Are you hiring self-employed people or going through a service? I wonder if one is better over the other? I hope I never have to hire outside cleaning help since I would be very annoyed at what you are experiencing. Plus I don't like having anyone in my home anyway for anything but I occasionally have to. I've been getting promotional emails from Amazon Prime for cleaning services, I wonder if they do a lot of vetting of the businesses that they list?

I have a wonderful woman who is self employed. She brings a helper. There are issues with timing. Also, I have to be here to let them in as I have an unfriendly dog. There can never be them letting themselves in.

My day is a Monday and the time slot is the afternoon. It started out as a 1:00 time, but it has evolved.

As it stands, I text her in the morning and ask her ETA. She might say 1:30 and then show up at 2:OO. When she tells me her ETA (I take it with a grain of salt) then text and tell her to text when she is heading over.

I put up with this because other than timing, she has rarely cancelled an appointment. Between the two they can do my home in an hour and a half. This is mostly due to the fact that I make sure all the garbage can are emptied, all the bathroom rugs are taken up (an excuse for me to wash them) and I have very little clutter.

Sometimes she will bring a third person.

It is so difficult getting someone reliable and trustworthy. I was lucky to get mine through a friend who used her for years.

What has happened to you is not acceptable. That said, you need to be flexible within reason when you do find someone.

For me it's every other week. I factor in the inconvenience of not knowing exactly when they will be here. The rate they charge is lower than for those in my neighborhood. I live in an upscale community and things are always up charged when they see the zip code.

I show my appreciation with a Christmas bonus as well as paying them when I go away.

Good luck.

A friend who hired a very good housecleaner left a key and it has worked well while my friend is at work. I can certainly see both sides of the situation, the need to be able to schedule, particularly when entertaining, but on the other hand, also the factors Olychick outlines.

Remember that people who clean houses are not at the top of the occupational food chain, whether you're dealing with a service company or someone who's self-employed. Honesty and reasonable quality and reliability are what we've always tried to find. Most just barely get by and struggle with what's expected of them. No relationship is forever.

Our experience is that bigger services have been more expensive and more reliable but the workers have been lackadaisical and not invested in what they were doing. We had one woman working for us weekly for over 10 years and then she got flaky and we parted ways. For the last few years we've been using a small family run business that employs only family members and friends. They've been great.

Good ones are out there, you just need to cut through the chaff and have a few false starts to find them.

It's frustrating when they want to change the schedule, especially if you like to tidy up some things to make their cleaning time more efficient. The couple that cleans monthly for me sometimes requests rescheduling, especially if my day falls in a holiday week. Since I expect it to happen, it doesn't cause me too much grief. Usually, I can accommodate their request, but a few times I've had houseguests arriving and I've had to ask them to stick to our schedule. They've always made it work.

Don't give up, Secsteve. I'm sure you can find a reliable, honest cleaner. Have you checked Nextdoor.com for your area? Sometimes, you can get a good recommendation from there.

I’m not a housecleaner, but I do work in a field where I go to 30 (ish) medical clinics in any 2 week period and they’re spread out over 3 different counties. No two days are ever the same and it can be pretty hard to balance preferred days and/or their schedules with the 29 other clinics as well as my own. From my perspective, I’m balancing new customers or a one time add ins, an unpredictable work volume at any one of the clinics (because I never know what I’m going to find), traffic which is a nightmare in the summer months due to road construction, as well as managing my husband’s many doctors appointments for his cancer. The hours they’re open often vary and I may have a clinic that can only be visited on a day where all the other clinics for that day are 20 miles out in another direction. It really is a delicate balancing act.

Most of my clients are flexible but not all. There are some who won’t budge an inch regardless of the circumstances. The ones who work with me, are literally my saving grace and I’d go to the moon for any one of them, the ones who won’t, not so much.

