Let's pretend ...

[Flowing Brook]

you went on vacation from January 7th to March 25 to Florida.

Let's pretend that while you were gone your house cleaner watered your plants, cleaned your office, and bathroom once a week. A few days before you were due to come back she deep cleaned your house and when you came back it smelled and looked wonderful.

 

Now let's pretend that while you were away your house cleaner had over watered a plant and it left a not too terribly obvious but not too not obvious stain on your carpet. This is a white carpet with brown scattered through it. Your carpet already has a stain on it from where your dog vomited and another stain across the room where the dog peed. Let's pretend you are a clean fanatic that's whole day seems ruined when you can't find a doily to match your stand next to your front room.

 

Let's pretend that you love your house cleaner and you would hate to lose her.

 

What would your reaction be to your house cleaner when she very sincerely apologizes for staining your carpet. How would you expect her to make it up to you.

 

BTW I am the house cleaner.

ETA: This house cleaner was very contrite took full responsibility and does know how to professionally clean carpet, used four different cleaners that always get stains out.

[plain jane]

Well I would be pretty upset. Something like that would drive me nuts as I am a clean fanatic (it's my children that are not :lol: ) That said, I wouldn't expect anything from the house cleaner. I figure that's part and parcel with leaving my home for 2-1/2 months. If she apologized and was sincere I'd have to find a way to suck it up and move on. If she wasn't apologetic it would annoy me more and I may consider getting rid of her.

 

I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation.

[extendedforecast]

I would forgive the housekeeper and get the carpet patched. It's not worth it to get upset since the housekeeper obviously kept the place clean while I was away.

[TechWife]

I would expect my house cleaner to call me as soon as it happened and request permission to have a professional carpet cleaner come in and clean the carpet at her expense. I would also expect her to ask me if I had a provider that I preferred to use and if so, to use them.

[Tita Gidge]

My answer is the same regardless of which role you play - you're a human, you make mistakes.

 

Were you truly contrite? If so, then it's something you just move forward from. I'd be thrilled if you looked into a variety of stain removers, and attempted to remove all of those stains. But I wouldn't expect anything more, and I'd be assuming you had already tried removing the water damage stain ... so at that point, it's just accept it and move forward. I might hope the maid would knock a bit off of her price or refuse her tip if I was interested in fixing the stained area myself (such as replacing a floor board or cutting out a small piece of carpet from a closet, etc.) ... but as you describe it, I'd not think anything of it because obviously the other stains don't bother me and I probably have plans to replace all of the carpet once the animals pass on. It wouldn't make sense to do it any sooner ;)

 

If the maid was sorry, but maybe defensive or otherwise not truly contrite I'd have bigger issues with that attitude than I would the stain. I'd have to re-evaluate the cost/benefit ratio. It's hard to find a maid you trust, so if this were a first offense I'd probably right it off but keep a closer eye on her. I'd expect her to understand why.

[AnIslandGirl]

There are certainly worse things than a small stain. It sounds like the carpet was in need of replacing anyway. :rolleyes:

 

I'm sorry your employer is making you feel bad over such a small thing. Flowers and an apology always work wonders in my case.

[Mrs Mungo]

Did the house cleaner get a chance to attempt to clean it up? Did various cleaning methods not work to take the stain up? How about use of a carpet cleaner?

[Flowing Brook]

I did try four different cleaners. I am not even sure how this happened. I over watered the plant the water started dripping so I put two towels down and set the plant on top of that. The towels were on the floor for five minutes max. I then cleaned the carpet. The next time I went there was a small stain where the towels had been. There is no stain where most of the water had dripped.

I do plan on apologizing profusely. I am not going to charge for any work I did. I plan on making restitution any way they see fit.

[Tita Gidge]

To counter another poster, I'd have been annoyed if my maid called me while I was on vacation to notify me of a small stain. Flooding, yes - please call LOL. A small stain that can't be fixed anyhow? What am I going to do about it from states away, aside from stew? I just want to know right away when I get in, whether by call or note explaining the problem and asking me to call at my earliest convenience.

