Cleaner issues

I would most certainly not expect the sort of deep clean you talk about. I think that lady must be a bit out of touch regarding expectations of cleaning ladies.

I wouldn’t be doing anything with the fridge and cooker other than to give them a surface clean - I wouldn’t be moving them out! And I wouldn’t be moving the bed! Not doable in a two hour general flat clean.

I think deep cleaning is a different thing entirely. Previous firm we used charged for 5 cleaners for five hours each, 25 woman hours. But very thorough. We then followed this up with “normal” cleaning once a fortnight. I think your person is being very unreasonable and I would regret getting involved too!

I would have a word with S and tell her to refuse the work, unless expectations adjusted.

Totally agree this is unreasonable. And unnecessary. Deep clean like that once a year, or at best, once in three months.

Agree. Tell her to refuse. Yes, its difficult but Mums friend can't ask something that could injure the cleaner, and tell her so. She'll probably say, "well I used to do it" but thats not the point.

I think if you want that level of cleaning you need two people at work together.

It needn't be every time.

I think your friend is taking the pee for that amount.

I think it completely depends on what is agreed. I am not sure whether your friend expects these large items to be moved every fortnight (surely not?) or whether she wants, say one 'extra' doing at each clean (the agreement I have with my cleaner).
We use an agency, and one of the advantages is that they have schedules, so you know what to expect.

I suspect that your friend is a bit stuck in her ways; maybe hates being unable to do things herself; so makes rather unreasonable demands.

I do think you have to keep out of it. You have told your friend what your thoughts are, and now let it lie. Should you see the cleaner, she is unlikely to comment but if she does, I would be sympathetic without embroiling yourself.

BTW I do realise it is your mum's friend, and not yours so much! Another for the 'no good deed goes unpunished' list I think!

Thank you for all your replies. I can’t reply to individual posts (as I don’t know how to) but, yes, the general consensus of opinion is that my mum’s friend is expecting too much from S and that my mum’s friend is not living in the real world. As a previous poster has said, she’s not MY friend, so I need to take a step back, and I will do so. If S isn’t happy with the initial arrangement, she should terminate the contract, which I hope she will do so. She has plenty of clients so can easily drop my mum’s friend. My post has ended now. Thank you all for your replies. If my mum’s friend contacts me again, I will simply say that she did a fabulous job with my mum and that if she expects more, she should look elsewhere and be prepared to pay more.

Thank you.

Wow!!!! Not about someone else doing my cleaning. N ever had that - but I think I keep my flat really neat and clean. Now, I wonder if am living in a mess. Would never occur to me to move out my large,freestanding fridge/freezer (unless there was a fault with it), or my free-standing washing machine and dishwasher. As for moving my double electric bed. No way!!!! It was together when I moved in, dismantled and then re-assembled when I had new carpet put down, and will stay in situ until I die or replace it.

White appliances apart. A guiding principle of all my furniture buying is that the furniture should either be flat on the ground or on legs so that I can get the vacuum cleaner, right under all the furniture without ever having to pull any of it out.

I never move kitchen/laundry appliances. just give the area a good clean if it comes out because it need repairing or is being replaced.

I have a lovely cleaner and would never expect her to do anything other than basic cleaning, and every so often she will clean the inside windows.

I have a large floor to ceiling pine bookcase, and when I had a decorator in and he moved it, he said "There's half the cat behind this!" Neither my cleaner nor I have ever been able to move it - ditto the white goods.

Wow. Moving white goods and beds! I just do an occasional vac under the bed and couldn’t move it, and wouldn’t dream of moving fridge and cooker. Cooker is wired in and both very heavy anyway. Washing machine and tumble dryer never come out, unless for replacement or repair. My cleaner dusts, vacs and mops, cleans bathrooms, and that’s all I would expect for £13 an hour.

In a two hourly visit every two weeks my cleaners dusts, vacs or mops two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, hall, lounge and garden room extension. She moves my bed where I ask, usually every couple of months, as I have sliders underneath the legs so it’s very easy to move. The bed in the spare room is only moved three or four times a year as the room is rarely used. I have never moved my washing machine or dryer and the fridge and dishwater are fully integrated so not movable.

I would think in a one bed flat, there should be time to move bed and kitchen appliances on a rota basis provided that they are on wheels, castors or sliders ( bought on Amazon). I would not expect someone to move any heavy items without such assistance.

I pay £13 per hour.