You hired a maid to make your life a little easier and your home a better place to live, but what happens when the maid you hired isn’t meeting your expectations? It can be awkward to fire them, especially if they have worked for you for a long time and have displayed good workmanship in the past, but no longer do. In this article we will discuss some of the biggest problems you can encounter with incompetent maids, and give you some assurance that switching your maid may be in your best interest. Here are the top 7 signs that it’s time to change your maid.
1. Your maid is always late
If your maid has a schedule that you both agreed on and is chronically late, it may be time to switch maids. The maid may have legitimately good excuses for being late, like they couldn’t find a baby sitter for their child or traffic was really bad on the way over. Though these excuses may be true, you hired her to be on time. If you were late almost everyday, would your boss still keep you around? Probably not. It’s perfectly acceptable then for you to change maids.
2. Your maid doesn’t follow instructions.
Not being able to take direction from those in authority is a major flaw in work ethic and cause for dismissal. Sadly, stubborness and forgetfulness are common character weaknesses and a maid with these qualities could be detrimental to your home life. If you have plants that need to be lightly watered twice a day, but the maid fees she get away with giving them a high concentration of water once a day, it could kill your plants. If you ask you maid to do something a certain way and she ignores you or repeatedly forgets to do it as you ask, that is major problem. If you ask her to rinse the dishes before loading them in the dishwasher and she doesn’t do it because she thinks the dishes will get clean in the wash, that is unacceptable (even if the dishes do come out clean). If your maid repeatedly defies yours instructions, it’s time for change.
3. Your maid doesn’t respect your property
Accidents happen to all of us, but repeated mishaps and discourtesy is inexcusable. If your maid is frequently breaking dishes, knocking items on the floor while dusting, or tracking in dirt from outside, this could be aggravating and expensive to remedy. If this is happening in your home, it may be time to look for another maid who is more careful and responsible.
4. Your maid is inefficient
If it takes the maid longer than the time it takes you to complete simple tasks, that is untenable. Think about it, you aren’t a professional cleaner, they are. They should be able to do the chores you do in the same amount of time or faster. The only exception is if they are going above and beyond how you would typically clean your home. An example would be you ordinarily clean your floors by sweeping and mopping, but the maid might sweep, mop, and do grout cleaning. That understandably may take longer to complete, but if the maid is just slow that may be cause for reprimand or dismissal. If she is unable to complete tasks effectively, that is also a big problem. If you still see dust in the corners even after she wipes down the shelves, bring it to her attention. If it is a repeated offense, get a maid to replace her.
5. Your maid treats your home like her home
This is one of the most infuriating things for homeowners to experience from their maid. Sometimes maids get too comfortable over time and start acting more like a resident than an employee. If your maid is helping themselves to snacks without asking, watching television, or having long conversations with guests, it is a major issue. Not many warnings need to be given for this sort of misconduct. It’s very advisable to change maids if these sort of things happen with your maid.
6. Your maid is nosy or inappropriately interested in your personal life
It’s unfortunate, but there have been reports of homeowners feeling uncomfortable with their maids. Maids have been caught going through their contractor’s mail or emails or reading their diaries. It’s a natural thing to be curious, but some people let curiosity get the best of them. You are entitled to have privacy. If your maid seems to be snooping through your private things or asking you very personal questions about your life that have nothing to do with household chores, it’s fine to ask your agency to replace her or look for another agency to help you.
7. Your maid is untrustworthy
This is probably the most obvious sign that you need to change your maid. If you catch your maid lying to you, bringing unauthorized personnel into your home, or your personal items are going missing, it’s necessary to replace them immediately.
If you send your maid to pick up dry cleaning and she tells you it cost more than what you normally pay, don’t hesitate to contact the dry cleaner to see if there is a misunderstanding or ask to see a receipt. Having to constantly check behind a maid can be annoying and time-consuming, so its best if you can find a maid that exudes good ethics from the get-go. It doesn’t matter if your maid is letting a friend of her own or a friend that you know into the home without first getting your consent, that kind of behavior is completely disrespectful and senseless. Lastly, if you have the feeling your maid is stealing from you, contact her manager and file a police report if necessary.
It’s advisable to go through a reputable agency to avoid getting stuck with a bad maid in the first place. We recommend finding an agency that has good reviews, does criminal background checks before hiring employees, and has a good number of maids available in case your initial maid doesn’t work out for minor reasons.