DOH!!! And I can't sack them!!

Sounds all too familiar :) We are also in serviced apartments where the rental includes the cleaning boys (they normally come in teams of four) coming every other day. In a year and a half living here I have seen all sorts: when changing the bed sheets, the ‘fresh’ ones had clearly been lying around on a dirty floor, extra down pillows we bought were taken away to never be found again ... the funniest was when they switched on the dishwasher for 2 glasses and a teaspoon! I then left a sticker on it with red capital letters: 'PLEASE DO NOT USE' but I came back to a similar scenario where they used it for 2 bowls and 2 forks ... then it hit me that they may not be able to read English ... We continuously came back from work to unclean floors, terraces untouched and bathrooms where only the towels had been changed, etc, etc, etc ... Then friends of ours who live in the same building had things go missing (coins left in a bowl – repeatedly-, a mobile phone, ...) so we decided not to let them in while we were out and had the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door fixed with cellotape, so we started doing the cleaning ourselves during the week and called them only once a week to clean the floors. Well, ha ha ha ... I came back early from work one day as I was feeling fluey and found the door ajar and the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the side table in the hall, bedsheets and towels changed. I waited and waited and nobody came back. Then I heard them cleaning the apartment next door – I went over and asked them why they had come into the flat and was the door open: they denied taking the ‘do not disturb’ sign off and denied leaving the door open! I think that day the entire building must have heard me screaming :) Now that I do not work and cannot really do much around the house due to my high-risk pregnancy, I call them in when I feel the house needs a good wipe and can actually check they do it properly ... not much help – you would have to be following them round the flat to actually ensure they do! The latest: in the weekend DH cooked a yummy but messy dinner so got up early on Saturday to clean the hob (of which I was unaware) as he wanted to make sure it was properly cleaned. While he went grocery shopping, I called for the cleaners. This time the little brigade came with a 'supervisor' that was telling them to clean all corners and move furniture to clean behind it, etc ... I saw TWO of them cleaning the kitchen and one giving the hob a thorough wipe (at this time I did not realise DH had cleaned the day before), so it never crossed my mind to check they were cleaning everything as they seemed very enthusiastic and there was the supervisor. When DH came back, I went to the kitchen with him and what do we find: the cleaners had been re-cleaning what my DH had already cleaned and left all the dirty marble tops untouched with very visible crumbs and spills from the cooking of the previous evening ... In this country, this is my philosophy: always expect the unimaginable ... common sense is an illusion! I can’t help but wonder whether they really can be that stupid or they do it to test us ... :\: