[Simon Gerrard]

The problem I have with our Asian friends is that an Englishman's word is his bond, so if you agree a price for a job, you stick to it, whereas they always want, or claim that you agreed to something extra, or expect a discount when the job is done. Trebling the price when someone asks, 'How much to wash my carpet,' works fine for me.
Having said that, I've got some really good Asian customers, but they are thin on the ground.

Simon

[bobby p]

cleaning windows ,an old injun opens a window and tap taps on a frame ,snarls "frames,frames " and then closes the window sharpish .
  i mutter to my helper "fookin injuns,theres no pleasing them is there"

later as we are leaving a young injun has a word with my helper "tell your mate we are not fookin injuns,we are from Bangladesh "

  still got them as customers !

[derek west]

i have no problems with asians now. up your price a little so you can discount back to normal, when you get there do a walk through and state your price again, never smile, be totally professional and firm, almost bullyish.

its all about not making friends but being there to get the job done. if they make any hint of a bad day. tell them straight, and if they don't like it then walk.  works for me.

[Russ Chadd]

I have absolutely no problem with people wanting to haggle a little, i work for Chinese and Nepalese restaurants and they are good honest people, always pay the agreed price and never try it on.
My past experiences with Indian people however have been very different, im not saying that all Indian people are the same.
Simon has hit the nail on the head... "An Englishman's word is his bond" to me this seems pretty straightforward and a good, honest way to do business.

[Luc]

i had a job about 2 years ago in east ham, lounge hall stairs and landing i priced up at 150quid. i get there, set up the tm and start cleaning a filthy black top lounge carpet, axminster and cleaned up a treat. as soom as the lounge was finished, The customer comes out and says

"i have no money to pay you, so you pack up and go, you understand me!!

i Said "ok, i will pack up now but you owe me for the lounge, that will be 75 quid, right now" .

"no. me have no money, you go now before i call police. you racist to me charging me lot of money"

i laughed and  thought f**k this, i took the solution hose out, wand out and spotter out to the van , i rolled the 25 ft waste hose into the lounge all without saying a word and emptied out all that was in the waste tank over the carpet must to their horror. customer said ' what you doing, what you doing?
i said "I'm returning your dirt back to you, now have a good day"
rolled up the waste hose, and got back in the van with all the family shouting and screaming god knows what at me in some foreign language.

I am no racist by any means, my ex girlfriend was half indian and i have many good mates who are foreign.  Now days i dont take any attitude or rudeness by customers to me. i would rather walk off the job and lose money then put up with hassle

[from edge2edge]

Like it mate .............if in doubt roll out the big hose....................Alan

[Warren Aldridge]

Luc


Now that is the best thing I've heard all year.
I cannot wait to be in the same position

[andrew stone]

i know an indian guy who was a carpet cleaner for several years.

he said to me once "i f*****g hate working for indians!!"

i couldnt help but laugh.

he is the only indian carpet cleaner i have ever met.

i would have thought a decent indian carpet cleaner could do well working for his own community.?

andrew

[garry22]

I remember a few years ago there used to be a couple of Indian brothers doing carpet cleaning.

Their adverts always made me smile..... something like "You've tried the cowboys, now try the Indians" 

[garyhumphreys]

I do loads of work for Asians and have never had a problem. I never discount, always standing firm on price and get loads of referrals. Perhaps some of you need to look at your own attitudes first?
Sorry and all that.

[JandS]

I do the odd Asian job now but not as many as I
first did due to the attitude of some and the expectations
of others.
The ones I do do are fine though and I get referrals off them.
Unless it's a single room though I will always go and visit.
This has paid off a few times as I've declined the job after
seeing the state of some of them.
I always get the address out of them first then I know what
to expect. If they insist on a phone quote and it's in one of
their "ghettoes" the price goes up 'cos I hate working in
those areas.

John

[andrew stone]

i have got some very nice indian customers - really good people with nice homes.
never haggle on price - even get the odd tip!!
two indian brothers i have done a lot of work for treat me really well and we always have a good laugh.
BUT they have also been some of my worse customers by far!
you can never judge a book by its cover but i have had enough bad experiences to be wary.

never had a problem with chinese customers other than most seem never to have heard of a vacuum cleaner.

andrew

[wayne zabel]

Most of the posts have stated" Indians"I dont mind doing work for Indians but I find Pakistanis far worse to deal with.

[james roffey]

One of the benefits of running your own business is choosing not to do a job if you don,t want. i lost out on a £500 job recently because the guy accused me of measuring his house incorrectly ( i always under measure to avoid this) when i did the quote he had a stand up row with his elderly wife and i thought at the time what a nasty bully he was, i realised when he phoned me at ten oclock on a Sunday evening to complain that he would probably be standing over me while i did the job picking fault as he was just looking to pay less for the job, so i told him my quote stood and if he was not happy he should find someone else, i could tell by his reaction he just wanted to negotiate a cheaper price but i decided it was not worth the hassle.

[Ian Gourlay]

Yep but cannot remember why. just remembered this woman kept trying to tell me how to do the job.

No idea who she was as she was just guarding place for owner

It was years ago

[andrew stone]

got a £10 tip today from a lady indian customer "for doing a very nice job"!
as i was writing out her receipt she said "include the tip on it -the landlords paying for it"!!

andrew

[wynne jones]

Most of the posts have stated" Indians"I dont mind doing work for Indians but I find Pakistanis far worse to deal with.

This is why you shorten the name to something offensive.