NIGHTMARE CLIENTS and whats expected from me

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Hi Ive been cleaning a 2 bed house with extension for 3 hours.. They have 4 dogs, both smoke and in a nutshell the house is filthy.

They request;
. 5 setee throw removing and shaking, replacing, lg rug lifted and shook and hoovered, tables cleaned, muck is brown that comes off them, sweep up, dry mop, dust. Clutter on all surfaces and tables, dogs toys in little bits , empty 2 bins.
kitchen worktops full of clutter clear, empty dishwasher, wash pots and refill. Frying pans and tins thick with grease cleaned. empty bin. Spray and wipe all surfaces, wipe stove and inside oven, sweep/dry mop floor, buff.

Upstairs Bathroom usual clean, bath , shower etc

Bedroom Change all bedding sweep, dust etc etc

I am wringing in sweat the whole time I work that hard yet nothing pleases them. All they do is nit pick and constantly moan . Blame me for things I HAVE NOT DONE. sAY I DONT HAVE TO DO SOMETHING THEN A FEW WEEK LATER ASK WHY I HAVENT.oops..
Comment on how it should all be doe with time to spare for extras, windows,fridge and the like..

nightmare clients to say the least

Oh dear. I'd get it all written down so that you have something to refer back to. It's also difficult when you have clutter to deal with. Can you time how long each task takes and then discuss it with them?

That sounds too much to do in 3 hours - can you afford just to walk away?

The trouble with trying to be 'reasonable' and stating you can do X,Y & Z in three hours but not A, B & C is that your clients don't sound at all reasonable to start with. Sounds horrible .

Hmm, the only thing you can do is to tell them its not achievable for you. They might say ok do what you can or they might say ok we'll find someone else. Its a risk.

I have a cleaner who does all that (apart from lifting and shaking the rugs). My house is much larger 6 bed plus separate office. She does seven hours a week and comes in on a Monday 2 hours Wednesday 2 hours and Friday 3 hours. We don't have dogs and don't smoke though.

Presumably the more you clean there the easier it will get since there's only so much dirt they can create in a week?

Well they sound incompatible with having a cleaner tbh. I would say you need to set out your expectations rather than the other way round so things like; you don't tidy, cluttered surfaces will not get cleaned, washing up should be done before you come etc. Also that there isn't enough time so either they pay for more regular hours or they pay for a full day/two deep clean (assuming the regular hours will be enough for you going forward).

My instinct though is that they are going to always be difficult and you should be looking to replace them asap.

i clear all obstacles so my cleaner can clean. dishwasher loaded, surfaces clear. kids stuff away. i think you need so set some ground rules or say you need more hours.sound like they are filthy lazy gits.

You sound as though you're fighting a losing battle.

Jobs like that are awful. Ditch them and find more reasonable clients to fill their slot.

Wow sounds a lot for three hours. I have 5hours a fortnight and outhouse is very tidy and don't ask her to change bedding. Are they there when you are cleaning? That's what made me realise my cleaner needed more time.

Total clean of a 2-bed ought to be achievable in three hours, but only if it's basically clean to start with. Any tidying makes it impossible.

I think they've asked friends with a similar house (but without pets or slovenly habits) how long their cleaner takes.

Sympathy - "nightmare" sounds right. Can you sack them?

Definitely too much for 3 hours. I have my 2 bed cleaned once a fortnight and in 3 hours I have : floors hoovered everywhere, kitchen & bathroom mopped, kitchen cleaned , bathroom cleaned and surfaces dusted.
I always clear all the surfaces I want cleaned before she comes I'd never expect her to tidy stuff away as well

There are too many people who believe that having a cleaner means they don't need to do anything at all, ever. Ime they don't change and, unless they can afford to pay for that level of support, you are just going to bust a gut trying.

Filthy sods

Thank you all for your comments they were having me believe I am incompetent. I only began last September and the water would be get black... I am constantly being told I have plenty of time and even did the job times, they also did to compare, difference was they weren't working flat out for the 3 hours . The job was general cleaning, dust and hoover but they pull me if nit swept under the bed, bath tiles need doin,,which go to the ceiling, inside cupboards, pointed out I had dusted unit which was full if cards and xmas nick knacks...

Here's the best, sent a you tube video on how To replace the floor panel as he had said the whole lot would have to be taken up. Reply was i think we best leave it, your off your head you and i was a rubbish cleaner...problem solved!!!!

Seems like it's for the best then!

Yep, well rid! Even on the basic description in the op you'd be madto continue!

Yeah made the decision for me, good luck to the next one

Normally a new cleaner would suggest a deep clean to get everything up to scratch, and then there would be a maintenance phase where you do 3 hours a week once it's all easy to clean. I think that's what has gone wrong here. You were behind from the start, from the look of it astheyweredirtypigs

Is there any learning you can take from this for future jobs? For example insisting that clutter is cleared away, floors clear etc?

I would not consider cleaning floor to ceiling tiles every week essential, and dusting the inside of cupboards should be an exceptional job done in additional hours.

Similarly, I don't think cleaning the inside of the oven every week is necessary.

Sounds like it has worked out for the best - hope you get someone else soon. Our cleaner was with us for over 8 years, and she was great, but I think a lot of it was down to mutual respect.

I've had a cleaner when my house was cluttered/messy and I always tidied up beforehand so cleaning was possible. It was a nightmare though as it would take me a hours. I've since ruthlessly decluttered and can clean without help in a very short time. As a cleaner to really should just have to clean and not tidy.

Yes I suggested a room by room deep clean at the start but apparently she didn't want to pay for 1 room as. It would very soon become dirty again with the dogs..logical that I don't think.. Personally I think they were control freaks who wanted to set me up to fail so they could manipulate and dictate to me.he especially got off on having a go I'm sure and would be nice as pie the next min!!! I no I'm better of out of there but some notice would if been nice...

It sounds like they need to read the Marie kondo decluttering book!

I think they probably will only realise the weight of their demands when one of them has to do all the jobs on the list on their own.

Best to tell them to jog on.

Hi OP - in future always set out terms at the original agreement, make sure they know what is included in your standard maintenance cleans and what is additional thus attracting an extra fee.

Oven cleaning is around £50 minimum in my area and not usually offered by most domestic cleaning services as it is a stand alone service and needs separate insurances in place, things like cleaning out fridge and cupboards are add-ons plus bedding change can be offered for a fee.

With regards to deep cleaning, we will offer this to regular clients who are within our regular maintenance schedule at a price around double their maintenance cleaning price, it would be a lot more expensive if we did a deep clean from scratch for a non-regular though.

You just have to know what your standard regular service includes and give them this service list at the start then you both have it in writing.

There are far too many genuine clients who value a cleaning service out there to put up with this nonsense.

Thanks all for your comments, I certainly will be setting out a list from here on, I hope I find clients who appreciate my service in the future. Where do you go to, to advertise services locally on here?