They are designed to last around 25/30 years ! I would be very annoyed if i had to shell out £80 through someone's incompetence.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 23/07/2014 15:15

Maybe it was already 25 years old?

I don't see how the cleaner can have broken it either unless she was cleaning with a sledgehammer

trufflehunterthebadger · 23/07/2014 15:15

To those saying the OP didn't buy the loo seat, she will still have to pay to replace it. And i doubt she wants a £5 argos seat on her nice suite, i certainly would not. It takes a lot to breAk a loo seat, i wonder what on earth she was doing to break it.

She certainly should be offering to pay for it. Is she from an agency ?

Original poster
Treesandbees · 23/07/2014 15:17

Ok, ok, will pay her!

Guess I'm more frustrated at her cleaning than the damn loo seat!

OP posts:
trufflehunterthebadger · 23/07/2014 15:17

My parents have had the same loo seat since 1978. They really shouldnlt break through ordinary wear and tear (my dad ran a bathroom showroom so i know a bit about bathroom fittings lol)

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 23/07/2014 15:18

It does take a lot to break a toilet seat so maybe it was already broken/damaged?