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#21
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"jmcquown" wrote in message ... "MLB" wrote in message ... On 07/11/2012 03:31 PM, Christina Websell wrote: OB Cats: I never updated about Persia not eating her kibble. I didn't take her to the vet. It was just like when your car is making a funny noise. You take it to a mechanic and it doesn't make that noise anymore. Persia must have known I was planning to take her to the vet. She started eating her kibble right away I'm still going to switch her to the wet R/x food. I'll keep an eye on her. Jill Several people were worried about Persia (me too) and you couldn't be bothered to update the threads about the vet visit. It annoys me, Jill. We care about Persia and were waiting to know if it was bad or good. You are so right about this. Most pet lovers are worry worts" where our pets, or friends' pets are concerned/ I had got to the point of thinking Jill didn't want to "tell us the " worst" and here she seemed to have just forgotten that we were interested. (snippage) Excuse me if other things intruded in my life! I've been a little busy. I had to have a plumber out to do some work. The subject of this post is just one of the things I've been dealing with. I've been scheduling things, arranging things. Seems like I've been on the phone more in the last few weeks than I have in my entire tech support days. I'm sorry if I seem like a bad friend. Believe me, if anything bad was going on with Persia all those things would fall by the wayside. And you'd definitely know about it. Jill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The problem is that you posted a message showing that you were concerned about Persia's health. Originally, you were going to arrange for a house call, then you told us that you had a Saturday appointment instead because of the cost. But that's the last we heard from you. I even posted two messages asking you to update. All we needed was one or two sentences telling us that everything is alright. I can see that you have been very busy, but I do think we should always post updates when we post messages that show health concerns. MaryL |
#22
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"Cheryl" wrote in message ... On 2012-07-12 10:28 AM, Lesley wrote: On Jul 11, 9:25 pm, Judith Latham wrote: . Mom pays her for an hour and she's there for twenty minutes. That cleaner is pulling a fast one. We decided to get a cleaner a few years back, she arrived wiped down some kitchen worktops then said she had to go as one of her other clients had lost his keys and she had a spare set and of course when it came to getting paid for 10 minutes work she didn't have any change so walked away with her hourly rate. Also she said she didn't do bathrooms, which as we had specifically mentioned bathrooms was a bit odd. A friend tells me if you get lucky with the first cleaner you have then you should buy a lottery ticket- they had 4 before they found one who was good at her job and they liked. Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs In a lot of jobs, if the worker shows up, they get paid some amount. I had one once doing temp work - and if I turned up because they'd forgotten to cancel their booking, I got paid. OTOH, if I left after 10 minutes, I wouldn't have gotten paid! My mother was lucky - she got someone recommended by another customer in the same building who charged a very reasonable amount for an hour, during which she did an astonishing amount of work - the heavier work in the kitchen and bathroom were top on the list because of course they were harder for my mother to do. She did complain about the number of ornaments my mother had on every flat surface, which made dusting harder, and tended to leave every picture a bit unevenly hung after dusting, but that's minor stuff, and although I told my mother she didn't have to put her ornaments away to keep the cleaner happy, my sympathies were rather with the cleaner. -- My cousin employs Polish cleaners and carers for her retirement home and she is happy to pay them a minimum wage. I would not. |
#23
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"Bastette" wrote in message ... "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote: I suppose they vary from state to state, but the time or two I used Merry Maids in California, I found them satisfactory, and not TOO expensive. (Although I had much better luck with cleaning people I used on recommendations from friends for whom they'd worked.) I also prefer to hire someone who works for herself (or himself). That way, all the money I spend goes directly to the cleaner. With a business that sends people out to your house, you have to pay more, because the business needs to make a profit. And the cleaners get less, sometimes a lot less. -- Joyce I can understand that! But I also want the person to be licensed, bonded and insured. Homeowners insurance doesn't necessarily cover if someone mops the floor, falls and claims and injury. Usually individuals who clean places aren't. Jill |
