[Champagne Supernova In The Sky]

Turned up at a new customers house in Surrey yesterday...

£220 gutter / fascia / soffit clean and then £42 window clean every 8 weeks...

The customer brought me a drink out and told me how he had received through his door a fancy flyer from some company based miles away in Horley...

I said "was it Pryors Window Cleaning?" ... Yes he said ... The leaflet was really good, professional looking he said.

He then said ... I was going to call and book them but looked them up on the internet first and the reviews about them are shocking - rude, pushy, bad work etc..

Then he said - so I looked for a local company instead and found you.

Whilst we were cleaning the customers neighbour came out and asked for a regular window cleaning quote - they are now also a customer, £38 every 8 weeks.

Lee ... If you read this you need to try and sort your internet reviews out, over time they will do you a lot of damage if they are all negative (which they are at the moment - I checked on Google and yell.com).   Try and concentrate on building a good reputable sustainable business rather than just trying to gain as many customers as possible in as little time as possible.

[Smurf]

Do you mean these?   

yell.com Reviews

 Bromleyreviewer
17 Feb 2016
Poor attitude and customer service
Report Review
I've had a similar experience to the previous reviewer. Sent an email after paying for two cleans politely requesting to cancel and explaining it was because my windows were still dirty. I resent after a week as no acknowledgment received. The reply was:

"Yes I already got your insulting message thank you.

Im not sure what the problem with your windows was but the other 300 or so
we have in your area seem to be fine.

Word of caution for you. Going up ladders to clean windows is no longer
compliant with health and safety law. Cleaners that do it that way are not
insured to do so. It is the homeowners responsibility to make sure people
opperating on their property are doing so properly. Should that cleaner
fall off his ladder on your property and be injured he will be entitled to
sue for an equity you may have to cover his treatment, recovery and
expenses.

I have removed you from the round.

Many thanks

Lee Pryor"

 ABee24
03 Dec 2015
Be careful - they don't take prisoners
Report Review
I was a good, reliable customer from May 2012 - Dec 2015. I always paid my bill on the same day, or soon after the work was done.
Yet when I queried why this time the men were coming round after 10 weeks instead of the contracted 12 weeks with the following email:- Hi, Our windows are not due to be cleaned until the first week in December as our last clean was in the first week of September. I shall assume that it is just a mistake on your part and I will not be leaving the gate open tomorrow 24th Nov. Best wishes, Mr x.
I received this reply from the owner Lee Prior:-
"It is reasonable that our round could arrive a week before or after the exact 12 weeks. This is due to many factors, some of which are out of our control. So no there has not been a mistake on our part. I really find it quite pathetic that for the sake of a few days out of a 3 month period you felt the need to send an email like that. We have provided you with a good service for some time and now I will be happy to remove you from our rounds." (I know understand why he was made "redundant" from two sales and marketing jobs within a short period of time! Information taken from his own website!)

In truth the standard with his work wasn't that good and we did find him a bit expensive for the quality of the work he did, but we didn't bother to complain because we have always had better things to do with our time. Also we have always tried to use local businesses in a manner of community spirit.



Thomson local Reviews
Aa Bee in Redhill - 3 Dec 15

Be careful these people appear to be quite ruthless. When I merely queried why the men were coming round after 10 weeks instead of the contracted 12 weeks I received this reply from the owner Lee Prior:- It is reasonable that our round could arrive a week before or after the exact 12 weeks. This is due to many factors, some of which are out of our control. So no there has not been a mistake on our part. I really find it quite pathetic that for the sake of a few days out of a 3 month period you felt the need to send an email like that. We have provided you with a good service for some time and now I will be happy to remove you from our rounds. Clearly he has not been taught any customer relation skills, and I was a very good customer who always paid the same day as the job done. I was also a customer for over two years even though his work quality wasn't very good as we have always tried to support local businesses

