When my Sims are in their French vacation home, the maid does the laundry every day, but they get no clean laundry moodlets. In Sunset Valley, they get the clean laundry moodlets, but the maids NEVER do the laundry. I've fired at least twice, got two guys and sometimes the girl would come, but then it would go back to the guys who were super lazy (Grady and Hank). At most, the girl would start the laundry cycle, or the guys would move laundry from the washer to the dryer, but my Sims usually had to start the laundry cycle. The maids in SV would also leave as soon as they started one phase, while the maid in France stayed from loading the washer to collecting clean clothes, even if he had nothing else to do.
