[P-Polly]

Hello all.

I am very new to the site and found it whilst looking online for like minded people!
My situation is slightly different to most as I am in Germany and a British forces wife and I have set up a domestic cleaning round on my own. I am very small at the moment and have 5 clients who are again all British forces and I am also employed to clean / housekeep at one of the Colonel's quarters. It all keeps me tired but busy!

I am moving back to the UK in the near future and hope to set up there and expand and then hopefully just grow and grow and grow!  Hard work does not scare me and I am raring to go!

I just wanted though to ask some advice, I have one client whom I clean for once a week, when I went to visit her and discuss her requirements and such she said that she wanted 2 hours a week and I told her what I could get done in that time. I stated that if she left instructions for me to do a particular job at anytime that was something other than we agreed, then I would not spend so long on the general dusting e.t.c.. so I could get it done for her. She was happy with this as she seemed to understand that 2 hours does fly by!

So for the past 3 weeks there has always been a particular job that she has wanted me to do, they have been, oven clean( not to march out standard I may add!), windows, and removing her blinds and washing them before rehanging...
Now I am an easy going girl but as most of you will know none of those jobs are quick jobs and I refuse to do them half heartedly as most of my referrals will come from word of mouth! So in the rest of the house I have done a general dusting and hoover, the bathrooms are still always pristine when I am done as is the kitchen, I then work on the job she has asked me to do, I would like to add that 9 times out of ten I have been there longer than the 2 hours, but did not feel I could leave halfway through doing the particular task... I could hardly leave her blinds on the floor for her to trip over e.t.c..

So today I get there and there is a note saying how she has noticed that her light fittings are not getting dusted properly, that some furniture has not been pushed back when I have hoovered, that some stuff has not been lifted and seen a duster e.t.c...  I could of screamed! I explained at the beginning that these things would suffer to save time for the other jobs she had asked of me!

I am going to call her tonight and speak with her, what would you say? How do I explain that we discussed this... that until she started leaving jobs for me to do as extra she was very happy with my cleaning... This is the first time I have had any problem and I am so upset! Stupid I know... but I worry that she will think my cleaning is sub-standard 

I am so sorry this is so long, I really do ramble 

Thank you for any advice you can give.

[DREAM CLEAN]

HI,

Ask your clients to write a list of what they want from you, agree the time to do the job then anything over and above that list is an extra charge.
Where in Germany are you based?
Wher in uk you going to be posted to?

Nick

[P-Polly]

Hi again,

Sorry I was not being rude in not answering sooner, I have been engrossed in reading this forum! I have been reading for hours, its fantastic here!

We will be moving to Cornwall as it's where we are from, it won't be a posting because that will be us then done with army life! Hubby would of done his 22 

I am not sure if you know the Gutersloh area but we are around there.

I spoke to my lady this evening and she does not see how asking for a couple of little things to be done when I have finished everything else is such a drama. I explained that I spend 2 hours on her house and clean to a very high standard. At present if she is leaving me the extra jobs then I have to divide the 2 hours up where I can. I am not sure how well that went down but she has not canceled me so thats a good sign!

I am so looking forward to getting to know everyone on here, I have really enjoyed reading this forum 

[The Great One]

Hi Polly

A warm welcome to the forum, I was lucky enough to find it on day one almost 4 years ago.

You will find a lot of clients ask for ' a couple of extra things' but don't want to pay ' a couple of extra pounds' it's a dangerous cycle. You want to provide a good service and want to go the extra mile and the client takes advantage by expecting the same standard and extra for free.

Charge per extra duty, oven £45 min
Blinds down and washed £30-45

Etc etc

You needed to show that these extra things have value and therefore you have value, do things for free and they want the earth and you will start to be abused (as has already happened)

Maybe do a price list for future clients and they can pick what they want as and when they need it.

My motto:

Nobody works for free!

Regards

Martin

[Cleaning Resource]

My old boss use to say "todays favor turns into tomorrows job"