Must leave a 2 hour window for employee to SHOW UP?!?

[Imzadi]

I scheduled an appointment with a cleaning service to have someone come and clean for 3 hours starting at 3 pm. I get a confirmation email saying:

"Please note the arrival window for this service is between 02:00 PM and 04:00 PM."

WTH???

So for a 3 hour appointment, I'm supposed to leave FIVE hours available for this??? I'm supposed to cancel an appointment I have previous to this, in case the cleaner arrives earlier than scheduled?

I think NOT. I call up the company asking what this is about. We had agreed upon a 3 pm time. They gave me some lame excuse, "Well that's to make an allowance for the cleaner's travel plans of using the subway. She may not know when she will arrive."

It must be nice for a company to be so thoughtful of their employees, to factor into a schedule, time for an employee to arrive whenever and start working anytime they happen to get there.

For me, when I arrange for work or an appointment at 3 pm, I arrive at 3 pm. If my "travel plans" happen to have me arrive an hour early for an appointment, I sit at Starbucks for an hour, not expect the other person to accommodate me because I arrived early.

Anyone else think this is unreal?

On top of this, I received a link in the email with what is considered "normal amount of cleaning." So, if I ask for something that is extra-dirty to be washed, the cleaner can refuse to clean it?

 

[Bethenny]

Not sure how this is really any different than any other service person showing up. I always get a window of time for the cable guy, repair man etc. At least it's only 2 hours and not 8-5.

 

[Imzadi]

I can understand this for the cable guy, as they don't know how long installation will take at each place and he has 10 scheduled appointments. But, when as person is contracted specifically for a 3 hour segment of time at each place, I expect them to show up on time and leave at the scheduled time.

 

[MIGrandma]

I would be finding a different cleaning service.

That is ridiculous to want you to allow 5 hours for a 3-hour job, when you made the appointment for the person to arrive at 3:00. Just like you said, if your travel plans make it so you arrive early, you sit at Starbucks for that hour. I can't imagine being an hour early for an appointment like that.

And I don't think a window of 2-4 hours for a cable guy, furniture delivery, etc. is the same as making an appointment for a certain time for a person to clean your home.

 

[FireDancer]

If it makes you feel better I had to wait 9 hours for AT&T once. We were opening a new location and they were putting in the T1. I got a call the day before that we were the first appointment on the list so I was there at 7:30am for our 8:00 installation. The tech arrived after 5:00pm. I kept getting calls throughout the day that he would be there within the hour so I sat there in an empty building from 7:30 until he finally arrived. It was the biggest waste of a day ever. Of course it still beats the time they finally installed our circuit at a location 2 days after it opened for business. That was wonderful.

I've come to expect very little from most service people when it comes to making appointments.

 

[abdmom]

I had the same issue with a cleaning company AND an independent cleaner. I fired them both. I have a new cleaning company coming tomorrow. Timeliness will be on the top of the requirements.

 

[Magic Mom]

My MIL cleans for several long term clients. She won't give an exact time either (strangely enough we were just talking about this yesterday). She won't give an exact time because 1) she's 67 and in the morning some days she needs a little extra time to get ready and 2) if she has more than one house in a day she is never sure when she will finish the first house. She does excellent work and won't rush through a house if it needs extra cleaning. So she has to give a window. The clients she has pay her big money to clean their houses and don't have a problem with her scheduling policy. She must be worth it.

 

[tvguy]

I scheduled an appointment with a cleaning service to have someone come and clean for 3 hours starting at 3 pm. I get a confirmation email saying:

"Please note the arrival window for this service is between 02:00 PM and 04:00 PM."

WTH???

So for a 3 hour appointment, I'm supposed to leave FIVE hours available for this??? I'm supposed to cancel an appointment I have previous to this, in case the cleaner arrives earlier than scheduled?

I think NOT. I call up the company asking what this is about. We had agreed upon a 3 pm time. They gave me some lame excuse, "Well that's to make an allowance for the cleaner's travel plans of using the subway. She may not know when she will arrive."

It must be nice for a company to be so thoughtful of their employees, to factor into a schedule, time for an employee to arrive whenever and start working anytime they happen to get there.

For me, when I arrange for work or an appointment at 3 pm, I arrive at 3 pm. If my "travel plans" happen to have me arrive an hour early for an appointment, I sit at Starbucks for an hour, not expect the other person to accommodate me because I arrived early.

Anyone else think this is unreal?

