Elda’s Home organizing

Sofia, Thank you for sharing your disparaging feedback. I genuinely regret that your experience did not meet your expectations, and I would like to clarify a few points regarding our work together: I committed to assisting you during a challenging time for me. You said you understood, it was ok, and you were so happy to have found me. I still committed to your project and worked consistently the entire time I was there. I genuinely tried to accommodate your needs. However, I felt taken aback after the last time I visited your home. When I arrived home that evening you began to message me throughout the night asking me to watch a video of a course you thought I would like. I explained to you that I was out for a walk and had not watched the video because I was winding down, but you continued to message me and insisted on me personally purchasing the course because you yourself wanted to take it, and you thought I could just split it with you. You would not stop messaging until I finally told you I was not interested and I was not buying it. You had expected me to purchase a course with the money that you had just paid me after I had already given you a huge discount. After that message, I decided it would be best to cut contact with you because you clearly did not respect my boundaries, time or work. The fact is you asked me to buy a course I was not interested in and persisted until I got fed up with you. You also tried to rush me by saying I needed to pay for it that same evening because of the discount. Please tell me why would I buy a course for you with the money you gave me for cleaning and organizing your home? I understand the circumstances surrounding your project were stressful, and you also stated you had little income coming in other than the room you were renting out and the room you wanted to rent to exchange students. I agreed to help and worked diligently in the middle of July without AC in an extremely stuffy and cluttered room with barely any space to move around. I tackled a much larger amount of items than initially discussed, and as you yourself stated, I filled at least 24 jumbo vacuum sealed bags. That included going through every single bin, box, and bag to remove clothes, and misc items and trash. The bins also weighed more than 50lbs and they needed to be moved out of the closet which I did, and put away the heavy bags on the top of the closet from a ladder without any help. I immediately became concerned about the amount of clutter in your space and the reality of the work that would be required to achieve your goals within your deadline. Which we discussed multiple times and you continued to tell me it was not that much stuff. I could clearly see with my eyes that it was A LOT, but maybe we see things differently. I provided you support and assistance to try to get you out of your hoarding situation, and I never actually charged you my rate because of our discussions regarding your finances, but it is essential to acknowledge that the level of effort that it would take to complete your project was huge. My commitment to supporting you came at the cost of my time, (which was commuting 1 hr each way) resources, and finances. Which you clearly abused and took for granted. It also seems there was a misunderstanding regarding “scheduled” appointments. You wanted to book 4 days with me when you had agreed to take the discount and I would accommodate you between clients because the rate I was giving you was so low. When I first quoted for the job I was not able to look inside your closet because of the amount of clutter outside the closet. Also, the photos you initially sent were incredibly misleading, and after speaking to you on the phone you insisted it was “not that much stuff.” I quoted you a minimum of 20hrs without seeing what was hidden in the closet or in the huge plastic bags that were hiding under other piles and piles of stuff. You continued to try to tell me how long you believed it would take. I told you that was not possible, but you insisted that it was. I would love to wiggle my nose and blink my eyes and have everything organized in a day, but in your circumstance that would not be possible. I also said it would require the both of us to expedite the process. You agreed. When I asked what was actually in the closet you stated that only “totes” were in the closet and they were simple and not heavy. The closet consisted of extra large bins and boxes full of clothes. You also had clothes in boxes and bins stacked in the bedroom itself. That doesn’t include the mountain of bins,boxes, and large moving bags in the dining area that were haphazardly thrown together by the last people you hired, all of which needed to be decluttered and reorganized in the kitchen. I also went through all those piles, and put the kitchen stuff away and reorganized your cabinets and pantry. I want to assure you that my intentions were not to cause an inconvenience, and I appreciate your understanding my personal difficulties. However, if you recall I attempted to terminate the job, because it was much bigger than I could handle alone. You insisted that I stay and finish and that you would help do things when I was gone, but you did not. You could barely sort through one bag per the 2-3 hours I was there, while I sorted through multiple bags and put everything away. You did not contract me, otherwise we would have a contract. We do not. Nor did I give you anything stating I would work for you indefinitely at a lower rate. Which you assumed. I genuinely hoped our work together would yield the results you were looking for, but I also explained I would need your help if you wanted it to be done faster. You misinformed me saying there wasn’t that much stuff, and it would be “quick”. You were shocked when I quoted you the amount of time it would take. Regarding my migraines, the day that I was sick and stayed home was a day that you were also sick and stayed home and we both decided it would be best to wait until we were better. Concerning a stain on your couch. I offered to take a sponge to it because I didn't know if there was a stain the room was so dark I could barely see anything. I left asking if everything was good, you said yes, and never mentioned it again. In regards to me me looking at my phone. I asked if I could listen to music on headphones while I sorted through all the clothes, and you said, no problem. I took one urgent call outside to speak for about 5 mins before I even started work. I don't waste my time on the phone. About the shedding of the dry cleaner hangers, the hangers were so old they were disintegrating in the bag on the clothes and I was the one to make you aware of that because the cloth dust on the metal hangers was getting everywhere and that same dust was on the clothes in the boxes, but somehow your negligence to remove those old dry cleaner hangers from years ago was somehow my fault? You personally insisted you would clean it, but you didn’t get up from the couch to actually do it. I asked where the broom was so I could sweep it up and you said you would do it. Organizing and decluttering can be a complex process, and requires time, patience, and teamwork. I do wish things had turned out differently and that I could have provided you with more support, but it was not possible given the scope of work. Your project was clearly not a “small” job as you insisted but a rather large job that you were trying to get done for as little as possible. You clearly have no regard for labor or time anyone has spent working for you because you complained to me about every single person that had tried to help you with your clutter. I wish you the best moving forward. Thank you. Elda