Frustrated with your scheduling? Try the easiest-to-use calendar app, made by and for maid service owners.
Brought to you by expert maid service owners
Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube
Introduction
Coming up next on the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast: “Luckily, there was no children with the guests who were traumatized by my cleaner.”
From your first dollar to your first million, welcome to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast presented by ZenMaid. Join your host, Stephanie Pipkin, founder of Serene Clean, as she shares proven tips, tricks and hard-earned lessons. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to scale, get ready to discover how to build your own cleaning empire. Let’s roll up our sleeves and dive in.
Table of contents
Welcome and Context
Stephanie: Hello my friends, welcome or welcome back to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast. I am your host, Stephanie Pipkin, owner of Serene Clean, and in this episode, I have a treat for you. I’m going to share some of my favorite crazy employee stories. Just so you know, the best one I’m saving for last, and it is very much not safe for work. If you have little ears, maybe step away or put your earbuds in for the last story. I have to include it because it is truly the wildest thing that has ever happened to me as a cleaning company owner on the employee side.
I talked to my managers yesterday to help jog my memory, because so many crazy things have happened. These were some of our favorites. I’m sure there will be more episodes as we remember, because honestly, there’s so much that has happened over the past nearly six years of Serene Clean and hundreds of employees.
Quick Personal Update
Stephanie: By the way, I was in the Caribbean this weekend. That’s why I have these braids in my hair – they’re very fun. If you’re wondering why my hair looks different, that’s why. I was down in Antigua, and it was lovely to get away from the snow in Savannah, Georgia, which never happens. It’s a nice perk once you get your business to a certain place – you can hop down for little vacations here and there, and it doesn’t affect anything.
Story #5: The Pet Lover
Stephanie: Let’s start with my number five story. This is from a lady who was a great cleaner. When she quit, she gave us what might be the strangest reason we’ve ever received. She gave us notice, I believe two weeks, perhaps only one week, but her reason was that she was not spending enough quality time with her pets, and she needed to quit in order to do that. I’m not sure how she kept any income coming in while spending time with her pets, but that was her reason. We often reference it now when we’re not spending enough time with our animals – maybe we just need to quit our jobs and go do that.
Story #4: The Gas Card Incident
Stephanie: This one was kind of a two-parter. This employee was a great cleaner. For some backstory, we have two work cars that employees can use when they need a backup, say their car’s in the shop. However, there are lots of rules about using the work car – it’s definitely a privilege, not a right.
We had gotten a report that someone had seen the Serene Clean work car at one of the local bars. When confronted, the cleaner denied it. We didn’t have proof at that point.
One of the things that comes with the work car is we also fill up the gas tank using our QuikTrip gas card. April, my accounts manager who handles billing and payments, checked the gas card after this employee gave notice. There were charges that were clearly not from our work car – our work car has a 14-gallon capacity, but there was a charge for 18 gallons.
So she calls QuikTrip and asks them to pull the tape, because everything is under surveillance. We could find the timestamp of when that card was charged and look at the footage. Lo and behold, there is this cleaner filling up her personal truck with the Serene Clean gas card.
We messaged her asking to explain these charges since we knew it wasn’t the work car. She got very heated and self-righteous, denying everything. After we let her go, we sent her the screenshots of her filling up her red truck with gas. Suddenly her tune changed. She started stammering, saying “Oh my gosh, I must have grabbed the wrong card by mistake.” But here’s the thing – the work card has a PIN number associated with it. You can’t just swipe it like a credit card. You have to enter the driver number. So there was no way this was an accident.
She came to me saying “I would never steal, I hope you believe me, I’m so sorry.” Having that proof was just so satisfying. That incident involved both going to the bar in the work car and stealing from the company through gas theft.
Story #3: The Workers Comp Fraud
Stephanie: This one really ground my gears. Number three is workers comp fraud in a very interesting manner. We had this young cleaner, probably 20 years old, doing mostly commercial work for us. Super sweet, super outgoing. She was friends with one of my other long-term cleaners on social media and Snapchat.
Cleaner A had been chatting with workers comp fraud lady (let’s call her Cleaner B) over Snapchat. Cleaner A had invited her to a bonfire at her house one Saturday night. Cleaner B posted saying “I honestly think I dislocated my rib last night. I got so drunk though I don’t remember how it happened.” Basically admitting she hurt herself drinking.
A week later, Cleaner B changed her tune and started saying this injury happened at work. She came to management saying “I hurt myself while cleaning, while mopping. I think I dislocated my rib mopping the floors.” Now, if you saw how she mopped, it’s actually not that far-fetched – we had to teach her how to sweep, I think she would have used the wrong end if… anyway, sorry, I’ll get off my high horse about young people cleaning these days.
Our long-term cleaner came to us with screenshots of the original Snapchat conversation. Cleaner B wanted to go to the chiropractor and doctor, get compensation for lost wages because she was calling in hurt. We confronted her with the proof, but she was adamant. She went to the doctor who started submitting workers comp claims.
You really don’t want workers comp claims anyway because it jacks up your insurance rates. But to be fraudulent? Nothing makes me more vindictive as a business owner than someone trying to commit fraud, especially considering how wonderful we’d been to this particular employee.
Later, in our small town, one of my managers ran into her older brother at a bar. The brother confirmed their parents had insisted she lie and say it was a work injury rather than admit it happened while drinking at a party. Super ironic considering they portray themselves as very religious.
Story #2: The Firewood Incident
Stephanie: This one is bizarre. Both this and story number one involve male cleaners, interestingly enough. We had a vacation rental client we did turnovers for, scheduled for four hours. It’s a nice cabin in a lake area in rural Western Wisconsin.
