Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Dave Willis on September 16, 2014, 07:17:58 pm

Title: Dumped
Post by: Dave Willis on September 16, 2014, 07:17:58 pm
Got round the back of a house today and all the windows including the conservatory were splattered in hard water stains where some numpty must have gone wild with a hose pipe. Rang the bell and refused to clean it. Customer went wild  ;D
She's been a customer for seven years too. Dumped another yesterday when I refused to clean the insides of her smoke filled carcenergenic hovel.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Ian101 on September 16, 2014, 07:25:42 pm
Got round the back of a house today and all the windows including the conservatory were splattered in hard water stains where some numpty must have gone wild with a hose pipe. Rang the bell and refused to clean it. Customer went wild  ;D
She's been a customer for seven years too.

surely they would have rinsed off  ???
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Kevin Miller on September 16, 2014, 07:35:28 pm
Got round the back of a house today and all the windows including the conservatory were splattered in hard water stains where some numpty must have gone wild with a hose pipe. Rang the bell and refused to clean it. Customer went wild  ;D
She's been a customer for seven years too. Dumped another yesterday when I refused to clean the insides of her smoke filled carcenergenic hovel.

I'm confused, I'm no window cleaner but why would you refuse to clean the windows and conservatory just cause of hard water stains. Seems a bit rude to me the way you explain it.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Plankton on September 16, 2014, 07:40:40 pm
I'm sure I have asked this last week. custy had her roof cleaned and windows are filthy, so I put a note through the door saying it would be a double clean and to advise if ok to clean or not. This has happened round the corner from her and I'm not cleaning up someone else mess time and time again. Charging for a double clean fair enough?
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Bungle on September 16, 2014, 07:51:28 pm
I'm sure I have asked this last week. custy had her roof cleaned and windows are filthy, so I put a note through the door saying it would be a double clean and to advise if ok to clean or not. This has happened round the corner from her and I'm not cleaning up someone else mess time and time again. Charging for a double clean fair enough?

 ??? Is window cleaning not what you do then? Man up and get on with it.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: windowswashed on September 16, 2014, 07:56:56 pm
Keep that attitude if you want plenty of time off eventually as someone else will be happy to take on your customers if you give your customers the attitude you couldn't care less as they do all talk to other people
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Dave Willis on September 16, 2014, 08:00:07 pm
Got round the back of a house today and all the windows including the conservatory were splattered in hard water stains where some numpty must have gone wild with a hose pipe. Rang the bell and refused to clean it. Customer went wild  ;D
She's been a customer for seven years too. Dumped another yesterday when I refused to clean the insides of her smoke filled carcenergenic hovel.

I'm confused, I'm no window cleaner but why would you refuse to clean the windows and conservatory just cause of hard water stains. Seems a bit rude to me the way you explain it.

Because in a hard water area where I live the hard water doesn't come off with waterfed pole and needs to be soaked in viakal or similar. If someone is stupid enough to spray their windows in limescale then I'm happy for them to get someone else to sort it out.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Dave Willis on September 16, 2014, 08:08:29 pm
Keep that attitude if you want plenty of time off eventually as someone else will be happy to take on your customers if you give your customers the attitude you couldn't care less as they do all talk to other people

Maybe rude but some customers have to go - just a bit of weeding out required.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: ben M on September 16, 2014, 10:01:08 pm
Got round the back of a house today and all the windows including the conservatory were splattered in hard water stains where some numpty must have gone wild with a hose pipe. Rang the bell and refused to clean it. Customer went wild  ;D
She's been a customer for seven years too. Dumped another yesterday when I refused to clean the insides of her smoke filled carcenergenic hovel.

I'm confused, I'm no window cleaner but why would you refuse to clean the windows and conservatory just cause of hard water stains. Seems a bit rude to me the way you explain it.

Because in a hard water area where I live the hard water doesn't come off with waterfed pole and needs to be soaked in viakal or similar. If someone is stupid enough to spray their windows in limescale then I'm happy for them to get someone else to sort it out.
+1
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Ian Lancaster on September 16, 2014, 10:11:53 pm
I once had a customer who set a lawn sprinkler too near his conservatory.  When I went to clean the windows the conservatory glass was almost opaque with a layer of limescale.

I knocked on the door and asked the customer to come and look at the conservatory - he said he hadn't noticed that his sprinkler had been watering the conservatory as well as the grass!!

I asked him to run his finger down the limescale so he could see how thick and hard it was (waiting for the comments on that :P) and then said if he wanted me to try to return his conservatory to its original condition there would be a very substantial extra charge.

He apologised for being a numpty, I quoted him an enhanced hourly rate and returned a few days later with some Cillit Bang and cleaned up his conservatory.

Result:- a very good (though exhausting) afternoon's earnings, an apologetic and contrite customer who thereafter took care to ensure he paid promptly, never 'not this time'-ed and was polite and grateful for my service.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: 8weekly on September 16, 2014, 10:21:02 pm
With limescale I just clean normally leaving the limescale nice and clean. I have never received a complaint about it.  ;)
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: leonwilts on September 16, 2014, 11:18:47 pm
I would of cleaned it.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: hasti on September 18, 2014, 06:21:53 am
I once had a customer who set a lawn sprinkler too near his conservatory.  When I went to clean the windows the conservatory glass was almost opaque with a layer of limescale.

I knocked on the door and asked the customer to come and look at the conservatory - he said he hadn't noticed that his sprinkler had been watering the conservatory as well as the grass!!

I asked him to run his finger down the limescale so he could see how thick and hard it was (waiting for the comments on that :P) and then said if he wanted me to try to return his conservatory to its original condition there would be a very substantial extra charge.

He apologised for being a numpty, I quoted him an enhanced hourly rate and returned a few days later with some Cillit Bang and cleaned up his conservatory.

Result:- a very good (though exhausting) afternoon's earnings, an apologetic and contrite customer who thereafter took care to ensure he paid promptly, never 'not this time'-ed and was polite and grateful for my service.


well thats a proper way of running a business.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Mike #1 on September 18, 2014, 07:43:12 am
You should have done it the Ian Lancaster way , Although i do get your point some custys do expect that after they have splattered windows with fence stain etc that it is our job to remove all signs of it at no extra cost  ??? ??? ??? . Mike
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Suffolkcleaners on September 18, 2014, 02:29:46 pm
I would have explained that it would have cost xxxx amount extra to clean it. Make it worth your while and charge enough for you to clean it. If they refuse to pay then fair enough but Just dumping the customer after 7 years seems quite harsh although i'm sensing you prob had problems with that customer anyway? Maybe it was the final excuse you needed(in your head)to get rid of them?
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Dave Willis on September 18, 2014, 05:25:45 pm
She did once say that wfp wasn't very good and was going to try a trad guy one day. Two reasons for this one is her love of squirting the windows with tapwater (they had a hot tub too once) and loads of barbys under the kitchen window. I cleaned the whole of the back of her house once with virosol and an applicator to get rid of the grease specs. Just can't be arsed any more.
In hindsight it wasn't the right way to go about it but hey ho.
Title: Re: Dumped
Post by: Plankton on September 18, 2014, 09:52:17 pm
I'll use Bungles words "man up and get on with it" ;D