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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:
katierocket · 05/10/2005 10:12

Sorry but she sounds rubbish. I wouldn't give her another chance, just don't have her back. A 'proper' cleaner just would not do any of that.

LadyFioOfTipton · 05/10/2005 10:16

my friend takes her severely disabled daughter with her to her cleaning job without any problems, know lots of people who take kids with them.

maybe she was having a bad day? maybe kids isnt usually with her? maybe thats whay she was phoning? maybe she thought it needed a more thorough clean than it had been of late?

Original poster
Scatterbrain · 05/10/2005 10:40

Good morning - Thanks everyone for your top advice !! As ever - very sensible ! Dh was really cross as she had somehow buggered up all the TV settings - presumably as she was trying to put it on for her little ones to watch ! She certainly got a lot of cloths very dirty - although to be honest the house doesn't look any cleaner ! I guess she cleaned where I don't look ! That said - where I do look is really smeary - the floors look as though they have been slopped with dirty water and the dining room table is very smeary ! Oh and - did I mention that she used an entire can of Mr Sheen !

I think I will give her one more chance - (I am desperate) although to be honest I agree with everyone who has said that no-one can clean properly with two little kids around ! I will write a list of my "issues" and then try and phone her ! That will be fun as she is not English and doesn't always understand terribly well !

OP posts:
Lonelywitch · 05/10/2005 10:57

Just wanted to let you know that my mother always had a cleaner and two of them had young kids at the time of working for my mother and they both did excellent jobs even though they brought their children to work with them. i don't know how they did it, but just wanted you to know it can be done.

Re cleaner's daughter playing with your dd's things: I think a bit of that went on with my mother's cleaner's children too, but, as the youngest child in the house, I know I was older than them and so the toys they played with didn't really bother me. I used to hate it when I was a teenager though, lying in bed all morning and some grotty little child would try to come in my room!

As for the rest of your complaints, you sound entirely justified in being upset IMO.

TinyGang · 05/10/2005 11:30

I wouldn't want the children in tow at all - I know how little you can get done with them around, so don't see how she can do a good job in that situation. Also if she's trying to work, how can she stop them touching and possibly breaking your things? Young children get very curious unattended in an unfamiliar house.

There's no point in paying her to do it if you have to start again when you come home. I'd find someone else if the children are always going to be a factor. Tbh she has a strange approach to her job if she feels it is acceptable to try and do it like this. Maybe it was a one-off? Not a good start though.

Not sure about the cloths - sounds like you need to spell out to whoever you have what you want done with them. Putting them straight into the washing machine seems logical. I would have expected at least something done upstairs in 4 hrs although I understand the point made about getting everything done in a big clean and then maintenance cleaning thereafter. Even so, if she only tackled downstairs in that time, I can't see why it was still all over the place.

My cleaners are quite good, but they don't do things as thoroughly as I do, which is understandable in the time they have. I tend to still blitz the kitchen and bathroom myself (when I can, ha ha) so I know it's been done to my standard. Ie clean oven, polish tiles and paintwork thoroughly, clean out the fridge - they do not do that as they're not here long enough.

On the day they come I try to make the house very tidy for them, as they can't clean well if there's junk everywhere. it is always left looking nice though.

expatinscotland · 05/10/2005 11:37

Does anyone's cleaners bring their own gear? That's odd. My only experience of cleaners is growing up my mother always had a cleaner, but she used her own materials - clothes, dusters, cleaning supplies, etc.

Original poster
Scatterbrain · 05/10/2005 12:44

I have seen cleaners do that - even to the extent of humping their own Dyson around - but neither of my two have ever offered ! Perhaps you have to ask and pay a higher rate !

I am in the midst of typing a detailed cleaning schedule for mine - complete with Do's and Don'ts

OP posts:
Original poster
Scatterbrain · 06/10/2005 09:45

Well - have had a chat with her - apparently she cleaned the tops of all my kitchen cupboards - WHY ?? Unclear I am afraid ! Personally would have preferred bathrooms cleaned !

Maybe I am superficial but I want the house to look clean and tidy - not particularly to BE totally clean !

Anyway - spent a long time yesterday setting out in writing exactly what I want her to DO each week - she says she is happy to follow this list - so we will have to see !

I think she thinks I am really dirty though - I said I didn't want the floors washed every week - and she sounded really shocked !

Anyway - really think that her little boy moving all the bits around is going to be a problem - but am happy to give her a second chance ! Boo Hiss though as now I will have to clean rest of house before arrival of all the grandparents for dd's birthday weekend !

Thanks for all the advice - will post again after her next visit with the verdict !