Stephanie: This cleaner had been assigned to this cabin several times before, and had been getting more and more erratic when it came to following instructions and the checklist. It was like he just wanted to do his own thing or come up with ways to do things that in his mind were better, but none of them were sensical.
Fast forward to what was supposed to be a Friday or Saturday cleaning. The guests weren’t coming in until Tuesday – we always note in our ZenMaid system when the next guests are arriving so we know if there’s wiggle room on turnovers. We keep this updated and communicate with clients about any needed changes.
The cleaner was there for four and a half hours, which is longer than the approved four-hour turnover time. We didn’t notice this until after what happened next. The owners called us on Sunday, leaving a voicemail pretty upset because the cleaning was only half done – none of the laundry was finished, there was still laundry in the washer and dryer, the floors weren’t done.
When we messaged our cleaner, we got the most erratic response. I hope he was using talk-to-text, but I don’t think he was since he wasn’t very tech-savvy. His reasoning was that he left the cleaning because he noticed the firewood outside was getting low, so he decided on his own to go get more firewood from his house and bring it back Sunday morning to finish cleaning.
First of all, filling firewood is not part of the cleaning checklist, certainly not from your own home. Second, you never leave a cleaning incomplete unless it’s an emergency or you’re sick, and you definitely don’t do that without telling us! He was adamant, saying “I was going to finish it! I know the guests weren’t coming until Tuesday!” We’re like, “This is unacceptable. What are you talking about? Follow the checklist!”
Story #1: The Most Shocking Incident
Stephanie: This last one happened in the past two years, and I don’t know if anything will top it. Another male cleaner – maybe I just need to stop sending guys to vacation rentals because I’m 0 for 2 on this.
We had a voicemail waiting for us Monday morning from the vacation rental owner just saying “Please call me back. This is an emergency.” Our cleaner had done the cleaning on Sunday, clocked in and out without incident, no notes from him. This cleaner had been excellent – it was his second job, he worked full-time Monday through Friday and was just trying to get additional income for his family. Very quiet, no incidents before, great model employee with good attendance and quality cleans.
I have a fully female management team, and I’m a woman in case you hadn’t noticed, so we’re dealing with all women here, and the guests involved were also women. The guests arrived early on Sunday – the cleaning window was from 11 to 3, meaning check-in wasn’t until 3. The property was by a pretty lake, and when the guests arrived early and saw the cleaner’s vehicle, they decided to walk around the lake while waiting.
Stephanie: Being thoughtful, they wanted to let the cleaner know they were there so as not to startle them, since it was a very deserted area. They were just going to knock on the door and say “Hey, we’re just walking around the lake, we’re not serial killers.” Super courteous of them, especially since they probably assumed it was a female cleaner.
The guests informed the owner, who then informed Crystal my HR manager, that they walked up to the door of the rental. The door was glass, meaning you could see through the top half, or it was a glass screen door – whatever it was, it was clearly visible, not a solid wood door. Before they could knock, they saw something… I want you all to pause right now and think: what could they have possibly seen my male cleaner doing in the privacy of this vacation rental while on the clock that I’m paying him for?
Well, whatever you’re thinking is correct. He was having some “alone time” in the bathroom with the door open, and the guests got a full front view of what was going on. There is no question – it was him, it was his car. We ran through every scenario like “Please, dear Lord, let this not be what it actually is.” But our prayers were not answered.
Luckily there were no children with the guests who were traumatized. The guests just walked away and called the owner. The cleaner didn’t even know they had seen him.
The Aftermath
Stephanie: Crystal called him up saying “Hey, we need to talk.” She did it by phone since he worked full-time during the week. He called her on his lunch break and she said “Look, we know you did this. What do you have to say for yourself?” It was so awkward. He apologized profusely and didn’t deny it.
I never in a million years would think I’d have to spell out to staff members not to do that on the job site. All I could think was – he’s been to a lot of vacation rentals alone for me. How many times have I paid for this? I don’t know if cleaning just excited him that much or he just didn’t get a lot of alone time. I guess it doesn’t matter and we’ll never know.
Closing Thoughts
Stephanie: So guys, please make me feel better. Please tell me you’ve had something ridiculous like this happen. I have more stories – I wanted to keep it to five, and I knew eventually I’d share this one on the podcast.
What do you think? Which one’s your favorite? How would you have handled these situations? What would you have said to the client? We were so mortified. Luckily most of these problems were internal, but sometimes they do wild things. This is the risk of opening your own business and having employees – you don’t really think about these things happening.
I hope this brightened your day. Please let me know what stories you have. I’ll share more as I recall them. You live and you learn, you tell your employees not to do things, and you’re going to run into things.
I hope these gave you a chuckle while you’re cleaning or driving. Make sure you hit subscribe. Share this with your friends and make them laugh as well – that’s what gives me joy.
Outro
If you enjoyed this episode of The Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast, please be sure to leave us a five-star review so we can reach more cleaners like you. Until next time, keep your work clean and your business filthy rich.
Note: This transcript has been edited for clarity and readability.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
QUICK TIP FROM THE AUTHOR
Simplify and enjoy your scheduling with a scheduling software made for maid services
- Have a beautiful calendar that's full but never stressful.
- Make your cleaners happy and provide all the information they need at their fingertips.
- Convert more website visitors into leads and get new cleanings in your inbox with high-converting booking forms.
- Become part of a community of 8000+ cheering maid service owners just like you.
Start your FREE ZenMaid trial today and discover the freedom and clarity that ZenMaid can bring to your maid service! Start your FREE trial today
