Maid matters

Even before my maid has come in, I seem to be fraught with maid issues.

Maid no 1 - Jessica Simba was diagnosed with Hepatitis B during her medical test and couldn't come
Maid no 2- Judith was quite an easy selection given her bubbly personality and good English. Unfortunately the agent (Shirley Maids) informed us yesterday that Judith had decided to withdraw her application as the pay was too low.

It was thus with a heavy heart that we made our way to Shirley Maids again yesterday for another round of maid selection. Shirley Maids had a transfer maid available for immediate interview and if we found her suitable, she would be able to join us by next week. That was how we were introduced to Edna, a 37 year old Filipina with 10 years relevant working experience in Singapore.

Although small in size, Edna looks pleasant and speaks pretty decent English. She strikes me as soft spoken and humble. Hubby is however concerned that her IQ might not be very high. We however decided to confirm her as we find her a good fit in our household.

Shirley Maids was recommended by my mother in law. We were attended to by the lady boss, Shirley herself yesterday who seems like a sly and calculative person. Shirley tried to con us into topping up an additional SGD500 (in addition to the SGD488 agency fee I had already paid) for the "transfer maid fee" but we staunchly refused, saying that it was through no fault of ours that the earlier 2 maids had been rejected. I find that highly unprofessional. There was quite alot of inconsistency in her way of tabulating costs. Till now, I am still feeling rather confused. However, since I am not required to fork out extra money, I am ok.

I just hope Edna makes it to our place next week. Who knows what "unforseen circumstances" might again come my way...

Given a choice, I will not go back to Shirley Maids again.