Am I being unreasonable re stroppy note left by my cleaner? She says she is NOT A HOUSEKEEPER.

[WideWebWitch]

OK, so we are a messy house. But nothing really awful, just stuff like clothes on the floor, plates in the front room, mugs in the bathroom etc. Previous cleaner has gone to take another job (not cleaning, a job she is qualified for and which is more money and less work) and introduced new cleaner to us who, up til now(past 2 weeks) has been doing a good job.

We pay £8 an hour, which is over the going rate for this area (I gather it's £7) and I don't care when it's done as long as it's between 8am-5.30pm. She comes 2/3 times a week.

Today I got back today to a clean house but to a note that says

"I am little bit disappointed with the way your house was left this morning. It took me 40 minutes (her underlining) to gather dirty washing from your floors and collect cups and mugs...so I could start cleaning properly. As I said before, I understand you work full time...but I am a CLEANER NOT A HOUSE KEEPER (her caps)
I will contact you or I can even come over and see you to discuss how we can help each-other. SORRY, I hope I haven't upset you too much, but I find that 2 hours is NOT enough for me to do cleaning.
I hope you'll understand.
MY NUMBER IS xxxxxx

And she did 3.5 hours, which I will be expected to pay for (fair enough but I didn't agree it up front) and I'm PISSED OFF (My caps!). I Do work f/t oth, I have 2 children, I'm fucking knackered and my first instinct is to tell her to fk off and bring my key back. I want someone who's prepared to tidy otherwise there's no fking point imo. We're NOT talking shit smeared walls here, we're talking clothes on floor, cups on surfaces.

So, get rid or start tidying up before the cleaner comes and let myself be bossed around by this woman?

I have pmt and have tried to call but no reply from her house, I'll try later.

TIA for your views.

WWW - where do you live? I would tidy and clean for you at £10 an hour!!

Can anyone tell me the split of views on this thread? Is is about 50/50 I'm unreasonable vs cleaner being unreasonable? I reckon so! lol at judging being a perk! As is gossip, I'm sure our payslips have occasionally been left lying around. Luckily we don't know anyone here so she wouldn't have anyone to gossip to!

JARM, nr Milton Keynes, you anywhere nearby?

damn it - too far! Im in Colchester!

I love tidying - would love a cleaner job - but with my 2 kiddies, it needs to be evenings really, and there isnt much scope for that round here!

www, please talk to her before giving her the boot - just for us softies

WWW, where do you find cleaners round here for £10 an hour?? I'll take one of those...

MOH, I'm paying £8 atm but an agency told me they had to pay £7 to anyone coming to my area (you know where I am don't you?) But I'd pay £10 if someone would just do it, turn up, be reliable, tidy and not leave me notes other than to say "thanks!"

I don't think it's necessarily unreasonable of her BUT I do think the letter was very undiplomatic and she must have realised it would get your back up. TBH I think it's a fine line as to what is/isn't her responsibility. The key is to define exactly what you expect of her. Did the old cleaner tidy before cleaning?

OK Zog, for you softies I will talk to her first. I will ask Mr Reasonable, ie. dh what he thinks too.

Kr, old cleaner tidied and cleaned and very often did it all in under 2 hours I reckon. She did even when I was here sometimes!

Think she and my cleaner would get on well! Mine more or less told me taht unbless the house was tidier she would no longer do my cleaning! So I now tidy before she comes. She also doesn't like spiders (so won't touch cobwebs), won't empty the hoover bag and hoovers around - not under - the kitchen cabinets. However as there are very few cleaners where I live, I put up with her! (she is actually a very nice pesron - just has different ideas to me!)

I would speak to her - tell her you didn't like the tone in the letter (the housekeeper ref, caps etc) but that perhaps you can come to an agreement. Having said that she's probably pissed you off enough that you wouldn't really want her cleaning for you anyway.

No WWW don't know where you are have an incling you are other side of MK to me though.

I need a tidier and cleaner too.

My cleaner doesn't tidy. And she has a scarey tendency to throw away things we've left on the floor - and since she takes rubbish out to the communal bins, once its gone it's GONE! She comes at completely random times, usually when we're in a state of undress She does what she feels like doing, and ignores jobs she doesn't fancy...

Have to say that she never leaves me notes, so that would be a plus for you WWW! But that's because she can't speak any English She sometimes leaves pictures of what she wants us to buy (DH and I spent a few happy hours trying to decipher her picture of a Brillo pad...). We think she's from Romania, but we're not sure - this was after a 'Give us a clue' style pantomime of trying to find out a bit about her...

And yet we love her. I just couldn't bear to fire her... My DS adores her - and has learnt a few words of what we think is Romanian. The only English I've ever heard her say is 'Beautiful, beautiful boy!' - in regard to my DS! So maybe that's why I love her so much

IME, there are thorough but slow cleaners and not so thorough but fast cleaners. If she's the former but you want the latter, then you need to ask her if she can change her ways.

And thank you for humouring me

omg becster, that would drive me mad!

I have just realised that she is very er, thorough, I don't know if that's the word but anyway, the cushions are all lined up in a pattern and dd's books downstairs are kind of fanned out on the blanket box. And she tidies my photo frames and stuff too. And all is lined up in the kitchen. So there we go, she probably has MUCH higher standards than me!

WWW - put an ad in employ a MNer for a cleaner in your area - im sure there must be a Mner close by who would love to tidy your house!

WWW email me... I'll borrow her if not to far and then she can share out her snot-notes.

I can see both sides too.

BUT! I really think it was your responsibility to discuss what you expected with your new cleaner (face to face) - not for the previous one to pass information on. Just as in any other job really!

Hope you can sort things out amicably.

I might just do that JARM!

WWW -I think you are having a bad day and that note would certainly piss me off too !

BUT - my cleaners (twice the price of yours btw - through an agency) would clean around anything left on floor - they do take cups back to kitchen and wash up dishes left in sink. We have to have a mad dash around throwing things into cupboards ready for them to come !

your lady sounds worried and she sounds like she wants to do a good job ! Perhaps she's got PMT too !

If you are otherwise happy with her work I'd have a chat and say that you do need her to tidy up for you, and if that means more hours what does she propose ?

Good cleaners are like gold-dust and I think this one sounds trainable ! But I'd be fuming too !

my cleaner would tidy as well as clean, heck i thought that was part of the job? lol.

but i am a person wh osays 'the bedrooms are my jobs!'

NO, I couldn't bare the thought of another MNer tidying up my dirty clothes (don't know why)

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