Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: AuRavelling79 on April 17, 2014, 08:18:16 pm
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Modified Sept 10th 2014:
BUMP! If you've read this thread before go to the next page for the update ...
Why do I do it? Every time someone on here says "give 'em another chance" I do it at least once and I always regret it. Here's the latest.
When I was trad over ten years ago I was approached by Mrs N**gia who asked me to do her windows and we agreed to every other month. All went well, through change to wfp and everything until Mr N**gia retired and for some reason payment became patchy and long winded until in 2006 I hand delivered a letter saying payment was overdue two cleans.
Payment arrived and all was ok until 2008 when similar happened and I ended up getting paid - with a post it note saying please leave until further notice which I did.
In 2012 Mrs N comes over and asks if I am doing her windows (we obviously all look the same) and I say no because she changed. She apologises and says it was her husband looking for a cheaper deal but that the new windy is unreliable but she'll stick with it.
In January this year Mrs N comes over again says will I start again and she's sorry but Mr N changed window cleaners without her knowledge but she wants me back as the other window cleaner was unreliable and has "disappeared". (I know I know!)
I spell out that it must be every 8 weeks, paid on time, no doorstep cancellations and she agrees and apologises for her husband and so in February I charge her £45 first clean on a £35 job.
So I tip up today, 8 weeks to the day and her son comes to the door and this is how it goes.
N junior: "not today thanks"
Me: "is Mrs N in?"
N junior: "no, but my dad is - DAD! can you come and talk?"
N senior: (from within with asian accent) "we don't want them doing today"
N junior: (parroting dad) "we don't want them doing today"
Me: "can I speak to your father please?"
Me: (at Dan who is coming in the gate with pole no.2) "hang fire Dan, we're getting a case of de ja vu coming on here"
N senior: "we don't want them doing we're quite busy today"
Me: (levelly) "ah, you obviously haven't been apprised of Mrs N's instructions to me ..."
N senior: "she's away on holiday"
Me: "let me explain ... Mrs N asked me to clean last time and told me that you changed window cleaner from me without her knowing and now that window cleaner is unreliable and hasn't turned up and she would like me back (breathe) and so I explained to her that I would, on the basis that I wouldn't be turned away and that I would call every 8 weeks and clean the windows."
N senior: "I don't know anything about that, she's on holiday and so you'll have to call back again when she's back."
Me: (sighing audibly) "Obviously I'm not making myself clear so I'll run through it again for you ... a few years ago you changed window cleaners, not long back that window cleaner stopped coming (musingly and rhetorically) I wonder why? ... Anyway this is now the second time you are trying to do this to me and so you can tell Mrs N I won't be back to clean your windows ... ever!"
(Then I do a flounce that would make John Inman proud and march off down the path)
N senior chasing after me: (Light dawning that he is gonna be in trouble when Mrs N returns) "You can do them, you can do them, I didn't realise, I didn't know, she didn't tell me."
Me: (Reeling away my hose) "Well it seems you have a communication problem in your marriage doesn't it?"
N senior: "Why didn't you contact me first?"
Me: "Because I agreed with Mrs N that I would call every 8 weeks to clean your windows and here I was, on time as reliable as clockwork like she always wanted."
N senior: "Well you can do them, but she is away on holiday."
Me: "I don't blame her; good day!"
N senior: "There's no need to be rude! Now will you clean them?"
Me: "No, never."
N senior; "don't go, come and do the windows."
Me: "No sir; good bye!"
And that was that ...
Dan the Man tells me I was unprofessional (true) but I have decided that if Mrs N asks me back then she can pay me six cleans up front or find yet another windy.
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that is brilliant ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Why do I do it? Every time someone on here says "give 'em another chance" I do it at least once and I always regret it. Here's the latest.
When I was trad over ten years ago I was approached by Mrs N**gia who asked me to do her windows and we agreed to every other month. All went well, through change to wfp and everything until Mr N**gia retired and for some reason payment became patchy and long winded until in 2006 I hand delivered a letter saying payment was overdue two cleans.
Payment arrived and all was ok until 2008 when similar happened and I ended up getting paid - with a post it note saying please leave until further notice which I did.
In 2012 Mrs N comes over and asks if I am doing her windows (we obviously all look the same) and I say no because she changed. She apologises and says it was her husband looking for a cheaper deal but that the new windy is unreliable but she'll stick with it.
In January this year Mrs N comes over again says will I start again and she's sorry but Mr N changed window cleaners without her knowledge but she wants me back as the other window cleaner was unreliable and has "disappeared". (I know I know!)
I spell out that it must be every 8 weeks, paid on time, no doorstep cancellations and she agrees and apologises for her husband and so in February I charge her £45 first clean on a £35 job.
So I tip up today, 8 weeks to the day and her son comes to the door and this is how it goes.
N junior: "not today thanks"
Me: "is Mrs N in?"
N junior: "no, but my dad is - DAD! can you come and talk?"
N senior: (from within with asian accent) "we don't want them doing today"
N junior: (parroting dad) "we don't want them doing today"
Me: "can I speak to your father please?"
