Tuesday, March 31, 2009

You Really Can't Get Good Help

For many years, we've had a lady come to the house a couple of times a month to do the big cleaning. You know, the floors, the bathrooms, that kind of thing. She doesn't do windows. She doesn't do laundry. If there are dishes in the sink, she doesn't put them in the dishwasher. Most of the time, she leaves dust on surfaces. She has never cleaned a ceiling fan.
We agreed to a price. She has accepted our money. We've given her a cash bonus every Christmas. She's not the best housekeeper in the world, but she has been reliable about showing up. She has been trustworthy in the house. Those two things on their own have great value.
Knowing she was coming today, my wife wrote a note asking her to vaccuum the sofas and this one chair. It's pretty reasonable request. She left the note along with a check and left the house for the day.
When she got home, there was a note from the housekeeper saying that she did not do the couches. She wrote that what we have been paying her is outrageously low...that after she buys gas to get here from wherever she lives and brings her own supplies, the fee she earns "even makes it lower." Can I emphasize that she agreed to the fee, that we never asked her to bring her own supplies and that where she lives is irrelevant since she took the job?
Here's the kicker, keeping in mind that this is something like only the second time we've left a note asking her to do something specific: she finished with a flourish, "so to add extra duties not gonna happen." I guess respect and punctuation would require an extra fee.
Know what else is "not gonna happen"? She's never setting foot in our house again.
So, I need someone to come to the house a couple of times a month to help us clean up after ourselves. We'll buy the supplies.

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2 comments:

Dave and Shannon said...

Did you do the firing or did your wife? Bet that was an interesting one....especially in these tough times... did she ask for her job back and promise to do the couch?

Darrell said...

Actually, we haven't spoken with her. We did find someone else, though. As you might suspect, I am giving myself a cooling off period.