Google Reviews

Pryor's Window Cleaning
Plough Rd, Smallfield, Horley
Write a review
1.35 reviews
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James Boyden
a month ago
I engaged your services only once and the condition of the windows was extremely poor after you had finished the job.  Since then, even though I have continually declined your services, you continue to text me to announce that you are coming to clean the windows again despite the fact that I have telephoned your office and  explained that I do not wish you to return to my property. You consistently send me "reminders" to pay my "account" via paypal even though I have asked you not to come.
I am now seriously considering what I need to do in order to convince you "I do not want your services"! I have emailed, phoned and texted you! ! I am now at a loss as to what I should do next? Surely I cannot be alone in suffering these buffoons? James Boyden, Millmead Terrace, Guildford. PS I HAVE HAD TO AWARD YOU WITH A STAR BECAUSE I WAS UNABLE TO POST THIS WITHOUT CLICKING ONTO A STAR.  MY ACTUAL RATING IS ZERO

Zak Sherlock
a month ago
Another idiotic leafletting campaign where the company ignores the clear "no junk mail or flyers" sign.  I would NEVER do business with any company that cant even follow that simple instruction.

Flames 135
6 months ago
Be careful.  These people do not take prisoners! 
I was a good, reliable customer from May 2012 - Dec 2015.  I always paid my bill on the same day, or soon after the work was done.
Yet when I queried why this time the men were coming round after 10 weeks instead of the contracted 12 weeks with the following email:- Hi, Our windows are not due to be cleaned until the first week in December as our last clean was in the first week of September.  I shall assume that it is just a mistake on your part and I will not be leaving the gate open tomorrow 24th Nov. Best wishes, Mr x.
 I received this reply from the owner Lee Prior:-
"It is reasonable that our round could arrive a week before or after the exact 12 weeks. This is due to many factors, some of which are out of our control. So no there has not been a mistake on our part.
I really find it quite pathetic that for the sake of a few days out of a 3 month period you felt the need to send an email like that. We have provided you with a good service for some time and now I will be happy to remove you from our rounds."  (I know understand why he was made "redundant" from two sales and marketing jobs within a short period of time!  Information taken from his own website!)

In truth the standard with his work wasn't that good and we did find him a bit expensive for the quality of the work he did, but we didn't bother to complain because we have always had better things to do with our time.  Also we have always tried to use local businesses in a manner of community spirit.

I also concur with the review from Marian Gerhold

Marian Gerhold
8 months ago
I am not at all happy with the text that is sent prior to the clean. Do this, Don't do this, Do this and don't respond to the text. Maybe a "We would appreciate" at the beginning" and 'Thank you for your assistanct' at the end would help! I have cancelled as I don't appreciate being ordered about by a bully.

Jean Houghton
a month ago
I've given Pryor's a fair go but not pleased with the method of cleaning windows, this last time my windows didn't look as though the'd been done so will now cancel.

Way to go Lee...Oh the power of the tinternet 

[8weekly]

Jealousy is an unpleasant thing to see.

[Roberto Smith]

Zak Sherlock
a month ago
Another idiotic leafletting campaign where the company ignores the clear "no junk mail or flyers" sign.  I would NEVER do business with any company that cant even follow that simple instruction

Bit harsh to give a negative review when it's not even window cleaning related and has nothing to do with the company in question.
People today hardly ever acknowledge or praise a good service but are all too eager to shout about the slightest thing that they're not happy about.

Zak sounds like a right twat.

[Richard iSparkle]

Do you mean these?   

Way to go Lee...Oh the power of the tinternet 

to break those reviews down...

Bromley reviewer - Sounds like he had a poor experience of Pryers and that it should have been handled better

James Boyden - was unhappy with the quality of the clean, and then has been wound up by an admin error.

3 of them are off the same person (ABee24, Aa Bee in Redhill,Flames 135) - he is clearly very upset with Lee and it sounds like the customer service he received wasn't good when he queried the next due date. it does seem vindictive for him to go to the effort of writing 3 reviews on different sites. especially for someone who considers himself a champion of local business.

Zak Sherlock - is complaining that a leaflet was put through her letterbox

Marian Gerhold - is complaining about the wording of Lee's automated text messages.

