Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: JSMC on February 27, 2011, 08:46:25 pm
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seriously needing to get myself one as the past 2 winters in scotland have screwed me. thinking of learning web design sorta stuff and possibly designing sites from home etc. i also think this market could be flooded and also load sof businesses at present will be thinking web site is last thing they need to spend money on.
doing nothing this winter for me isn't an option
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drug dealing is where the money is m8!
or get yourself a flatback van or recovery truck and collect scrap metals and cars and sell for massive profits!
im hoping to start doing that in a few months aswell as the windows!
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drug dealing is where the money is m8!
or get yourself a flatback van or recovery truck and collect scrap metals and cars and sell for massive profits!
im hoping to start doing that in a few months aswell as the windows!
not a good start mate telling everyone you going start drug dealing ;D
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know few guys who do the scrap thing and they say too many people at it now and really hard to make money
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know few guys who do the scrap thing and they say too many people at it now and really hard to make money
don't let them put you off I weighed in £100 of scrap in ten minutes last week and that was just some brass and copper lying about my garage
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thing slike fridges cannot be scrapped i'm sure. Was ther enot some stupid law came in where these are taken to a special site for disposal.
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theres lots of other stuff to scrap m8!
your getting best part of £200 a car nowadays!
thing slike fridges cannot be scrapped i'm sure. Was ther enot some stupid law came in where these are taken to a special site for disposal.
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Up until last year I done school runs. Mini bus with disabled kids. 7 till 9 in the morning, then 3 till 5 in the afternoon. Done it for years and it made all the difference as the money was always cosh whatever the weather. You need a disclosure and away you go. All your local taxis and bus companies need drivers every year to fill this job.
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thing is with the weather up here most of the schools were off LOL. Need something possibly homebased. This is why i am thinking web design but dunno how good the market is. Defo need to find somehting this year but feck knows what LOL.
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and dont forget your need a waste carries lience ;)
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not if your just selling scrap metal you don't!
and dont forget your need a waste carries lience ;)
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thing is with the weather up here most of the schools were off LOL. Need something possibly homebased. This is why i am thinking web design but dunno how good the market is. Defo need to find somehting this year but feck knows what LOL.
Only off 11 days all winter. Wife works in a school and we live in central Scotty too.
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thing is with the weather up here most of the schools were off LOL. Need something possibly homebased. This is why i am thinking web design but dunno how good the market is. Defo need to find somehting this year but feck knows what LOL.
Only off 11 days all winter. Wife works in a school and we live in central Scotty too.
also had 17 days with flu matey :(
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i weighed in my broken washing machine last week and got £12 well happy was no good to me and it was £12 the council tip would not have given me :)
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have microwave, fridge freezer, and sink plus old hob sitting in back garden just now a snew kitchen fitted
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JSMC can i ask how long you ve been window cleaning and do you clean any commercial?
also do you work in the rain?start reasonably early?(eg 830-9am).
i had 3 weeks off during xmas and lost a fair bit of money before the break but i was fine for money.
i always have an emergency fund that i can dip into during spells of extreme weather etc.
surely you can earn enough during the rest of the year to keep ticking over during the winter?
maybe a price rise on some of your work?
i find i dont need to have a second income as i can live reasonably comfortable off window cleaning alone.
or do you have a lot of outgoings?big morgage,car/van payments,debts,etc
best wishes
dazmond
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majority of my work is commercial but also have houses. only started 3 years ago and do have funds put by but this winter made a dent in my savings and then illness also at start of year.
round my way 3 bed semis about 3.50 -5 quid also. House work is poor in scotland.
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majority of my work is commercial but also have houses. only started 3 years ago and do have funds put by but this winter made a dent in my savings and then illness also at start of year.
round my way 3 bed semis about 3.50 -5 quid also. House work is poor in scotland.
i would give up m8!
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2nd job, wish i had time, :D, on the subject of scrap how much does anyone think for a triple 6.5 metre ladder?
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2nd job, wish i had time, :D, on the subject of scrap how much does anyone think for a triple 6.5 metre ladder?
at least a score ali is worth loads now ;) probably more
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2nd job, wish i had time, :D, on the subject of scrap how much does anyone think for a triple 6.5 metre ladder?
at least a score ali is worth loads now ;) probably more
i hope so, bought it for 1 job only, and not userd anymore just taking up space, may need to take it in,
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phone first and get the scrap value all scrappy's are robbing barstewards if the can get away with it.
