Perfumdiva1

Is this unreasonable or what do you think

I spent the morning tidying up my home for the cleaning lady to come in and clean, not tidy, but just clean, change the beds, etc, even though I stripped the beds and placed the clean bedding on the beds for her to put on (so no hard labour involved), I emptied the dish-washer and tidied up everything, and I mean everything, so much so, even my kids asked, Mum whay are you cleaning the house for the cleaner?

Anyway, she had just told me that she wont be coming back as this is too much work for her, and she doesnt change beds.

All, she had to do was change 2 single beds, 1 queen bed, 3 full baths, (and I do the bathrooms every other day), 2 half baths (even only 1 is used) , dining-room, kitchen / family room, upstairs family room, and NOT the guest room, and NOT formal sitting room and NOT the study

Am I losing a total grip on reality here or what, but I thought she was being paid really well and we are a VERY clean and tidy family

I could just cry..

Please dont be mean with your replies as I may blub all over my computer, and I have now got a part-time job after 17 years of staying at home, and the bloody cleaner is earning WAY more than me..

OK, I am now going to give myself a big slap for being sooooo pathetic..

PS. I was even trying to learn some Spanish to converse with her

NC Penguin

Maybe you're paying too little for the work you're asking her to do. The cleaner could quite possibly earn more for the same amount of work. Check around for the going rate.

If it's all too much, you could move to a smaller home which means simply less to clean (and lower property bills).


NC Penguin

dbj1000

Poor you - sounds like a crappy outcome to what should have been a load off you! Cleaners are a dime a dozen - just find another.

Our cleaner(s) charge $70 for 3hrs ever two weeks, so $100 for 5hrs is only slightly less per hour. What we expect of the cleaner is similar to what you're describing - perhaps one bathroom less.

As I say, just find another. Ask your neighbors for recommendations - someone always seems to know a cleaner they've used for years and swear by.

Perfumdiva1

I have checked out the hourly rate, and it is anything between, $10 and $15 per hour, and I havent asked her to dust ornaments etc, as I dont want anything broken, so I know she is being very well paid, my pals pay way less and get less much more done (including laundry)

My previous cleaner, for 5 years, was paid $75 , and she was more than happy and I am also very generous with Christmas pressies and brithdays, and stuff we dont need

So I am not being over zealous in my expectations, if anything I am paying over the going rate, and BTW she is leaving today with a HUGE bag of clothes for her kids, herself and husband, so I guess I am the idiot, and not her

dbj1000

Why? Why not save the generous gifts for someone who actually does the job you want to pay her for?

Perfumdiva1

If it were only so easy )

This lday (who is very nice actually), came recommeded from a friend who has been using her for years, and her husband does the gardening, and would have possibly done mine

Hey ho

Perfumdiva1

Oh My God

She has just come back to say, she will clean my house, AND change the beds after all

Well, I just dont know what happened from leaving my house to 5 mins down the road, but she did do a FAB job, and I am very happy she is coming back

God, I tell you what, maybe I should be a cleaner and not work in an office after all, as they seem to call the shots

I think tonight, I shall grow a tough skin, and see how that goes, and I am sure it has been noticed previously that I am not normally the shy and retiring type

Lets see how this goes

Perfumdiva1

dbj

Thanks for the replies

Perfumdiva1

PS Where is Plano, anywhere near Houston??

I am guessing no

brit/usa

[QUOTE=Perfumdiva1]

God, I tell you what, maybe I should be a cleaner and not work in an office after all, as they seem to call the shots


I did this very thing! Had worked in an office for years in the Uk came to the US and found that office workers are generally paid very badly in this area . So I decided to start a residential cleaning service charging $20 per hour and I have to turn work away.
If you have a good cleaner then try and keep her but don't let her call ALL the shots !!!

Perfumdiva1

[QUOTE=brit/usa] Hey, you looking for new employees??

I think I am just a soft touch/sap

U in Houston by any chance

TruBrit

hmmm that's reasonable i think....i have recently found a wonderful cleaning lady and she gets paid $100 for 4/5 hrs but she keeps going until it's all done...there's only the two of us and the house is pretty clean anyway it's just we have all marble floors downstairs plus marble bathrooms and they are a pain. some maids will do the beds some not it's just a case of finding one that suits your needs. mine will do ironing, empty the dishwasher, clean windows infact anything i ask....she's a diamond

dbj1000

According to Snowbunny, Plano is somewhere below the 7th level of Hell.

To the rest of us, it's the huge suburban sprawl that extends North of Dallas, and will very soon subsume everything between downtown Dallas and the Oklahoma border...

gruffbrown

Our cleaner costs $70 for roughly two and a half hours work (they're are two of them) She doesn't change the beds, but does make them. And yes, my wife tidies up before she comes

TouristTrap

$110/4hrs is the norm here, and you cannot find them.

My best friend did this for years. She used to do two jobs most days and earned a packet. The only reason she quit to work in an office was for the health benefits which she couldn't afford on her cleaning salary (single mom with 2 teen kids).

She refused to work for people with kids, that's how much the demand is here. Most of her clients were old folks who kept their houses spotless anyway, excepting for a single fella whom she demanded extra to do and fold his laundry, no ironing for anyone involved.