Jean Houghton's sounds like somebody who dislikes Water fed pole window cleaning.

the fact is, the more customers you have, the more complaints you will get. the more you market, and the more you are visible online, the more complaints you will get.

if you consider the size of Lee's clients list, in relation to that this number of negative reviews isn;t bad at all. yes, there's room for improvement, but Lee's accepted that and commented on it before on cleanitup

it is far more common for people to leave negative reviews than positive. and those people who go to the trouble of reviewing online for this type of service are usually very wound up or vindictive.

[Shane sharples]

As Richard said .
A one man band is going to get a couple of messers if they're unlucky. When lee is getting 40-50 new customers a day , how many of them do you think are messers? .... I think a good few , including all the dog $hite gardens, only do them when I'm in customers etc etc
As for people leaving bad reviews because they got a leaflet through the door - idiots with too much time on their hands-

[AuRavelling79]

I think that 10 week / 12 week joker's comments were posted on this forum some weeks ago.

1st week of Sept to 1st week of December is 13 weeks (assuming same day) and so the 12th week would fall in the last week of November. So the pathetic customer himself is moaning about at worst - being one week early and possibly even being on time. They ought to think themselves lucky to be offered a 12 weekly clean let alone whinge about it 3 times on reviews.

Note to Lee: May I suggest that what you write in texts needs to be unfailingly polite and accurate (doesn't mean you shouldn't state your case) because when the heat of the moment dies down and you look back at what you wrote staring back at you you may feel you have been a little hasty.

[8weekly]

I have a bad review. It really doesn't take much.

"Sadly, very rude when cancelling the service. Would have used again otherwise but I would never want to put up with customer service (rudeness) like that. Such a shame. "

Person booked a regular clean. Filthy windows. Cancelled after two cleans because they were moving. I politely replied by saying it was less than honest to book a regular service when in reality they wanted them cleaned for estate agency photos.

[Scrimble]

what do you expect? thousands of customers and a couple of vindictive complaints? there are some right scumbags out there who will try and rob you if you give them half a chance

[Tosh]

The bloke is only trying to offer Lee some advice, he's not knocking him personally.

[SeanK]

Messers and maybe a bit of competition is what I see in that feedback. the only thing I will say against Lee is saying
window cleaners are not insured or are breaking health and safety law if using ladders is a lie and an attack on window cleaners who work using them, keep it honest.

[8weekly]

The bloke is only trying to offer Lee some advice, he's not knocking him personally.

I read it as "hahaha Lee, you're rubbish and I got this one for £250. " Otherwise why post?

[richard groves]

Turned up at a new customers house in Surrey yesterday...

£220 gutter / fascia / soffit clean and then £42 window clean every 8 weeks...

The customer brought me a drink out and told me how he had received through his door a fancy flyer from some company based miles away in Horley...

I said "was it Pryors Window Cleaning?" ... Yes he said ... The leaflet was really good, professional looking he said.

He then said ... I was going to call and book them but looked them up on the internet first and the reviews about them are shocking - rude, pushy, bad work etc..

Then he said - so I looked for a local company instead and found you.

Whilst we were cleaning the customers neighbour came out and asked for a regular window cleaning quote - they are now also a customer, £38 every 8 weeks.

Lee ... If you read this you need to try and sort your internet reviews out, over time they will do you a lot of damage if they are all negative (which they are at the moment - I checked on Google and yell.com).   Try and concentrate on building a good reputable sustainable business rather than just trying to gain as many customers as possible in as little time as possible.

Why would you want to advise him on this ?
He's directly competing with you for work in your area 

[Spruce]

I would imagine that one of the biggest issues that any growing business the size of Lee's is that of quality control.

It doesn't appear that he has someone who can follow up on each of these 'complaints', and is it even justified to bother with them. So the job of ensuring a good result to customer expectations is down to the employee. Its kind of like the fox being put incharge of the hen house.

I had my van in for body work repair. What I expected and what I received were two different things. So their 'like new without the price tag' advertising is not what I experienced in reality. Not getting the right colour paint wasn't a good start. Well, the van is 12 years old so its not that important.