I’m not trying to say you’re wrong for what you are looking for or the way you feel. I get that you’re paying for a service and have specific needs. I just wanted to give you an idea of what that person might be dealing with, especially if he is working on his own, juggling family responsibilities all while trying to get food on the table. Some people are better at managing their schedules than others or maybe he’s new at this and just hasn’t gotten it together yet. My feeling when I read your post was empathy because I do know personally, just how hard juggling work with the challenges in our personal lives can be.

In order to get what you need, you should probably try to find an established company that is large enough that managing your needs won’t be a hardship for them. You may not get the job that someone who’s really depending on the work might do and you might even pay a higher premium for it, but it’s kind of a give and take I guess.

Mine comes every other week. She’s a lousy cleaner but she is reliable. That’s the only good thing I can say about her. I really need to find someone else. She was here Fri and I looking at the table next to my chair. Yet again, undusted. When I went up to bed last night, the chandelieratthe top of the stairs looked as if it had been decorated for Halloween there were so many cobwebs. Clearly, she hates dusting. She also informed me that she’s been diagnosed with COPD - said she needed to find a SS Disability lawyer to get her on Disability. I’ve never seen her short of breath or heard her cough. I really need to find someone else.

Kool Beans and others: We took all of what's been said here into consideration before deciding to terminate.

Both people were through services. And we do try to be flexible but too many last minute texts/calls just doesn't cut it. And we couldn't believe the call about wanting to bringing his children

Will be checking out Next Door for recommendations.

When we were both working we tried 3 different cleaning people. Two independent and one company. We didn't like any of them and just gave up and did the cleaning ourselves. My MIL was a cleaning lady when her kids were young. She always had the same customers for years. I don't know how because she was one of the laziest people I ever meet. Lol

Secsteve, like I said, I’m not trying to imply your actions or needs are wrong, I’m just trying to offer a different perspective. When I write responses, I don’t only consider the person who wrote the thread. I also try to consider those who may have a similar situation and are still trying to figure out what they want to do, so please don’t take it the wrong way.

ETA: Anglophilia kind of confirms my point though, reliable but not thrilled with the work. I’ve never wanted or needed a housecleaner, and hopefully, I never will, but there’s been a ton of vent threads about the topic over the years and the final analysis always seems to be the same, The person most have isn’t great, or they’re good but not reliable (or both). Either way, a change is needed. Apparently it’s an industry where you can have a good job, or someone who shows up reliably, but not both. That would make me nuts.

Yes to all of the above. I am a self-employed cleaner as well as a dog walker house sitter babysitter Mother's helper gardener Etc.

I have this business because I am relatively unemployable as I was sick for 35 years. I try my hardest to keep to schedules but since it's just me sometimes it is difficult. I get sick, I get special requests, I have vehicle difficulties, my son has emergencies or my sister has emergencies Etc. Luckily for me I have a very understanding group of people as my clients. Not easy but not impossible. I have no excuses just life for me.

"Apparently it’s an industry where you can have a good job, or someone who shows up reliably, but not both. "

I don't think this is the case at all, I'm not sure how you've come to this opinion having said that you have no experience using house cleaners.

I think the take-aways, at least based on our experiences, is that it's a service that in any form uses unskilled workers needing no training or prior experience who are mostly unsupervised. They perform at a wide range of capabilities from terrific to terrible as you would expect. There are no barriers to entry for people working either on their own or in a larger enterprise, nor barriers for forming your own business to do this. The customer's experience as an employer not unexpectedly will be as varied between satisfactory and unsatisfactory as you might have expected had you thought about it beforehand. When you find a crappy one, you end the relationship and try again repeatedly until you find one that provides an acceptable service. They're out there to be found, we've mostly had very acceptable service from a changing numbery of providers for decades. No relationship should be assumed to last forever.

yeonassky, an illness for 35 years impresses as being most unusual. I hope you've had successful treatment and are feeling better.

I don't know how because she was one of the laziest people I ever meet. Lol

I know many people who are proficient at work but lazy at home. There are millions around the world.

Some illnesses are chronic.