#24
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"Bastette" wrote in message ... Cheryl wrote: She did complain about the number of ornaments my mother had on every flat surface, which made dusting harder, and tended to leave every picture a bit unevenly hung after dusting, but that's minor stuff, and although I told my mother she didn't have to put her ornaments away to keep the cleaner happy, my sympathies were rather with the cleaner. Yeah, mine too. About 7-8 years ago, I had a job cleaning therapists' offices. Much easier than cleaning homes! But yes, a lot of them had dozens of small tchotchokes on their mantel or shelves, that I would have to dust (I also had to carefully dust each item). A real pain in the butt. (snippage) I have a number of figurines in a glass-fronted display case in the dining room. I didn't expect them to open the display case, wash or dust them. But they never got that far. They just left. I'm still angry about it. Jill |
#25
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"Christina Websell" wrote in message ... "jmcquown" wrote in message ... "MLB" wrote in message ... On 07/11/2012 03:31 PM, Christina Websell wrote: OB Cats: I never updated about Persia not eating her kibble. I didn't take her to the vet. It was just like when your car is making a funny noise. You take it to a mechanic and it doesn't make that noise anymore. Persia must have known I was planning to take her to the vet. She started eating her kibble right away I'm still going to switch her to the wet R/x food. I'll keep an eye on her. Jill Several people were worried about Persia (me too) and you couldn't be bothered to update the threads about the vet visit. It annoys me, Jill. We care about Persia and were waiting to know if it was bad or good. You are so right about this. Most pet lovers are worry worts" where our pets, or friends' pets are concerned/ I had got to the point of thinking Jill didn't want to "tell us the " worst" and here she seemed to have just forgotten that we were interested. (snippage) Excuse me if other things intruded in my life! I've been a little busy. In the meantime you leave us to worry about Persia, She is well loved on this group. If I told you that Boyfriend had been knocked down by a car outside my house and never updated whether he died or not, what would you think about me? (he hasn't) You know darn good and well if anything bad had happened to Persia it would have destroyed my world. And yet somehow I would have told rpca. And if anything happened to Boyfie and you never updated, that would have devastated me, too. But I'd have pinged to ask. Sometimes other things in life interfere. And since Persia is doing fine for the moment...no urgent need to update. I'm sorry if it doesn't meet with your approval. Jill |
#26
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:16:36 -0400, "jmcquown"
wrote: (This is a long rant; I apologize in advance.) You know I want to sell this house. The realtor I'm working with is very knowledgeable about the housing market where I live. He said I would need to have it completely cleaned, including the carpets. Get it in "showing condition" so he can list it for top dollar. I contracted with Merry Maids to do a whole house cleaning. On June 25th, the Field Service Manager, Yon, came over, looked at everything and gave me a quote. The only caveat she mentioned was I'd need to vacuum the kitty litter off the tile floor in the master bathroom the day they arrived (Monday, July 9th). That morning I completely cleaned and washed the litter box. I took the small bath mat it sits on outside and beat it out any excess kitty litter with a broom. I vacuumed the bathroom floor. Around 9:30 the maid, Tiffany, arrived. (Last time I used Merry Maids, shortly after my dad died in 2008, they sent a team. They did a wonderful job.) This is a 1700 sq. ft. house. It's a huge job, so I was very surprised. She said someone had called in sick. Anyway, Tiffany cleaned the toilet and the tub in the master bath. She cleaned the sinks and the vanity. I noticed she kept going outside. Then she went to lunch! When she returned she said Yon would be coming over to help her out. Yon arrived around 12:30. She cleaned the kitchen countertops and appliances. Then Yon told me because of the cat litter they couldn't mop the master bathroom floor. Uh... okay. But wait! Then Yon said they were leaving! She said because of the cat litter they couldn't finish the job. Excuse me?! What about the rest of the house? She said according to the owner, Bob, the cat litter "issue" was a violation of OSHA regulations and they couldn't finish. (For non-Americans, OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.) Well dammit, I already paid you people to clean the entire house! I got the number for the owner (he's in Charleston where he just opened a new location). He gave me the OSHA song and dance. I explained what I'd done that morning in the master bath. He said, "Oh, they're talking about the cat feces all over the house." WHAT?! Good lord! I'm not the neatest person in the world; when it comes to cleaning I'll admit I'm downright lackadaisical about it. (This house is way too big for one, or even two, people.) But I couldn't, *wouldn't*, live with cat feces all over my house! That's absurd! He said sorry, he was getting conflicting stories. Oh, so the customer is always wrong?! Here's what I think happened. I think Tiffany was overwhelmed by the size of the house and the size of the job. So she called her pal Yon for help. Together they fabricated an excuse which turned from "kitty litter on the master bathroom floor" to [when Yon talked to Bob] "cat feces all over the house". Bull****! Persia doesn't poop all over the house. Persia *has* thrown up on the low-pile white carpet, which is in every room of the house (except the two bathrooms). Those stains are impossible to get out. But they're not all over the house! (I hate this carpet. I remember Mom asking me what on earth possessed her to have white carpet installed?) Anyway, I specifically pointed those stains out to Yon before I even got the maid service quote. She even gave me a separate quote for carpet cleaning! So, how does this prevent them from dusting and running the vacuum in all the other rooms? Or cleaning the second bathroom? (No litter box in there, nope.) And what does ANY of this have to do with not mopping the kitchen floor? No, they just wanted to leave. So they concocted a ridiculous story for the owner. Before they left, Yon suggested I call Serv-Pro, which is an affiliated company. She said they are equipped to handle these "bigger jobs". Oh fer cryin' out loud! If you google Serv-Pro you'll find they're a disaster recovery company. The do cleanups after floods, fire, etc. Give me a freaking break! Fortunately, their accounting person hadn't cashed my check yet. When we spoke I had her write VOID across the check face and email me a copy. She, too, tried to get me to call Serv-Pro. Nope, not going to happen. I'm still so angry I could scream. Now I have to find another cleaning service to finish the job. I had to cancel the carpet cleaning appointment I had scheduled for today (Stanley Steemer). I wanted the house to be completely clean before they tackled the carpets. Merry Maids really screwed things up for me. (I wrote a very negative review about this particular Merry Maids on Yelp.) OB Cats: I never updated about Persia not eating her kibble. I didn't take her to the vet. It was just like when your car is making a funny noise. You take it to a mechanic and it doesn't make that noise anymore. Persia must have known I was planning to take her to the vet. She started eating her kibble right away I'm still going to switch her to the wet R/x food. I'll keep an eye on her. Jill Do you have some sort of physical disability that prevents you from cleaning the house yourself? If two or three people could do it in one day, why couldn't you do it in two or three days??? What am I missing here??? |
#27
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
On 13/07/2012 11:18 PM, jmcquown wrote:
"Bastette" wrote in message ... "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote: I suppose they vary from state to state, but the time or two I used Merry Maids in California, I found them satisfactory, and not TOO expensive. (Although I had much better luck with cleaning people I used on recommendations from friends for whom they'd worked.) I also prefer to hire someone who works for herself (or himself). That way, all the money I spend goes directly to the cleaner. With a business that sends people out to your house, you have to pay more, because the business needs to make a profit. And the cleaners get less, sometimes a lot less. -- Joyce I can understand that! But I also want the person to be licensed, bonded and insured. Homeowners insurance doesn't necessarily cover if someone mops the floor, falls and claims and injury. Usually individuals who clean places aren't. Jill In Canada, you can register domestic workers for workmen's comp, unemployment insurance, Canada Pension Plan. A lot of people don't bother, and even some who do give less take-home pay rather than pay them the going rate and then paying the government fees on top of it. Friends of mine always paid for that sort of thing on top of the wage when they were hiring a woman to come into the home to do child care. I learned enough from them to ensure that anyone I hired had workman's comp at least. You could also insist that the person be bonded, although a lot of people prefer to go by references. -- Cheryl |
#28
