How fantastic should my Fantastic Cleaner be?

[dorasee]

Hi there,

We just started using Fantastic Cleaners for a bi-monthly house clean. I've had my second clean today and something is really, really bothering me. I expect the cleaner to mop the floors and historically, I have never had to remind cleaners to do this. It's a given. She doesn't dust or iron. She just does the bare minimum and for 4 1/2 hours I have got to say, I am not sure why she can't mop the downstairs kitchen floor and corridor... it's not much. She also leaves the beds totally unmade. Granted we can make our own beds and do so daily, but it would be nice if she just fluffed up the pillows and spread out the duvet on one of the kids' beds. She only hoovers the bedrooms, no dusting at all or wiping of surfaces anywhere in the house apart from the bathroom. She cleans the shower doors and polishes up the chrome, but the tiles are still grubby and she didn't bother cleaning the bath. What are your experiences with agency cleaners because so far, I am not impressed. Thanks for advice and input.

I think you need to have a list of everything you expect to be done. Be very clear. Things like "it would be nice"... Well, yes, but do you want her to do it or not?

More fantastic than that for sure. I clean a 5 bed, 2 bath (with separate showers) , 2 shower room, 4 public rooms and kitchen/breakfast room, house top to bottom in four hours weekly. Including thorough clean of bath/shower rooms, any marks on glass and ledges of individual panes of windows (hundreds of them), gloss doors and surfaces in kitchen, dust everywhere, hoover carpets, sweep and mop hard floors (most of downstairs). Rotate other jobs like cleaning out plug holes, picture frames, skirtings, silver, dusting kids toys, wiping inside of fridge, about once a month.

When you hired them did someone come and look round the house and see what you wanted done? If not ask for a manager to come round and write a definitive list of jobs that need doing, including some that only need doing on a rotational basis (inside of the fridge, dusting skirting, etc).

what did you tell her when you discussed what you would like done?

Fantastic are useless. The first cleaner was quite good, then they progressively become more hopeless (the place would barely look clean afterward) until our final lady lady who would do things like empty bowls of obviously decorative items into the utility drawer and re-order the magnets on the fridge (I collect them on my travels), instead of actually cleaning. Her parting gift was a £700 bill to fix a Saniflo after she flushed a dishrag (an actual, cloth dishrag) down the toilet.

Wouldn't use them again if you paid me!

Get rid. She isn't doing a good job. My cleaner does 5 hours a week and manages to vac and mop pretty much the whole house (5 bed detached but 2 beds only done occasionally). Cleans the range, microwave, dusts, irons and puts the clothes away. Cleans two bathrooms and a loo as well. You have to be clear as to what you expect. I did a room by room outcome based job description after having a series of mediocre cleaners (yes, I was in HR!) and I've never looked back.

What exactly does she clean in that time? Watch TV?

That is not a fantastic amount of cleaning given the amount of time she is meant to be working on your house.

Leave her a list if you don't actually see her or ask her to prioritise certain things.

Do not use them. Not only they do bad jobs but their cleaners also steal.

Did you report they should take some action .The business has been built by a very dynamic gentleman he would be livid.
I have used them off and on and have had fairly good services so much so I gifted my friend 5 hours clean and tidy up .
Then unfortunately she was not happy with the service at all A shower head was also broken and hidden .I contacted them and they readdressed the issue.
I use themfor gardening etc now no longer cleaning as I don’t need to and prefer to do my own.
Very sad if someone is found too be stealing.
Let them know it’s important.

This is dispiriting @satp2072 - I'm trying to avoid the obvious conclusion regarding the disappearance of some gold items, one of which is v important to me.

Hi, everyone. As a house cleaner, I have seen this situation over and over. If you are hired on an hourly basis, and you estimate what you can clean in a given time and start work; after a while the client then gives you a list of things that must be done, and simply, you cannot get all of this list done in the given time you are hired for.
On a contract basis of hours, the unwritten contract is that you will try to get everything done in that time.
On a contract of a 'set price' then everything will be done: this is where the list comes in, and is handy. I like lists as long it is on a 'set price' contract.
Lists don't work on an hourly contract; they simply don't. You have to finish when the client says you must be done. If the clock runs out, then it runs out. Otherwise, you start working for free.
Obviously, the 'set price' for the job is going to be more expensive, but you (as the client) are assured that everything will be done.

I would like to add one more thing, if I may?
There is an old saying in house cleaning "Your client notices what you missed; not what you've done".
My point in all of this, is that we are human, and sometimes we clean the things that you may not notice we have cleaned, but miss a cupboard that we plan on cleaning next week (you notice we haven't cleaned). See what I am saying?

We inadvertently discovered something pretty disturbing about Fantastic. After they asked, we gave them a set of keys as they make a song & dance that all keys are kept securely in their office every day.

I once got locked out of my flat whilst my partner was overseas & out of desperation texted my Fantastic cleaner to see if she had my keys (a different day to my normal clean). She did - in her sharehouse - carefully labelled with my address!!

Do not give them your keys under any circumstance.

Hi, i am looking for move in cleaning, could you please contact me? [email protected]

I was looking for an oven cleaner in Birmingham and found a local expert cleaning company done a fantastic job on my oven look bran new, I recommend them to everybody www.localexpertcleaning.co.uk/

My experience was poor, in particular one cleaner damaging items by using wrong products to clean

I’d look elsewhere...