Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: The Fox on May 03, 2006, 06:42:08 pm
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Yesterday a customer phoned to let me know that she would not be in today but the gardener would keep an eye on me.
Tonight a customer that I cleaned this morning phoned.
A parcel had been left in the back garden but had gone missing, had I seen it when I cleaned her windows.
She never actually accused me of taking it but the tone of her voice defiantly did.
Something goes missing, blame the window cleaner
All my customers have both my home and mobile number and my home address. I wear a uniform and always clean and tidy, also I have a CRB certificate.
What more can someone do, this as made me bloody angry.
:( :( :(
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Aye, they think we're all Scousers..... ;D
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So what was in the parcel then? Have you sold it on eBay yet?
;)
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Car stereo, wheeltrims...etc
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I think us window cleaners get moaned at a lot, whenever I meet people and they mention there window cleaner they always have something negative to say like "my window cleaner is only here 2 minutes" or "mine cleans them in the rain", it seems that its the done thing to moan about window cleaners (not to our faces though) its almost as if they want there windows clean but for free,
I must say that this doesnt apply to all of them, but you know the sort of people I mean (not refering to those 2 witches who sit at home doing nothing but moan, while I pay my taxes to keep them) lol :)
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Well you have put a smile back on my face ;D ;D
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Hey Squeaky I'm a scouser, but I'm not a thief
K
Be very carefull how you deal with it, I knew a window cleaner in somerset, who was getting on in years, he took on a new guy, to help him out,and he worked well, so he thought for the first day, that night there was a knock on his door and it was the police,they arrested him for theft of a wallet from the bedroom window,Knowing this guy did the upstairs he informed the police and after investigation arrested him they also discovered a watch the customer never realised had gone.
This poor old guy then got a bad reputation that put him out of business, the story didn't go around that it was the window cleaners mate but the story went around that the window cleaner stole it. 23 years window cleaning down the pan for some one else's.
May I suggest you go around to her in person and try to sort it out, what ever you do wait till you calm down then go and visit her to sort the problem. Kiss her a**e if you have to but sort it face to face.
I and all the guy's on here wish you the best of luck and keep us posted.
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Jeff1
That’s what I am worried about; I am going around tomorrow to collect payment and to talk to her.
Unfortunately scousers have that perception as well, which is not justified.
I suppose it is the way things are which we can not change.
kevin
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the trouble is if a person orders something to be delivered and doesnt sign for they do it, they do that at there own risk! Ive had this trouble with having parcels delivered and I find most companies won't just leave a parcel even if you ask, in an ideal world it should be safe, Im going of the subject now.
But if I was going to steal a parcel (which I wouldnt officer), would I put a leaflet through the door saying that Ive been there!
I hope this works out ok, maybe she was just mad at loosing her parcel and she wrongly took it out on you or maybe she is trying it on and wants a extra item to be delivered (its not the first time that has happen)
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Don't give her a freebee,its like admitting guilt,
But i would have gone around straight away to deal face to face, as you are leaving it until payment is due,tell her that you are more than happy for her to call in the police to let them sort it out.
If you did see the parcel there then tell her that it was there when you left, (could be just a coincedence she was going to be out the day the gardener and window cleaner were there, could be pulling a scam.)
ask her if she questioned the gardener, and if so what was his reply, go for her jugular in a nice way, to keep your good reputation.
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But if I was going to steal a parcel (which I wouldnt officer), would I put a leaflet through the door saying that Ive been there!
I totally agree with this
It’s the gossip I am worried about.
Jeff1
I plan on behaving normally; I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.
The gardener was a different customer who didn’t want me working with out supervision
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could be just a coincedence she was going to be out the day the gardener and window cleaner were there, could be pulling a scam.)
Me and scrimit2 seem to be looking along the same lines
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I thought the gardener was there to keep an eye on you?
some spy he turned out to be
gaza
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I would be really mad if this was me, I would stay calm but go and see her and tell her I wouldnt be cleaning her windows anymore, as I didnt like being called a thief and see what she says, either way I wouldnt do them again unless I got a huge apology
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seems odd that she phoned you before hand to say the fardener will keep an eye on you - as if she was prempting the need for a backup to her story that was yet to unfold.......i.e. the parcel theft
i would say to her a) why did the parcel compamy leave the parcel unsined for and b) show her your CRB explain what it is and then say she has really upset you by saying basically you have stollen the item and that regreatablly you can no longer clean her windows and that unless she wants to keep you on you can no longer feel you are able to clean her windows.
see what she says then - if she says bye fine she would acuse you every time.....if she ums and ahs then she is a fake
DC
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I would just explain that whatever value the parcel had, it would not be worth as much as you had already invested in your business. There is no way you would risk damaging or losing your business over the contents of whatever may have been in her parcel.
