How to find a decent cleaner?

bobwilson

Fairly new to this & wondering how one goes about finding a good cleaner? This is what we've tried so far:

1. Asking neighbours- none know of any
2. Asked friends & family- they don't know any in our area
3. Google map - found approx 9 local cleaning companies, called them all but only one has a cleaner available. They charge £17ph. We hired her, she doesn't speak a word of english, struggles with basic things like unlocking the front door (standard british yale lock), works v slowly & doesn't do a good job. The cleaning company are relatively unresponsive, overcharged us & are hard to communicate with. At one point, the cleaner gave up trying to unlock the front door & just walked off- but the company charged us anyway. Attempts to communicate this to the company falls on deaf ears. No matter how many times I show her a yale lock works by turning it clockwise, not anti-clockwise, she still gets confused every week.
4. Tried approx 20 cleaners on checkatrade & various other apps. They either don't answer the phone or are fully booked in our area.
5. Tried gumtree & checking ads in local shops & at the church. No luck there.

What we really want is a reliable local independent cleaner, but finding one by any means (even via companies) is proving difficult. Is there something we're missing?

The area in question is southwest London.

bobwilson

I should mention that she also broke the shower control by handling it too violently during cleaning. She didn't let anyone know & no one from the cleaning company informed me. I discovered the broken shower some time later, took a photo & sent it to the company, but they didn't reply.

I eventually repaired it myself & asked the cleaning company to please inform me if anything happens in future, instead of keeping quiet. They eventually replied with something along the lines of "this is to let you know your shower broke before the cleaner arrived- please find pic attached (and they attached the photo I had sent them)".

Is there some method of locating cleaners that I'm missing, or is it possible that there's a genuine shortage of cleaners in the entire area?

bobwilson

hmmm... I was expecting a few replies by now. I guess most people are also stumped by this- strange that a developed country like the UK would be so short on something basic like cleaners in some areas. I suppose everyone wants to be a bank manager or better jobs in the UK!

Doozergirl

It's why we need immigration.

My cleaner came via recommendation. He is Polish and has been with us for over 4 years. He always comes with an assistant, but they very rarely speak good English. He tells them what to do. I say thank you in Polish. A lot

Twice we had an English cleaner, they gave up on us quite quickly.

My friends live in Clapham and their cleaners rarely speak good English. Language barrier doesn't particularly matter if they know how to clean.

I see people starting up little cleaning businesses on local Facebook groups, but you don't know what you're getting until you've tried them.

bobwilson

Well at least I'm not the only person with this problem! Bizarre that so many people are unaware of these issues & voted for Brexit blindly.

I'm going to try ratedpeople.com - not had good experiences in the past with this website in the past but don't see any other choice at this point!

keith969

Have you a local Facebook neighbour group? We have in our village and you can ask for recommendations for e.g. cleaners and other tradespeople. Much better than all those .com sites.

giraffe69

No irony at all in the racist undertones by you mentioning language barriers.

Why is it racist to talk of language barriers? If you employ someone for any job it is better if they are competent at the job and can communicate with you. I'm sure if I went to Spain, for example, I would be next to useless in many jobs whatever my other skills as I speak about 27 words of Spanish.

bobwilson

keith969 wrote: »

Have you a local Facebook neighbour group? We have in our village and you can ask for recommendations for e.g. cleaners and other tradespeople. Much better than all those .com sites.

Thanks! One would think I'm good a facebook since I'm good with computers.. but I'm not!! How do you go about finding a local facebook neighbour group in facebook? Do I type in my postcode to the search bar or.. :cool:

martinthebandit

I think you will find that good cleaners are not available for the money you want to pay, try advertising for one at £25 per hour and insist on two references of previous employers and check them before employing them.

Mutton_Geoff

martinthebandit wrote: »

I think you will find that good cleaners are not available for the money you want to pay, try advertising for one at £25 per hour and insist on two references of previous employers and check them before employing them.

There are plenty of franchised ones around (Molly Maid) etc. Are you sure there isn't an independent one covering your area? I use a local firm that has around 10 cleaners on their books, they charge £15 per person per hour, another £1 an hour to use their own chemicals and two come to do my 4 bed/3 reception/3 bathroom house in 90 mins once a week, so around £50 a week.

Been using them for over two years and they never let me down and always work thoroughly and leave the house sparkling. Previous experience not always good where independent people get lazy when you're not there.

Have you tried a postcard in the local shop? (Call me old school but I don't have Facebook either).

Fire_Fox

bobwilson wrote: »

hmmm... I was expecting a few replies by now. I guess most people are also stumped by this- strange that a developed country like the UK would be so short on something basic like cleaners in some areas. I suppose everyone wants to be a bank manager or better jobs in the UK!

You forgot to put the area in your title.

London is not awash with good, cheap household cleaners because the city is so expensive to live in and around. The hourly rate has to cover business overheads, income tax, pension provision, downtime between jobs, public transport or running a vehicle ....

It may make more financial sense for a manual worker to take a salaried position with a little extra for working overtime or antisocial hours (eg. hotel or hospital staff).