Clients, please do not nickel and dime your housekeeper. *UPDATE*

Hello, everyone! First, I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on my previous post and gave me sound and meaningful advice. It meant a lot to see so many people outraged on my behalf and you all are the reason why I have decided to stand up for myself and promptly fire my client who nickel and dimed me over $2.50. I sent a (in my opinion) professional but also somewhat scathing message to my client letting them know I would be terminating my work with them. They are a bi-weekly client, so I am confident that I can find a replacement within that time period which is why I went ahead and fired them today after our appointment yesterday. Below is my message that I sent to them. Again, thank you for the confidence boost because I’m not sure I would’ve been as confrontational without the support on here.

“Good morning, [client’s name]! I have decided to terminate my work with you. It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this as I have enjoyed cleaning your home the past year and a half. However, I will not allow myself to be disrespected, especially in this industry. Whether you were aware of it or not, it was very icky how you questioned the amount I was charging you and pulled up a calculator to “check my work”. In any other industry, this is completely unacceptable and would not be tolerated. In 2024, I raised my rate to $30/hour but I decided to leave your rate at $25/hour because you hired me before that change and I wanted to honor your loyalty. FYI, my new rate for 2025 is now $35/hour across the board. Additionally, I have been rounding down from $137.50 to $135 every time I spend 5.5 at your home when in reality, I should be rounding up according to rounding rules in math. Again, I was trying to be kind by doing this because you’ve been my client for some time. So, for you to nickel and dime me over $2.50 when I go above and beyond for you and end up undercharging you is gross, demeaning, and ultimately disrespectful. Respectfully, I hope you do not do this to your next housekeeper because I can say with absolute certainty that this behavior will not be tolerated by anyone. Additionally, you can expect to pay significantly more than $25/hour because my rates are incredibly fair compared to the industry standard. Goodbye and good luck going forward.”

They are blocked, so I will not be expecting an answer back.

EDIT Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts and opinions, even the braindead takes that make zero sense (person who commented that neurodivergent people cannot learn lessons, I’m looking at you because you really typed that out and still thought it was a great idea to post). I’m seeing a lot of comments saying how my response was unprofessional and unhinged. While I respect the opinions of others, I completely disagree and feel very resolved with my decision to send that message which is ultimately all that matters. If it’s unprofessional or unhinged to call people out on their bullshit and stand up for myself, then consider me unprofessional and unhinged. Additionally, I am not concerned in the slightest about this message getting back to me and reflecting on me negatively. First and foremost, I would be completely fine having my message read to all of my clients and plastered on a billboard. Secondly, my advertising takes place on local mom Facebook groups. The admin of the primary group I advertise on does not allow negative reviews of any kind, so even if my ex-client wanted to post something bad about me, they literally would not be able to. And if they were to post on other groups? Okay…? It does not concern me in the slightest. I’m not a large corporation or a business backed by the BBB or anything even close to that. I am a sole-proprietor with general liability insurance…that’s it. I have 12 other lovely regular clients that are either weekly or bi-weekly and everything is run by me. I began housekeeping to support myself while I go to school full-time, so this is not my forever job or anything of that nature. I keep seeing people commenting about my age and I think that’s completely irrelevant to the conversation because age has absolutely nothing to do with mental maturity or professionalism. If anything, I need to stand up for myself even more because there is a significant bias against Gen Z in the workforce (if you’re not Gen Z or a Millennial don’t even bother commenting because you older generations really do not understand the current professional landscape). Lastly, I see a lot of people who have zero knowledge or experience in the industry making some pretty outlandish claims. Until you’ve scrubbed and wiped the literal shit off of someone’s toilet or have been on your hands and knees cleaning things no one else wants to, or until you’ve hired a housekeeper and see the ins and outs of their work, your opinion is irrelevant to me. I have a strong feeling this edit will not gain me any more favor in the comments but good thing that’s not my intention.