Not sure what to do/say..

gabyjane

Ok a friend cleans holiday homes on a weekend, they tend to be very nice and she gets good pay for it.

Saturday before last she asked me to clean one for her and i agreed..she was really stuck and she knows i only did it to help as work 6am-6pm all week so off i went..the place was ok (bben in before), all newish and minimalist and the only thing i struggled with was the shower as filthy..i worked over what i should (2hrs) and left..all ok.

Forward to this saturday gone and she asks me again to help..tbh normally id'e have said no but had to be up early for our car to be fixed and dd wanted to help due to earning some money she owes me and only 2 hours so i said yes..plus to help friend out! I got a call to say 'the owners will be coming to stay so it needs to be perfect can you say i have had to dash out as not supposed to use other people' i said ok and let myslef in, the owners did arrive and i said my piece and they left again to let us get on. Very nice people and no worries. I am quite anal and made sure i gave it a really good going over and left..the only thing to do was to put a sheet on bed as had been given wrong one..friend popped in later to do this.

Forward to today..get a text saying 'wont be cleaning xx again..complaints about no bin bag in, no cloth on kitchen sink and a tub of icecream in freezer left, prob wont get paid'..i was in shock as friend has done this for a long time and feel terrible.
I repied i KNOW i left cloth in kitchen..i deff left bags in bins as checked they had not been used and they hadn't and were clean..the icecream i admitted i never checked freezer but is it fair? i was covering and it was a mistake..

So i am cross they have been what i think OTT, i think there is more to it but feel to blame..i am also annoyed i may not get paid as quite a lot and wasted in a way 4+ hrs working my bum off for nothing..

Opinions?!

meritaten

???? scuse me? your friend says there were complaints from the renters about things you KNOW you checked? she is saying she wont get paid? so you wont get paid? have the site owners not checked that the property is clean or are they taking the renters word for it? and if your friend has had this job a while doesnt she get the benefit of the doubt if her standard of work is usually good?
whats going on here? if I did your friends job -
a I wouldnt ask a mate to cover for me unless I checked it myself later.
b She couldnt have given you much notice if the renters turned up while you were still working - isnt there a check in time and isnt the property supposed to be ready by then? your friends responsibility - not yours!
c the renters sound like they are right picky people - or they guessed what had happened and complained hoping to get some sort of upgrade or recompense.
you did the work - then you get paid! the responsiblity is down to your friend and the property owners to inspect the work - if they were satisfied then you and your friend get paid!

*max*

This is a prime example of why you should NEVER mix friendship and money unless you're happy to go without one or the other.

It's her job you were helping her out with. Ultimately, it's her responsibility. She should pay you for the hours you put in.

If she wasn't supposed to have other people cover for her without the owners' knowledge, then she shouldn't have asked you. And as she did, and you did the work, she should pay you no matter what.

*max*

I do realise this doesn't help you as to what to tell her.
You're welcome!

meritaten

er - me neither - I think I would probably say 'dont ask me to help again, I know I did a good job and I expect payment' and if i didnt get paid - then the friendship would probably be over - but thats me! you may take a different view!

Stephb1986_2

I agree with the above post. If she went in later on to put the cover on the bed why didn't she check things over??

Might sound harsh but I think she was trying to have you over considering she hadn't paid you for the week before.

Steph xx

Luckyred

Stephb1986 wrote: »

I agree with the above post. If she went in later on to put the cover on the bed why didn't she check things over??

Might sound harsh but I think she was trying to have you over considering she hadn't paid you for the week before.

Steph xx

I agree. She could be making it all up so she doesnt have to pay you!

Savvy_Sue

I think that the owners may have fired her because she's not supposed to give the job to someone else, but she did. And they know she did, so they've found excuses, valid or not.

I would write to her outlining why you expect to be paid, and let her pursue the payment from the owners.

*max*

Luckyred wrote: »

I agree. She could be making it all up so she doesnt have to pay you!

I think it's more likely that the owners saw a strange person in their house, acted all polite while she was there, but are now a tad miffed that the person they actually hired - and trusted - to clean their home just went and got someone else to it without consulting them.

To be honest, I would be pretty annoyed too.

Not the OP's fault, she should definitely get her fair wage. Again, the responsibitly lies with the friend. I would tend to agree with Meritaten's wording of what to say to her.
"I know I did a good job, I worked for the required amount of time and to a standard I deem high. It was your responsibility to ensure your client was happy with this, and I shouldn't suffer the consequences of my acting in good faith, as a favour for a friend. I still expect payment for my time, even though I am sorry that your employers have taken such a stance - maybe they didn't agree with having someone they don't know do the job, but that isn't my fault. I assure you I did that job as best as could be expected and that is all I can say."

Quick draft, but along those lines?

*max*

Actually, maybe the "friend talk" version woul be better, depending.

"Listen hun, I know you're !!!!ed about it, but I only did it to help you out! I did my very best, and you even went in after me! If you thought it was crap, you could have said, but you didn't! So I don't see why I should be penalised just because your boss doesn't like that you got someone else to do your job. It's not my fault, and I really think the right think to do would be to give me the money for the time I spent.".

sashadesade

I would guess that the owners sussed what was going on with you covering for her and decided to get rid of her by saying this. The details you mention are very nitpicky small things and you know some aren't true, so it makes sense. At the end of the day it's your friends responsibility to get the job done, not yours, so why should you feel bad or not get what you're owed?