If I am looking to buy something from Ebay I will always look at what negative comments a supplier has received from others. I have often moved on a bought elsewhere if I see too many bad experiences from other buyers leaving feedback. In some instances that negative feedback given probably wasn't justified, but I still make a decision based on what I see.

Lee is running a successful business. He is looking for good customers and sifting out the rubbish. I'm inclined to agree with the original poster tho. Bad reviews on his website from unhappy customers, whether justified or not, doesn't look good as other posters have also said.

-

[Soupy]

If I am looking to buy something from Ebay I will always look at what negative comments a supplier has received from others. I have often moved on a bought elsewhere if I see too many bad experiences from other buyers leaving feedback. In some instances that negative feedback given probably wasn't justified, but I still make a decision based on what I see.

Funny that isn't it? A seller can have 10s of 1000s of positive reviews and you only look at the 20 or so negative.

[Spruce]

If I am looking to buy something from Ebay I will always look at what negative comments a supplier has received from others. I have often moved on a bought elsewhere if I see too many bad experiences from other buyers leaving feedback. In some instances that negative feedback given probably wasn't justified, but I still make a decision based on what I see.

Funny that isn't it? A seller can have 10s of 1000s of positive reviews and you only look at the 20 or so negative.

So true.

[Smurf]

I don't think it matters how large or small the firm you operate as bad reviews for all to see can still do a lot of damage to a business as people are internet savvy nowadays.

The main reason why people go out of their way to post a bad review on the internet is they are rather ticked off in some way.
I suppose it’s down to the individual/firm how they go about handling customer complaints in the first place. For example if given the opportunity to handled a customer complaint in a professional manner I would have thought is  half the battle to avoiding getting bad reviews in the first place   

We all have the opportunity to be proactive regards to gaining good reviews and more importantly being able to monitor the quality of service offered. It doesn’t cost anything either to ask for customer feedback from each and every customer/ job you do.

I’m sure Lee could gain 100’s of positive feedback from customers if he wanted but that’s down to him at the end of the day.

[SeanK]

I don't think it matters how large or small the firm you operate as bad reviews for all to see can still do a lot of damage to a business as people are internet savvy nowadays.

The main reason why people go out of their way to post a bad review on the internet is they are rather ticked off in some way.
I suppose it’s down to the individual/firm how they go about handling customer complaints in the first place. For example if given the opportunity to handled a customer complaint in a professional manner I would have thought is  half the battle to avoiding getting bad reviews in the first place   

We all have the opportunity to be proactive regards to gaining good reviews and more importantly being able to monitor the quality of service offered. It doesn’t cost anything either to ask for customer feedback from each and every customer/ job you do.

I’m sure Lee could gain 100’s of positive feedback from customers if he wanted but that’s down to him at the end of the day.

It all depends on where the review is posted, I certainly wouldn't trust a review on a website belonging to the person or company
being reviewed.
Put a bad review about Amazon or one of its VIP sellers on Amazons review page and see how long it stays up. lol.

[nathankaye]

People very rarely post good reviews unless asked or prompted to do so. Ie, testimonials on web pages or facebook for instance. The reason being is because you expect to get a good service. You expect to be treated fairly. You expect to get your windows cleaned (as in this case) to a good standard. So people rarely post on the expected. So when people post negative views its for obvious reasons and not always because they are messers and certainly not from fellow windies (why go to trouble and not everyone checks on reviews or have access to do so). Thats why people take note of the negatives and thats why customer complaints should be dealt with accordingly.
It seems in these cases Lee has demonstrated to us the incorrect way of handling complaints esp in a professional manner. If growing a large national company and wanting respect in doing so....well respect has to be earnt! Throwing a paddy when a complaint comes thru and speaking like a yob to customers will certainly not achieve this

[Og]

You can't please all the people, all the time.

I think if it's 'reasonably practicable' not to use ladders, then perhaps they shouldn't be used.
Buying a wfp is reasonably practicable.