Me: (at Dan who is coming in the gate with pole no.2) "hang fire Dan, we're getting a case of de ja vu coming on here"
N senior: "we don't want them doing we're quite busy today"
Me: (levelly) "ah, you obviously haven't been apprised of Mrs N's instructions to me ..."
N senior: "she's away on holiday"
Me: "let me explain ... Mrs N asked me to clean last time and told me that you changed window cleaner from me without her knowing and now that window cleaner is unreliable and hasn't turned up and she would like me back (breathe) and so I explained to her that I would, on the basis that I wouldn't be turned away and that I would call every 8 weeks and clean the windows."
N senior: "I don't know anything about that, she's on holiday and so you'll have to call back again when she's back."
Me: (sighing audibly) "Obviously I'm not making myself clear so I'll run through it again for you ... a few years ago you changed window cleaners, not long back that window cleaner stopped coming (musingly and rhetorically) I wonder why? ... Anyway this is now the second time you are trying to do this to me and so you can tell Mrs N I won't be back to clean your windows ... ever!"
(Then I do a flounce that would make John Inman proud and march off down the path)
N senior chasing after me: (Light dawning that he is gonna be in trouble when Mrs N returns) "You can do them, you can do them, I didn't realise, I didn't know, she didn't tell me."
Me: (Reeling away my hose) "Well it seems you have a communication problem in your marriage doesn't it?"
N senior: "Why didn't you contact me first?"
Me: "Because I agreed with Mrs N that I would call every 8 weeks to clean your windows and here I was, on time as reliable as clockwork like she always wanted."
N senior: "Well you can do them, but she is away on holiday."
Me: "I don't blame her; good day!"
N senior: "There's no need to be rude! Now will you clean them?"
Me: "No, never."
N senior; "don't go, come and do the windows."
Me: "No sir; good bye!"
And that was that ...
Dan the Man tells me I was unprofessional (true) but I have decided that if Mrs N asks me back then she can pay me six cleans up front or find yet another windy.
I dont blame you mate, enough's enough
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was she in westbury ?
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you cant help them. erlier this week i struck every one like that off my round and feel better for it. its hard to know what it is they understand
its almost as if we are char wallahs
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was she in westbury ?
Yes ... d'you know him/her?
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robert phil damn right you are
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was she in westbury ?
Step forward Mrs N...Gia's unreliable windy. ;D
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Why were they speaking with Asian accents?
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was she in westbury ?
Yes ... d'you know him/her?
Haha Brilliant ;D
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Why were they speaking with Asian accents?
;D ;D ;D ;
"They" weren't. Mr N does, Mrs N and Master N don't.
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Why were they speaking with Asian accents?
;D ;D ;D ;
"They" weren't. Mr N does, Mrs N and Master N don't.
a bit like that family from EAST IS EAST?
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Why were they speaking with Asian accents?
;D ;D ;D ;
"They" weren't. Mr N does, Mrs N and Master N don't.
;D
We'd best leave it there; we don't want to stress Tosh out.
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Would loved to have seen the 'John Inman flounce'. Excellent story and bet you feel better for it.
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>Come on Franky, I've been waiting all Easter to find out what your experience with this lot is.
Now the forum's back up you can tell us! ;D
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That was a brilliant read
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>Come on Franky, I've been waiting all Easter to find out what your experience with this lot is.
Now the forum's back up you can tell us! ;D
It was frank in a mask!!! Make sure you watch you've been framed next week!!!
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Glad you've got that flounce sorted Malc. ;D
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This kind of customer makes me laugh. In the early days of window cleaning, your patience is at a high. After a few years of being messed about, tolerance levels drop to zero.
I have flounced may a time :) Never take them back, you will only regret it.
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Why do I do it? Every time someone on here says "give 'em another chance" I do it at least once and I always regret it. Here's the latest.
When I was trad over ten years ago I was approached by Mrs N**gia who asked me to do her windows and we agreed to every other month. All went well, through change to wfp and everything until Mr N**gia retired and for some reason payment became patchy and long winded until in 2006 I hand delivered a letter saying payment was overdue two cleans.
Payment arrived and all was ok until 2008 when similar happened and I ended up getting paid - with a post it note saying please leave until further notice which I did.
In 2012 Mrs N comes over and asks if I am doing her windows (we obviously all look the same) and I say no because she changed. She apologises and says it was her husband looking for a cheaper deal but that the new windy is unreliable but she'll stick with it.
In January this year Mrs N comes over again says will I start again and she's sorry but Mr N changed window cleaners without her knowledge but she wants me back as the other window cleaner was unreliable and has "disappeared". (I know I know!)
I spell out that it must be every 8 weeks, paid on time, no doorstep cancellations and she agrees and apologises for her husband and so in February I charge her £45 first clean on a £35 job.
So I tip up today, 8 weeks to the day and her son comes to the door and this is how it goes.
N junior: "not today thanks"
Me: "is Mrs N in?"
N junior: "no, but my dad is - DAD! can you come and talk?"