 

If you were my maid and refused all payment, I'd think that was over the top. But I'd be appreciative that you'd feel the need and desire to offer, especially if ours is a relationship that seems to be otherwise going well. I'd probably feel reasonable to pay you for some/most of your services, and I'd feel better about doing so if I knew you were truly sorry. Which, it would appear you would be by not charging anything for the work.

 

You seem like good, honest people. I hope your employer recognizes you as such and that you find a mutually reasonable solution. She gets home today?

[QueenCat]

I would expect my house cleaner to call me as soon as it happened and request permission to have a professional carpet cleaner come in and clean the carpet at her expense. I would also expect her to ask me if I had a provider that I preferred to use and if so, to use them.

 

This is what I'd expect too.

[zoobie]

Are you sure you caused the stain? It may have been there before... I've never had water stain carpet.

 

I would not expect you to have worked for 2.5 months for free!

[Flowing Brook]

This is what I'd expect too.

 

TechWife

 

 

Posted Today, 03:42 PM

"I would expect my house cleaner to call me as soon as it happened and request permission to have a professional carpet cleaner come in and clean the carpet at her expense. I would also expect her to ask me if I had a provider that I preferred to use and if so, to use them."

 

 

 

What would your expectations if they did that and the stain did not come out?

[Lara in Colo]

Did you try Oxiclean? because that got RUST out of my carpet.

[QueenCat]

TechWife

 

 

Posted Today, 03:42 PM

"I would expect my house cleaner to call me as soon as it happened and request permission to have a professional carpet cleaner come in and clean the carpet at her expense. I would also expect her to ask me if I had a provider that I preferred to use and if so, to use them."

 

 

 

What would your expectations if they did that and the stain did not come out?

 

Beyond getting the carpet cleaned, nothing. That would be sufficient for me.

[againstthegrain]

If I had stains from my dog peeing and vomitting, I would not be a clean fanatic nor likely make a huge fuss about a water carpet stain. I would accept the housekeeper not taking pay for the cleaning she did while we were on vacation as restitution. But if I had immaculuate carpet and was a clean fanatic, I'd likely end up firing the housekeeper if she couldn't get the stain out. It might be harsh, but it's likely what I would do.

 

I just can't understand how a clean fanatic has dog stained carpet. I mean, all clean fanatics I know would replace dog stained carpet.

[Guest submarines]

Are you sure you caused the stain? It may have been there before... I've never had water stain carpet.

 

I would not expect you to have worked for 2.5 months for free!

 

 

:iagree:

 

How big is the stain?

 

What color is the stain?

 

What color were the towels?

 

Can we have the photo of the stain? :huh:

 

Are you absolutely sure the water + towels caused the stain?

 

:grouphug: Things like that happen. I can't really related to that kind of person that you are describing, but even a very anal / OCD person should know that even if she is very upset by that stain, it is not proper to show that reaction to her house cleaner. It is just a stain. It was an accident.

[Guest submarines]

TechWife

 

 

Posted Today, 03:42 PM

"I would expect my house cleaner to call me as soon as it happened and request permission to have a professional carpet cleaner come in and clean the carpet at her expense. I would also expect her to ask me if I had a provider that I preferred to use and if so, to use them."

 

 

 

What would your expectations if they did that and the stain did not come out?

 

 

Nothing beyond a fair attempt to get the stain come out. It was an accident. I certainly wouldn't want my house cleaner to give up her pay for a stain! On the other hand, if I were a clean fanatic, that carpet needed to be replaced yesterday. :laugh:

[Flowing Brook]

This is really weird carpet. When I first cleaned it I came back and there were three HUGE brown stains. When I say huge I mean about 8 inches across. One of the places was where I tried to clean the dog vomit. I have never had that happen before. As I stated I have cleaned carpets professionally. So I tried a different cleaner the stain looked almost gone. I mean you would not know it was there unless somebody pointed it out. I should have left well enough alone. I tried two cleaners at the same time. ( I've done it before and it worked well) and now there is my stain and the dog vomit which actually looks a lot better than it did. The towels were brown the stain is light yellow. It changes color every time I clean it. I swear if I did not know better I would say someone was playing tricks on me. I have been cleaning houses for almost ten years for a business and never have I seen anything like this.

