Baffled by cleaners!

[Clio82]

Hi all,

I’d love some opinions, please on the cleaning agency I’m using. It’s been about three months. I booked 2 hours a week for a small 3 bed terrace (just me and my son).

First cleaner; nice older lady, a bit ditsy. Did a lovely job of tidying, hoovering and straightening up bedroom but only “cleaned around” things in bathroom and kitchen and frequently missed obvious dirt and rogue hairs. Got back from hols the day she’d been and she’d left dust, dead insects and cobwebs as well as food stuck to surfaces. Didn’t seem to be able to see it. Broke my hoover and used to chuck water all over the floor with a cup and then apologise for it being wet. Asked me to be honest with her so I would gently point out the bits she’d missed. I never moaned at her about the hoover cos she was so upset about breaking it. Even brought her husband over to fix it and he couldn’t. Changed her day nearly every week, which drove me mad.

If I wasn’t in, the job could be very poor. One week it looked like she had done nothing. I asked her about it and she said “yeah, I had a migraine, it will be better next time.”

Eventually kicked off at me after I asked her if she left a cup of what looked like cleaning fluid on the counter. (Someone did and my 4 year old grabbed it and took a swig before spitting it out, which was dangerous. Turned out to be diluted washing up liquid). Told me I’m obvs not happy with her work and it’s not her job to pick up toys. Added a couple of digs like “I bet you’ve had a lot of cleaners” and “your house is what is dangerous.” Quit.

I sent the agency photos of her poor work and her reason for quitting and they never acknowledged; just sent me a new cleaner (Cleaner 2), who was ill the first week and then couldn’t work the second week cos I hadn’t been able to give her the keys when arranged (cos she was ill and didn’t contact me when arranged).

Temp cleaner; amazing! But not available weekly.

Cleaner 2: does an excellent job of whole house and leaves it looking like a hotel. Says it’s a lovely house and a great job for her. But keeps telling me things are “deep clean” so not her job. This includes kids’ finger marks on stair rail and dusting skirtings. I told her the agency very clearly includes dusting skirtings as standard and she agreed and said “oh ok, must be my other agency that doesn’t.” This time she turned up with a young woman who she said she brought to him her. The job was good but not as good as normal.

She also pulled me aside and said the house needs to be tidier. My kid was off sick from school and I was working from home, so we were dishevelled, but nothing unreasonable. (I got up at 06.30 to straighten it up for her). One of them dumped a huge pile of dirty sheets and cloths on my dining table and left it there (which I had left in a corner near the washing machine as my next washing load. She knows I leave stuff there as I have told her.)

Is this normal? It’s becoming so stressful managing these people that I think it’s taking more of my time than cleaning!

It does sound like you might need to do more tidying before they come. If the first one was spending time tidying, and the second one had to move dirty washing off the floor (I presume she needed to mop the floor).

With the last one, yes, she did more tidying than cleaning. But she was good at tidying and very poor at cleaning so I felt this worked for us. Otherwise I would have had to get rid of her for her poor cleaning and I was trying to avoid that.

With this one; I was there. She could have asked me and I had tidied the whole house before she arrived, apart from a pile of clean laundry in the bedroom.

Agency paperwork states “any reasonable domestic task” is included in the service. I think light tidying is reasonable.

I should note that I had two independent cleaners before this agency and none of them ever complained. One did a year with me before going back to teaching and the other came for a pre-agreed three month period while waiting for a new contract to start.

Unfortunately the demand for good reliable cleaners is very hard and yes, they seem to want to clean a clear, tidy house, which isn’t always possible. You are lucky if you get one that ticks all your boxes.

Agree. It seems to be very difficult to find anyone really good.

Any thoughts on turning up with the random helper? My mum says this is potentially risky and I should discuss with the agency.

One cleaner was right to remove the washing on the floor so that she could wash the floor, otherwise you might have been disappointed that she had missed that part. She left the washing on the table so that the floor could dry. No fault on her part.
Regarding tidying and cleaning, they only have a set amount of time, so if your things did need to be tidied, she had less time to clean.
Toys need to be picked up; anyway, she could have hurt herself.

I agree with PP, there just aren't enough good, reliable cleaners.

Get a washing basket or big plastic container for each room - stackable ones may be good so you just get them out on cleaning days. 30 mins before they get there run round and chuck anything that’s on the floor or cluttering up the place into them . If you’re short on time let the cleaners know this is the system and then after they’ve been each week you can then sort what’s in the baskets you’ll declutter over time that way and it will also be Easier for them to clean

Right, I will take that onboard.

What about the other stuff; changing the day, leaving dead insects and cobwebs, breaking my things, bringing an unofficial helper, saying dusting is deep clean?

I mean is it the case that my house is meant to be immaculate before the cleaner arrives or they have the right to mess me around and break the terms of the contract?

I think you need to find an independent cleaner. Probably through word of mouth, it's usually the best way. I've worked for a cleaning co and often some staff are good and some not so.

It sounds like there is a lot to do in 2 hours. Unfortunately clients are extremely un realistic about what can be achieved in that time. Tidying can take a lot of your time up . If you have lots of stuff on the surfaces and floor it becomes harder to clean . Making beds, emptying bins , washing up , it all takes time. Then you go over your time and the job has turned into an extra half an hour , which impacts on the next client .

I mean is it the case that my house is meant to be immaculate

Not immaculate, but tidy.

Try moving away from this agency and trying another, or someone independent.

Cleaner here. My customers tidy up the night before I come. When I meet people for the first time, I politely say I clean, I don't tidy up. I would try and go with a recommendation from a friend, neighbour or colleague. If they're doing a proper job, there shouldn't be crumbs and insects on surfaces.