N senior: (from within with asian accent) "we don't want them doing today"
N junior: (parroting dad) "we don't want them doing today"
Me: "can I speak to your father please?"
Me: (at Dan who is coming in the gate with pole no.2) "hang fire Dan, we're getting a case of de ja vu coming on here"
N senior: "we don't want them doing we're quite busy today"
Me: (levelly) "ah, you obviously haven't been apprised of Mrs N's instructions to me ..."
N senior: "she's away on holiday"
Me: "let me explain ... Mrs N asked me to clean last time and told me that you changed window cleaner from me without her knowing and now that window cleaner is unreliable and hasn't turned up and she would like me back (breathe) and so I explained to her that I would, on the basis that I wouldn't be turned away and that I would call every 8 weeks and clean the windows."
N senior: "I don't know anything about that, she's on holiday and so you'll have to call back again when she's back."
Me: (sighing audibly) "Obviously I'm not making myself clear so I'll run through it again for you ... a few years ago you changed window cleaners, not long back that window cleaner stopped coming (musingly and rhetorically) I wonder why? ... Anyway this is now the second time you are trying to do this to me and so you can tell Mrs N I won't be back to clean your windows ... ever!"
(Then I do a flounce that would make John Inman proud and march off down the path)
N senior chasing after me: (Light dawning that he is gonna be in trouble when Mrs N returns) "You can do them, you can do them, I didn't realise, I didn't know, she didn't tell me."
Me: (Reeling away my hose) "Well it seems you have a communication problem in your marriage doesn't it?"
N senior: "Why didn't you contact me first?"
Me: "Because I agreed with Mrs N that I would call every 8 weeks to clean your windows and here I was, on time as reliable as clockwork like she always wanted."
N senior: "Well you can do them, but she is away on holiday."
Me: "I don't blame her; good day!"
N senior: "There's no need to be rude! Now will you clean them?"
Me: "No, never."
N senior; "don't go, come and do the windows."
Me: "No sir; good bye!"
And that was that ...
Dan the Man tells me I was unprofessional (true) but I have decided that if Mrs N asks me back then she can pay me six cleans up front or find yet another windy.
Nice story gold ;D we all get it from time to time.
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Long story gold, but you did the right thing ;)
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Nicely Done - Polite too !
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BUMP
Update ... to today.
Mrs N sees DTM at one property and I'm at the other end of another hose on another and don't know about this until Dan tells me.
This is what he says happened.
Mrs N comes over and says "I've just spoken to my husband and said the window cleaner hasn't called for a while and he's just told me what happened at Easter, I'm sorry about that will you start again please?"
Dan politely tells her that he doesn't think I will but he'll ask me and he says that because the conversation got quite heated last time (I did tell Mr N that he and his wife had a communication problem that I wasn't going to get in the middle of!) and the history of it all he thinks I'll say no.
She then says she's after quarterly anyway and Dan says he can't speak for me but he is pretty sure I won't consider that. She goes back in and a few minutes later comes back and says to him her husband has decided not to bother after all ... (I bet he has! ;D)
I wasn't sure whether to tell DtM he should have come and found me rather than take the situation on his shoulders but on reflection he saved me five minutes of wasted time so pat on the back for him.
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I like the sound of Dan :)
Is it me, or do you lot feel like you're treading on egg shells for the first few cleans on new jobs?
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You've got to teach DtM how to flounce Malc ;)
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You've got to teach DtM how to flounce Gold ;)
Think of something like the cross between a grizzly and a gorilla pirouetting ...
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I had one too.
Quite a big place was inside and out every 8 weeks, all agreed she said yes please bla bla.
So I go to book in the next clean (this was a few months ago) she text back 'No thanks we are going to use someone else this time'
And I know who did them and why she chose them, because they were CHEAPER! And these are people paying about £10k a month renting the house!
So I said ok but what about our agreement? No reply.
2 weeks ago I get a text 'Can you come and clean our windows please ASAP'
I replied and said 'I thought you were using another company, that's why you cancelled our agreement?'
She said 'It didn't work out, do you want the job?'
I thought about it, after all it was a £240 job which two of us can do in about 2.5 hours.
I replied 'No thanks, as explained before we can't service irregular jobs. Also we made an agreement and you went back on it. We have approx 350 regular loyal customers who are our priority'
Loved it and I couldn't flounce because I was texting so I very 'camply' cast my phone aside :)
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Loving it >:(
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Yeah.
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Loved it and I couldn't flounce because I was texting so I very 'camply' cast my phone aside :)
Improvisation !! Well done ;)
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Loved it and I couldn't flounce because I was texting so I very 'camply' cast my phone aside :)
Improvisation !! Well done ;)
Can't flounce because he was texting? Amateur. ;D
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Loved it and I couldn't flounce because I was texting so I very 'camply' cast my phone aside :)
Improvisation !! Well done ;)
Can't flounce because he was texting? Amateur.
Made me laugh out loud reading this earlier, Gotta seriously learn to flounce myself. :)