[gardenmom5]

I would have the house cleaner work on getting the stain out. but then, I'm not a fanatic. I would also think if my house cleaner has tried all the usual methods, maybe it's time to call in a carpet cleaning pro. we have a carpet cleaner who worked miracles on my mother's white wool berber. when he was done with it, the carpet was good to go. we were facing ripping it out and replacing it before selling her condo.

[Mrs Mungo]

I got dirt out of my carpet using this solution:

http://elizabethbryant.blogspot.com/2011/02/magical-carpet-cleaner.html

 

I used it after carpet cleaner did not work.

 

I would use white microfiber towels and try this.

[Guest submarines]

This is really weird carpet. When I first cleaned it I came back and there were three HUGE brown stains. When I say huge I mean about 8 inches across. One of the places was where I tried to clean the dog vomit. I have never had that happen before. As I stated I have cleaned carpets professionally. So I tried a different cleaner the stain looked almost gone. I mean you would not know it was there unless somebody pointed it out. I should have left well enough alone. I tried two cleaners at the same time. ( I've done it before and it worked well) and now there is my stain and the dog vomit which actually looks a lot better than it did. The towels were brown the stain is light yellow. It changes color every time I clean it. I swear if I did not know better I would say someone was playing tricks on me. I have been cleaning houses for almost ten years for a business and never have I seen anything like this.

 

 

What fiber is the carpet?

[gardenmom5]

When I first cleaned it I came back and there were three HUGE brown stains. The towels were brown the stain is light yellow. over watered the plant the water started dripping so I put two towels down and set the plant on top of that. the next time I went there was a small stain where the towels had been. There is no stain where most of the water had dripped

 

This is a white carpet with brown scattered through it.

 

umm, you used brown towels to sop up water on a predominantly white carpet? and you left two towels on the floor under the pot between visits? How much did this pot weigh? (and it doesn't take much.) so, the pot is weighing down the towels on top of the carpet/pressing the towel into the carpet? are the stains only where you put the pot on top of the brown towels to sop up the excess water? towels are often dyed with dyes that can run when wet/damp. (even if you don't notice a difference in the towel) if I'm understanding correctly, you owe her a third-party professional carpet cleaning. she should still pay you for everything else.

[Flowing Brook]

umm, you used brown towels to sop up water on a predominantly white carpet? and you left two towels on the floor under the pot between visits? How much did this pot weigh? (and it doesn't take much.) so, the pot is weighing down the towels on top of the carpet/pressing the towel into the carpet? are the stains only where you put the pot on top of the brown towels to sop up the excess water? towels are often dyed with dyes that can run when wet/damp. (even if you don't notice a difference in the towel) if I'm understanding correctly, you owe her a third-party professional carpet cleaning. she should still pay you for everything else.

 

 

 

No the towels were only on the floor for five minutes max. I then immediately cleaned the carpet. I will go and re clarify. The floor was semi dry when I left and it did not look stained. It was not until I went back a week later that I noticed the stain

[gardenmom5]

Was the carpet at all damp where you put the pot? What is the pot made from? This is why there are feet and casters for indoor plants. Does the pot cover the stain?

[AMJ]

This is really weird carpet. When I first cleaned it I came back and there were three HUGE brown stains. When I say huge I mean about 8 inches across. One of the places was where I tried to clean the dog vomit. I have never had that happen before. As I stated I have cleaned carpets professionally. So I tried a different cleaner the stain looked almost gone. I mean you would not know it was there unless somebody pointed it out. I should have left well enough alone. I tried two cleaners at the same time. ( I've done it before and it worked well) and now there is my stain and the dog vomit which actually looks a lot better than it did. The towels were brown the stain is light yellow. It changes color every time I clean it. I swear if I did not know better I would say someone was playing tricks on me. I have been cleaning houses for almost ten years for a business and never have I seen anything like this.

 

 

It sounds like the pad underneath might actually be stained.