OP posts:
Bozza · 06/10/2005 09:49

If I had a cleaner I would want them to do all the regular things:
dust/polish all through
clean bathrooms/toilet
do kitchen counters/cupboard doors/hob/bleach sink
hoover all through
sweep and mop hard floors

Then extras like bleaching the grout in the bathroom, cleaning on top of the ktichen cupboards, pulling the fridge out etc I would do myself as and when.

Carmenere · 06/10/2005 09:51

Scatterbrain, I employed contract cleaners to clean the flat I was moving out of. DD was 6 weeks old and I was totally shellshocked from 1st time motherhood. We were only moving next door so I was there for some of the time they were cleaning. One of them said to the other, in front of me that they would kill their daughter if she let her flat get into the state mine was in. Charming and I was paying them £80 for the pleasure of insulting me! And the flat was empty when they arrived, they should have seen it before we had moved out!

Original poster
Scatterbrain · 06/10/2005 10:02

Absolutely Bozza - just how I feel !!

Think she has in her head a grand plan to sanitize the whole place over the next few weeks - then she will enter a mode of maintenance cleaning !

Think I need to take control NOW - hence the detailed list !

OP posts:
Mirage · 06/10/2005 12:51

I work in people's gardens & would never take my dd's with me.You cannot give a job your full attention with your children about.The way I see it is that my customers are paying for my time-so they have a right to expect me to concentrate on what I'm doing 100%.

Original poster
Scatterbrain · 12/10/2005 11:00

Hello everyone - well she's been again and I am really uncertain whether to sack her or not !!

I left her a very detailed list of what she should do this week - and fair play - she did do it all - and I said that she must make sure the house was left neat and tidy - and I listed the things that were wrong last week ! In fairness to her - the house was tidy and pretty clean.

However, she left me a very stroppy note - saying that she didn't like the fact that I didn't like her children being in my house - and saying that she MUST be allowed to use the TV. I had said that we preferred her not to !

I know that my note must have annoyed her - but now I feel all stressed out about it all and am feeling that this is just too much hassle !!

Oh - AND - she said that I owed her for another hour last week as she stayed 5 hours not 4 !! She can certainly whistle for that - we agreed 4 hours and that's what I paid for !!

So - the question is - to sack or not to sack ??

OP posts:
CountessDracula · 12/10/2005 11:02

sounds like trouble to me....

mancmum · 12/10/2005 11:03

sack!!

handlemecarefully · 12/10/2005 11:07

She sounds thoroughly CRAP! Get rid!

secur · 12/10/2005 11:12

Message withdrawn

trace2 · 12/10/2005 11:18

I USED TO CLEAN and worked in some large homes, the bigest took 6 hours including windows all paint work, if had any time left did a few kitchen drawers, also washed every cloth out and put to dry. sack her shes should not bring the kids it could be dangerous for them.

Beetroot · 12/10/2005 11:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Carmenere · 12/10/2005 11:27

I'm afraid you have to get rid of her. To my mind it's really important to be totally comfortable with someone who is working in your home particlarly when you are not there. Just look for someone else, I suppose it sometimes takes a couple of tries to find someone who really suits you.

suzywong · 12/10/2005 11:30

sack her, some things are not negotiable, she sounds like she thinks you owe her more than money

moondog · 12/10/2005 11:35

suzy,why did you sack brillo pad woman???

Original poster
Scatterbrain · 12/10/2005 11:35

Thanks everyone - Suzy - you're right !! She has got a real attitude problem !

Have just texted her to say it's not working out - please drop key through letterbox. Now feel sick - as feel sure she will reply !!

What is is with people ??

OP posts:
suzywong · 12/10/2005 11:47

why did I sack brillo pad woman? Becasue I care not how gungy the rungs of my cooker shelves are, I just don't want a crunchy kitchen floor nor a sticky carpet.

I sacked my cleaner, another one, by text and then felt sick so I know how you feel. Things are much better now we are living with MIL, she's washing the dinner dishes and drying them as I type

Easy · 12/10/2005 11:52

You know, if I was you I'd pay her the extra hour she wants, but tell her that you won't need her again.

I don't see how she can possible clean your house effectively if she's caring for 2 under 3's. She certainly would need to use the TV to sit them down for a while to get anything done at all.

Didn't you know about the kids before she first started? I wouldn't have set her on in the first place, if she said she had to bring kids with her.

put an advert in your local paper and look for someone else. This will not work out. Personally I think you want someone more mature, but then my cleaner is a more mature lady, and she's brill. She loves my ds, and now occasionally fills in evening babysitting too.

BTW my cleaner does bring all her own cloths and dusters, and used to bring stuff, but as she used all anti-bacterial stuff, I asked her not to, and now she uses my surface cleaners and polishes. My previous clener would put cloths into the washing basket at the end of her day.