[Dejibo]

I am probably going to have to hire a new cleaning girl. I have had this girl for the last 3 years and while she was very young when she started, she cleaned like a full grown woman. She worked hard and really proved herself to me. I can leave money sitting out, and she will clean it, and put it back. Very trustworthy and thats hard to find when you have pills in the house.

one girl stole pills. I dismissed her, and called the police.
one girl smelled so bad of dog and cigarettes. ICK!
one girl rescheduled over and over. I stopped taking her call
one girl was always sick with something
one girl kept showing up with her kids in tow. They ran wild!
one girl kept losing my check and wanted replacements.
one girl lied about mopping, or cleaning things she clearly missed
one girl wanted to talk to me about her b/f all day.

My current girl is bringing her 16 y/o sis with her in an effort to teach her the ropes. She is horrible! she scrubs with a nylon scrubber till things are scratched or the paint is gone. She keeps breaking things like mop handles or brushes. My girl is a new mommy (april 2010) and since the new marriage and new kid her own work has really gone downhill. I gave her a break while preggers and a brand new mom, but the baby is old enough now, and her body has recovered enough that she should be back at it. I think she is hoping her sis will take over for her, but I dont even want her here as a trainee.

yes, I have spoken to the girl about how i hired HER, not her sis and I am no longer willing to allow the sis to be responsible for half the work, yet each week both girls show up. She is now in the habit of rescheduling to meet her sisters appointments and is starting to become less reliable and now my home is half baked due to half the job laying on the shoulders of a 16 y/o. So, after many discussions I am going to have to let her go. I am not looking forward to rehiring or interviewing for a new girl.

Since stopping copaxone I am feeling dramatically better and doing more for myself, and also much more aware of how many things got missed, skipped or let go during the last three years I was MIA on Copaxone. I am not ready to go completely without a girl, but no longer need one once a week.

Any advice? tips? tricks? Tell me your horror stories or good luck stories with your helpers.

[Kitty]

Does anyone else you know have a cleaning person come to their house? Maybe they could recommend someone or even share theirs?

The grocery store here has a bulletin board where folks can post advertisements for services, items for sale or other things. If yours has a board maybe you could list what you're looking for and have interested people call you.

Other than advertise for someone I've found word of mouth to be the best tool. Seems like somebody always knows somebody who has a sister......etc.

Good luck!

[SallyC]

I do it all myself. I don't want a cleaning person in my house, unless HE's a hunk and does other little errands for me.

My new scooter is much better at manuvering me around to get things put away and places cleaned. I have all kinds of long handled gadgets that help me get in the corners and up high for the dusties.

Getting all the dirt and smell catching carpet outta here and putting down woodlike floors and taking the drop dirt catching ceiling panels down and putting in recessed lighting, made it soooooo much easier to get around and to keep clean.

I'm thankful I can still do it and, let's face it, I don't have anything else to do.

[Erin524]

From the several cleaning people/companies that we've had, one thing I've noticed.

If you hire a cleaning company, and the owners still do the cleaning, make sure you always get the owner as your cleaning person. I've noticed the owner will always do a better job, and wont be so dumb as to steal from you because that would ruin the good name of their company.


If you have a cleaning person who has 3 cellphones, and they spend the entire time cleaning taking multiple calls and talking on all three of their cellphones, and getting mad at the people they're talking to and smashing things around because they're mad at the person on the other end of the phone. Quit using them as your cleaning person. Especially if the cleaning person is always talking to the person on the other end of their phone in another language and is using...unprofessional language. (I know a few swear words in a couple of languages. I'm not bilingual, but I like knowing how to swear in other languages)

Right now, my mom uses a cleaning company and the owner of the company is the one who cleans our house. She's sometimes about an hour or two late, and sometimes calls and reschedules, but when she does clean, she does a fairly good job. We went without her cleaning since last August because we were getting a bunch of remodeling done.

She just cleaned for the first time since then last week. It was really nice to have her come and clean again. We dont want to go without a cleaning person again. Might drop the amount of cleaning from every two weeks to once a month, but we wont go without a cleaning person again. It's amazing how dirty a kitchen floor can get and how quickly that happens.

[barb02]

I have someone come in every other week. She is great. I have also found word of mouth to be the best way to find someone. Prior to my current person, I hired a company. The first two women that cleaned for me were in their 60s and they were great. I, at times, felt guilty having them clean because they did not seem to be in the best of health. I eventually fired the company as the younger cleaners they began to send were not doing a very good job and were also breaking things.

[Dejibo]

once upon a time my girl did great! then she got married, and had a baby and now drags her sis along. The sis is on the cell phone constantly, but since SHE isnt my employee I can only bring it up to sis. The cleaning girl has spoken to sis several times, and it reached the point that I asked sis to stay home. I guess she hasnt had the heart or the courage to speak to her, because each week, there she is.

Since the pregnancy my girl has become forgetful, slow, misses things, and drags along. She used to be a power house and full of energy and sparkle. I find that since I am off the copaxone I could do a better job without the bumbling sisters.

The ceiling fans are missed, the floor isnt mopped behind the toilet, the kitchen floor has a soap film on it because she over soaps the bucket, and then doesnt rinse. I am finding hard water stains in the corners of the tub because its being missed so much. The toilet seats are scuffed and scrubbed to the paint from that nylon srubby. There was mold growing under the strainer in the sink and yet she swears she cleans the whole sink...you get the idea. I am going to be better off doing it myself.

Pickings are slim in my neck of the woods. I hate the interview process. I give out the standard disclosure of "if you steal from my I WILL have you arrested" and then I have to show the new girl exactly what I want done, and how. In my old state I could just hire someone and they knew what to do. Here it seems everyone needs constant instruction and motivation. I dont want to have to double check anyones work. I want it done right the first time! Then every one shows up thinking they are worth $100 for 2 hours work. NO NO NO! As a nurse with a Masters degree I didnt make that amount of money, why would I pay it to someone to wash my floor? I wouldnt pay a private duty nurse that to come be medical, so why would I pay it for a clean toilet? Esp if I have to constantly reshow how to do things, and supervise.

im frustrated. I just want my house to be clean.

[Kitty]

Seems everybody wants the $$ but they want to do the bare minimum to earn it.

The one time I hired a cleaning service (couple of years ago) they sent two Romanian women. One didn't speak much English and one was very fluent. The older one who spoke English was sort of the "boss" and was very thorough in her cleaning. When the younger girl slacked on something I could hear the older lady reading her the riot act! I didn't know what she was saying to her but I could tell she was fussing at her! They did a wonderful job and, if I could afford it, I'd love to have them come once a month and just deep clean the bathrooms and do all the floors in the house.

As it is now.....I just try and do a little bit each day. I could never do the all day cleaning I used to do on Saturdays. I'd love to have that kind of stamina again.

[SallyC]

Let's face it, we may not be able to do the same intricate house cleaning, we used to do, but no hired housekeeper, at any cost, can either!!

They may have to come in here with a power spray when I die, but I'm doing the best I can..LOL!!

[NeuroNixed Craig]

We decided about 3 years ago to have maids come in and clean twice a month. My wife interviewed 6 different companies and we made our selection.

From the outset it was made very clear and part of our record that I have total say whether something is clean or not, and to our satisfaction. Why? Because WE are the "PAYING" client in this relationship and they are hired to do a service. The company accepted our terms when they agreed to clean our home.

We use a company vs. personally hiring an individual because we don't wish to deal with employee personal problems, liabilities, taxes and finding a replacement when they are unavailable. With a company, all of that is handled.

I do not expect the maids to clean to my "military" standards, but to meet my standards as best as possible. To date we've had nothing but very positive experiences and results.

[Dejibo]

I double checked again today and there are NO professional servicies here in my neck of the woods. In the big city you can find someone to clean your office building, but no pro maid services. I would hire a merry maid in a minute. Going out to breakfast this morn, and will check the local bulletin board near the restaurant. The problem with those girls is that most want top dollar for a low dollar job. its such a horrible deal to have to pay someone so much money only to wonder if their own momma ever taught them what cleanser is for.

My girl is due tomorrow. I know she will drag her sis along, and I am going to have to have yet another chat with her. I think this time I am going to sit them BOTH down and explain that I dont want TWO girls showing up so one can train the other. I just want the ONE girl that I hired to show up and do the job that I am accustomed to receiving. I find without her sis my girl tends to be more focused, and works harder. With her she tends to be more worried about showing her stuff over and over. I say after a year of dragging her along, she should be trained already!

yes, taxes are an issue. Most local girls here want to be under the table and we are an above the table kinda family. I have found several that have said NO to the job simply because they were on SSDI and didnt want to claim the income or were out on workers comp and didnt want the attention or sang some sad song about an ex getting away with less child support if they made more money. These are not MY problems. Plus I dont want a workers comp addict to become a slip and fall pro in my home.

oh lord. I hate this game! I just want to be able to walk across my floor without my feet sticking to it from either dirt or a soap film. *sigh*