I think tidying and cleaning a 3 bed house (including skirtten boards) is too much in 2 hours. You either need to tidy first or get a cleaner who is willing to tidy and clean and get them for 3 hours.

I’ve never found the big agencies any good. When I lived in the UK, I used Molly Maids and Merry Maids, both not great ( different people every weak, often with very different levels, also you had to leave lists etc for new people). Ask around locally. Our current lovely cleaner cleans for lots of neighbours, which works for her as she’s not travelling between jobs.

And I’ve never in my life tidied before a cleaner. I say this when I engage someone. They need to deal with whatever. No one has ever had an issue, and the only time I’ve changed cleaner ( other than unsatisfactory agencies) was when moving a long distance away.)

I should clarify; they don’t make beds. They don’t wash up or stack the dishwasher and they don’t empty or clean bins, or put a new liner on. They don’t wipe down cupboard fronts and they don’t do any dusting of staircase or banister spindles.

They don’t mop either; I have a mix of carpets and hard wood floors, that I spot clean myself. They just hoover.

The job is:

Clean one small bathroom one small kitchen.

Hoover two double bedrooms, living room, dining room and stairs/landing.

Dusting on rotation if they have time.

I think this is an agency issue because I didn’t have this problem with my independents. I think the agency doesn’t have very good people.

You’ve had bad luck with cleaners.

And if they are all like this then it’s probably the agency that needs changing. Everything you have mentioned should be cleaned as standard.

I’ve never had a cleaner that won’t tidy. In fact for the past couple of years I’ve had an amazing cleaner who tolerates my teen son’s absolute hovel of a bedroom and bathroom.

I constantly tell her to leave his room and she always tells me that his is nowhere near the worst she’s experienced and all teen boys are the same. Whether that’s true or not I appreciate her

We had this years ago with three different agencies.
First agency: One lady who just couldn't see dust - she didn't even wipe down the kitchen counter. I later found two other people who had also asked never to have her again. Second lady showed up late, didn't do half the house and left an hour early. Agency didn't have an issue with either of them and couldn't see why I did.
Second agency: franchise who worked as a team of two using their own products, which appeared not to actually clean anything especially not limescale. Did things like leave the hot water table running all day and the back door open.
Third agency: Sent someone who didn't turn up 3 times, eventually found someone else that was OK but after a month told me she was going on holiday and had given my keys to her friend who was going to cover for her. Agency knew nothing about it but didn't see any issue with some rando having my keys and then hounded me for agency notice fees, and their fees for the weeks they'd not sent anyone.

Last agency were absolutely brilliant, sent a crew of 4-5 who blitzed the house to an amazing standard in less than an hour, every week for years. Never advertised, it was all word of mouth.

The only difference I can think of is that the first and third were really introduction agencies - they vaguely vetted the cleaners but never saw their work. The second were just trying to do as little as possible that they could get away with. The fourth worked because they all oversaw each others work, the boss knew them all well and would come and clean every now and then to appraise their cleaning and my tidying.

Reliable cleaners that do a great job are hens teeth. I had a wonderful cleaner - disciplined, hardworking, reliable, took the initiative, high standards- inevitably she was not a cleaner for long and once her kids were in school she started a teaching degree. Since then I’ve had mix of does a great job but hardly turns up, turns up and hardly cleans, turns up and hardly cleans most of the house but cleans excessively the bits she does do. I’ve now got a lady coming who mostly turns up and does a mostly good job. I’ve settled for that for now and try not to sweat the small stuff and bits she misses.

I think some struggle with time management, they have 2 hours, I found sometimes they didn't manage even to hoover each room even though I only have a standard 3 bed house, I tidied as much as possible, make sure washing up was done and put away. One cleaner used to claim she did everything in an hour an a half to get away early! as least with an agency you can ask for someone else, but it take a while to find the right one for you. I stopped it in the end and do it all on my day off.

Changing the day - I’ve accepted that my otherwise good cleaner does this. If it doesn’t work for you then ask the agency to make sure they come on the right day. It might mean some weeks they don’t come at all.

Random helper - I wouldn’t like this. I’d bring it up with the agency and say you don’t want people you don’t know there.

Tidying - my cleaner will tidy, most rooms are fine, some take more time eg my Dd room, thus means less time to do other tasks whic is fine by me.

Cobwebs etc - cleaner should notice and remove. It sounds like the first one just wasn’t a particularly great cleaner TBH.

In general having a cleaner can be a big help but sometimes needs input / tolerance to run smoothly. As you are using an agency, let them deal with as much as possible, or look to hire directly and see how that goes.

Thank you, everyone! It’s good to have a mix of opinions. Inevitably expectations will vary but I’m glad to see I’m obviously not being entirely unreasonable!

I’ve also always had better luck with direct hires rather than agencies.

I actually have two cleaners: one word of mouth, who’s been coming a few years but she didn’t have extra hours and one put a note in my letterbox. MNers would have a conniption - she’s not vetted, I don’t know where she lives or even her full name and I leave her in my house unattended. But she’s fabulous. And if one day she runs off with all my jewellery then I guess I’ll be sorry but in the preceding years I’ll have enjoyed the sparkling clean house.

I know what you mean! I had a lady like this when working abroad. My ex used to leave a lot of cash lying around and she’d put it in neat piles and never take a cent. I would have trusted her with my life but didn’t even know her surname. She added me on Facebook when I moved back to the UK.

If they are having to spend time tidying and moving things to clean then that will really slow them down.

Moving things; like the toaster, kettle and toothpaste holder? These are things one of them refused to move before cleaning.

I am supposed to put them in the garden, or something?!