Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: mark311069 on July 28, 2011, 06:42:25 pm
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there has been some talk on here about the willis family trading as clean safe window cleaning undercutting other window cleaners. well ive just had a customer on the phone telling me they have been round to here house today and asked her what she pays for her window cleaning, she has a 3 bedroom detached house and i charge her £9, so they said they will do it for £7. iam please to say she told them no but this is just undercutting .
this what cswc said on another thread
Under cutting
CSWC have no intention to undercut other cleaners but to look for opportunities to be able to deliver a quality service at a competitive and fair price.
so if using this canvassing tatic is not just undercutting what is it then??
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its called business, have you not seen the asda adverts offering to beat every one or they will give you 10% voucher all they are doing is offering the custy a choice at different prices and then it is up to the custy
if they say that you have jacked it in and they have taken over, which has happened a few times on here then that is a different matter
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If you're going to comment on this post, you may want to read this one first:
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=126015.msg1091549#msg1091549
And be aware of what you're saying and what the implications might be.
Vin
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all iam saying is they said they wont undercut people but this is not true, they ask what people pay now then just price lower thats undercutting which they say will not happen so they are lying.
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glad they dont live by me!
£7 for a 3 bed more like £12 -£15
loads if cheap work dont make good business
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all iam saying is they said they wont undercut people but this is not true, they ask what people pay now then just price lower thats undercutting which they say will not happen so they are lying.
I agree. If a company has no intention of undercutting then why ask what the potential customer is paying? there can only be one reason, so you can go in lower.
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i remember the original thread, the majority of wc say they wont undercut, but if there is a job they want then they will, i am sorry but i dont have any loyalty to other wc as none of them have loyalty to me when i get undercut, and i learnt that the hard way,
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CSWC have no intention to undercut other cleaners but to look for opportunities to be able to deliver a quality service at a competitive and fair price.
One of them open ended statements that confirms or denys nothing !!! And the Willis family are clearly very litigous to boot !!!! Careful what ya say !!!!
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It's purposeful undercutting, full stop!
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I know business is business but with the way they seem to be conducting their drive to expand along with their heavy handed (cut from wikipedia) threats of legal action make me think I would rather do business with the devil than anything to do with the Willis massive.
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If they say they are not under cutting but you have evidence otherwise they are either not telling the truth or have little control over their canvassers
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Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
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there seems to be a conflict of interest, i mean they gather all sorts of info at these courses and they have confirmed they are shareholders in this window cleaning company...is this not ethically wrong?
i have to say i have always thought well of the willis family when iv done courses and spoke to them but this doesnt seem right
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I've seen them about too.I would never undercut and think it is disgusting to ask someone to go with them for less than there existing window cleaner.
I think if people undercut people in this manner they will soon become very unpopular with other window cleaners
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I've seen them about too.I would never undercut and think it is disgusting to ask someone to go with them for less than there existing window cleaner.
I think if people undercut people in this manner they will soon become very unpopular with other window cleaners
think they are already mate
i didnt realise until now that its the nvq gang,
so whos the current cleaner of family then?
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Not all this again ??? I thought this was all done to death months ago
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Under cutting happens in any business. I don't "give a sh!t" about that. It's just hypocracy I cant stand
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2 young lads both cleaning the front of 2 bed house.
I've seen them about too.I would never undercut and think it is disgusting to ask someone to go with them for less than there existing window cleaner.
I think if people undercut people in this manner they will soon become very unpopular with other window cleaners
think they are already mate
i didnt realise until now that its the nvq gang,
so whos the current cleaner of family then?
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Not all this again ??? I thought this was all done to death months ago
its this or corri mate ;D
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I'll remind you of that when someone undercuts you and you whinge on here.
Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
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Not all this again ??? I thought this was all done to death months ago
its this or corri mate ;D
corri then ;D
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(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w330/hatchetwound2008/What-You-Talkin-Bout-Willis.jpg)
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please dont use this as an attack on Willis, I cant see there nvq's having anything to do with your business, they are entitled to to charge what they want, its a free world,
If they come to my town to take work, i would return the favour and move into there town to take work.
In reality if you spent time to speak to them you would benefit more than coming here and slagging them off.
To date I have being over £50k in annual work off local window cleaners. In turn i give to work to plenty of windys in areas where i struggle.