I took a 4x4 pajero up and they were right just stick it over there, I said how much and he offered a £120 I said no chance it weighs well over two tonne so put it on the weighbridge ;) he gave me £360 in the end
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its not new, i bought it second hand, but would cost over a grand to buy new, needs re roping as stood a whle, but still a good ladder, didnt think anyone would use a ladder this high,
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its not new, i bought it second hand, but would cost over a grand to buy new, needs re roping as stood a whle, but still a good ladder, didnt think anyone would use a ladder this high,
weigh it in, ;D ask for a price first so you don't get ripped off
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theres lots of other stuff to scrap m8!
your getting best part of £200 a car nowadays!
thing slike fridges cannot be scrapped i'm sure. Was ther enot some stupid law came in where these are taken to a special site for disposal.
My old man used to collect car batteries years ago, the price fell so he gave up. A few weeks ago he took 7 batteries including a beast of a lorry battery I think and got £45 or maybe more. Drove me mad on the phone about it ;D He was well chuffed ;D
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One of the window cleaners around us works at Sainsbury's on a night time (Friday/Saturdays) as a second income.
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Ideally if you are making enough the rest of the year you don't need to worry. But life isn't always that perfect so ...
You need something for when the snow stops you working and as it's a "stop gap" how about getting a decent snow shovel and 25kg of salt as soon as it snows get out knocking doors offering to clear the snow there and then.
If you can't get the car/van out then start with your neighbours' at say £5 for their footpaths ... at least you'll be earning. If you can drive then go to your custies which has a twofold benefit in that you clear their paths for a few quid and make safe access for your window cleaning later.
And it will fit in with your round perfectly.
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Make hay while the sun shines mate. Oh n get into gutter clearance and internal work. Maximise the earning potential from your existing customer base. Book all your gutters in for just after autumn n it will give you a nice wedge to get u thru winter.
TLC
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what part of scotland are you windy's from then?
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One of the window cleaners around us works at Sainsbury's on a night time (Friday/Saturdays) as a second income.
No Ian, that's his fulltime job, window cleaning is his hobby. It's Ewan.
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what part of scotland are you windy's from then?
We've got a custy that used to clean windows in Scotland in the late 90's. Him and his mate charged 1.50 a pop and when they increased the price one year by 30p, they lost alot of custies!!! He pays us €15 for a 2 bed semi!!!! ;)
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Make hay while the sun shines mate. Oh n get into gutter clearance and internal work. Maximise the earning potential from your existing customer base. Book all your gutters in for just after autumn n it will give you a nice wedge to get u thru winter.
TLC
got guttervac also but prices are useless. vans driving around with gutters cleaned from 10 quid lol. getting 25 quid for a 3 bed semi yer doing good up here LOL
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Make hay while the sun shines mate. Oh n get into gutter clearance and internal work. Maximise the earning potential from your existing customer base. Book all your gutters in for just after autumn n it will give you a nice wedge to get u thru winter.
TLC
got guttervac also but prices are useless. vans driving around with gutters cleaned from 10 quid lol. getting 25 quid for a 3 bed semi yer doing good up here LOL
I did a gutter clean for £80 on saturday central scotland just ask for more you would be surprised at the amount that say yes ok go ahead
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jsmc
i wouldnt think about another income , i dont know your personal circumstances, but any time i have thought about it , and one time i did it, i found they both made it hard to concentrate on either one without neglecting one seriously
If i was you i would look seriously , and honestly at your working habits, hours, prices, method etc
And determine what you could do better to make more through the good times, and save for bad
Also maybe look at cutting overheads for business, and maybe personal!
I cant see that window cleaning cant pay even for losing a bit of time through bad weather
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just had abad few months. dived into my savings big time and probs just feeling down lol. pricing is an issue up here i feel. Ye really struggle for good money i feel.
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just had abad few months. dived into my savings big time and probs just feeling down lol. pricing is an issue up here i feel. Ye really struggle for good money i feel.
I know how you are feeling two years on the trot have been hard winters. my brother has started saving for the worse in case it is the same this winter, my problem is I can't save because I wiped out my savings and this winter nearly put me out of business so every extra penny is paying things of.
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Thats it, i do the same when im down with it, but other jobs are just as hard, probably more, the answer is to refine your round and habits, window cleaning will pay you better than anything at home , unless it illegal :)
Make the most of weather now, and maybe work through some more bad weather than you normally would in the next 6 months
If you worked through 14 days of rain in autumn, spring , summer it would cover 14 days of snow and ice!!
