[fayellen]

Sorry to be nosey and don't tell if you don't want but I was just wandering what other domestic cleaners are charging their clients in the North.
I do a total of 36 hours cleaning and I get paid £7ph - £8.50ph I have been with one household for over two years now and get £7 ph but their house is a real mess and I spend half my time washing up, tidying and straighting before i even start cleaning ( very annoying) so I think it is time for a payrise.
I have also been with another client for over 2 years I started with an agency who charged £10 an hour until I started for them on my own and they offered me £8.50hr (I was too soft should have said £9)
I am quite happy with my other clients as not been with them as long but does anyone else agree that if you are with someone a few years you should up your rates.
I am always getting offers of work but do like to stay loyal to the ones I'm with if I'm treated right.
Thanks in advance

[GWCS]

You sound like my gf, not willing to ask for a pay rise (just make due with the annual 0.5% or whatever) or look for another job yet moan about the money you bring in..lol

If you want to earn more money you have to ask for more money, if you have potential customers willing to pay more than your currently getting elsewhere then move on.

Of course its nice for loyal customers to keep you going, so make a decision to drop (or ask for more money but be ok to drop them) some loyal ones you feel your getting a bad deal from, and keep some of the others where the job is not so bad and the lower wage you can deal with cos its easier.

[vacman]

fayellen, the house where youhave to tidy and wash-up before you start is only 'annoying' because you allow it to annoy you. Either you accept it as part of the job and say to yourself that you're being paid to do the work, or you say something to the client about how you feel. There have been lots of people i worked for where tidying up was part of what they needed me to do. For some i did it, for others i didnt take them on period. Ask yourself what you'd be expected to do if you didnt spend the time tidying....you can bet your life that they'd find other jobs for you to do.

As for what you aree charging, rather than ask what other cleaners themselves get paid, you should find out what the local services are charging and what they are offering e.g. all the equipment and the insurances. If you are a labour-only outfit, £8-8.50 per hour doesnt sound too bad to me; how much would you get if you were employed by a cleaning company? Thats whayt you need to find out and benchmark it against.

[fayellen]

Thanks guys yes I am a moaner I'm actually happy with most of my clients and in all honesty the tidying up doesn't bother me that much. Also when I tell friends that I'm on 8.50 they say its more than them who work as secretaties so I should maybe count my blessings at being busy in these hard times!!

[dianegreenwood]

whereabouts are you fayellen?

Diane

www.freshlymaid.co.uk

[dianegreenwood]

Just wondered as I'm always on the lookout for great people to join my team and we pay more than you're earning when you include holiday pay and mileage allowances and I can guarantee a minimum number of hours per week.

You're a bit out of our coverage area though, but if you move nearer Wetherby give me a call

Cheers

Diane

www.freshlymaid.co.uk

[fayellen]

Will do.. Thanks!

[joANE]

haha fayellen you sound just like me lets be moaners together. tidying up before you start is a pain and can take a lot of time out of the clean. ive been going to some of my people for 10 years and a couple in particular have been getting worse and worse so finally i plucked up courage to mention it and guess what they were mortified and are going to try and get their act together. someone else sugested to me that i could offer to tidy with  extra time. that may be the way to go if your prepared to do it. personally i,d hate to clean around it as wheres the satisfaction in that but at least mentioning it helped it along and yep we are still on speaking terms  spose its best to establish whats to be done at the beginning instead of letting more and more sneek in until we,re at our wits end with it. Hard lessons to learn. By the way im in London and i charge £8.50 i dont put up very often either i started out on £7.00 back 10 years ago so its slow progress but i dont know what to base prices on really i dont get paid holidays or sick either except some customers show good will occassionaly, and pay me if they cancell, so prices i suppose have to reflect the times when you may not be able to work. good luck and what a good site J 

[fayellen]

Yeau don't we all moan about our jobs sometimes!  Wow you've been with some for 10 years, don't you get fed up??and yes this particular house has just been getting worse and worse during the 2 years I've been with them but I'm thinking of giving cleaning up soon so not too bothered.
How many hours a week do you do? and the ones you've been with ten years do you get any perks?
Have you had any ridiculous requests where you just said no?   One that I do, they went on their hols last year and left me one weeks money (4 hrs) and the house in it's usual tip then asked if I could clean the fridge and cooker water the plants, put the bin out, and bring in a parcel they were expecting!! I was a bit put out but laughed it off..so this year they are going and I've suggested they leave me two weeks money so I can give it a good do which they've agreed to, can't wait to read the note they leave saying what they want doing!!
so I suppose 8.50 isn't bad for a northener eh.

