Mom reeling after two-hour house clean costs hundreds of dollars: ‘I vomited’
A mother of two has been left reeling after a cleaner allegedly swindled her out of hundreds of dollars for a home clean.
Sydney, Australia, mom Indy Clinton decided to hire a professional cleaner after becoming “overwhelmed” by her two young children.
In a TikTok video, the young mom said she received a quote for $35/hour after sending out messages seeking a weekly cleaner.
Clinton estimated the clean would cost $70 total but was shocked to discover the two-hour clean was instead going to cost more than $280.
The warning bells went off the night before when the person coming to clean the home told Clinton: “We will be there at 10 a.m.”
“We? She had just told me: ‘I’m $35 an hour, and I bring all of the products and then vacuum’,” Clinton said in the video.
“When she said ‘we’ … and I thought ‘We?’ What does ‘we’ mean?”
In the video, Clinton said she received another message from the cleaner hours later informing her she was “bringing three of my girls.”
Initially, Clinton said she was happy with the change, thinking the two-hour job might instead be done in half an hour.
She also believed the quoted price would remain unchanged but was shocked to learn once the cleaning was done that was not the case.
“She (the cleaner) comes out, and she’s doing the math in her head and says, ‘That’s eight hours,’ ” Clinton said.
“I’m, like, sorry what? That’s $35/hour per person, but she didn’t tell me there would be other people.
“I died, I literally almost passed out. I vomited in my throat. I had to pay almost $300 for a clean … I just had to smile and say ‘no worries.’ ”
An exasperated Clinton said the situation left her dumbfounded, with the young mom even telling the cleaner she would “see her next week.”
Clinton’s shocking experience triggered an outpouring of outrage online by other young moms as well as professional cleaners.
“I have my own cleaning business, we charge $16 an hour, everything included. We charge $256 for a bond clean,” one cleaner shared.
Emily Dolder related to Clinton’s experience, stating: “I could never break up with a cleaner because I am the same.
“Blame it on the hubby always. ‘Sorry my husband has said yes to a family friend to clean.’ ”
User Charl said: “This happened to me. Died inside transferring that money. The clean wasn’t even that good — I cleaned after.”
Another user doubted the cleaner’s intentions: “Honestly, sounds like she knows what she’s doing.
“She knows she tricked you and put you on the spot.”