Good Luck!
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think when you go round to collect money ask her if the parcel situation has been sorted.Tell her you never seen it.keep calm and be polite cause the last thing you want is her telling the street "the window cleaners a thief" and you lose customers.All the best mate and keep us informed.remember keep 8)
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Went to collect payment today, asked about the missing parcel, it as turned up
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Glad to hear of that mate.if you really think she suspected you i would tell her to look for another window cleaner.
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Reading this thread has made me wonder , i started a new account today , when i went round the back the rear door was wide open and nobody was in , when i say open i dont mean unlocked i mean door wide open , the lady is having a conservatory built , in the time i was in the street the merchants dropped off the bricks , a skip was delivered and the glazing firm turned up to tear up the old patio , so thats 5 people that have had access to the house between the hours of 9 and 2 , these people are mad !
Rich P @ F
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Last time i came across something like Rich posted i left a note through her letter box and closed the doors.
Think the kids got a right going over going by what she told me the next time i saw her.
I'm surprised how many people are quite happy to leave their door keys for me, especially on 1st cleans.
Craig
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Let them know if your with the federation and that you have a legal team and insurance companys that will back you up in a court of law.Then tell her youll take HER to court for wrongfull accusations....it works every time...oh and drop in the fact that youll put them on the "black " list and will never be able to get a fully insured if at all another window cleaner
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have a look at this for a real laugh...!!! :P :P
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=187076
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I hear some terrible stories about previous window cleaners. I guess we all do from our customers. I would love to hear what they say about me ( or maybe I wouldn't !) . The point is we are all vunerable to this sort of thing. Keeping yourself as far away from the image of the casual cowboy as possible is about our only option.
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have a look at this for a real laugh...!!! :P :P
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=187076
yes that did amuse me!
cant believe how many tight people there are out there!
I'm honestly priced; "thats the price...........honest!" lol
Simon ;)
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Hi I have have found that people like to think they know who did somthing its better than not knowing its called compartmentalising (if I've spelt it right) the mind works better when you put things away in a box and file it. The best way I have found to deal with it is to ask her if it turned up or not, tell her that she should report it to the police and that you are very upset that she thought it was you and how much sleep you lost watch her face reden as she tells you it was left next door.Tell her in all your years window cleaning you have ever taken so much a penny on a drive And if she really thinks it was she can get another window cleaner but be gracious in excepting her appology it will come it always does people dont mind hinting they do not like direct confrontation. best of luck and remember the customer is alway right--unless they're wrong
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Get this there is a guy in my area who has been window cleaning years and is a smack head.
he turns up to clean peoples windows when he feels like it, sometimes he "forgets and goes twice a week" when i am canvassing all his cusotmers moan and tell stories of him robbing stuff out of garages yet won't switch as he charges £3 for a three bedroom detached £4.5 with cons
people never cease to amase!!
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When i first started i used to get really frustrated with customer perceptions of window cleaners. Now i just think you daft prat
I answer to no one,my work schedule varies to suit my needs and i earn more than most who look down there noses.
Who wants to work in an office structured breaks, inane talk about last nights tv. not me
Cheers Mark.
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There will always be a certain number of domestic customers who think like this.
Hmm, £10 for cleaning the windows, I could do them myself but I can't be arsed,
I keep meaning to do them but never seem to get round to it. I'm lazy that's my problem.
The window cleaner comes and he's only here 10 mins. £10 for 10 mins,
God I wish I could earn £10 in 10 mins. £60 an hour, 40 hrs a week, Bloody hell! He must be on £2400 a week. £124800 a year. The robbing sod.
I'll do them myself.
But they are in a mess and need doing, I'll do them tomorrow, forgot, can't tomorrow, promised the kids a day out.
I'm a lazy sod, just putting it off.
No I'm not, I just have more important things to do. I work hard all week, don't I deserve a break. Yeah, and the kids come first.
Sod the windows
PLEASE MR WINDOW CLEANER, CAN YOU PUT ME ON YOUR LIST?
We all have customers like this. Dai
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There will always be a certain number of domestic customers who think like this.
Hmm, £10 for cleaning the windows, I could do them myself but I can't be arsed,
I keep meaning to do them but never seem to get round to it. I'm lazy that's my problem.
The window cleaner comes and he's only here 10 mins. £10 for 10 mins,
God I wish I could earn £10 in 10 mins. £60 an hour, 40 hrs a week, Bloody hell! He must be on £2400 a week. £124800 a year. The robbing sod.
I'll do them myself.