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just had abad few months. dived into my savings big time and probs just feeling down lol. pricing is an issue up here i feel. Ye really struggle for good money i feel.
I know how you are feeling two years on the trot have been hard winters. my brother has started saving for the worse in case it is the same this winter, my problem is I can't save because I wiped out my savings and this winter nearly put me out of business so every extra penny is paying things of.
yip winter pst 2 years have been hard. the previous winter lasted a lot longer i feel right through to february where we had serious cold weather and ice
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http://www.anyjunk.co.uk/?gclid=CKLdnPjpq6cCFcoa4QodpWefBQ
house clearence seems to be a good way of making money these days if you buy a flat bed van with cage round it
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when the bad weather arrived i brought a load of cheap wooden furniture from auction and got a load free from the dump i then painted them shappy chic and sold them on e-bay made a nice few quid it all the rage at the moment if it is the rage next winter i will be doing it again
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shappy chic ??????? what is that LOL. we will be needing some photos of yer handy work
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COUNTRY-PINE-TABLE-4-CHAIRS-FARROW-BALL-SHABBY-CHIC-/190502159697?pt=UK_Home_Garden_DiningRoomFurniture_SM&hash=item2c5ad04551
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armed robbery used to be ideal way in liverpool in 80's but they seem to be very serious about it these days ;)
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JSMC you still on msn mate?
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why dont you do carpet cleaning thats a good indoor winter bonus .or house clearances theres a load of houses that need it especially round here 8)
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maintenance and windows for me, both suffered through winter, just could not get the vans out at times.
then vat rise with everything else and people just locked down and I lost some jobs. everyone has been hit recently no matter how small or big they are.
things looking up though just got to ride it out.
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why dont you do carpet cleaning thats a good indoor winter bonus .or house clearances theres a load of houses that need it especially round here 8)
I think you are under estimating how bad it was up here you could not park up here for weeks, you could drive main routes and onto estates but once you got there there was three foot of snow piled up everywhere and cars abandoned everywhere, my mrs is a domestic cleaner and the only way she could work was me to drive her there and then pick her up again, almost every road was single track only. we never had bins emptied for 5 weeks. I know a wheelie bin cleaner that if it had lasted one more week he was out of business and he has half a dozen vans and at least double that employees
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i wonder how much would my kawa gt550 and spare engine be worth to scrap quite a heavy bike.
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This year I am determined to save up at least 6 weeks money through the good summer months so that when the snow starts I can just take the time off and not worry about it!
Andy
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Scrap metALS are a great business.you can make serious money without commuting too much time.also scrap cars and car spares is a great way to make money on ebay.bought a door lockset for my van 150 quid from a breakers .
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Thinks are obviously hard out there with all the cuts etc.
Winter was bad but we even so we only lost 6 complete days - we did something on all the others.
We do work in light to moderate rain, and only stop if its cold if the water is literally freezing. Working in moderately bad weather all year round seems to be the way forward. Don't want to be late to customers anyway because they all seem to want more from you at the moment - if you're late it's an excuse to get rid! Very few customers object if we work in the rain and if they do we just avoid them when the weathers not bad. Makes hardly any different wfp anyway.
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JSMC....yeah bad again here in Holland and I suppose for Cozy over in Germany too.
We seem to get the same bad weather as scotland (perhaps less ;) ) But I have been thinking about running my business from a quad just like Kevin...with this you could clear snow, lay grit in the deeper snow times...then getting to work would always be a option..
So many possibilities...ok you need to re-think your working but how much have you lost during the last 2 winters?...I know how much they cost me financially and headwise!
Cheers
Dave.
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Heres a good side liner in the winter. How about if you go around to every house in your street offering a defrost their car service? £5 A time you'd soon have a few bob in your back pocket, Just a thought.
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You could always look into being a rep for a utility company. Hard work building a customer base mind but can there is money to be had whilst giving your customers a saving. It's worth a thought, don't expect to retire anytime soon though and try not to listen to all the bull they feed you.
I joined one about 10 years back, got about 6 customers and gave up trying. It's VERY frustrating work, mainly convincing people that you can save them money.
I can only comment on one company utility warehouse, they have a large array of loss leading services that are designed to hook the customer in. I can honestly say that it's not a rip off in any way, im still a customer myself after 10 years.
