Help me figure out how to fire my cleaning person

[mom2one]

here is a little bit about the situation:

I have not been able to find a GREAT person to clean my house in CA. We are new to the area and everyone I have asked, just says their cleaning person is okay. Well, I don't want okay, I want GREAT. So I posted an ad on craigslist and got 30 plus responses in two days. The girl I hired sounded like my a great person. I did put in my ad that I wanted a great cleaning person with attention to detail and that they must speak english.

So, I am all excited to have her come clean last week. I spent days picking up, washing rugs, do everything I could think of, so my house would be very clean after she left.

She got here on time, but my first red flad was a very cheap and flithy mop. I asked her to use my mop. Second red flag, the dust pan was filthy also. So I asked her not to sweep, but to use the hardwood attachment on my vacuum, as I have bad allergies and need to vac up the dust.

Third red flag came when she started to clean- she just lightly wiped down my kitchen sink. ( my sink needed a good scrubbing). After she finished in the kitchen, I just went behind her and cleaned the sink and stovetop. The list is endless of things I am so unhappy with.

So she is lined up to come next week. I have never fired someone before. Should I just say we are going out of town and are busy over the holidays and I will call her sometime in January? (which by the way, I won't, but I figure this is a nice way out.)

Help me cancel her for next week and forever! And is you have any ideas on how to find a great cleaning person, please let me know.

[buddyleebaby]

So she is lined up to come next week. I have never fired someone before. Should I just say we are going out of town and are busy over the holidays and I will call her sometime in January? (which by the way, I won't, but I figure this is a nice way out.)



Honestly...I think this is kind of rude. She would probably rather be fired straight out than strung along, thinking she still has a job.
I would just be straight forward and call (or e-mail) and say thank you for her time, but her services are no longer needed.

[bubbaray]

She would probably rather be fired straight out than strung along, thinking she still has a job.
I would just be straight forward and call (or e-mail) and say thank you for her time, but her services are no longer needed.


:yeahthat:

[blisstwins]

I agree. Lying is much worse...she may turn down jobs or count on the income. I would just call and say "I am calling to cancel next week. We had a change in circumstances and decided not to continue with cleaning services" if you want to keep it not personal. You could also just tell her what it is. "We need to cancel next week and we have decided not to reschedule with you. To be honest, I am a pretty good cleaner myself and I am looking for someone who will do very deep cleaning so we are not a good match."

[KrisM]

Honestly...I think this is kind of rude. She would probably rather be fired straight out than strung along, thinking she still has a job.
I would just be straight forward and call (or e-mail) and say thank you for her time, but her services are no longer needed.

:yeahthat: What would you say when she follows up and calls you in January? You will eventually have to tell her not to come back, so why not now?

[BabyBearsMom]

I think that it is best to be direct. I would say "Thank you for coming last week, but I just don't think that this is going to work out." And be done with it. If she asks why, I would say that your expectations were x and you don't feel that they were met. I have fired people in my life and I find that being direct, to the point and being armed with specific examples is the best way to do it. Also expect her to ask to come back one more time and try again and have a response available.

[wellyes]

I'd not invite her back if she didn't clean my sink properly.
I'd call and say 'I'm sorry but we're not going to continue to use your service. Good luck'. If that's too hard for you, text her instead.

[Asianmommy]

In the past, I've told them that I no longer need their services because I've decided to do the cleaning myself, which I do (until I hire another cleaner).

[inmypjs]

I think lots of people are uncomfortable telling the truth/being direct when the news is unpleasant or might upset the other person. I also think it is disrespectful to outright lie - ie to say you'll call her when you need her, when in reality you have no intention of doing so. Personally, I would tell her the truth - that the cleaning she provided didn't meet your expectations. I know it is hard, but I think you just have to work through your discomfort and do the right thing. I think it's a good idea to have a prepared response if she wants to come back and try again for you - something like thank you but I'm just not interested.

[wimama]

I would call her and tell her you will not be needing her services any longer. If she asks why I would tell her. I might not be easy to discuss but by giving her honest feedback she can use that information to improve upon for her next job.

[gatorsmom]

Honestly, if I were you, I would call her (and hope for her voicemail) and tell her that you reallly appreciated her help, but you won't need her to come back. But thank you anyway. And if she asks you why (she probably won't), let her know that you really need someone to do a very thorough, hardcore cleaning job on the house. Then thank her again and wish her well.

The way to find someone great is by a referral if you can get one. But however you find someone ask for references. And call a few. You can never tell how well someone is going to meet your needs simply by meeting them and talking to them. People always put their best face on in an interview.

The next thing you need to do is make it clear exactly what you want them to do. If it helps, make a list. Instead of saying, "wipe down the tubs," say, "scrub the tubs and make sure to get all the soap ring off." if you put together a very thorough bullet list of everything you want them to do, it serves 2 purposes. First, you can simply say that this is exactly what you want them to do, ask if they are able to do this, and how much money they want to do the job. Second, they will know what you expect them to do and you can judge their performance by that list. Third, you can negotiate their pay by what needs to be done on that list. So in the future, if they start to slack off and do less and less (this has happened to me with nearly all my cleaning people), you can pull out the list later and emphasize that this is what you are paying them to do when you negotiated their fee.

If I were you, I'd go back to people you know with a cleaning service and ask them how long their cleaning service has been working for them. If it's over 2 years, they can't be that bad. I'd give them a try.

ETA: for a few good reasons, I'd insist that whoever cleans your house uses YOUR equipment and cleaning supplies. Then you always know what's being used in your house.

[kijip]

I'd not invite her back if she didn't clean my sink properly.
I'd call and say 'I'm sorry but we're not going to continue to use your service. Good luck'. If that's too hard for you, text her instead.

:yeahthat:

Maybe if she is losing some jobs, she will improve her business in the future. It's not good for her or for you to fib about it. If she asks why, don't mince words. Tell her that the sink and other things were not cleaned up to your standards.

[kijip]

Also, you might do better next time if you set the person up for a one time trial and were clear that the scheduling of future jobs depended on if you liked the cleaning. Then you don't have to cancel someone.

Another tip for finding a good person is to get in person estimates so you get a feel for if you like someone before they are actually cleaning. After getting a ton of quotes over the phone and internet and driving myself mildly insane, I had people come in person and give me a bid based on actually seeing my house, how we live and the general level of work required. 3 people total came, 1 was a flake/late/inattentive/not a good communicator, 1 was waaaayyyy overpriced ($140 a week for a small house!) and a bit nitpicky/scared of anything to do with kids and 1 seemed nice and was a good value, very professional and he has turned out to be great.