But they are in a mess and need doing, I'll do them tomorrow, forgot, can't tomorrow, promised the kids a day out.
I'm a lazy sod, just putting it off.
No I'm not, I just have more important things to do. I work hard all week, don't I deserve a break. Yeah, and the kids come first.
Sod the windows
PLEASE MR WINDOW CLEANER, CAN YOU PUT ME ON YOUR LIST?
We all have customers like this. Dai
this is soooo true
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I got blamed for breaking a upstairs window with my GF pole and brush, funny how the hole was round, like a stoned had been thrown at it, and she wanted ME to pay for it :o ::)
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Hey Squeaky I'm a scouser, but I'm not a thief
i knew there must be ONE. :o
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macc...you are seriously taking the pxxx and offending me...so you...like so many others...think all people from Liverpool are thieves?
why???...show me the proof behind your reasoning
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Don't get upset Steve. I only live 35 miles from you and I'm a Liverpool fc fan.
If they really believe all scousers are thieves, and that we Welsh guys really fancy sheep. Well, what can you say, if your happy with who you are, and I am. They can laugh at me all day if it makes them happy.
You know that people with low self esteem are always looking for others to take the pi55 out of. Chill man, I've read enough of your posts to understand your an OK guy.
Some people cast their hook and wait in eager anticipation for someone to take the bait. Dai
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your right Dai...but honestly mate it seriously annoys me.
This thread is about other peoples perceptions of us as window cleaners and how annoying it can be when they treat us as if we are out of work ex. convicts doing a bit of cowboy beer money work on the side.
It feels 10 times worse when some people on here appear to have "perceptions" about anyone from Liverpool.
I`ve said it before, a joke and a wind up is fine, but when the Liverpool wind ups are ALWAYS about being a thief, it is really out of order and insulting.
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Geordie wind-ups normally revolve around being 'thick'. (I'm a Geordie).
We all have perceptions based on how people look, their sexual orientation or their ethnic origins, football team they support, car they drive, school they went to, occupation they do, etc and so on.
It's human nature to stereo-type people, but does it really matter?
The brighter person realises that these perceptions are false; or at least is able not to let them cloud their judgement.
PS.
To Steve K,
I had a 'blast from the past' call on me unexpectedly. She's a female soldier, a corporal and she arrived with a friend from Liverpool; Jenny.
When Jenny went upstairs to the use the toilet, I followed her to make sure she didn't nick any of Wor Lasses jewelry.
She took it in good humour. You should too.
We all know that Scousers aren't all thiefs; even if you lot do all wear shell-suites. ;)
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Tosh, should all the window cleaners on here who have posted about customers perceiving them in a bad light (this is what the thread is about after all) just take it in good humour???...NO!!
Neither will I EVER take in good humour, perceptions of me, my family, friends being thieves because we are from Liverpool.
Good humour??...the only person finding it humourous is the person making the insult.
I can assure you..the poor girl who had to put up with it AGAIN, was in all probability biting her lip and thinking "what a prxxx" but putting a smile on her face because she was embarrassed and didn`t want to upset the situation her friend had brought her into.
I don`t care if this bores people, as long as people carry on with offensive remarks about theft, I`ll carry on protesting.
Imagine the same perception was about the North East and I quite happily posted on here that you and your wife are probably thieves...??
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Steve k has a valid point
Were ever we come from people from other parts of the country will make jokes about it. I am from Yorkshire with the flat cap, whippet and a tight arse image, my wife is from the fens so she is labelled an inbred with six toes, she is also in a wheelchair and has been called a cripple to her face (which I find very insulting). Welsh and sheep, Geordie’s being thick, the list goes on.
If you are from Liverpool you are called a thief, well I think that’s a big difference from being called thick or a tight arse.
I started this thread because one of my customers implied I had stolen a parcel. (It turned up by the way)
I found this very insulting and with all the other problems that I have at the moment I nearly packed window cleaning in.
I have being called a lot of things in my life which I have taken with a pinch of salt. The implication of being a thief did affect me.
For people from Liverpool classed as being thieves all the time even if people are joking is insulting. Just like I found it insulting, about the implications about the missing parcel. They get it all the time; I have only had it once.
I’m no saint I have took the P*** out of a lot of people including scousers and thieving, (Which I apologies for)
As you get older you learn, I will still take the P*** out of scousers but never imply they are thieves.
Kevin
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Imagine if someone on here posted continually saying your OH shags sheep, continually being called stupid (Even though my spelling & punctuation is excellent compared to most on here) and that we all have green wellies & stringless tennis rackets.