The fact is this, the company and you as a rep, only really earn money from the customers gas and electric usage. All the other things the customer uses like phone, mobile, internet, loyalty card etc earn you bugger all ;D But they do save the customer lots of money, which in tern keeps them happy and makes them stay with you. You earn a percentage of their gas and electric usage as long as they stay a customer.
They operate the business with a "tiered marketing strategy" and if you have any brains you'll think Pyramid scheme. Most people do, but there's a fundamental difference between the two. A pyramid scheme has no product and thus is a con that will eventually crash leaving many people skint and a few very rich and on the run ;D
I still have my site but can't be arsed recruting customers or reps these days as I got very fed up trying ;D But I can tell you that it works for some people, just don't expect to get rich quickly or at all.
The fact that you have a captive audience "your customers" is a very good start. That's half the problem solved, the other is getting their business ;) Once you've got them it's very unlikely you'll lose them trust me.
It cost me money to become a rep, about £250 I think, but I'm fairly sure it's no longer that much, in fact there are ways to become a rep for nothing I think. As a customer you can refer others and make money from it, but I don't think you're allowed to recruit other reps.
Have a read www.energywise.co.uk (http://www.energywise.co.uk) and see what you think, I'll honestly answer any questions you might have. They key to success is basically to get about 20 customers, then 5 reps and get them to find 20 each and so on blah blah, once you've set them off hopfully they will continue to replicate and your half way to global domination ;D
Good luck ;D
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Another option for you might be lawn care, we will be offering this service to our customers based on the following thoughts. WFP done correctly sometimes leads to customers moving to an 8wk clean, rather than mis them out we will drop by and cut the grass every other month rather than the windows.
I agree there's not as much money to be made, but a well kept lawn will probably need cutting more than once a month in the summer months unlike the wfp windows.
£300 buys you a fairly tidy mower and I do lurv the smell of freshly cut grass ;D Why have sparkling windows and a shabby lawn ;)
Or offer a discount spray tanning service to your better looking customers :o
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I have a friend who has mown lawns for over 25 yrs. He mows them weekly (except in droughts when he goes to 2 weekly)
He works from mid March till the second week in November. Then he normally goes on holiday till the end of Feb. Goes to India, Nepal, Thailand etc.
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utility warehouse i cleana shop and guy is one of the main agents for this. He is always at me to sign up but i am very sceptical of it all. also dont wanna ge tmy custys into something that could then result in bad blood between us
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Thats a good attitude to have mate, I can speak as a rep and as a customer and I've not had cause to complain in 10 years.
Your best bet is to sign up yourself first as a customer then you'll be able to see what's on offer. One of the recent hooks is the loyalty card thing. That is super handy especially if your self employed, every time you fill up with fuel for instance. First you can put it through the books as your business expenditure, but secondly a percentage of what you spend on fuel also comes off next months utility bill.
I spent ages trying to convince my own brother when I started out, then gave up. 10 years on he's sat on my sofa telling me how him and my mum are switching to this new company and how he's been saving money with this card thing.........
I was not impressed ;D
My missis also nearly exploded trying to keep her mouth shut until he left ;D
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I've a friend whose starting to supply wild food to posh restaurants and I'm starting to work for him in April; just whenever I want to.
He's going to train me up, and it's the knowledge I'm after since I've an interest in this sort of thing; and this guy knows his stuff.
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Here's my wifes motor... thought i'd show it with talk of UW ... it works !!
(http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo356/bongoville/IMG_1237.jpg)
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Was the night she got it back in Sept... the shed in the background is my van ;D
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Well there you go, it can work for some people ;D
I can't remember how much work you have to turn over to win the car but obviously she's been super busy ;D
Tell her well done from me :)
It takes serious dedication ;)
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I've got a customer that keeps hounding me to join up with Utility Warehouse. He bombards me with emails and texts regarding the business etc. He also keeps me talking for way too long when I clean his windows.
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I've got a customer that keeps hounding me to join up with Utility Warehouse. He bombards me with emails and texts regarding the business etc. He also keeps me talking for way too long when I clean his windows.
Wor Lass's running friend's husband tried to do the same with me. He'd corner me at races and bore me, he'd send me e-mails and eventually, when he phoned me, I had to be blunt, because the guy didn't take a hint, and tell him to leave me alone - that I really wasn't interested.
