Well, that was a bust!

natalie_ca

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I hit the jackpot when I hired the girl I have cleaning my apartment.  She does such a great job for me!

My brother wanted someone to come and clean this week because they got behind in their cleaning so he wanted my cleaning girl's number. 
I told him her rate and the things she does for me when she cleans (laundry, bedding, dusting, floors, bathroom, fridge etc).

So based on the rate which he thought was high, but more based on my recommendation on how good she is, he had her go there to clean today.  He talked to her this week and they agreed on $60.00 for 3 hours of work at $20 per hour.

I was excited to hear how it went. I thought he would be as happy as I was.  I was aghast to hear that he said he wouldn't likely be calling her again.  Seems that she tried to change her rate after the fact.  I mean after having done the cleaning!

When she comes to my place, she is here by herself.    Sometimes her husband drives her here and then goes home and she calls him to pick her up when she is done, and sometimes she takes a bus.  My brother lives about 10 minutes from me, and said that her husband told him that it was too  far for him to drive back home and to go back and pick her up so he was going to stay and help his wife.

As a result of him helping her, instead of working for 3 hours, they finished in less than 2 hours. My brother paid her the $60 as agreed.

Anyway, my brother left for a bit to go to the bank and left them there.  They finished soon after that and then she tried to get him to give her more money.  She said the house was big (900 square feet, which is a small house), and that $60.00 wasn't enough for her and her husband, and that they wanted $80 or $100.

I told my brother that doesn't sound like Elizabeth; she's very soft spoken. I said that it was likely her husband that pressed her to push for more money.

Anyway, I was rather dismayed about this.  So I sent her a message saying that I was confused, and that I had told her that I told my brother her rate was $20 per hour and that is what she agreed to when she agreed to go to my brother's to clean today.

She replied that his house is bigger than my apartment, and that her husband helped her, and that he only paid her $60.00 for the 2 of them and that she was just asking him for an additional payment.

I told her that that is something that she should have discussed with him before making arrangements to go there, and that he said that while she did a very good job, he isn't going to call her again because she tried to change the agreement after the fact and that she will have to talk to him about payment.

She then texted me saying that it isn't a problem and that she was only kidding him when she asked for more money when she was leaving the house.

I told her that he contacted her based on the rate I gave him and my recommendation and that I feel bad for my brother and for her, and that in the future I'm not going to refer her to anyone because I don't want it to cause problems between her and I or with the person.

She then said that she was sorry.

I told her that in the future she needs to be clear with people about her rate, and that she can't make an agreement and then change it at the last minute because it's not fair to the client.

She said that she is a beginner and that she is still trying to figure out how to estimate her hours/rate.

I told her that things are ok with my brother and me, and ok between her and I.
 

peaches08

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I wouldn't tell someone that I wasn't going to refer them to anyone anymore yet also tell them that we're still fine, but perhaps I'm just more paranoid than most.  Anyway, it sounds like a yucky situation. 
 

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I wouldn't tell someone that I wasn't going to refer them to anyone anymore yet also tell them that we're still fine, but perhaps I'm just more paranoid than most.  Anyway, it sounds like a yucky situation. 
I'm with peachy. I think you have every right to point out how she shouldn't have done what she did, but I feel that saying out loud you won't refer her doesn't really help the situation. It may (hopefully not) affect her performance now that she knows she won't get a referral from you.
 
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natalie_ca

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The conversation has already taken place.

I don't live my life paranoid of what people will do. I trust people until they give me a reason not to trust them.  She's proven herself to be a hard worker and I'm confident that she will continue to do the job I hired her to do for me.  If she doesn't, I'll talk to her about it.
 

I'm in this as an "employer", not a friend.  If she wants to turn it around and do a shoddy job for me, then she'll find herself out of work.

As I said, I seriously believe that if her husband hadn't been there, my brother wouldn't have had the experience that he did. She's not that type of girl. She's very polite and soft spoken. I can't see her confronting my brother about more money unless she was goaded into doing it.
 

mani

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I think that saying, matter-of-factly, that you wouldn't be able to refer her to anyone as you couldn't risk it happening again is fair enough. You made it plain that it was understandably really uncomfortable for you to have referred her, and it lets her know that doing that kind of thing has repercussions.
 

furmonster mom

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I'm guessing that the reasoning was that instead of only one person working, there were 2 people.  2 people at $20 each for 2 hours would be $80.  If it were just herself, she would have theoretically spent 4 hours on the house, which still would have been $80.

HOWEVER... If the "max" price was set to $60, then they should have only spent 1.5 hours cleaning, or consulted him before spending the extra time.