[joANE]

oh yes THOSE notes dear cleaner heres the extra time to do what your already struggling to do plus all those other little non cleaning duties. ive probably had lots of bits added on in the years i think cos cleaning is a bit non specific ie not like windows, carpets, anything that someone else doesnt want to do becomes your job yep its usually taking out washing or bringing it in taking in food deliveries (what a pain that is!!!) watching the children while someone goes out for '5' minutes, cleaning out ferrets (NEVER AGAINahhhhh) they looked so cute and furry before i started  im glad  its not my imagination, people do push it if they can. i  occassionally look at other things but get a bit scared to go for them so i wish you all the best if you move on or out of cleaning, it is a bit of a trap sometimes aint it .do it if you can an let us know  

[vacman]

The only time i ever get annoyed (and this has only really happened a couple of times) is when i've said 'no' to something and people have took the hump. Most of them realise that i do in fact usually do what they ask (or else come to an arrangemnet to do it instead of other things etc) so when i say no (which is rare) that i really mean it and that i would do it if i could/wanted to.

[fayellen]

There is absolutely no way I would clean out any animals. 
I am not looking to do other things just thinking about going travelling and I know being self employed for so long then going back to working for someone is the hardest thing, I don't actually think I could do it!!   
I had one i clean for asking if I could take her clothes to the charity shop     another asked if I could go in  early as she was having some furniture delivered what she didn't know is that I was planning to go in earlier anyway and was very grateful, bigger christmas bonus.
The thing is vacman going into someones house everyday when there is clearly an atmosphere is very awkward although I must admit I am getting very good at saying no, plus most clients are so happy to have a good cleaner they will always try to keep you happy if they can.
I personally would think nothing of giving up any of my clients if it got too awkward as there's always someone else waiting for a good cleaner

[chosker]

Dianegreenwood - I would be wary myself of taking a cleaner on to work that admitted in the first post that she had taken a client privately from the last agency she worked for! I do not mean to cause offense by this btw, just pointing the fact out, If i mis-understood the post then apologies.

That aside, many clients do want tidying as well as cleaning, but this should obviously be taken into account when quoting the job and hours needed. If extras are then added then all you need to say is "that's fine Mrs X but please be aware that I will be here an extra half an hour and will charge accordingly" or something similar. If you get into the habit of doing this with one client it becomes much easier and more natural to do this with all.

Of course, if you don't want to do the tidying then you need to learn how to say No in lots of different ways!

[joANE]

definatly true  but i think   it took me a while to realise whats going on. what starts as a little bit of extra just to be  helpful  one week can suddenly be worked into your role. at the beginning i discuss with customers what they want and what will be possible in that time and i now print them out a copy of things we,ve discussed  but as i said unfortunatly that doesnt seem to stop people pushing it..but again i/we dont have to say yes do we? masters of our destiny cleaners unite oooh got carried away then. yes i think those of us who dont like saying no will have to get the courage to say it and hope it gets easier. saying that i have just said no to some washing up. it isnt as straightforward a story but like a fellow poster i could say yes  but ive decided no i dont actually want to do it..so there!!
  re perks and 10 years: 2 of them pay me for holiday ie 2 missed cleans thats about it really and i get first refusal on any stuff they are getting rid of ie a nice hoover came my way the other day! oooh and i got a lovely tin of polish from a holiday in the country (do you think thats a hint!) but yes actually ive got quite a good bunch when they behave theirselves

[dianegreenwood]

hi chosker, I didn't spot that in the original post and you're right I definitely wouldn't take on anyone who had effectively poached a client.  Its a bit like going off with a married man, he'll just do the same to you

[chosker]

LOL! Diane - you made me laugh but I do agree 

Claire x

[fayellen]

Lol.. Joanne. a tin of polish definately a hint in that one.

Claire and Diane let me put my side. I Can fully understand your feelings on me leaving the agency but the thing is, It was a guy who was starting his own agency to do anything client wanted ie:decorating, plumbing and obviously cleaning so I started the cleaning for him.
He was constantly late paying me for 18 mnths, I told him on many occasions but he was always sarcastic and didn't seem to care. Then the people who I clean for needed some work doing, contacted him and he ignored them for 2 months so basically they said to me they were parting company with him as he was ignoring them  ( and in their favour they did give him many chances to reply) so I could either leave or continue with them..a no Brainer.
I am very loyal and would not have stayed on if it was not for the late payments and his rudeness in ignoring them.

[chosker]

Thanks for explaining that - proves things aren't always black and white. As i did mis-understand, then as promised - I apologise!

Claire

[vacman]

Yes but Claire, to date Dianegreenwood is the first person i've known of who managed to keep hold of her decent staff. Its a very rare thing is that, and good rates of pay are not always enough to keep the cleaner. The hiring of a cleaner directly is something which happens again and again.  I'm not knocking Faye for jumping ship (heaven knows she makes her boss sound like he was asking for it) but its an age-old problem across the board.