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I'll remind you of that when someone undercuts you and you whinge on here.
Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
There's a fella who lives in the same road as me who leaflets my customers with 'we will beat any genuine price'.
Now what was it you were going to remind me of?
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I'll remind you of that when someone undercuts you and you whinge on here.
Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
There's a fella who lives in the same road as me who leaflets my customers with 'we will beat any genuine price'.
Now what was it you were going to remind me of?
But at least this chap is admitting he will undercut as opposed to those who do but deny it
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Who are the Willis family then?
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Who cares if people undercut, its called business.
The DON'T owe you or anyone any apologies or explainations, its there business not yours.
Get over it and concentrate on your own business
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Who cares if people undercut, its called business.
The DON'T owe you or anyone any apologies or explainations, its there business not yours.
Get over it and concentrate on your own business
you seem to defend this family all the time david? do they advertise on this site? does this site take money from them? iam sure you would not think this way if they lived near you
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iam surprised you nave not locked this thread already dave the last time this family was spoken about on here you locked the thread just because they threatened legal action so you ran a mile.
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I had a feeling something was going on with them in Lincolnshire..
I'm in Stamford, so I guess I need to brace myself for their arrival if they've not already arrived?
I would be very uncomfortable with them undercutting in Stamford and Bourne.
I was until now booking on a course at the next available date with them but I don't think it'd be wise if they're coming to town!!
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window cleaning must be the only area of business where
it is frowned upon to compete with the competition.
if any customer moves to another window cleaner for
a cheaper price thats there business,i def wouldnt drop
my price to compete as i charge fairly and if they want to
clean for less more fool them.
yep you lose a custie it normally doesnt take long to replace
them if you are good a what you do :)
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window cleaning must be the only area of business where
it is frowned upon to compete with the competition.
if any customer moves to another window cleaner for
a cheaper price thats there business,i def wouldnt drop
my price to compete as i charge fairly and if they want to
clean for less more fool them.
yep you lose a custie it normally doesnt take long to replace
them if you are good a what you do :)
You are very right.
They're just a bit close for comfort for me and I wouldn't be comfortable training with them knowing that I'm also competing with them.
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No vested interest at all.
I just dont like a witch hunt,
as for them coming to my area or increased competition, BRING IT ON
My business accumen can compete with the best of the them
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Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
What's the point of this forum then. Just about everthing on it happens all the time so why broadcast it on here?
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I'll remind you of that when someone undercuts you and you whinge on here.
Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
There's a fella who lives in the same road as me who leaflets my customers with 'we will beat any genuine price'.
Now what was it you were going to remind me of?
That's not the same and you well know it.
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What goes on between and advertisers and admin, thats there business.
I have no involvement at all in that side of the forum
I just moderate.
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Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
What's the point of this forum then. Just about everthing on it happens all the time so why broadcast it on here?
Good point. It's one I've acknowledged myself. Glad I could be of assistance in highlighting your point. Now where were we? WFP or ladders? Gardiners or omnipole? Fitted tank or ratchet straps? ;0)
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I'll remind you of that when someone undercuts you and you whinge on here.
Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
There's a fella who lives in the same road as me who leaflets my customers with 'we will beat any genuine price'.
Now what was it you were going to remind me of?
That's not the same and you well know it.
You're right it isn't the same. It's worse, he's not being neighbourly.
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never mind all this... just look at my ace new van mount and slx30 pole :-*
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=128248.0
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never mind all this... just look at my ace new van mount and slx30 pole :-*
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=128248.0
weve seen it...get over it!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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never mind all this... just look at my ace new van mount and slx30 pole :-*
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=128248.0
Lol.
Looks good, is that your sandwich box on the right, it's pretty enough!
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never mind all this... just look at my ace new van mount and slx30 pole :-*
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=128248.0
weve seen it...get over it!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
:-[ ;D
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never mind all this... just look at my ace new van mount and slx30 pole :-*
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=128248.0
Lol.
Looks good, is that your sandwich box on the right, it's pretty enough!
the sandwich box is the battery case. which is also wired into the vans alternator did i mention! :D
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I was only looking at the pictures ;D
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Who cares if people undercut, its called business.
The DON'T owe you or anyone any apologies or explainations, its there business not yours.
