Employing a cleaner - and difficulties thereof

I detest housework, so as soon as I rented my own flat at 18, I took on a cleaner. FB, etc., wasn't around then in 1983, so it was word of mouth, and I still do it that way now. I never go to agencies or anything online.

I've had some really brilliant cleaners, on time, with good work ethic and so on; others as described by you.

In the previous area I lived before moving here to Whitby, I had Tony and his husband, Martin; they came twice weekly, were top class and never gave me any trouble. They were with me for 11 years before I moved, but they're still my besties, and we text/email each other all the time!

The woman I have here now is OK.

I am very lucky to have my granddaughter's cleaner, and she is brilliant. Not only is she an expert but she's a friend too. She's Polish. She has children, and I always tell her they come first if one is ill, etc, or if there's any kind of problem, but she hardly ever has needed to miss a day. She comes 2 hours a fortnight and leaves the house immaculate. I look forward to her visits!

I've had ups and downs going with an agency but local personal recommendation is definitely the best. We had a wonderful Polish lady for years but she decided that she wouldn't be able to continue in such a physical job so she retrained as a hairdresser in her own time. I could only applaud her good sense and wish her well. I currently have a team of two ladies who thoroughly blitz the place in an hour each week. They were recommended by a neighbour.

Local word of mouth recommendation.

We "inherited" our cleaner when we moved here 7 years ago; she came with a glowing reputation and is excellent in every way. She works for many of our neighbours and offers a range of additional services such as ironing, bed changes, etc.

If you find someone, you might agree a trial period so easier to cancel if it doesn’t suit. I didn’t think to do this but luckily it has worked well.

I feel your pain.
When my H was ill I had, from recommendation, the most wonderful cleaner, she was a gem, with us for several years but Covid put and end to it,she found a better job for herself.
Since then I have had two no shows,like you, all set up and then nothing.
I have now had a cleaning service once, they are due again on Thursday, this visit will decide if I carry on with them, on the surface they appeared ok but gradually I realise it wasn’t perfect.
I think I was spoiled by my previous “ lady”

I would go by local recommendation.

I know someone who does the cleaning when , ahem, the police need blood etc cleaned up.
I would be asking her.

When i worked full time we always had a cleaner. It is i found a bit of a saga. We tended to use small companies ( not national ones) I would have months of it being fine then something would happen, the cleaner would change and it would get a bit 'bumpy'. The main problem tended to be that we would be paying for 2 hours and they would just do 1 hour. I am not a clock watcher and if the house had been clean in an hour I wouldn't have cared but it wasnt. I got a bit tired of having awkward conversations at home when that was something I had to do at work! Sorry this isnt encouraging. But I reiterate what others have said my best experiences were via asking on the local Facebook.

I just asked for recommendations on the local group site. A couple of agencies responded. But I chose an independent cleaner recommended by someone who she cleaned for.
She’s coming at 9 so will tidy up a bit before she arrives.

That’s what I find so difficult to get my head around.

They are offering a service for which I am paying. Simple enough concept.

And yes the hourly rate is higher than many other jobs, so a reliable cleaner should make a reasonable living.

It isn’t dirty or unpleasant work. Choice of drinks on tap.

I am also willing to pay for holiday weeks and a reasonable amount of sick leave.

Look on your local Next Door Genuine recommendations.

How frustrateing for you!
Have you contacted your local Age Uk?
Our local one helps with cleaning.(usually known as Home Helps)
I was a Domestic Carer in the community for 14 years. I worked for a local private Nurseing Home who also had a Domcillary Care Dept (Personal and Domestic Care)
Our local Next Door App has lots of ladies offering a cleaning service and local facebook page.

Welcome to the world of modern day cleaners.

Set up a Fb page and suddenly you're a business!

You will have to fit around school holidays of course. And last minute childcare issues.

Their children's doctor/hospital/dental appointments - and their own of course. Then there's the dog - that will inevitably suffer some sort of misfortune on the day the cleaner is due. So the vet will take priority and you will have to work around that too.

I'm not belittling their work, but many charge way more than those in jobs requiring training and a commitment to being at the job on time, and on the days and hours they have agreed to. In which case you would thing they would have the decency to do it all professionally. It's not as if it takes months of training and exams to be a cleaner.

So good luck! There are good ones out there, but they're increasingly difficult to find.

Me too. Very happy that I am paying her rather than an agency coining most of the money.

Thanks. I’m not on Facebook, but DH is, so will try that.

Years ago when I was working we employed a local woman, when she arrived the cleaning got done but timekeeping was non existent.
Every excuse in the book, she just had no concept of time.

I’ve found a lovely cleaner by asking on the local Facebook for recommendations.