Before you say anything, I agree that for me, in my current state of health and mobility, it is utter luxury to have a cleaning help. I will get back to my reasons.

My flat is about 85 sq.m., with two bedrooms and two bathrooms – one tiny and one medium-sized. Most of the time, it is just me living here. It should be an easy job – right? Wrong.

It all started when I adopted a dog and suddenly had dog hairs everywhere in addition to the dirt we dragged in from the – often wet – streets after four to five daily walks. I was lucky enough to find someone who liked Max and also did not mind having him around and even take him for a quick walk as part of the job to give me a bit of “me time”. I therefore paid him for four hours every week, and it all worked out well for a while. So far, so good, and it felt like the best thing I had ever spent money on. I thoroughly enjoyed coming home to a clean flat.

After I no longer had a dog, I decided to keep the cleaner on, still for four hours per week, at least for a while. When I went on “reha” for four weeks in November last year, I also decided to keep paying him, since, not that that was any of my business, but due to things he had said over time, I sensed that his financial situation was precarious. In return, I asked him to clean the nooks and crannies that often get neglected in everyday life, and to keep an eye on my mailbox in case it started to overflow.

I therefore expected to return to a home that felt almost newly spring cleaned. After four whole weeks during which he could basically work when it suited him – was that really asking too much? Apparently. In stead, I found cobwebs in the corners and a general feeling that he had barely been there, and a completely overflowing mailbox.

I hate being made a fool of, so that was the end of that relationship, and I decided to go back to doing my own cleaning.

However, after a little while, I decided life was too short and that the enjoyment of going out and returning to a clean home once a week, was too big to miss, and I asked around for recommendations and quickly found a new cleaning service.

They charge 17 euro per hour, which I find so reasonable that I decided to round up to 20 euro per hour (i.e. a relatively good tip), and we agreed on three hours per week. However, except for the first couple of weeks, the cleaner only works for two hours each time. He rushes through and off to another job, while I still pay him 60 euro each week. I have discussed that with him many times but he is adamant that that is his right, so it is clearly something his employer has OK’ed. There are many things he never does, for example hoover under the beds even though the hoover can easily reach the farthest corners (he says that would be “deep cleaning” and that would cost extra …..!). From time to time, the chrome legs of my kitchen chairs need to be cleaned (and generally, parts of all the furniture have to be dusted off), but he also does not do that, and there is also a thick layer of dust on all the floor panels (is that also considered deep cleaning although they can easily be hoovered at the same time as hoovering the floors?) And things like light switches, which in the end were so dirty it was the first thing I saw every time I moved around the flat, I had to remind him before he did them.

Is it me? Am I asking too much? Giving my floors a quick hoover and wash, and cleaning the bathroom sinks – I can do that myself and at the same time spare myself these frustrations.

Again, after discussing these things with him for months, and he still insists on disappearing after two hours, walking off with 60 euro, I am tired of being treated like an idiot, and am again looking for a cleaning help. Would it work better with a “professional” service where everything is agreed on-line (but costs almost double)?