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Original poster

My new cleaner has hacked me off ! Am I being unreasonable ?

66 replies

Scatterbrain · 04/10/2005 23:00

Just wondered what you all thought about this !

As some of you know I have just gone back to work full time and was delighted to find a cleaner with vacancies. I was very sensible and followed up her references - all of which were excellent.

So - she came today for the first time and I am so pissed off that I couldn't even answer the phone to her when she rang tonight !

OK - first problem - she brings her two children with her - one is no problem being only 10 months but the other little one if 2.5 and although she said at her interview that he stayed in the playpen (!) was wandering around picking up all my dd's toys when I left them !

When I came home the whole place was a mess - curtains disarrayed, furniture back in wrong places, loads of stuff moved, even my huge rug was left at a weird angle. The stands had been taken off my photos on the window sill and one stand has still not been found ! Toys were all piled up on the table - I know she couldn't stop her ds touching them - but she could have made an effort to tidy them up !

Then to top it all - a sink full of sodden filthy cloths ! She had used every single cloth I own (many !) and just left them in the sink for me to deal with.

And then the note - saying she hadn't managed to get upstairs (in 4 hours !!!) as she had had so much to do downstairs !

Am I being unreasonable ?

OP posts:
colditz · 04/10/2005 23:02

God no you are not, this is ridiculous, she cannot possibly do an effective job cleaning with two children under 3 wandering about!

Have words - strong ones.

HemlockLGJ · 04/10/2005 23:02

I learnt from bitter experience, cleaners can not clean when they have children on board.

Mytwopenceworth · 04/10/2005 23:03

no. she's a crap cleaner!

QueenVictoria · 04/10/2005 23:03

Dont know - never had a cleaner! But the disarray indicates she has been thorough though doesnt it? If only on the downstairs.

Cant help any more than that - sorry!

QueenVictoria · 04/10/2005 23:04

You got a cleaner yet LJG?

HemlockLGJ · 04/10/2005 23:08

QV

Don't mention the war.

In essence NO, I finish work towards the end of October, if she had still been with us I could have manipulated the sums.

Bit more diffy to hire a new one so to speak.

QueenVictoria · 04/10/2005 23:50

Sorree Meester Fawlty!

diffy?

polly28 · 05/10/2005 01:16

hod ,don't have her back.In four hours she should definately have done the whole house,unless you asked her to clean out the oven and loads of cupboards aswell.I think taking her kids with her is taking the piss!

She is supposed to reduce your stress not increase it.

polly28 · 05/10/2005 01:16

God not hod !

ghosty · 05/10/2005 03:24

Definitely sounds out of order. Except the cloths bit. Do you want her to take them with her? My cleaner puts ours in the washing machine if it is empty or puts them in the sink if the washing machine is full. So I try to make sure the washer is empty when she comes.
Sack her and find another.

FairyMum · 05/10/2005 06:51

Sack her straight away. I have had a few bad experiences and I just sacked them. I am not willing to teach a cleaner to clean, so if they are that bad they have to go!

NotQuiteCockney · 05/10/2005 07:00

The mess, and the fact she's bringing her kids, I understand your annoyance about. (Although, presumably she charges less than others because her kids are with her?)

The cloths, well, it sounds better than my cleaner, who goes through a lot of kitchen roll, every time.

And as for not getting upstairs ... I find different cleaners have different focuses, and she was (hopefully) dealing with some odd little tasks you don't generally notice? (No insult meant to your own cleaning skills. I was raised by wolves and have no clue on this cleaning stuff.) My cleaner is forever cleaning between all the bannisters on the stairs. At any rate, hopefully these tasks will be better next time?

MiaouTheFamiliar · 05/10/2005 08:38

I would just tell her that you don't think this arrangement is going to work out and leave it at that. If she asks why you can explain that you are not happy that she comes to clean with the children in tow.

I wouldn't give her a second chance, if only because you will probably have to have this conversation again further down the line.

Bozza · 05/10/2005 09:19

The 10 month old might not be a problem but a few months down the line that might change. I would really rethink this.

morningpaper · 05/10/2005 09:22

I agree, say it's not working out. Say you're not insured to have children in your home. Say she's rubbish. Get rid!

expatinscotland · 05/10/2005 09:27

Sack her.

frogs · 05/10/2005 09:32

Get rid, pronto. She's having a laugh.

The whole point of having a cleaner is that you can come home and breathe a sigh of joy at the utter tidy cleanness of your house, for about 30 seconds before your own kids trash it. Having the cleaner's kids trash it for you defeats the purpose.

LadyDragonOfSoup · 05/10/2005 09:38

Personally, as this is the first time she's been, I'd give her another chance but lay down some ground rules.

  1. make it clear that any toys are to be put back. If this is not going to happen, the children can not come.I had this issue during school holidays with a cleaner once and it worked out fine once we'd talked about it.
  2. furniture etc is to be put back exactly as she found it
  3. cloths are to be rinsed and put in an agreed place to dry.

I don't think the "not being able to get upstairs" is an issue witha first visit - my last one did not manage this but that was because of the thorough job she did first time through. Once it was down to "maintenance cleaning" the time was fine.

LadyFioOfTipton · 05/10/2005 09:45

my god fancy leaving you house so dirty she couldnt clkean the upstairs tut tut
you should be ashmaed of yourself

expatinscotland · 05/10/2005 09:47

Bozza brings up a good point - in a few months time she'll have TWO toddlers in tow. It's hard enough getting anything done w/just one, but two?

Nah, think I'd find someone else.

I like the insurance point - if anything happens to those kids whilst her back is turned and she's busy, she could sue the hell outta you and your homeowner's insurance premiums would never be the same again. Not to mention your life could be turned upside down by all the stress and drama.

Too big of a risk, IMO.

TheRtHonBaronessEnidOBE · 05/10/2005 10:02

sack her

suzywong · 05/10/2005 10:05

maybe give her one more chance and find time to sit her down, sans enfants, and outline what it is you are (quite reasonably) expecting

Which is rich coming from me who sacked a woman who spent two and a quarter of the three allotted hours cleaning my oven racks with a brillo pad

LadySSofD · 05/10/2005 10:10

I don't think she should be contemplating going out to clean with 2 kids in tow! Who's she kidding!

I'd get rid pronto.

MrsSpoon · 05/10/2005 10:10

Don't know how she can clean with two littlies in tow, my two were what drove me to getting a cleaner! Couldn't get a thing done.

EmporessMaloryOfTheTower · 05/10/2005 10:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.