Get over it and concentrate on your own business
you seem to defend this family all the time david? do they advertise on this site? does this site take money from them? iam sure you would not think this way if they lived near you
I see it as David is defending this site by trying to steer it away from libel rather then defending the Willis family.
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Who gives a sh!t. It happens all the time, so they undercut and they lie, why broadcast it on a global level?
Step outside your door mate and there'll be plenty more like that.
What's the point of this forum then. Just about everthing on it happens all the time so why broadcast it on here?
Good point. It's one I've acknowledged myself. Glad I could be of assistance in highlighting your point. Now where were we? WFP or ladders? Gardiners or omnipole? Fitted tank or ratchet straps? ;0)
See, you obviously inspire me to deep thinking.
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Im not sure that's possible is it? ;)
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You will need a alternator soon.get one ready m8
never mind all this... just look at my ace new van mount and slx30 pole :-*
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=128248.0
Lol.
Looks good, is that your sandwich box on the right, it's pretty enough!
the sandwich box is the battery case. which is also wired into the vans alternator did i mention! :D
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I just cant beleive how wound up people can get in business, undercutting is part of life, no matter who is doing it
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I had a feeling something was going on with them in Lincolnshire..
I'm in Stamford, so I guess I need to brace myself for their arrival if they've not already arrived?
I would be very uncomfortable with them undercutting in Stamford and Bourne.
I was until now booking on a course at the next available date with them but I don't think it'd be wise if they're coming to town!!
On the bright side their training courses may be the cheapest !!!
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Personally, I think undercutting is just asking for trouble. There's plenty of window cleaners about who don't play by Queensbury rules; though I would never retaliate in any way shape or form (apart from taking work back).
But not everyone is a nice, sweet, loveable - or indeed as handsome or entertaining - as myself.
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Who are the willis family
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I had a feeling something was going on with them in Lincolnshire..
I'm in Stamford, so I guess I need to brace myself for their arrival if they've not already arrived?
I would be very uncomfortable with them undercutting in Stamford and Bourne. I was until now booking on a course at the next available date with them but I don't think it'd be wise if they're coming to town!!
I think you better brace yourself then mate.
I was canvassing in Bourne a couple of weeks ago; I spoke to a lady who had asked how much, so I took a look at her house and said £8.
She then says she has a company from Boston and pays £6 and would I do it for £5. :o
I asked who it was and was told clean safe.
And NO I never offered to do it for £5. I said my price is £8 and remains at £8.
I have a price structure for a very good reason, dropping a price by a large amount does not make good sense to me on domestic work.
I was worried about CleanSafe to start with but not anymore, Sure they will take a few cheap skates away from us but at the end of the day it’s all about making a profit and if they are happy to run at the bottom end of the market and pick up our scraps that’s their business.
Eventually they will have to realise that they are working like hell for very little return and either swim with the rest of us or sink.
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i always say i offer a premium service for a good price
i clean frames and sills each clean plus all doors and for an extra quid i'll now do the garage doors too ;)
i also use the safest latest equipment and turn up looking and sounding professional
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Who are the willis family
Who are the willis family
Try again Ladders.........................
You may get an answer on the third attempt ;D
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i always say i offer a premium service for a good price
i clean frames and sills each clean plus all doors and for an extra quid i'll now do the garage doors too ;)
i also use the safest latest equipment and turn up looking and sounding professional
Surely you tell the custy about your new pole as well... Don't you? i think you've missed a trick there. ;D
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If you employ a canvasser to look for work for you, the odds are you will pay him according to the number of leads or new customers he brings in.
This is where the problem of undercutting begins. You many give your canvasser a strict code of conduct you wish him to adhere to - after all he is representing your business.
But when he gets to his first door all he sees is another potential pay packet and will look for the easiest and quickest way to get that customer 'signed up'. Salesmen are mostly driven by money and as many marketing techniques are promotions around saving money, a cheaper price is usually the bait they believe will get them that sale.
When doing quotes in the commercial vehicle sales sector, we always asked what we were up against or where we needed to be - sometimes we were told to just give us your best price but usually we were given a ball park figure.
We are all too blame for this as well as we all look for the cheapest insurance quote, the cheapest place to buy resin etc. because no one, including us, wants to pay more for something than we need to.
Spruce
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i always say i offer a premium service for a good price
i clean frames and sills each clean plus all doors and for an extra quid i'll now do the garage doors too ;)
i also use the safest latest equipment and turn up looking and sounding professional
Surely you tell the custy about your new pole as well... Don't you? i think you've missed a trick there. ;D
:o damn... i forgot to mention that! but honestly if the susty is around i'll offer to show them my van, so no doubt i'll be doing the same with my...
BRAND NEW SLX 30 WITH RED EXTREME SL STANDARD BRUSH
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I had a feeling something was going on with them in Lincolnshire..
I'm in Stamford, so I guess I need to brace myself for their arrival if they've not already arrived?
I would be very uncomfortable with them undercutting in Stamford and Bourne. I was until now booking on a course at the next available date with them but I don't think it'd be wise if they're coming to town!!
I like to think I look after my customers enough to have some loyalty from them. I realise that some will leave so save a few quid but I can replace them. I'm canvassing most days in Stamford area so I'm looking forward to getting feedback from people.
I think you better brace yourself then mate.
I was canvassing in Bourne a couple of weeks ago; I spoke to a lady who had asked how much, so I took a look at her house and said £8.
She then says she has a company from Boston and pays £6 and would I do it for £5. :o
I asked who it was and was told clean safe.
And NO I never offered to do it for £5. I said my price is £8 and remains at £8.
I have a price structure for a very good reason, dropping a price by a large amount does not make good sense to me on domestic work.
I was worried about CleanSafe to start with but not anymore, Sure they will take a few cheap skates away from us but at the end of the day it’s all about making a profit and if they are happy to run at the bottom end of the market and pick up our scraps that’s their business.
Eventually they will have to realise that they are working like hell for very little return and either swim with the rest of us or sink.
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Just don't tell them about all the spots you leave on the windows ;D
i always say i offer a premium service for a good price
i clean frames and sills each clean plus all doors and for an extra quid i'll now do the garage doors too ;)
i also use the safest latest equipment and turn up looking and sounding professional
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glad they dont live by me!
£7 for a 3 bed more like £12 -£15
loads if cheap work dont make good business
in liverpool were,i can only get £5 3bed semis
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I know nothing about this subject other than I saw these guys cleaning in my area the other day.
The thing that struck me was their impressive uniforms - very professional and certainly put mine to shame (but then I'm a wheelie bin cleaner :))
They've actually made me think about getting a much nicer looking uniform which can only give added credibility for potential custys.
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Just don't tell them about all the spots you leave on the windows ;Di always say i offer a premium service for a good price
i clean frames and sills each clean plus all doors and for an extra quid i'll now do the garage doors too ;)
i also use the safest latest equipment and turn up looking and sounding professional
;D what spots? ;D
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Oh well, getting custom by undercutting will only get the dregs that we don't want anyway... There's always going to be someone cheaper...
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I know business is business but with the way they seem to be conducting their drive to expand along with their heavy handed (cut from wikipedia) threats of legal action make me think I would rather do business with the devil than anything to do with the Willis massive.
They did not threaten legal action regarding accusations of undercutting. They threatened it because there was an allegation that they used people's customer lists, gained from their NVQ work as Impact 43, to target people's businesses. The allegation was clearly wrong. I did the NVQ course with them and they only asked to meet me at one customer's house to check on my working methods/ H & S competence etc. They did not even ask me how much I charged for the job. The allegation was clearly unfounded but potentially damaging to their Impact 43 training business if enough people were sufficiently gullible to believe it. For that reason alone, I think they were right to threaten legal action.
As for the (random) undercutting. That's the way some businesses operate. Although that has been common in the commercial field, it has been less so on domestic work. Now that many people's budgets are being squeezed, more operators are undercutting on domestic. So far, it hasn't impacted on my pricing of new jobs - though I have sometimes been more hesitant about increasing prices.
Sure thing, none of us like being undercut and losing a customer or three. However, it isn't illegal and, although it's not something I indulge in myself, it's probably not even unethical.
Who knows? There may come a day when, if the economy implodes enough, when many of us on here have to do it to pay the bills. I certainly hope not but can any of us hold our hand on heart and say that if we were £50 short on the mortgage, we wouldn't take a £50 job that someone else had been doing for £60. I really hope it never comes to that. I try to live by high ideals and dropping my standards would dent my personal pride.