Welsh people could easily take offence.....and occasionally I do get annoyed. Not annoyed at the actual comments as i KNOW theyre not true. I get annoyed at the continual barage of what is considered "Welsh Bashing".
I dont bite on forums like this though......as allowing anyone to know your weak points, empowers them....."Knowledge is power". No-one has power over me.
You've now allowed total strangers to know your buttons....expect them to be pressed often!
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Imagine if someone on here posted continually saying your OH shags sheep, continually being called stupid (Even though my spelling & punctuation is excellent compared to most on here) and that we all have green wellies & stringless tennis rackets.
Welsh people could easily take offence.....and occasionally I do get annoyed. Not annoyed at the actual comments as i KNOW theyre not true. I get annoyed at the continual barage of what is considered "Welsh Bashing".
I dont bite on forums like this though......as allowing anyone to know your weak points, empowers them....."Knowledge is power". No-one has power over me.
You've now allowed total strangers to know your buttons....expect them to be pressed often!
I think the best way of disempowering others in this regard is an ability to laugh at oneself and show that it doesn't bother you (even if it does). I accept that there must be times when the humour wears a bit thin though. Kevin Keegan probably didn't help the cause much a few years ago when he made some humour up about his car wheels I think - and he actually comes from the area. Interestingly, I've never yet met a tight Scotsman.
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Kevin Keegan is from Yorkshire and he got slated for those comments and publicly apologised.
Bustdaffodil...you say I have let people know my "buttons" or "weakness" so I should EXPECT it to happen often now...!!! so when you know someone gets upset by something you say , you think it`s OK to carry on the upset by repeating your actions often??...that is not a particularly nice personality trait...it`s actually how a playground bully acts.
I come on here to offer advice and help to others. I do not insult or offend. It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, lives up to your prediction and starts trying to press my "buttons"
Thats it from me now anyway on this subject.
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Bustdaffodil...
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Personal now huh! LOL
you think it`s OK to carry on the upset by repeating your actions often??...
Now you've either read my posting wrong or your making assumptions or attacking me without evidence. Show me where in my reply I said I think its ok for me to repeatedly upset people??
My reply to you was to warn you about giving people power over you by letting them know your weak points. If you think I was saying anything else, then you are wrong in that assumption. I say assumption, because nowhere in my post is there evidence of anything else.
I'll take my good intentioned post and leave you to stew with your "issues".
As for implying I am a bully....well thanks! Personal attacks on my personality type are uncalled for and show the real you. How can you have issues with people making general comments about people from your area, when you yourself make personal attacks?? Pot & kettle I think!!
Now, please do not bother to reply....your opinion of me is irrelevant now.
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Both Steve k and busydaffodil have valid points, the trouble with forums is the written word can be taking out of context, and interpreted completely different to how it was meant to come across.
None of us write for a living do we.
This thread as completely gone of track it was meant to be about the public perception about window cleaning and now turned into insults between us.
Maybe it is time to lock it and move on
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apologies Kevin for treading on your post.
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Kevin
My customers have a very good perception of window cleaners.
I think it is all a myth created by the media and tv.
I have done first cleans for customers who have told me they are going away on holiday and they hardly no me.
Also i have had customers ask me to clean the insides then have been left to it while they go out and been told to make sure the door is closed behind me.
New customers have also paid me for 3 in advance because they are going away etc.
I think the public give us much more respect than we think.
Dave
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No need to apologise Steve,
I understand were your coming from. I do not think busydaffodil was having a go at you just stating how people are.
People can be very cruel and take advantage of peoples weaknesses. Some people will never grow up its just the way things are, right or wrong it will never change.
With my wife 99% of people treat her with kindness and will go out of there way to help her but you get the odd one who will look at her as if she is a freak because she is in a wheelchair or make some cruel comment. When that happens it undoes what the other 99% have done and knocks her confidence.
Dave
I think I reacted the same as my wife when the parcel went missing, overall I have got some very good customers.
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macc...you are seriously taking the pxxx and offending me...so you...like so many others...think all people from Liverpool are thieves?
why???...show me the proof behind your reasoning
if i offended you steeve sorry or any one else sorry, it was only a joke. the mother in law is a scoucer so that makes my partner one. they take the p--- out of me for been a southern softy ;D, so what, its only a joke, my mates call me slap head ;D cause my hair preefered the plug hole, so what. :o
a joke is a joke, i think we need to make the most of it cause it wont be long before our DICTATOR Tony Blair bans humor cause 1 or 2 people get offended. ::)
macc
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I think it's it a bit late for apologies; even if I do owe one myself.
I apologise if I've offended anyone, Scousers included!
No offence was intended.
But this is getting way off-topic, so thread locked.