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Ive been bombarded with people trying to get me to go to utility warehouse for many years, and its always played on my mind but never done anything about it.
Anyway, we recently moved house, and this house was already set up with them, so i thought tell you what give them a go, we have electric and phone with them.
Well im not happy with them in all honesty, first bill was £50 which i thought wow brilliant, then second bill was £83...hmm still not so bad, and then last months £206!! Said theyd "under estimated us" seems to me they rope you in with first few cheap months then nail you...mind you im yet to see this months so maybe it will balance out.
What i wasnt happy with was their service, ive been with scottish power and BT most of my life and never had a spot of bother. So i set up with them, direct debit details etc etc all sorted. After a month i get the REMINDER letter and "if you think this has been sent by mistake please ignore" so i did. then the RED one came through, so i thought ill just ring, and cut a long story short someone had taken a digit down wrong on phone. So set up all again and looked to be sorted...next month comes by REMINDER comes through...hmmmmm, i ignore again because i KNOW ive set it up now, RED letter, then another letter saying they would use force to enter the property and cut electirc and phone lines and do this and that and all this, not a very nice letter if you ask me!
So i get home that evening and the phone lines been cut off, thus effecting my internet, so i couldnt send out invoices, getting no calls in etc etc. Im livid now, i have set up trying to pay them TWICE i wasnt trying to get out of it, why would i! I ring them on my mobile which by the way cost me a bomb, spoke to a chap who was alright, hes like somethings not right here and i can see youve called, so i sorted out AGAIN with him, so i said i want my line back on now then, "i think theyll be a charge for this" :o
I cant explain how mad i was, he passed me onto some women who informed me it was going to be £70 re connection charge! WHATTTTTTT did i hit the roof, she went off on one saying i ignored letter, to which to a certain extent i did but why should i keep ringing to rectify their mistakes, if theres a problem with a direct debit THEY should be calling me. I asked to speak to someone else and they rang me back.
After ALOT of stress it got sorted, the bloke who rang me back said it was all my fault which it always is isnt it! They tied me in for another 12 months "because i broke the contract", in end it did get sorted and he said "it wont be £70, it might be £25" so i said if you charge ill have to go elsewhere cause this is ridiculous...then miraculously the charge was dropped and all put back on after a couple of weeks...then i had to reset my broadband up with my provider.
What a load of flaff, i havent got a good word to say about them yet. Id hate that if i recommended them to a customer and they had the hassle i did! How embarrassing would that be going to clean windows when theyd had all that trouble!
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Blimey Sensai you certainly got the crap end of that lot. Only had one problem myself with a customer not entering the number to stop her caller ID being displayed manually as it used to take a few days to sort out. She had a return phone call from someone that should not have had her number.
It caused a problem, mainly for me as I was not happy with the situation at all. Customer was ok about it after I pointed out what happened.
That fluctuation in billing at the start is because they are sodding about trying to judge your usage. If you e-mail them your monthly meter reading they will adjust your billing accordingly and hopefully it will get sorted asap.
I take your point about worrying about customers having problems and it reflecting badly on you. Also I know how annoying it can make people when they get bombarded with the hard sell all the time.
The frustration is also felt by the rep trust me. It used to drive me nuts that people even had to think about it financially as they tend to beat the other companies hands down. Like I said they operate many money saving ideas that do save the customer money but they are all loss leaders for the company and reps really.
There's only so much you can drop the costs by so to keep customers they tend to offer combined deals that hold on to the customers business, that's good news for the customer at the end of the day the more services you have the more benefits you earn type of thing.
10 years back they were the only player really in a way over priced market place, these days the margins are much tighter in business terms. Over all people can't be arsed most of the time, I only use the gas electric and phone as I couldn't be bothered applying for the loyalty card ;D I know it works just can't be bothered ;D
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Checked out their site. That looks like the Tiscali set up from about 5 or 6 years ago. Some of the dvd looks like the Amway set up too. Good luck with it. If it was running over here for ze Gurmuns I'd have a piece of that.
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Several ex taxi drivers I know have gone "Driving the Doctors" ie driver for the night service call out doctors. Its quite good money but the jobs are never advertised. You have to be in the know. Its the closest thing to money for old rope you will ever come across. The doctors are always foreign, so they need a driver but they do all the work. All you do is drive them from house to house and wait outside. Sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 2 hours.
Around here the main company is Harmoni but if you ask at your local surgury they will tell you who they use and where they are.