Being sued for not paying cleaner who didnt clean! HELP

Gerrymouse

We hired a cleaner to do an end of tenancy clean and he said it would cost £200 and there would be 3 of them cleaning for 5 hours each. He said on the initial call that he had done lots of tenancy cleans and had lots of good references. As I was ill and no one else was free at short notice I just said yes and didn't check references.

The (small 2 bedroom) flat was awful when I returned after 5 hours and I pointed out some of my concerns really nicely and offered to come back. The owner said he would be 20 mins more which surprised me as there was a lot outstanding.

On my return I said really nicely, can we do a walk round as really concerned about a few bits Daniel and he lost his temper and said what could I expect when I hired him at short notice and he was fed up with cleaning business and no one was ever happy etc.

The only thing I got to show him was the shower door that was smeared with cleaning products. Wasnt cleaned at all. This wasn't me being fussy, it was smeared with a whitish substance.

He said you can keep your money and walked out ......

I was really upset and shaken and went to buy cleaning products and spent about 10 hours cleaning the flat properly. My husband spent about 4 hours on top of that cleaning. I had the £200 to pay him and I had bought 3 boxes of chocolates as a thank you.

The cleaner then sent an invoice via email for £210 and no mention of his tantrum or walk out. I did take photos of some areas and sent them to him with a very long list of all the things he had not cleaned and which I had to.

He is now threatening me with legal notice and giving me 24 hours to pay, I feel really intimated and upset by all of this.

I have offered to pay £50 as he did clean rugs and a rug hire cleaner would cost £35 and the taps and sinks in bathrooms were spotless so I figured another hour for that.

Really appreciate anyone's thoughts or legal advice on this. I have been advised to send him a recorded delivery letter outlining all the events to date and photos of dirty areas and ask whether he wishes to accept £50 in full and final settlement. Does anyone have anything to add to that as it seemed good advice. I was so sure after his rant i would find other complaints on the internet but found nothing except 3 good reviews on Yell for some carpet cleaning he did.

I didn't take photos of everything as my husband said lets just leave it and get on and clean, really wished I hadn't listened to him now.

Really scared and intimidated and worried he gives me a bad name in my workplace etc by dragging me through the courts. I am the HR Manager of a global company and have had nothing like this ever happen but I cannot pay him on principal.

Any advice/help is much appreciated and is it worth me writing an honest review on Yell or am I courting more problems ahead in doing this?

Just don't want another person caught out by him, only for I know how strict an end of tenancy clean is, I did the necessary work but someone less experienced might not know.

Marktheshark

24 hours to pay is not a compliant LBC.
Bluffing, tell him to take the matter to court where you will be counter claiming the full costs of the losses he caused you by failing to complete the work and storming off the job.

philatio

Yep.
Inform him that the work he is invoicing for was never completed, that you have photo evidence to prove this, and thus you are disputing the invoice. Offer him £50 for the work he has actually done.. say you need him to accept this as a final settlement in writing. Otherwise he is free to persue the matter through the courts.

Send it and get a proof of purchase.

Hintza

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4972730

cavework

Does the invoice show a breakdown of what was done ie white goods , paintwork, windows?
If not , do you have anything in writing by email showing what was expected?
Was it a full carpet clean or just rugs?
What apart from the shower door was missed?


Also how many people were on site and why did it take you and your OH so long to clean a small 2 bed flat if it was just a normal end of tenancy clean?
£200 is a very fair price for a 2 bed plus carpets .

hollydays

Did he view the house to assess before he quoted you?
If the house needed more hours work on it - and the hours weren't abailable- was this discussed?

cavework

Good point holydays.
Then again we rarely visit a standard end of let unless it is a large property.
We have set prices based on number of bedrooms , white goods , utility, en suites.
Carpets are quoted separately and we always conduct a walk around with the tenant on completion of the job.
How much notice was this cleaning company given and did the landlords/ letting agency recommend anyone for the job when you gave them notice?

Gerrymouse

cavework wrote: »

Good point holydays.
We rarely visit a standard end of let unless it is a large property.
We have set prices based on number of bedrooms , white goods , utility, en suites.
Carpets are quoted separately and we always conduct a walk around with the tenant on completion of the job
How much notice was this cleaning company given and did the landlords/ letting agency recommend anyone for the job when you gave them notice?

LOL I realize I make my house sound filthy and it really wasn't but end of tenancy is doing things like cleaning doors and woodwork, clearing dust from bathroom extractor fan, washing walls etc. I did leave a list of things to do that my letting agent gave me and the work I expected done was pretty standard as I had called around for quotes. The letting agents had recommended someone but they were booked solid for weeks so had o find my own.

We did discuss what needed doing and he sent me a list, the problem was he did not do a good job of anything on the list so wooden internal doors has a powdery substance left on them, there were pen marks from my son on wardrobes that came off easily when I wiped them so they clearly hadn't.

I called him on the Monday to do the work on the Thursday.

He refused to do the walk around with me at the end and stormed out of the flat.

cavework

Ok.. I do know the standard required on end of let cleans. LOL
As he sent you a list then you have photographic proof that he did not deliver the service agreed
It is a bit short notice but entirely possible with 2 people on site in 5 hours to get a good clean to a re let standard completed on a 2 bed flat.
3 people with carpet clean
Could you tell me how many cleaners were on site and was it rugs or carpets that were cleaned?
It sounds as if he has not used very efficient cleaning products .
powdery substance? Sounds like Jiff !!!
We don't wash down walls, only remove marks where possible as most lets are painted in emulsion and trying to clean will often leave areas looking worse than before and still require painting.
PS ..
no your home was not filthy, I am just trying to get a clear idea as to why this person stomped off site.

Gerrymouse

cavework wrote: »

Ok.. I do know the standard required on end of let cleans. LOL
As he sent you a list then you have photographic proof that he did not deliver the service agreed
It is a bit short notice but entirely possible with 2 people on site in 5 hours to get a good clean to a re let standard completed on a 2 bed flat.
3 people with carpet clean
Could you tell me how many cleaners were on site and was it rugs or carpets that were cleaned?
It sounds as if he has not used very efficient cleaning products .
powdery substance? Sounds like Jiff !!!
We don't wash down walls, only remove marks where possible as most lets are painted in emulsion and trying to clean will often leave areas looking worse than before and still require painting.
PS ..
no your home was not filthy, I am just trying to get a clear idea as to why this person stomped off site.

There were 3 people on site from 8:30 to 1:30, I returned at 1.25 and noticed so many things not cleaned and politely asked if they were behind time etc, the owner acknowledged he would clean said items and I said "well okay, rather not hoover so leave you to it, when should I return" and he said in 15 mins, I knew then I has a problem as the work was going to take longer.

He stormed off when I asked could we do a walk round and we only got as far as the smeared shower door, honestly, I do a better job when I jump put of shower and use my Kercher really quickly, this was all smeared with cleaning product and looked dirty AFTER they cleaned.

No carpets in flat, just two very small rugs 3 foot by 5 each. One was okay and one was cream and dirty so I think that could have taken 30 mins to do alone.

I think I have a high std of cleaning so knew what was expected from end of tenancy so I guess it took me a while as I was really doing everything from tops of doors, descaling shower heads, cleaning old grout etc.

hollydays

Yes it does sound like a poor outfit.
Stomping off rather than discussing the shortcomings is not a good sign.
It's their own fault for walking away without finishing the job. Don't let them make you feel bad.

There's a train of thought that a cleaning agency is easy money, but if they cannot provide reliable staff who understand the standard expected of them, don't beat yourself up about it.