Domestic cleaner demanding money owed

[Thefirstime]

Recently finished with our cleaner and they are demanding payment for a day when they cleaned and are saying they wasn’t paid.. don’t know why they didn’t mention it before…

i am stumped - my DW took care of paying and they are saying due to a cancellation back 2 months ago and then they were paid every month - there was a payment missed..

this is all cash in hand btw..

I don’t believe it for one second.. what to do?? Hardball?

they stole stuff (have no proof of course) and most of cleaning products were taken

Ask your DW?

*sorry the cleaner asked to be paid in advance every 2 weeks

Ask your wife..?

Ask them to invoice you with proof they weren't paid, including vat.

@TraitorsGate

Do you mean they should be declaring the cash in hand? So should have proof?

I have - she’s convinced she paid.. but we have no way of knowing as all cash.. they are trying to confuse us

'They are trying to confuse us' - or maybe you haven't paid.

We have been paying in advance every 2 weeks.. there’s only the smallest possibility we haven’t paid..

If they stole from you then tell them you’ll be letting the police know - then block them. I guarantee they won’t pursue it

@Whatsthisallnow again, have no proof of this

Do you receive a “receipt” or anything similar each time you pay? Do they send you an invoice to pay every 2 weeks? Can you check bank statements to see any cash withdrawal of a specific amount for the cleaner, e.g. cleaner is £50 and there is a withdrawal from your bank for £50?

How much are you talking? If they are as bad as you say I’d just want to be done with them and if you’re talking say £30, I’d just pay it (with a bitter taste) to draw a line under it all.

Checking the withdrawals now but generally no, we don’t have anything written down

It’s the principal behind it - less the money £70

It might be worth paying to get rid of them.
or offer half?

@Marcipex thats what I was thinking

Do you often have £70 lying around the house in cash?

Presumably you would have needed to withdraw the cash to make the payment, so you should be able to quite easily check thus on bank statements.

If it was payment in advance, would they have been done the cleaning if you didn't pay?

*even done

if you withdrew this money to pay them, are you able to check this?

I would say, if they are asking for this now, so much later, then something smells fishy. However, if this is paid in advance, I would go over the time they were last in, cleaning, and check your statements

They were here last week!! There were a few cancellations from there end hence the confusion

Definitely start by checking your bank balance and withdrawals at the time you think you paid.

However, who cancelled with the cancellations, how long before the booked work and what was the agreement about payment for cancelled weeks? I would be mightly annoyed if i was repeatedly cancelled on for work I was expecting to have and would definitely want to make sure I was paid for every single hour I worked there. If you cancelled last minute on more than one occasion, then I would also expect to be paid regardless.

I can also tell you that people often think they've paid for something when they haven't, just because it is such a rolling habit that the 'memory' they have is actually relating to another occasion.

There are lots of thing going on in your message. You think they have stolen but have no proof. Cleaning products have gone - but is that also theft to you?If you bought them and they weren't finished in your house then they should have remained in your house. If she ever brought in her own products then she can take them and the cost of those should have been factored in to the clean cost.

The onus is on your cleaner to prove that you haven't paid, not on you to prove that you have.

Just pay them. You've admitted here that there is a chance that you didn't pay. They aren't asking for an outrageous 4 week notice period or anything, just to be paid for services rendered.

I suggest next time that you or your wife keep better records.

You can't invoice someone including VAT unless you're registered for VAT.