Why is my new house keeper not cleaning things good & having issues with cleaning?

I don’t understand why everyone is so fixated on the time limit. I clearly explained things numerous times.

She has NO set limit. She can take her time to clean everything.

I don’t think that adding ONE small thing is a big deal like everyone thinks it is. It sounds like people think that I’m being very unreasonable.

I’m not. It’s insulting to how some people think that I don’t deserve to have my house cleaned good just because she doesn’t charge me much money.

I clearly stated that I tip her good but people are still giving me crap & insinuating that I’m
Not paying her enough.

SHE set the price. Not me.

Again, she can stay here as long as she wants or needs to to get everything done.

To leave almost everything in the bathroom dirty is unacceptable.

Would you be OK with having a housecleaner come over to your house & leave most of the bathroom dirty still?

I’m talking about a dirty toilet & not just a few crumbs on the floor.

She didn’t bother vacuuming my bedroom until I asked her to also.

With the floor, I don’t expect perfection, but to leave the floor soaking wet is dangerous to myself & her as well.

I did need to go to the kitchen. I wasn’t aware of how slippery the floor was until then.

I don’t understand why people are giving me a hard time just for wanting my house to be clean.

I work hard & my body is in a lot of pain all the time. What’s the point of having her here when she barely cleans anything?

If I didn’t ask her to clean stuff, then I’d basically be paying her to just wipe down the counters mostly.

I’m upset that people are insinuating that I’m not paying her enough or that I expect to much just for asking for ONE small thing done sometimes.

What’s ironic is that the people who complained about things & made assumptions about things would probably get upset if she left their house dirty.

It’s like most people think that I don’t deserve anything nice or good. I don’t understand why that is.

If I only paid cleaners $50, if not expect my house to be very clean. Maybe just some surface clean up like pick up stuff. Like if you buy a meal for $5, you’d not expect gourmet meal. You want gourmet, you pay 4 times more.

Yes she can stay longer but no one will work more than 2 hours for 50 bucks.

If you don’t like her, fire her. Find a cleaner through reputable company. But then of course you’ll pay more. You get what you pay for. Of course you deserve good things. But good things cost good money.

I understand that. I have used services that charge more from big companies, but even they do a bad job at times.

Worse yet, they are often sneaky about the prices. They claim that it’s $100 for example then change the price once they get there claiming that the house needs extra work.

Or they’ll say it’s $80 an hour but they fail to mention that it’s per cleaner. So two cleaners would cost $160 an hour.

She should at least try to clean the bathroom & not leave it dirty. She literally did nothing in there which is upsetting.

I would find someone else if I could affford someone better, but my husband finally stopped putting money in the joint account & the credit cards are maxed out too.

I only make $19 an hour. I have to pay for insurance (they’re going to take out $460 biweekly for insurance). I also pay for my own food, gas & miscellaneous expenses.

My husband is extremely cheap & controlling. It’s really disgusting. He now works two jobs & he claims that he makes $150,000 a year, but he never has any money. Right! I know that he’s a liar as he had at least $400-500 in his wallet until recently.

I wasn’t working for a week because my client was on vacation & he only gave me $200! Wth? That barely covers food for a week! My car uses up over $70 in gas alone! What a joke!

I’d be in serious trouble if I wasn’t working f/t!!!

I’m not cheap but people on here are acting like I’m cheap & not paying her enough. I mentioned tipping her $20 each time, that double a normal tip!

I wish that people wouldn’t be so harsh & judgemental. I’m extremely upset now as I found out that my client isn’t completely happy with me.

She says stuff about how I try hard to do things & that I show up. She is a picky pain in the butt at times.

She was thinking about letting me go. I kind of pried that info out of her as I had a bad feeling that I was right about things & I was..

Now I am constantly worried that she will let me go at a moments notice just because I vented a bit to much to her & according to her, I didn’t clean things good enough. I thought that she liked me until now.

I have to watch everything that I say & do around her now which is stressful. She doesn’t handle any criticism or perceived criticism well.

She is also a bit judgemental & inappropriately at times too. I’m worried especially since she’s had a lot of different caregivers in a short period of time & she only liked the last one. She fired one lady who she didn’t like.

If that happens, I won’t be able to afford one of the few nice luxuries that I have left.

On the Peninsula, the going rate for housecleaners is $35/hr for basic cleaning. I do not know what the rate is in San Jose and may be it is a bit lower, but I would be surprised to learn that it is a whole $10/hr lower than here. I do not know why this cleaner quoted you what seems to be a below market rate when you first began talking to her. How did she come about in your life? Who recommended her?

This gal charges less than other house cleaners because she knows she doesn't do a great job and has no intention of upping her game. She figures there are clients who will put up with her half-hearted work because she works cheap. It sounds like you have pretty much fit into her plan. As you say, you only tolerate her because she's less expensive than her competition.

In recent years, I've hired people to help me on occasion with cleaning and organizing. I too got hit with sticker shock. What I learned is that the less they charge, the less they do.

Back in the 90s, I used to hear about all these immigrants who couldn't get work legally and were working under the table doing household chores for bargain wages. Well, I don't know where they all went, if they ever even existed. In 2020, I hired someone to clean just my bathroom, which was a bad mess, due to some work by my landlord and due to me being away for months. (Bad stains in the toilet, sink and tub from hard water.) The person charged me $100, but she did a beautiful job. People who are really good at this have no problem finding clients who will pay them a lot more than $50 to clean several rooms.

That's the reality. So your choice is to pay more or lower your expectations. I'm not defending this person you hired. It sounds like she is lazy and out to skate by, putting in little effort. I'm afraid that's what you get for what you're paying.

When I cared for my friend who was dying of cancer, the VA and the state were willing to pay for him to have home attendants to help. They were supposed to clean, cook and render personal care like bathing, etc. They were obtained through homecare agencies. You would not beleeeeeeve how little these individuals are willing or able to do. We had a series of them. An agency supervisor comes out and tells you all the help you're going to get from this person who makes about $14/hour. Basically, you get a sitter who might be able to heat up something in the microwave, IF you leave it all prepared ahead of time. As the personal care got more involved, I even tried hiring experienced nurse's aids for the same wage the nursing homes were paying. One of them failed to even take him to the bathroom all day. You find that you just can't drop the bar low enough.

It really is a scandal when you see how little many people are willing to work. That's why really good workers can charge quite a bit. Even wealthy folk will tell you that it truly is hard to get good help.

I think you do deserve to have your house cleaned, @jesyka. If someone agrees on the price, he or she should do a thorough job. I'm surprised at the push back and lack of sympathy you're getting from this "support" forum, and I'm sorry about that.

@Rose76 summed it up well: