housekeeper issue - wwyd?
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Anonymous
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We had a service (Ash Maids) coming every two weeks up until a couple months ago. We'd never been thrilled with them but too lazy to find anyone else. Finally in March I decided to find a new cleaner so we contacted someone that had received rave reviews. Turns out she sent her sister to clean our house. She's done a great job but last time she was here I noticed that she went through half a roll of paper towels. So, I thought I'd ask her to use our rags instead of paper towels. I was here when she arrived as I am working from home so I brought up using rags. She said that she could get things shinier with paper towels and I said I'd prefer not to go through so many paper towels and would rather she use rags. That was the end of the conversation and she cleaned the house.
Fast forward a couple hours and she's leaving. She says totally out of the blue "I called my sister and I'm sorry but this is my last time cleaning your house." I asked why and she basically said she needed to use the paper towels, she felt like she couldn't do as good a job cleaning with rags, I think she felt like I was being controlling by accusing her of using too many paper towels, etc. I was really surprised - didn't realize it was such a big deal. After a weird 10 minute conversation about paper towels and how she needs them because our house is really dusty and there's a lot of hair, I asked if she would come back if she could use the paper towels, and she said yes, see you next week. I'm sure some people will accuse me of being a be-otch about the paper towels, which I was not. Just expressed a preference to not use so many paper towels. It seemed like a fine conversation which is why I was seriously shocked when she apparently had such an issue with it. I don't know how to react to this. We like her, she's less expensive than the service we were using and she does a good job. She obviously has a lot of pride in her work. There are definitely some language issues that might have made the whole interaction a bigger deal than it needed to be. She seemed genuinely upset at the idea of losing a house but I guess felt like she couldn't work under those circumstances (using rags instead of paper towels). I think I'm still comfortable using her but this whole thing was so dramatic and weird, I don't know what might set her off and make her want to quit next time. Would you keep her on? |
Anonymous
| I would keep her. In my opinion, a cleaner who does a good job and is cheaper than the service is worth a few rolls of paper towels. |
Anonymous
| Huh - our cleaning lady prefers rags and actually brought her own in rather than tell us we didn't have enough/use paper towels. Unless it was phrased in a rude way, asking her to use/not use certain products seems like a pretty normal request of a house cleaner. Do you feel comfortable having her in your home or like you'll need to watch what you say so she doesn't tell you she's quitting again? I guess I'd try at least another time to see what happens. |
Anonymous
| I'd keep her too, and I prefer paper towels to rags as rags imo spread germs. |
Anonymous
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I agree on the rags spreading germs but she went through literally a half a roll of paper towels last time - I was just surprised by the sheer volume. It's both the cost and the general waste. But, probably worth it for someone that does a good job...
I may need to figure out a way to not be here when she comes so that I can't offend her again. LOL. Thanks for the quick input. |
Anonymous
| I'd definitely keep her and buy generic paper towels to save that extra bit. Really, it seems too small of an issue to lose a good cleaning person. Good cleaning people are really hard to find!!! |
Anonymous
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OMG! my cleaning person using little to no paper towels! Rags do not spread germs if they are washed between use! We buy bar rags from Bed Bath and Beyond for her to use.
Rags DO NOT SPREAD GERMS if you wash them after USE. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN USING RAGS SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME. |
Anonymous
| Our cleaners require us to provide our own rags (or they charge us) yet they still use a ton of paper towels and it bugs me. Paper towels are not cheap.My husband has suggested hiding them when they come. That being said, some items such as glass do better with paper towels. If you have somebody who is conscientious like that I would probably suck it up and buy in bulk. |
Anonymous
| What is the cost of half a roll of paper towels? |
Anonymous
| I would keep her, but be sure to set some boundries. It's not out of the ordinary for you, the employer, to request that she use/not use certain types of supplies. It would make me wonder what simple request she might threaten to quite over next! I've gone through some of these tense moments with house cleaners myself and it usually comes down to compromise. She doesn't want to be out of a job and you don't want to be out of a house cleaner. Let's face it, a good one is hard to find, but that doesn't mean they get to hold that over you, either! Perhaps discuss with her what items she feels she can clean well with rags versus paper towels and ask her to split usage? |
Anonymous
| The cost issue is worth noting. It may seem trivial about the paper towels but let's put it this way - Does your contract call for you to fund the supplies? Is she also using your vacuum and window cleaner? I came home early while housekeeper was there and she was using my vacuum. I feel like it is trivial but then again one main reason I have a service is that I assumed her supplies are better than what I have. Shouldn't the price be less if using my supplies? |
Anonymous
Would you rather she clean your toilet and then your sink with the same rag, or would you rest assured that she was likely tossing a paper towel between each? There's a good reason I won't let mine clean my kitchen! |
Anonymous
About 50 cents. OP is crazy and a big old nitpicker. |
Anonymous
I have to agree that I don't like the waste. Clogging our landfills and all. However, I will agree that some things (e.g., mirrors and glass) clean better with paper towels than with rags, as rags leave streaks. |
Anonymous
Unless you are buying the Giant generic a half roll could be about $1.50 which is adds up for something being thrown away in large amounts. |