Does anyone else think the maid is pointless now?

Yes!! I found that they don't even show up usually, especially if you play for many sim days in a row. Then when you go back to the game later it's like, "oh I cleaned you owe me $40." What?? I liked it way better when the maid showed up at a scheduled time every day. I don't even bother with them now.

yea...They were much more useful in the Sims 3. I'm not really sure what they even do in Sims 4. I used to hire one on habit but never have followed him/her around just to see what they do. I just never paid attention. I should do that! lol.

Maids were always good for cheating on the wife.

There's not even that much of a mess to clean in this game so hiring them is pointless. It's weird how things don't get dirty often but you can't go a day without something breaking and there's no repairmen -.-"

...and they steal tea and coffee pots.

Actually I've never had any of my household objects get dirty... just break. The only reason I hired maids in Sims 3 was to clean the toilets for me, and I haven't had that problem in Sims 4. Never thought I'd miss dirty toilets.

If I notice my house is messy and there is a lot of dirty items then I will just hire one for the day but if you hire one to come everyday I notice they don't show up. Also they don't come at all on weekends which I hate because that's when your Sim kids are home making messes. I don't really care for the way the Maid system is set up now. I miss the old uniforms too.
Oh and this is a little bit off topic but I REALLY hate that there is no career section for clothing.

Kaylynn Langerak was more of a whore than actually a maid. At least in my TS2 houses. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing013.gif
Well, I guess you can figure what that "plum" was.

A bit pointless yeah

When mine shows up I get him/her to clean by playing piper on the piano. Before my sim was able to do this, the housekeeper was sticky fingered. She stole my sims clay! I watched her do it, couldn't do anything about it. :(