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glad they dont live by me!
£7 for a 3 bed more like £12 -£15
loads if cheap work dont make good business
in liverpool were,i can only get £5 3bed semis
well id be daft to tell you then,
you must be trad mate? not worth getting ye pole out, full house for a fiver?
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glad they dont live by me!
£7 for a 3 bed more like £12 -£15
loads if cheap work dont make good business
in liverpool were,i can only get £5 3bed semis
well id be daft to tell you then,
you must be trad mate? not worth getting ye pole out, full house for a fiver?
Not sure why Michael mentioned Liverpool, like the area was a problem pricing zone. The problem may lie even closer to home. I believe Michael is trad, and i wonder why he can't get the minimum £10 that most of us go for, but then when i read Michael saying he can clean 6 semi's an hour off ladders, easily, then i know why he cannot get more than a fiver a house. And so does anyone else who has cleaned off ladders !!! Also a lot of his work is fortnightly.
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How many of you?
colin purewater...I GOT MY POLE OUT THIS WEEK TO CLEAN £5 AND £6 HOUSES
WE ONLY CLEANED (me and side kick) 240 ODD HOUSES IN 4 DAYS FROM 8.30-3.45
SOME PEOPLE THINK THEY OUR TO GOOD FOR COUNCIL HOUSES
HAPPY DAYS FOR ME...OH AND I ONLY PUT £10 DIESAL IN THE VAN
one street we cleaned 36 in 2 hours....
so for any new starters on this site price what you our happy with...but keep it compact
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36 houses in two hours wow
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one street we cleaned 36 in 2 hours....
This is teh willis family thread. You meant to post this in the do you post when under the influence thread ?
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36 houses in 2 hours lol. now i really have read it all!
Were they wendy houses?
3.3 minutes a house. lol.
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glad they dont live by me!
£7 for a 3 bed more like £12 -£15
loads if cheap work dont make good business
in liverpool were,i can only get £5 3bed semis
well id be daft to tell you then,
you must be trad mate? not worth getting ye pole out, full house for a fiver?
Not sure why Michael mentioned Liverpool, like the area was a problem pricing zone. The problem may lie even closer to home. I believe Michael is trad, and i wonder why he can't get the minimum £10 that most of us go for, but then when i read Michael saying he can clean 6 semi's an hour off ladders, easily, then i know why he cannot get more than a fiver a house. And so does anyone else who has cleaned off ladders !!! Also a lot of his work is fortnightly.
lm not using ladders no more,wfp,even areas with very nice houses 250k hard to get £10,must be me lol,im not complaining happy with what i have
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I know business is business but with the way they seem to be conducting their drive to expand along with their heavy handed (cut from wikipedia) threats of legal action make me think I would rather do business with the devil than anything to do with the Willis massive.
They did not threaten legal action regarding accusations of undercutting. They threatened it because there was an allegation that they used people's customer lists, gained from their NVQ work as Impact 43, to target people's businesses. The allegation was clearly wrong. I did the NVQ course with them and they only asked to meet me at one customer's house to check on my working methods/ H & S competence etc. They did not even ask me how much I charged for the job. The allegation was clearly unfounded but potentially damaging to their Impact 43 training business if enough people were sufficiently gullible to believe it. For that reason alone, I think they were right to threaten legal action.
As for the (random) undercutting. That's the way some businesses operate. Although that has been common in the commercial field, it has been less so on domestic work. Now that many people's budgets are being squeezed, more operators are undercutting on domestic. So far, it hasn't impacted on my pricing of new jobs - though I have sometimes been more hesitant about increasing prices.
Sure thing, none of us like being undercut and losing a customer or three. However, it isn't illegal and, although it's not something I indulge in myself, it's probably not even unethical.
Who knows? There may come a day when, if the economy implodes enough, when many of us on here have to do it to pay the bills. I certainly hope not but can any of us hold our hand on heart and say that if we were £50 short on the mortgage, we wouldn't take a £50 job that someone else had been doing for £60. I really hope it never comes to that. I try to live by high ideals and dropping my standards would dent my personal pride.
good post and say's it all I think, and if anyone bothers to read it the subject would end now, but I guess that will not happen
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at first glance it reads that you go on their course,they check out your method of working,copy your customer list and then hurry round to undercut you if you are local to them .
on further reading its all rubbish ,i think
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2 people trap you need to do your sums again.... 7.5 minutes...
