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(OT) Merry Maids - I'm ticked!



 
 
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  #21  
Old July 13th 12, 10:54 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
MaryL[_2_]
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Posts: 1,184
Default (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  
Old July 13th 12, 11:33 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Christina Websell
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,983
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 02:48 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,008
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 02:53 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,008
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 03:22 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,008
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 06:21 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
trubble
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 12:40 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Cheryl[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 955
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 01:47 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,008
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 04:09 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
William Hamblen[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 245
Default (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  
Old July 14th 12, 07:08 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Joy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 7,086
Default (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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