Do your cleaning people steal stuff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We did get rid of them. I just wondered how common stealing was. When I say they were great I mean they cleaned very well, much better than anyone else we’ve had. We’d like to get someone else but just worry it’s going to be the same.

I’ve lived in two countries in South America and the families there go to great lengths to try to prevent theft in the home by domestic workers. It’s recognized as endemic that hired staff there will steal.

[Anonymous]

It happens. Elderly senior citizens are the most vulnerable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe this for a second. I’ve lived in a house with housecleaners for the better part of 40 years and nothing has ever been stolen. That’s long term individuals and crews of rotating strangers.

It makes absolutely no sense for a housecleaner to steal from their clients. That would be a good way to kill your business or end up on police radar, for what? Some shampoo? Some diamond earrings she’d probably struggle to sell?

What makes sense is that people lose or misplace things, or their family member takes the shampoo to wash the dog or something, and they immediately think the cleaner must have stolen it. I fully believe that THAT happens all the time.

I’m glad you’ve never had this experience so that means no one else could possibly experience something different. Quite a few years ago my DH kept a dish with quarters inside a dresser drawer and thought it looked like it wasn’t as full as it should be. So he counted the change and counted again after the cleaning people came and it was significantly different. We switched cleaning people and have never had another problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours has been with us for 8 or 9 years and I don’t think anything has ever been stolen

Same. Small, female-owned business that is licensed and insured If they stole stuff, I'd report it to their insurance.

This for us too. They’ve knocked over a decoration once or twice in a decade, but only when we have had the Christmas stuff out. And nothing that Ive ever cared about. Plus they are honest and tell me immediately. They even pile up the tiniest amount of loose change if they find any around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We did get rid of them. I just wondered how common stealing was. When I say they were great I mean they cleaned very well, much better than anyone else we’ve had. We’d like to get someone else but just worry it’s going to be the same.

A great cleaner cleans you out.

[Anonymous]

Mine haven’t as far as I know. Once my DS forgot his tooth fairy money under the pillow for days, and the cleaners put it on the dresser when they made the bed. They could have taken it and we probably never would have realized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get cleaning done only when I am at home.

I don't see that this actually does anything. Do you rifle through their bags before they leave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it does not. I would not hire them again.

I will say that we have had Merry Maids for over 15 years. Have never had an item of any type stolen.

Not hear to debate firms vs. individuals vs. pricing etc. Trust is very important to me.

[Anonymous]

oops, here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours has been with us for 8 or 9 years and I don’t think anything has ever been stolen

Same. Small, female-owned business that is licensed and insured If they stole stuff, I'd report it to their insurance.

Aren’t most housecleaning businesses female owned?

Nope! Just because women do the work doesn't mean they own the business.

The only thing I had stolen was a new Costco 2-pack of Nyquil. I ended the service.

[Anonymous]

Yep, we had this. I buy children’s clothes at the end of season on clearance and tuck them in a guest room closet until my kids grow into them. It’s a fun hobby of mine and I know exactly what I have bought. The cleaners definitely took some of the items I had bought recently - I went to get them to show my mom and they were gone. No one else had been in the house. Yes we let them go, and that was the end of cleaners for us. We’d had non-theft issues with other cleaners (breaking stuff, not careful.) So here we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We finally found some great cleaners but they steal stuff. Nothing major, just little items. Some are a bit odd like a bottle of shampoo and other odds and ends. Does that just come with the territory?

No. Mine never did. My sister had some bad experiences.

[Anonymous]

Cameras.

[Anonymous]

Not at all. If they did steal stuff, they wouldn't be my cleaning people. That said, I went to stay with a friend for a few days and her cleaning person stole cash from my wallet.

[Anonymous]

Teeth whitening strips