[nat1]

Hi I have a new customer who has her house cleaned on a weekly basis, i dont do the cleaning the girl who works for me does.  I priced it up at 36.00, i dont state the hours as i price per job, she agreed the price & i gave her a cleaning plan stating what will be done.  The house is a 3 storey terrace, comprising of entrance hall, small living room,dining/kitchen, 2 flights of stairs, bathroom with shower, childs bedroom, master bedroom, spare room and another childs bedroom.  Even though it sounds quite a bit, it is infact a very easy house to clean & the customer keeps it very clean in between cleans, the spare room & childs bedroom only need a quick dust as she has all her toys in there & I was told mop the floor every other visit.  I got a text of her yesterday after my cleaner had been round to say she is only there for just over 2 hours & 36.00 is alot to pay for a 2 hour clean ( can see her point) she is very happy with the way the cleaner cleans, but she said a couple of the things on the cleaning plan, like high level dusting, vacuuming under the settee are not getting done every visit.  I covered the clean a couple of weeks back as the cleaner was on hol's & she said I spent 3 hrs there, which is what she expects paying 36.00, I did not mention how long the clean would take at the start but i pay my cleaner for 2.5hrs, was just wondering what you guys thought? im in m/cr area.

Thanks Nat

[Joe H]

If it took you 3 hours and your cleaner 2 and a bit hours either your slow or she is not as thorough.
As the client has complained some things are not getting done, and the cleaner is there just over 2 hours, then it would appear that your cleaner is not as thorough nor sticking to time.
You have the problem.
Your client is expecting a full job which in her mind will take 3 hours.
You are paying the cleaner for 2.5 hours (even tho it takes you 3)
The cleaner is actually doing just over 2 hours.

How are you going to sort it?

I charge by the hour, min of 2 hours, then after that by the quarter hour.
My workers get paid by the hour, or quarters as above.

[daz1977]

could you cleaner be quick and just gets on with the job,

the only reason i say this is i use to clean caravans with my wife and we could do one in about 25 mins, as we just got on with it, we would get moaned at for being quick, but there was never any problems with our work

it seams that your client wants to pay for time rather than a job,  i think she would be happier if the job took 5 hours and she only payed 36

[nat1]

Hi Joe, when I did the clean I was talking to the client for at least 20mins, that why I took 3 hours and my cleaner just goes in and gets on. I agree with the other reply that the client would be more than happy to have someone there for 5 hours and only pay for 3.  I have asked my cleaner if she can do an extra 1/2 hour to keep the client happy, however I think the client is just not happy with the price rather than the clean as her words were the cleaning is "perfect" and I did say the high level dusting would be done as and when required???

When you guys go in with an hourly rate, does the client want a rough idea as too how long the clean will take?

Ta Nat

[daz1977]

the problem i see with just an hourly rate, is if it clean then they get a better deal, but if a house is dirty they it will take longer and cost more then custy will complain that they are slow and r dragging job out, most custy think a job will take 10 mins, when in reality it take 30 mins

the custy might just want a cheaper price, which is up to you, but dont underprice your work, why not other her just 2 and half hours cleaning instead of 3, but if it isnt clean after then leave,   or just get the cleaner to dust every visit

[Daria Taylor]

hourly rate is an issue for many businesses, i always said how does it mater how long the cleaner is there for if the whole house/area is perfectly clean and the customer is happy with the price, but obvius issue with set price is that people often think they are charged too much for the service, so its n win situation as a business you always the one who is in loss because customer is either thinks the prie is too high or the time is taking is too long. bottom line is peope want everything for nothing especially in the industry we are in

[The Great One]

Hi

Charging is a tough issue as most people equate the charge with hours spent.

I have charged £190 for an EOT but ended up being there only 4 hours, which is a great rate, I handed tthe keys back straight away which is where I made the mistake as straight away he's thought Holy cow, that's £50 p/h, of course he has gone in to find issues so I can go back and spend more time so he he can justify the cost in his mind, or to quote him...

I could of got an Albanian in for £10 an hour

Unquote

And to quote my response...

Well go and Bl***y get one then!

Good luck

Martin

[nat1]

Hi Martin, yep that's the problem when they break it down into hours it does sound alot! I am at present charging this client £18.00 per hour (Ouch) may have to swallow my pride and reduce the overall price.



Thanks for your reply


Nat

[Angelcleaners]

This will always be an issue no matter what line you take. You get looked at suspiciously for charging by the job and spending less time there, and if you charge byt he hour and need an extra hour same again, you get looked at as if your not efficient enough.

One thing I wonder though is, how does everyone manage the payment side of things? I mean obviously all of our regulars for each of us are no bother, but I have no doubts youve encountered people so insistent on not paying ? I am just interested to see how you handle such cases as new tricks could be picked up etc

[daz1977]

nat

r all your custy complaining about the price or just one,  if its just a small hand full i woudnt bother changing prices as you will always get people who moan about prices

[nat1]

Hi Daz just 1, so far... but just do not want to state how many hours we are going to be there, as Im sure with alot of you over time you get in a routine and you become quicker.  The client has had cleaners before and said she got rid of them as they did not clean the kitchen worktops! but did she ask them to?

In answer to the question re "payment" I have never had a problem, have you thought about asking the client to set up a standing order?


Many thanks

Nat

[geefree]

Tell her you will reduce the rate to £24, and she will do just the two hours in future.

and what she gets done, she gets done.

if she is not still happy.

Dump, its not worth the hassle for that amount of money.

[Adam P]

or just try agreeing with her and saying you understand you understand etc but take no action. is she decides to go back she think she can get the same good quality clean but at a slightly cheaper price then thats her problem. if she is nice and appreciates a hard working cleaner she'll stay, if she isn't then thank god she goes