How long does it take you to do a house at £10 with the frames ?
I've just done my sums again. They're right. The two of you are doing a house in 3.3 minutes. Or roughly 7.5 if you were on your own. Does that include set up, dragging hoses, leaving receipts/notes, collecting money etc. And that's constant. No chatting or hold ups.
Sorry but I find that very hard to believe pal.
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;D no influence....just very easy £5 houses .. . and i dont have to worry about under cutting..
maybe put my prices up to £10 pound.... not worth getting the pole out any more for a £5 houses
work is work,most £10 houses are getting done monthly ,so £5 every fortnight makes same money, higher the price open to undercutting ,new water fed pole guy i know lost a lot of his £10 month houses,from another wfp guy,whos doing every 2 week for £4,wfp work is quicker and safer then ladders,i get my own done every fortnight he charges £5,at the same point on one of my rounds someones going around saying he will do full house for£2,now im cheap but not that cheap,
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2 people trap you need to do your sums again.... 7.5 minutes...
How long does it take you to do a house at £10 with the frames ?
I've just done my sums again. They're right. The two of you are doing a house in 3.3 minutes. Or roughly 7.5 if you were on your own. Does that include set up, dragging hoses, leaving receipts/notes, collecting money etc. And that's constant. No chatting or hold ups.
Sorry but I find that very hard to believe pal.
i agree traps, it seems a bit much, i wanna know this...
do you clean frames and sills?
do you clean doors?
do you go over frames and glass once or twice?
do you rinse glass ?
thanks
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10 mins yes 3.3 mins no way .
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Who are the willis family
Who are the willis family
Try again Ladders.........................
You may get an answer on the third attempt ;D
Who the feck are the Willis family >:(
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they run the inpact training...and have now have started up a franchise clean safe or safe clean not sure the names...they have been accused before of using information that they gathered from guys that used there training scheme... that turned out to be false..then they came on this forum and threatened legal action to any one who tarnished there rep
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one street we cleaned 36 in 2 hours....
1 man = 18 houses in 2 hours
1 man = 9 houses in 1 hour.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v737/tosh0987/Funny%20stuff%20for%20forums/bs_metergifpagespeedcebUyx7DNkFu.gif)
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;D..Tosh ....Ive no reason to talk bull poop what would i gain from it.. would say i dont get them done every time like this as its not every time iam up for knock balls in...on friday i managed about 18 houses myself as i was done...
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new water fed pole guy i know lost a lot of his £10 month houses,from another wfp guy,whos doing every 2 week for £4
That sounds a bit exaggerated, to say the least. If he was doing a decent job, I doubt "a lot" of people would have moved from him for the sake of £2. That just doesn't happen in my experience. Customers aren't stupid and (within reason) tend to stick with the devil they know.
Vin
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hi vin,its round the corner from me,its true,i wouldnt pay £10 to get my windows cleaned,so i dont charge £10
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GB no frames.if they want them clean they can ask but they dont get charged.
.no sills (concrete)
no doors(wood)..
rince on the glass as the windows sheet.
no chatting first thing in the morning ..
no hedges, walls or fences in front garden can walk freely through the front gardens.
if a back gate is locked we can clean that house from either side of it from the other garden(only do this on one house..)
no top latch windows straight up and down
GB this is one off street only i wish i had a lot more of them... two houses is like one decent size house..
what i was trying to say that it IS worth while pulling your hose out to do five pound houses..
In some areas its not possible to charge £10 min not that i would anyway as you couldnt get away with it..you would just be under cut... I did start these houses a £6 but as i got more i dropped the price to £5
I did lose a few to a trad guy who comes round every two weeks...Hes now went wfp since i gave him a go cleaning one of theses house with my trusted harris pole...also made him a pole..
Also at these prices i wont have to worry about being under cut like some guy are getting done to them...
Its getting harder out there to pick up new compact work.