On top of this, I received a link in the email with what is considered "normal amount of cleaning." So, if I ask for something that is extra-dirty to be washed, the cleaner can refuse to clean it?

In this day and age, getting any service person around here to commit to such a tight window of time is impossible. Almost everyone here uses 4 hour windows, usually 8 to 12 or 1 to 5. I can understand, they don't know exactly how long the appointment before you can take.
Now, I DO get angry when they miss a window. I had an A/C repair guy who was supposed to be at my house between 8 to 12, and got here at 2 pm. He said "I'm sure get behind in your work and understand". I told him I work in TV...and co-workers have actually been fired for being 10 SECONDS late.....so that wasn't a good excuse to use with me.

 

[Imzadi]

My MIL cleans for several long term clients. She won't give an exact time either (strangely enough we were just talking about this yesterday). She won't give an exact time because 1) she's 67 and in the morning some days she needs a little extra time to get ready and 2) if she has more than one house in a day she is never sure when she will finish the first house. She does excellent work and won't rush through a house if it needs extra cleaning. So she has to give a window. The clients she has pay her big money to clean their houses and don't have a problem with her scheduling policy. She must be worth it.

It sounds like your mom is an independent cleaner, not working for a company? She also has a long standing relationship with these people who know she will show up.

Did she not arrive on time at her first meeting with them?

Does she have keys, to just let herself in & out?

In this day and age, getting any service person around here to commit to such a tight window of time is impossible. Almost everyone here uses 4 hour windows, usually 8 to 12 or 1 to 5. I can understand, they don't know exactly how long the appointment before you can take.
Now, I DO get angry when they miss a window.

But, they didn't originally give me a window. We had scheduled a specific time. And if there is now a window, what's this showing up an hour early? Start the window from the 3 pm start time we scheduled. That I can understand more.

I was never told by the company, "If you need the cleaner to stay longer than the 3 hours, we can bill you for more time, or you can negotiate with the cleaner for more time (privately.)" If the second is their unspoken policy, then why have a window that starts earlier that the scheduled appointment? The cleaner would always arrive later as she is doing a bang up job at the last place. Plus, the company should know this might happen and plan their schedules accordingly.

I've only had one other cleaning company come in once, years ago. They came on time. It was agreed upon during scheduling, that if I wanted that person to stay later, it was fine. I guess they knew how not to over-book clients so they didn't overlap and a cleaner needed to be at another home, but were still finishing up the first.

 

[goofyernmost]

Heck you could always do it yourself and use any 3 hour time span you like.

 

[bicker]

So for a 3 hour appointment, I'm supposed to leave FIVE hours available for this???

This is pretty normal. Between traffic and things that can go wrong at the previous customer, a two hour arrival window is actually very small.

I'm supposed to cancel an appointment I have previous to this, in case the cleaner arrives earlier than scheduled?

With our service, if the "time" is 10:00 am, then they may arrive anytime between 10:00 am and noontime, and then it takes as long as it takes, from there. I suppose if 10:00 am means that they may arrive anytime between 9:00 am and 11:00 am, I could change the "time" to 11:00 am and get what I have now.

It must be nice for a company to be so thoughtful of their employees, to factor into a schedule, time for an employee to arrive whenever and start working anytime they happen to get there.

I don't think that's fair. What they're doing is reasonable. If someone is working somewhere for 8 hours in a day, in the same location every single day, then fine, place the expectation to be there on-time on them. If they're assigned to clean three homes, and travel between them, and they're different homes each day, then it isn't reasonable to ignore the impact of such things.

On top of this, I received a link in the email with what is considered "normal amount of cleaning." So, if I ask for something that is extra-dirty to be washed, the cleaner can refuse to clean it?

It's absolutely reasonable to restrict the service to what was purchased, and to charge extra for extra service. If you are paying for a normal amount of cleaning, then that is what you should get. One of the revenue streams for a cleaning business is additional work, beyond routine cleaning. For example, we're thinking of asking for a quote on having them wash the inside of our refrigerator next month.

 

[bicker]

I was never told by the company, "If you need the cleaner to stay longer than the 3 hours, we can bill you for more time, or you can negotiate with the cleaner for more time (privately.)"

What were you told? If you had a casual conversation and didn't ask for the details in writing, then it is not surprising that your understanding of what they offered was different from their understanding of what they offered (especially since what you're describing you're learning about the service now is completely consistent with the written description of the service I was provided by my cleaners, when I asked for it).

Plus, the company should know this might happen and plan their schedules accordingly.

