I was quoted $55/hour for a cleaner, then she scammed me out of $500

The young mum ended up forking out five times more than anticipated when the cleaner arrived with some unexpected guests...

A mum has taken to TikTok to vent about how her house cleaner unexpectedly scammed her, after bringing extra staff with her on the day.

Mum-of-two Indy Clinton shared a now-viral clip with her 1.4 million followers on TikTok, asking for advice after she unwillingly parted ways with nearly $500 for the clean.

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Image: TikTok

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The initial quote was good, then came a text the morning of...

"I found a cleaner and messaged her. She said: 'I’m $55 an hour' and I was like sweet," Indy begins explaining in the video. 

"I was like, It will only be like two hours, that’s a hundred bucks or just over for a clean - that is great.

"The night before she messaged me and was like: "We will be there at 10'."

The term 'we' threw Indy off, but she didn't question it because the cleaner never mentioned anything initially about additional staff. 

She went on, "Yesterday came and in the morning, before she arrived, she said: 'Oh, by the way, I’m bringing three of my girls.'

"I was like oh cool that will be done in like half an hour. There’s going to be three or four girls here, amazing."

"$55/person - but you didn't tell me there's other people coming..."

"It gets to the end of the clean and they were there for like two and a half hours I think," she continues.

"She comes out and is doing the math in her head like, 'Ok, that's $55 an hour, there are four of us. That’s around seven or eight hours at $55 an hour.'

"I was like, 'Sorry, what?'

"Fifty-five dollars an hour per person, but you didn’t tell me there’s all these other people coming until…"

"I DIED, I literally almost passed out," Indy said, covering her mouth in shock as she recalled the moment.

She adds, "I had to pay close to $500 for a clean. I looked at her, smiled and said: 'No worries sweet. I’ll transfer now.'"

Holding back laughter, or maybe tears, Indy then says that at that moment she panicked and told the cleaner, "See you next week!" 

"I don’t want to see her next week. How can she say that she’s $55 an hour and that she brings all of her own stuff?

"Then she slides it in there that she’s got three other girls with her. Like you can’t just slide that in babe."

Image: TikTok

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"This is so unprofessional"

Indy then says she's "too nice" to not get the cleaner again and she feels she can't say, "Oh sorry, we don't need you anymore."

But her followers reassured her that the cleaner was "unprofessional" and said she needed to stand up for herself. 

"You got ripped off, you were basically charged $220 per hour - not $55 as quoted," one said. Another added: "Honestly sounds like she knows what she’s doing, she knows that she tricked you and put you on the spot."

"I have my own cleaning business, we charge $25 an hour, everything included. We charge $400 for a BOND CLEAN," someone else wrote. 

Then this woman shared, "No! I’m $40 an hour and I bring everything to my jobs. If I have a two-hour job, I bring an extra person - it’s only one hour so same price!"

"Blame it on the hubby, always!"

Others called the situation, "ridiculous" and said, "There's no way you can let her come back." Then many gave her advice on how to "break up" with her cleaner. 

"Tell her straight up that she didn't tell you she would bring multiple people," one person suggested. "Or say you just want one person to come next time."

Another advised, "Make sure when you cancel to leave a review warning other people."

"Blame it on the hubby, always! 'Sorry my husband has said yes to a family friend to clean'," remarked a different follower.

And one viewer sympathised, saying, "Omgggg this is literally me, not being able to say something."

"I'm bad at doing that too, I just got my partner to tell her we don't need her anymore because I was too nervous," concluded another. 

Originally published as I was quoted $55/hour for a cleaner, then she scammed me out of $500