Iam lucky i could lose a 100 houses or more and still be ok.. I think this willis group is going to go down the franchise route and our going about it the same way as Ian lancaster (not under cutting but supplying the work as part of the package)
Only bad thing about doing so many houses was the collecting as it took 2 nights and will have to go out today
This is a one off doing so many, because of the july holidays and i had a minor op all the work in this area is behind (i have over 400 houses in this area) and the weather has been brilliant which is pretty rear for
n. ireland
TRAPS..are you saying you dont have one house that you can whip round in 10 minutes or less with frames..doors
GB you might also be happy to no i dont get any spotting.. ;)
okay thanks for the response mate, as long as your happy!
one thing i do find strange is that you would do frames if asked but you wouldnt charge more! ???
GB
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Iam sure i could spare 5 minutes to do the frames just wouldnt like them all to ask me at once
i do give the bottoms a wipe now and again with a cloth
(all windows have vents so they are a pain)
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I'm thinking about starting up a round in Boston with an idea I want to try out where I charge a flat rate of 3 quid a house, I know it sounds cheap but I'll get a couple of my mates who are on the dole to do the work for beer money.
Has anyone got the phone number for Impact43 so I can send the lads on a training course because I want them to look like they know what their on about...
now that is funny ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I know business is business but with the way they seem to be conducting their drive to expand along with their heavy handed (cut from wikipedia) threats of legal action make me think I would rather do business with the devil than anything to do with the Willis massive.
They did not threaten legal action regarding accusations of undercutting. They threatened it because there was an allegation that they used people's customer lists, gained from their NVQ work as Impact 43, to target people's businesses. The allegation was clearly wrong. I did the NVQ course with them and they only asked to meet me at one customer's house to check on my working methods/ H & S competence etc. They did not even ask me how much I charged for the job. The allegation was clearly unfounded but potentially damaging to their Impact 43 training business if enough people were sufficiently gullible to believe it. For that reason alone, I think they were right to threaten legal action.
As for the (random) undercutting. That's the way some businesses operate. Although that has been common in the commercial field, it has been less so on domestic work. Now that many people's budgets are being squeezed, more operators are undercutting on domestic. So far, it hasn't impacted on my pricing of new jobs - though I have sometimes been more hesitant about increasing prices.
Sure thing, none of us like being undercut and losing a customer or three. However, it isn't illegal and, although it's not something I indulge in myself, it's probably not even unethical.
Who knows? There may come a day when, if the economy implodes enough, when many of us on here have to do it to pay the bills. I certainly hope not but can any of us hold our hand on heart and say that if we were £50 short on the mortgage, we wouldn't take a £50 job that someone else had been doing for £60. I really hope it never comes to that. I try to live by high ideals and dropping my standards would dent my personal pride.
PLEASE!!!! read the bloody thread >:( >:( >:(
NOBODY MADE ANY ALLEGATIONS THAT THEY USED THE DETAILS OF ANY TRAINING COURSE CLIENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF GAINING WORK,someone got the wrong end of the stick at the beginning of the thread and the family willis got their collective pants up in a bunch about a different remark altogether which was removed by admin
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Iam sure i could spare 5 minutes to do the frames just wouldnt like them all to ask me at once
i do give the bottoms a wipe now and again with a cloth
(all windows have vents so they are a pain)
but if loads started asking for frames and doors to be done all those five minutes would soon add up to hours! :P
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So in other words you're making the level of money you make by cutting corners and supplying a less than satisfactory standard of work. Thats nothing to shout about mate, we can all do that.
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So in other words you're making the level of money you make by cutting corners and supplying a less than satisfactory standard of work. Thats nothing to shout about mate, we can all do that.
Some customers are very happy to pay a low price and get the glass cleaned / sills wiped
Alot of work i bought early on was that way , now i price everything up based on frames, etc where i can but some still just want glass/sills
Maybe its a divide between the people who are cleaning richer customers , and those who have low income/doleys on the books, as the standard expected vs price they will pay is a huge difference
Ps, its not cutting corners if his agreement with the customer is say £5 a fortnight to clean the glass....
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I do a job properly or not at all.
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they run the inpact training...and have now have started up a franchise clean safe or safe clean not sure the names...they have been accused before of using information that they gathered from guys that used there training scheme... that turned out to be false..then they came on this forum and threatened legal action to any one who tarnished there rep
Thanks ;D