Or define their service to factor-in this reality, which is what cleaning services generally do. Your alternative would result in them having to build in a lot of wiggle-room, and that would mean the difference between being able to clean two homes a day and three. Are you willing to make one third less money? Of course not, and neither would they, so figure what you're asking for would cost 50% more than what you were quoted. (3/2) Consumers of this type of service evidently prefer paying less and accepting the conditions of service, rather than paying more and having a iron-clad start time.

I've only had one other cleaning company come in once, years ago. They came on time. It was agreed upon during scheduling, that if I wanted that person to stay later, it was fine. I guess they knew how not to over-book clients so they didn't overlap and a cleaner needed to be at another home, but were still finishing up the first.

Or they didn't need the money as much. Our former cleaner was a retired gentleman. He did two homes a day instead of three.

 

[Art 1]

I scheduled an appointment with a cleaning service to have someone come and clean for 3 hours starting at 3 pm. I get a confirmation email saying:

"Please note the arrival window for this service is between 02:00 PM and 04:00 PM."

WTH???

So for a 3 hour appointment, I'm supposed to leave FIVE hours available for this??? I'm supposed to cancel an appointment I have previous to this, in case the cleaner arrives earlier than scheduled?

I think NOT. I call up the company asking what this is about. We had agreed upon a 3 pm time. They gave me some lame excuse, "Well that's to make an allowance for the cleaner's travel plans of using the subway. She may not know when she will arrive."

It must be nice for a company to be so thoughtful of their employees, to factor into a schedule, time for an employee to arrive whenever and start working anytime they happen to get there.

For me, when I arrange for work or an appointment at 3 pm, I arrive at 3 pm. If my "travel plans" happen to have me arrive an hour early for an appointment, I sit at Starbucks for an hour, not expect the other person to accommodate me because I arrived early.

Anyone else think this is unreal?

On top of this, I received a link in the email with what is considered "normal amount of cleaning." So, if I ask for something that is extra-dirty to be washed, the cleaner can refuse to clean it?

To me it sounds normal, it is normal. But you could always call around and find another company. Maybe you could start your own cleaning company if you feel that there is a better way and grow it.

 

[Ohiodislover]

I don't find that unreasonable. As Bicker said, when you factor in possible traffic issues, and possible complications at the client before you, the time will vary.

As others have said, home service people always give a window.

 

[Imzadi]

This is pretty normal. Between traffic and things that can go wrong at the previous customer, a two hour arrival window is actually very small.

With our service, if the "time" is 10:00 am, then they may arrive anytime between 10:00 am and noontime, and then it takes as long as it takes, from there. I suppose if 10:00 am means that they may arrive anytime between 9:00 am and 11:00 am, I could change the "time" to 11:00 am and get what I have now.

I live in the center of the city. One of the perks I pay an arm & leg for is that traveling almost anywhere in Manhattan by subway is approximately 45 minutes. I can be at the southern tip, looking at the Statue of Liberty in that amount of travel time, or up IN the Bronx. This person is not scheduled for rush hour.

If this company thinks an average job will take more than 3 hours (another hour extra cleaning + 1 hour for travel,) then they should include that cushion and schedule their appointments every 5 hours. Not tell people we'll schedule you for the cleaning person to start at 3 pm, but she might show up at 4 pm, or if she finishes early, she may arrive at 2. Just schedule it for 4 and stick to it.

My cousin books for a catering company. All parties are off-premises, around Manhattan. She may have to book a breakfast, lunch, brunch, an early evening cocktail event, and a full dinner party, all in the same day. Since she doesn't know how late the the breakfast will last and if it will overlap a lunch that day, she doesn't book the same waiter for the lunch. She will book them for the later cocktail party, or the late dinner.

If the waiter has several hours in between appointments, too bad. It's up to the waiter to figure out how to fill in that time on his own.

To schedule a waiter on two separate events so that the first event will interfere with arriving at the second one is simply bad scheduling. What happens at a the first event is NOT the next party's concern. They are separate jobs and they should be booked accordingly. The second client should never be inconvenienced by what happens at a different event.

I don't think that's fair. What they're doing is reasonable. If someone is working somewhere for 8 hours in a day, in the same location every single day, then fine, place the expectation to be there on-time on them. If they're assigned to clean three homes, and travel between them, and they're different homes each day, then it isn't reasonable to ignore the impact of such things.