I cleaned houses for 15 years.  I was always upfront about my rate.  I was also clear that if the client had a set time/dollar limit, I might not necessarily get every little thing done in that time-frame.  Therefore, certain things would go on "rotation", if you will.  It was about the time, what I could accomplish in that time, and how the client wanted the time spent.  If the client wanted me to clean out the 'fridge one week, well then there would be other things sacrificed for that... unless they wanted to pay for the extra time.  If they wanted me to focus on ironing... well, okay, but I had to be upfront, I was not exactly speedy with the ironing, that would be time taken from dusting or a guest bathroom. 

When I added a couple employees to my little operation, I was upfront with my customers that they were paying for two people, and the time to get their houses cleaned would usually reflect that.

Anyway, I always found that being straightforward with my clients was the best thing, even if it meant that they had to hear something they didn't really want to hear. 
 
 
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ayeshajae

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From my experience which is little it's difficult getting good help cause they all cut corners. I guess you can call me a house wife so I clean my apartment myself but my mom has a maid and she fired the maid we had for many years for being so lazy, not vacuuming the upstairs or dusting upstairs. And her new maid is very good and thorough but she's prone to breaking things and uses loads of cleaners. So if you got a good maid don't let her go :D
 

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Linda, I don't think you did anything wrong. You referred her, based on your experiences with her at the agreed upon rate she has with you. If she had issues with your brother, the time to discuss it was before she started to clean, not after the cleaning was finished. And to text that she was only kidding about the increase is beyond wrong, not to mention very unprofessional. A cleaning person does not kid about stuff like that. No way. I agree with you in that it sounds like her husband was trying to weasel some extra money. 

Furthermore, IMO, the deal was that the woman would come in to clean your brother's house. One person only. Knowing that another person was in the house when this was not agreed upon is wrong, too. I don't care if her husband did help clean. That wasn't part of the agreement. He took it upon himself to do this....sounds to me like your brother had no idea this was going on at the time. Again, that's very unprofessional.

If I was your brother, I wouldn't call on this woman again. And if I were you, I certainly would not refer her to anybody else. 
 
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natalie_ca

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I'm guessing that the reasoning was that instead of only one person working, there were 2 people.  2 people at $20 each for 2 hours would be $80.  If it were just herself, she would have theoretically spent 4 hours on the house, which still would have been $80.

HOWEVER... If the "max" price was set to $60, then they should have only spent 1.5 hours cleaning, or consulted him before spending the extra time.
I see what you are saying.  I too used to clean houses at one time.

My brother hired her, not her husband.  Her husband dropped her off and then decided to stay and help under the guise that it was too far to drive back and forth.  In actuality, I think he stayed because he didn't want his wife alone in the house with my brother who was the only one home.  So while he was there, he helped.

I believe this to be the case  because when she first came to my place, he accompanied her to the door and when he saw it was just me, he left.  I don't think the plan was for him to stay at my brothers. He has no experience cleaning, as evidenced by my brother's comments about how clumsy and inept he was when it came to the vacuum cleaning.

There was no indication to my brother that a "team of cleaners" were going. She is the one cleaning, an individual. Her husband stayed at the last minute. If that was what they wanted to do, fine, but she had an agreement with my brother for her to be there for 3 hours and be paid $20 per hour for that time spent: a total of $60.
 

swampwitch

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I wouldn't refer her to anyone anymore, either, at the moment.  I wouldn't have told her that, though.

On a side note, why do you call her a "girl"? Even if she is very young, since she is married she should not be called that. 
 

furmonster mom

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 In actuality, I think he stayed because he didn't want his wife alone in the house with my brother who was the only one home.  So while he was there, he helped.
 He has no experience cleaning, as evidenced by my brother's comments about how clumsy and inept he was when it came to the vacuum cleaning.
Can you blame the husband for being cautious and protective?

I understand what you are saying, that HE was certainly not worth $20/hr, but assistance is still assistance.  If she were truly doing all the work, it would have still taken her longer.  Maybe there could have been a middle ground. 

If you've cleaned houses before, you know there are many factors that go into the time it takes.  One of those factors is just how much needs to be cleaned.  Two houses of the same size may actually take different times due to clutter.  However, it's not exactly diplomatic to say "Your house was a disaster, so it took me longer than expected." 


I do agree that if a price cap was set, then she should have stuck to it.   If it was looking like it was going over the time frame, she should have consulted the client first. 

If anything, this will hopefully be an educational experience for her.  I know it was for me when I burned myself on "set prices".  Difference is, I bit the bullet, knowing that I had agreed to do the work.  But the next time 'round, I was more clear on just exactly what could be expected.

Could'a, should'a, would'a, as my mom used to say.  Done is done now, move forward.

It sounds like you are happy with her work, and I do hope this will smooth over soon.
 
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