[Stoots]

New enquiry, gave a quote, accepted.

I will call next tuesday

"What time because i will be at work and i dont want to leave my gate open all day"

How best to respond to such fools ?

First of all if she is at work how is she going to open the gate at a certain time ?
Secondly how the hell am i supposed to know what time i will be at a house 5 days from now ?

Im asking because my usual response is either to just ignore or say something abrupt like "well if you cant leave your gate open i cant clean your windows"

So not having the best decorum what is the polite and professional response to this madness ?

(I dont know what these people think is going to get nicked, no one has anything round here worth nicking and if they did im sure a flimsy gate lock wouldnt deter a determined thief)

[AuRavelling79]

I'm afraid I am unable to give a time.

(I tend to lay out my stall and tell new customers I don't prenotify)

[dazmond]

New enquiry, gave a quote, accepted.

I will call next tuesday

"What time because i will be at work and i dont want to leave my gate open all day"

How best to respond to such fools ?

First of all if she is at work how is she going to open the gate at a certain time ?
Secondly how the hell am i supposed to know what time i will be at a house 5 days from now ?

Im asking because my usual response is either to just ignore or say something abrupt like "well if you cant leave your gate open i cant clean your windows"

So not having the best decorum what is the polite and professional response to this madness ?

(I dont know what these people think is going to get nicked, no one has anything round here worth nicking and if they did im sure a flimsy gate lock wouldnt deter a determined thief)

If it's a large stand alone id make it first job of the day,if its on a run of compact estate work then they will just have to leave it open until I arrive which will be between 9am-3pm

[Slacky]

Between 08:00 and 17:00.

[windowswashed]

Big houses first thing or midday, small ones PITA don't give a time not worth the hassle.

[Simon Trapani]

I try not to bend for anyone these days.

[jo5hm4n]

If i know if the job is placed at the start or end of the worksheet i will tell the customer it will be either morning or afternoon (this only works if you keep to a regular schedule which we always do), but we dont give specifics or timeslots and let the customer know this is how we work.  You get a text reminder the day before each clean.  If you are not home and gate is locked we will do a front/side only clean and charge 70% of the job price with a £10 minimum front only.  This only applies assuming the job is close to other work as theres very little time or effort lost.

If the job is out of the way its a different story.

Ive got a newish customer who wanted to know when we are coming, so i just put her on the list 1st job of the day.  At first she was a bit faffy "when will you be here" "i want to take the dog for a walk" you know dumb Sh!t like that.

She got with the program though and now we clean and shes good as gold she understands she cant make demands with us.  Either she accept we turn up and clean or she can get someone else.

[Jay Le Huray]

my answer is always the same
"I will be around sometime tomorrow"

[AuRavelling79]

I try not to bend for anyone these days.

If they don't trust me with a gate code or a combination lock code they don't have me as a window cleaner.

[Splash and dash]

Sounds like a pita customer before you even do the job it would be we aren’t the company for you , wouldn’t take the job on with access issues without a key or code .

[Smudger]

some people are just natural worriers...
Who's to say they have recently been burgled and entry was through the back door.

I have an employee that can get over a 6 ft gate in seconds - without breaking his stide

For customers like this they can have a first of the day slot (extra) otherwise its morning or afternoon

[dazmond]

I try not to bend for anyone these days.

If they don't trust me with a gate code or a combination lock code they don't have me as a window cleaner.

I had a customer who I'd been cleaning for around 20 years who got a coded side gate.she wouldn't give me the number but promised to leave it unlocked if I texted her night before.she never left it open(always forgot)

So I 'forgot' to clean her windows and I've never been back since.that was a few years ago.i still clean the neighbours and her windows are filthy

[deeege]

As above no code no clean. I’d rather not be on the property of a customer who doesn’t trust me with a code anyway so it’s a win win.

[michael mckeary]

I have a triple ladder and split it to go over gates. Only have two customers that I use it for because ones a care home and the other has a disabled child. If its a hassle I tell them to find someone else, too busy to worry about gates. What I have found is customers wanting a chat with me because there is alot of lonely people out there and I always give them 5mins of my time. Picked up new customers due to this approach.