That's ridiculous. Are you telling me, you don't generally know how long it will take you to get around town? There are plenty of types of freelance jobs which go to different sites every day: waiters, bartenders, musicians, photographers, babysitters, hairdressers, temp office workers, painters. How is it all these people know how long it takes to get around on the subway, to show up professionally on time when scheduled, where ever their new job is?

Heck you could always do it yourself and use any 3 hour time span you like.

Yes, I was beginning to think the same thing. I have hypothyroidism, which has been making me really exhausted all the time and have a brain fog which makes me forgetful. . . What was I talking about?

I thought I'd treat myself to have someone to come in and do a thorough clean. But, in a 5 hour window, I could have this place scrubbed down & sterilized for surgery.

 

[LBIJim]

OP, I can see a service quoting you a time window. However, if they originally gave you a definite time, they should honor it. Being a little late may be OK, but now asking you to be available an hour early "just in case" is unprofessional.

My wife runs a small housecleaning business. She does all the scheduling and goes to about 50% of the actual jobs. She books actual "start times", but lets clients know in advance if their particular crew has a previous job that day. She and her crews are expected to call the client if they will be more than 15 minutes late. If by chance they finish the previous job earlier than expected, they can call the next client and ask if it's OK to come early. If they can't get in touch or the client says no, oh well, they have to wait until the scheduled time. They're paid by the job, not by the hour.

She tries not to book too heavy, but sometimes it's unavoidable, and inevitably delays can occur.

She has keys to some clients' homes and the scheduled time for these is flexible.

Extra work not specified in the original contract usually costs more. But she'll often do it for free for regular long time clients.

Larger cleaning services probably do have to schedule within a two hour time window.

By the way, most of her clients are by "word of mouth". She doesn't advertise other than flyers on supermarket bulletin boards or leaving her business card at real estate offices for vacation rentals.

Jim

P.S. On Saturdays in summer here on Long Beach Island, she does what are known as "changeovers", cleaning rental homes between departing and arriving renters. Three, four, sometimes even five houses per crew between the hours of 11am and 3pm. At least one house every week is left a disaster by the departing renter and it takes extra time to clean up. Often I'm drafted to pitch in and help (unpaid!!!).......As you might imagine, these changeovers are not thorough cleanings.

And the messy renters usually lose at least part of their security deposit. And often are placed on a "blacklist."

 

[klacey1]

Not sure how this is really any different than any other service person showing up. I always get a window of time for the cable guy, repair man etc. At least it's only 2 hours and not 8-5.

I agree. Also, OP, I think your attitude about the company being "thoughtful of their employees" was a little rude/mean-spirited. It's not that they're letting their employees being lax and show up whenever they feel like it. I 100% agree with bicker in this.
Sorry they told you a time and now are giving you a window. Maybe they thought you already knew. If it makes you that angry, get a new cleaning company.

 

[bicker]

If this company thinks an average job will take more than 3 hours (another hour extra cleaning + 1 hour for travel,) then they should include that cushion and schedule their appointments every 5 hours.

Based on your expectations, perhaps you need a different kind of cleaning service. I surely don't want to pay for that time-cushion, so I'm glad that there are services, like the one you're working with, that cater to my preferences.

My cousin books for a catering company.

Non-sequitur. Catered events generally have a number of participants who come together at the same time, where cleaning service is just two parties.

That's ridiculous.

No: Your saying so is "ridiculous". Does saying so make a difference in the discussion?

Are you telling me, you don't generally know how long it will take you to get around town?

Yes. My drive to work - something I do at the same time of day, 200 times a year, at least - can vary from 8 minutes to 45 minutes.

There are plenty of types of freelance jobs which go to different sites every day: waiters, bartenders, musicians, photographers, babysitters, hairdressers, temp office workers, painters.

And some of them operate according to the principle that you build a time-cushion in, and have the customers pay for that time-cushion, and others operate according to the principle that you build start-time-flexibility in, and the customers don't have to pay for a time-cushion that way.

I thought I'd treat myself to have someone to come in and do a thorough clean. But, in a 5 hour window, I could have this place scrubbed down & sterilized for surgery.

The purpose of having someone else do it is generally not to save time, but rather to save effort.

 

[bicker]

Great insights by LBIJim, including . . .

OP, I can see a service quoting you a time window. However, if they originally gave you a definite time, they should honor it.

Precisely. It all comes down to what was promised. Note that in the absence of a specific indication, then the matter is unsettled. If you want to know whether the time quoted is firm or an estimate, then ask. Don't assume that your preference is the way things actually will be. That's just going to lead to your own frustration.