Cleaning lady does a crap job, worth my while saying anything?

gosuckonalemon

Hi,
I recently had a new bathroom fitted in my very small 2 bed flat. I had just moved back to the flat having rented it out for several years so wanted a good cleaning done. The bathroom job left the place pretty dusty.

I arranged for a cleaning lady to come in and give the place a proper cleaning. The two bedrooms did not need to be cleaned, just the living area, kitchen and bathroom.

I left a specific list of things to do, window clean, oven clean etc.

When I came home after work I barely noticed the difference. The dust was gone but that was about it. The windows looked like they had a dirty sponge thrown across them. No oven cleaned. I was shocked when she claimed to have spent 4.5 hours here. Impossible! Now she wants 45 euro from me which of course is tax free for her.

Is there any point in saying something or just never use her again?

I just feel like I've been ripped off big time.

kingtut

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

Hi,
I recently had a new bathroom fitted in my very small 2 bed flat. I had just moved back to the flat having rented it out for several years so wanted a good cleaning done. The bathroom job left the place pretty dusty.

I arranged for a cleaning lady to come in and give the place a proper cleaning. The two bedrooms did not need to be cleaned, just the living area, kitchen and bathroom.

I left a specific list of things to do, window clean, oven clean etc.

When I came home after work I barely noticed the difference. The dust was gone but that was about it. The windows looked like they had a dirty sponge thrown across them. No oven cleaned. I was shocked when she claimed to have spent 4.5 hours here. Impossible! Now she wants 45 euro from me which of course is tax free for her.

Is there any point in saying something or just never use her again?

I just feel like I've been ripped off big time.

I would be inclined not to use her again (or report her to whoever she works for - assuming that she is not working for herself of course).

Why is it tax free for her? Cash in hand? If so why not pay her by cheque?

mikom

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

I left a specific list of things to do, window clean, oven clean etc.

When I came home after work I barely noticed the difference.

Sounds like she needs more lemon pledge.

gosuckonalemon

kingtut wrote: »

I would be inclined not to use her again (or report her to whoever she works for - assuming that she is not working for herself of course).

Why is it tax free for her? Cash in hand? If so why not pay her by cheque?

She is a foreign girl working for herself. I don't own a cheque book.

I always clean myself but thought I would get a cleaner in to do a one off deep clean which is far from what she did.

él statutorio

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

She is a foreign girl working for herself. I don't own a cheque book.

I always clean myself but thought I would get a cleaner in to do a one off deep clean which is far from what she did.

Maybe tell her that you're not happy, it might've been a miscommunication.

Give her the chance to sort it out.

thegreatiam

if you laid out what needed to be done, then agreed a price. she should deliver the task to get the money.

bring her back to the flat and point out where she has fallen short. and refuse to pay until she provides what she said she would.

Provided you clearly stated the tasks. if you were a little vague in your description then maybe she misunderstood you.

either way, a cleaner that doesn't clean to a high standard is not up to much, defo do not use her again

gosuckonalemon

él statutorio wrote: »

Maybe tell her that you're not happy, it might've been a miscommunication.

Give her the chance to sort it out.

I wrote her an e-mail with a specific list of 4-5 things I would like done.

All she touched was the living room, hall and bathroom. The bathroom was spotless and just needed a polish as it had just been fitted apart from dust etc. i.e. no grime or damp

kingtut

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

She is a foreign girl working for herself. I don't own a cheque book.

I always clean myself but thought I would get a cleaner in to do a one off deep clean which is far from what she did.

Perhaps explain to her that you are not satisfied with the job that she did and tell her you are only willing to give her X amount of the money. Failing that perhaps you could tell her that you will only pay her when she returns to complete the job that she has not finished.

djimi

Youre basically asking should you pay someone for a job that they did not do. Its really up to you to be honest...

gosuckonalemon

djimi wrote: »

Youre basically asking should you pay someone for a job that they did not do. Its really up to you to be honest...

She cleans the office (and I think home) of a colleague of mine so I will definitely pay her.
I've sent her an e-mail to say I was dissapointed and for what reasons. Awaiting her reply.
I had passed her number onto a friend but needless to say warned him off her.

xper

Hi,
A 'one-off deep clean' is the kind of thing you usually get specialist firms with their own appropriate equipment and solutions in to do. Going with a friend's cleaning lady who, I assume, is using the normal day-to-day products (Pledge, Flash, duster, etc) may have been expecting a little too much, your specific instructions notwithstanding.

By all means, give her a chance to respond and or make amends. Only you can judge whether she made a decent effort but, generally speaking, if you are unhappy with the quality of the work rather than what was actually delivered, the done thing would be to pay her the agreed rate but not hire her again and, of course, not recommend her onwards.

djimi

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

She cleans the office (and I think home) of a colleague of mine so I will definitely pay her.

What does that matter? If she didnt do what she was asked why would you pay her for it?

RainyDay

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

! Now she wants 45 euro from me which of course is tax free for her.

Why did you enter into an agreement to pay her in cash if you were concerned about her tax compliance?

gosuckonalemon

xper wrote: »

Hi,
A 'one-off deep clean' is the kind of thing you usually get specialist firms with their own appropriate equipment and solutions in to do. Going with a friend's cleaning lady who, I assume, is using the normal day-to-day products (Pledge, Flash, duster, etc) may have been expecting a little too much, your specific instructions notwithstanding.

By all means, give her a chance to respond and or make amends. Only you can judge whether she made a decent effort but, generally speaking, if you are unhappy with the quality of the work rather than what was actually delivered, the done thing would be to pay her the agreed rate but not hire her again and, of course, not recommend her onwards.

No there was no need for any specialist cleaning materials etc. Only issue was dust from bathroom being re-tiled.

I am unhappy not only with the quality (as in windows not properly cleaned, in fact almost made worse) but also the fact that I specifically asked her to do certain tasks (like clean the oven) and she didn't even touch it.

I wouldn't feel right with her coming back to finish the job but would be pissed off if she still looked for the full amount.

As I said already 4.5 hours to hoover and dust a small living room, hall and new bathroom is just taking the piss.

quaalude

xper wrote: »

Hi,
A 'one-off deep clean' is the kind of thing you usually get specialist firms with their own appropriate equipment and solutions in to do. Going with a friend's cleaning lady who, I assume, is using the normal day-to-day products (Pledge, Flash, duster, etc) may have been expecting a little too much, your specific instructions notwithstanding.

The OP just asked for normal domestic cleaning to be done, it doesn't sound like anything specialist.
I believe s/he thought a professional who does it for a living could do it much faster than s/he himself could do it, but to the same standard.

jmayo

thegreatiam wrote: »

if you laid out what needed to be done, then agreed a price. she should deliver the task to get the money.

bring her back to the flat and point out where she has fallen short. and refuse to pay until she provides what she said she would.

Provided you clearly stated the tasks. if you were a little vague in your description then maybe she misunderstood you.
...

Then wtf was she doing for 4.5 hours in the place if she didn't understand the tasks and only wiped a cloth around the dust ?

xper wrote: »

Hi,
A 'one-off deep clean' is the kind of thing you usually get specialist firms with their own appropriate equipment and solutions in to do. Going with a friend's cleaning lady who, I assume, is using the normal day-to-day products (Pledge, Flash, duster, etc) may have been expecting a little too much, your specific instructions notwithstanding.

Didn't know one had to get a specialist cleaner in with specialist products to clean the oven or the windows.
I better not tell the missus that.

gosuckonalemon

jmayo wrote: »

Then wtf was she doing for 4.5 hours in the place if she didn't understand the tasks and only wiped a cloth around the dust ?

That's what I'd like to know.

jmayo wrote: »

Didn't know one had to get a specialist cleaner in with specialist products to clean the oven or the windows.
I better not tell the missus that.

One doesn't.