 

My DH's parents bought a house they are fixing up for retirement. The LR has a gold-colored carpet which, while a little grimy (5 acres, previous owners had 5 dogs), didn't seem bad -- for a bit. My FIL spilled a big glass of drinking water on the carpet, and proceeded to sop it up with towels and placed a fan to dry the area. Now there's a BIG stain that simply won't go away -- turns out the pad underneath was stained at some point, and the wet brought the stain back up through the carpet. Each time they try to clean it it comes back. They are waiting until they finish the remodeling before they try more drastic cleaning measures (to try to get both pad and carpet clean), or they might decide to replace the carpet.

[inmyopinion]

It is probably the pad. My carpet does the same thing with the stains from the dog. I clean it with all I have, and over time they show back up.

[8circles]

I think you've gone above & beyond. The homeowner would be wrong to not pay you or to make you feel bad about the stain. You were not negligent in any way & you've made several attempts to correct the problem. Things happen.

 

I'm sorry you're feeling so bad about it. It's just carpet. It'll be OK. Homeowner needs to get over it.

[zoobie]

I think you've gone above & beyond. The homeowner would be wrong to not pay you or to make you feel bad about the stain. You were not negligent in any way & you've made several attempts to correct the problem. Things happen.

 

I'm sorry you're feeling so bad about it. It's just carpet. It'll be OK. Homeowner needs to get over it.

 

I agree. The stain (maybe? I still don't see how water did that!) came from something you were supposed to be doing. Anyone can spill water. If you were partying and spilled your Purple Jesus punch, then I'd be ticked.

[kewb]

 

1. I would expect my house cleaner to leave me a note about the stain for when I return. When I next see house cleaner I would expect a verbal apology. After that it is over and done. It is just carpet. They get stained. Life happens. I would then move on.
   

 

[TechWife]

What would your expectations if they did that and the stain did not come out?

 

 

It would depend on the overall quality of the carpet and the shape it was in. In this case, I probably wouldn't loose any sleep & just let it go if a good professional cleaner couldn't get it out. A good professional cleaner can get a lot of stuff out of carpet.

[GSOchristie]

I'm not a clean fanatic, but I think if I had dog barf stain on my carpet, I really wouldn't care about another stain. really just a note explaining what happened and how you tried to fix it would be enough.

[TechWife]

To counter another poster, I'd have been annoyed if my maid called me while I was on vacation to notify me of a small stain. Flooding, yes - please call LOL. A small stain that can't be fixed anyhow?

Getting stains out is time sensitive. I wouldn't mind at all if someone called me about an issue with my house. I have pet sitters that also check on other things for me when needed & they have permission to call me whenever they think they need to do so.

 

It isn't the house cleaner's role to determine for me if something of mine can't be fixed.

[TechWife]

I did try four different cleaners.

 

 

As a homeowner, it would freak me out if someone used chemicals in my home and on my belongings without my permission. Most (all?) carpet cleaners leave a residue and some will discolor the carpet or even bleach it. This is one of the reasons I would have expected a phone call. It's quite expensive to replace carpet.

 

Now, if you, as the regular house cleaner, have standing permission to use the chemicals, then it's not an issue.

[Tammi K]

Water can pull dirt up fro the padding. It takes awhile for that type of stain to 'develop'. It looks fine at first but then the moisture has a chance to work down to the padding and wick dirt back to the surface of the carpet. That could explain why the stains seem to be 'changing.'

[Remudamom]

Accidents happen.

 

That said, I have an Oriental rug that my parents paid an obscene amount for about 40 years ago. I am stressed beyond belief when someone drinks coffee in my living room.

[4kidlets4me]

I would expect the housekeeper to try and clean it and apologize. That would be the end of it. If the carpet has other stains I wouldn't think one more is a big deal. Now if this was brand new carpet it would be a different story.

 

As the housekeeper I would expect to get paid for those 2 months.

[RoughCollie]

I'd try two more things. #1 -- homeowner buys a Bissel Little Green Machine Stain Remover (Amazon), which is handheld, and you try that to get all the stains out. #2 -- Google stain removal using dry cleaning fluid. I bought dry cleaning fluid to try to get the makeup stains out of my daughter's carpet. Haven't used it yet due to procrastination, and all I remember is I Googled how to remove the stain and that was one of the suggestions, with instructions.

 

Otherwise, you should still get paid and definitely shouldn't be fired. My gosh, you apologized, it was an accident, and the carpet is already stained by their dog!

[Rebecca VA]

Maybe the homeowner can patch the carpet, if she has an unused piece in storage somewhere. Carpet stores make repairs all the time for their customers using patching. I think they kind of melt the fibers on the backing of the patch into the existing carpet fibers.

 

I would never refuse to pay someone who'd worked for me for 2-1/2 months because of a minor accident that she tried so hard to fix. That's eight or nine weeks of cleaning at what? Fifty dollars or so a week (since it's only a few rooms)? That's a lot of money, and definitely worth more than the small amount of damage to the rug.

[nevergiveup]

Wait---

 

I am a home owner who is able to have a vacation AND someone I love take to care of things while I was away???

 

 

I would count my lucky stars and reflect on how lucky I am!

[Tita Gidge]

 

As a homeowner, it would freak me out if someone used chemicals in my home and on my belongings without my permission. Most (all?) carpet cleaners leave a residue and some will discolor the carpet or even bleach it. This is one of the reasons I would have expected a phone call. It's quite expensive to replace carpet.

 

Now, if you, as the regular house cleaner, have standing permission to use the chemicals, then it's not an issue.

 

Getting stains out is time sensitive. I wouldn't mind at all if someone called me about an issue with my house. I have pet sitters that also check on other things for me when needed & they have permission to call me whenever they think they need to do so.

 

It isn't the house cleaner's role to determine for me if something of mine can't be fixed.

 

 

As a homeowner, I feel it reasonable that my housekeeper has a certain level of empowerment to make that kind of on-the-spot judgments - especially a housekeeper I have a history and relationship with. After all, this is someone I've trusted with unrestricted access to my home while I'm spending months in another state. It's not an annual deep-clean that the service sends a different maid for each year, you know? In that case, I'm with you in that I'd expect to be called.

 

Again, it wasn't a flood - it was a simple carpet stain to an already stained carpet and I'm on vacation in another state LOL. We own rental properties in other states, and we've always felt comfortable giving the professionals we hire the space to do their professions. There have been a few accidents along the way, but by and large nothing that I mightn't have done accidentally myself also had I not hired out the job. I know if I had made the error, I'd be doing everything I could do fix it without making it worse; I make the same general assumption about those I have hired and keep on payroll.

 

With such a range of preferences and expectations, this is a great reminder that we should discuss these things before they become a "real" issue. You never know what someone else's expectations will be :) This has been a good thread for me to read, and I'll be sure to review it with my own employees.

[Parrothead]

Honestly I'd think I was a raving lunatic for having white carpet and a dog.

[QueenCat]

I revise my earlier thoughts... I'd expect the housekeeper to call me if she couldn't get the stain out by ordinary means. This would give me the choice as to whether or not I wanted a professional cleaning. I would not expect the housekeeper to pay for the cleaning if my carpet already had other issues. If the issue she caused was the only issue, than I'd probably negotiate part of the payment with her.

[Sun]

I'm really surprised at how many people think that the housecleaner (OP) should lose part or all of her pay for a stain. Really? She cares for this person's house and plants for almost three months. During that time, she overwatered a plant once, and that seems to be causing stains to wick up from the pad, and you think she should not receive her full pay? I sure wouldn't want to work for some of you! Most of the housecleaners I know are booked solid with their clients, and I can't imagine most of them continuing to work for someone who would dock pay over a stain in an already stained carpet under those circumstances. Mistakes happen, and having occasional small mishaps is part of the price of having someone work in your home.

[8circles]

I'm really surprised at how many people think that the housecleaner (OP) should lose part or all of her pay for a stain. Really? She cares for this person's house and plants for almost three months. During that time, she overwatered a plant once, and that seems to be causing stains to wick up from the pad, and you think she should not receive her full pay? I sure wouldn't want to work for some of you! Most of the housecleaners I know are booked solid with their clients, and I can't imagine most of them continuing to work for someone who would dock pay over a stain in an already stained carpet under those circumstances. Mistakes happen, and having occasional small mishaps is part of the price of having someone work in your home.

 

 

I agree. And to be honest, some of the posts have a tone that sounds very classist. This isn't Downton Abbey, people.