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"trubble" wrote in message ... On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:16:36 -0400, "jmcquown" wrote: (This is a long rant; I apologize in advance.) You know I want to sell this house. The realtor I'm working with is very knowledgeable about the housing market where I live. He said I would need to have it completely cleaned, including the carpets. Get it in "showing condition" so he can list it for top dollar. I contracted with Merry Maids to do a whole house cleaning. (snipped self) Jill Do you have some sort of physical disability that prevents you from cleaning the house yourself? If two or three people could do it in one day, why couldn't you do it in two or three days??? What am I missing here??? You missed the part where I admitted I'm lackadaisical when it comes to housekeeping. Maybe you'd like to come over and help? Meet me out back. I'll be out there with a sudsy sponge on an extension pole, washing then rinsing the windows with a garden hose. The windows in the living room are at least 22 feet high. In fact, the entire back of the house is nothing but windows. See? http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...46690505frUyss Why shouldn't I hire someone to help get the house in tip-top condition so I can sell it ASAP? And expect them to do the job I paid them to do? Jill |
#29
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
On 2012-07-14, Cheryl wrote:
On 13/07/2012 11:18 PM, jmcquown wrote: "Bastette" wrote in message ... "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote: I suppose they vary from state to state, but the time or two I used Merry Maids in California, I found them satisfactory, and not TOO expensive. (Although I had much better luck with cleaning people I used on recommendations from friends for whom they'd worked.) I also prefer to hire someone who works for herself (or himself). That way, all the money I spend goes directly to the cleaner. With a business that sends people out to your house, you have to pay more, because the business needs to make a profit. And the cleaners get less, sometimes a lot less. -- Joyce I can understand that! But I also want the person to be licensed, bonded and insured. Homeowners insurance doesn't necessarily cover if someone mops the floor, falls and claims and injury. Usually individuals who clean places aren't. Jill In Canada, you can register domestic workers for workmen's comp, unemployment insurance, Canada Pension Plan. A lot of people don't bother, and even some who do give less take-home pay rather than pay them the going rate and then paying the government fees on top of it. Friends of mine always paid for that sort of thing on top of the wage when they were hiring a woman to come into the home to do child care. I learned enough from them to ensure that anyone I hired had workman's comp at least. You could also insist that the person be bonded, although a lot of people prefer to go by references. In the USA you are responsible for unemployment insurance (federal and state) and Social Security insurance for household help if you pay more than $1,800 to the employee in a year's time. Whether you withhold income tax is between you and the employee, but you do need to file W-2 forms. The paperwork is enough to make a lot of people either ignore the law or hire a service firm. Bud |
#30
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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!
"jmcquown" wrote in message
... "trubble" wrote in message ... On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:16:36 -0400, "jmcquown" wrote: (This is a long rant; I apologize in advance.) You know I want to sell this house. The realtor I'm working with is very knowledgeable about the housing market where I live. He said I would need to have it completely cleaned, including the carpets. Get it in "showing condition" so he can list it for top dollar. I contracted with Merry Maids to do a whole house cleaning. (snipped self) Jill Do you have some sort of physical disability that prevents you from cleaning the house yourself? If two or three people could do it in one day, why couldn't you do it in two or three days??? What am I missing here??? You missed the part where I admitted I'm lackadaisical when it comes to housekeeping. Maybe you'd like to come over and help? Meet me out back. I'll be out there with a sudsy sponge on an extension pole, washing then rinsing the windows with a garden hose. The windows in the living room are at least 22 feet high. In fact, the entire back of the house is nothing but windows. See? http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...46690505frUyss Why shouldn't I hire someone to help get the house in tip-top condition so I can sell it ASAP? And expect them to do the job I paid them to do? Jill It's nobody's business if you want to hire somebody to do it. In fact, in this economy, you're doing a service by providing somebody with a job, even if it's only for a day or two. Joy |
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