Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dazmond on June 01, 2016, 06:20:46 pm
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....do you?on the odd rare occasion?
found out last month one of my long standing (20+ years)customers got terminal cancer(as i was cleaning the property).her husband told me.shes in a hospice now its spread to 4 places in her body.she only found out a few months ago.shes only 47. :(
to say he s distraught is an understatement.i just said "this cleans free no problem"
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....do you?on the odd rare occasion?
found out last month one of my long standing (20+ years)customers got terminal cancer(as i was cleaning the property).her husband told me.shes in a hospice now its spread to 4 places in her body.she only found out a few months ago.shes only 47. :(
to say he s distraught is an understatement.i just said "this cleans free no problem"
Good on you ;)
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I'd do the same, nice one.
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Ive done this a lot, also I've had long standing customers who I've formed a really nice relationship who have passed away and I've continued to clean the house for free until its sold, sometimes its not about the money, its about helping people who are house proud continue to be so and if i couldn't afford to do this then I'm not running my business correctly.
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I would of done the same, unless it was a big job.
The reason I say that is I cleaned a big farmhouse in and out on Monday, the ladies husband had just died and she was preparing for the wake.
Whilst I was doing the insides we were chatting and she was literally crying on my shoulder, it was really awkward. She was telling me how the business has gone down the pan and the only company she has now is her dog.
I felt really guilty asking for payment at the end, but the job was a big chunk of my days earnings and was hard work, it was to much for me to just give away.
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One of my customers told me his wife died , I said iv been meaning to tell you , your windows are going up from £8 to £10 from now on . It was just bad timing as I had it in my head I'd tell him that day.
Definitely don't do anything for free, yes I maybe heartless but my kids need feeding
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One of my customers told me his wife died , I said iv been meaning to tell you , your windows are going up from £8 to £10 from now on . It was just bad timing as I had it in my head I'd tell him that day.
Definitely don't do anything for free, yes I maybe heartless but my kids need feeding
Did you really have to tell him that day because you had it in your head?
Not really bad timing because you knew his wife had died already.
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One of my customers told me his wife died , I said iv been meaning to tell you , your windows are going up from £8 to £10 from now on . It was just bad timing as I had it in my head I'd tell him that day.
Definitely don't do anything for free, yes I maybe heartless but my kids need feeding
Did you really have to tell him that day because you had it in your head?
Not really bad timing because you knew his wife had died already.
Yes, I don't get involved in my customers personal lives.
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Absolutely not. Not ever. Never ever ever.
A. This is your job, you do it for money.
2. You devalue the service giving it away for free.
D. My life sucks too, no #+?!er ever did anything for me for nowt.
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If a customer's died I clean but ask the relatives to give the money to whatever charity they have named for funeral donations.
Vin
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Absolutely not. Not ever. Never ever ever.
A. This is your job, you do it for money.
2. You devalue the service giving it away for free.
D. My life sucks too, no #+?!er ever did anything for me for nowt.
That's sad, one of my customers handed me a list of 7 new customers a few weeks back and Iv lost count on the amount of free fruit, veg and eggs that Iv got from the good life types on my round.
Then there's the coffee, buns and cold drinks on those hot days, not forgetting the tips I get over the year.
Would have done the same Dazmond, nice one.
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Absolutely not. Not ever. Never ever ever.
A. This is your job, you do it for money.
2. You devalue the service giving it away for free.
D. My life sucks too, no #+?!er ever did anything for me for nowt.
i dont make a habit of cleaning for free but in this instance it was the right thing to do IMO.
loads of people have helped me out in my life in one way or another.granted.most of the time its been my own hard work and commitment but im in a very good place right now at this time in my life.
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Absolutely not. Not ever. Never ever ever.
A. This is your job, you do it for money.
2. You devalue the service giving it away for free.
D. My life sucks too, no #+?!er ever did anything for me for nowt.
That's sad, one of my customers handed me a list of 7 new customers a few weeks back and Iv lost count on the amount of free fruit, veg and eggs that Iv got from the good life types on my round.
Then there's the coffee, buns and cold drinks on those hot days, not forgetting the tips I get over the year.
Would have done the same Dazmond, nice one.
New customers come through recommendations due to your good service, not as a hand out. I doubt I'd take veg from someone's garden even if they offered, and I never stop for a coffee. Tips are just tips.
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Absolutely not. Not ever. Never ever ever.
A. This is your job, you do it for money.
2. You devalue the service giving it away for free.
D. My life sucks too, no #+?!er ever did anything for me for nowt.
i dont make a habit of cleaning for free but in this instance it was the right thing to do IMO.
loads of people have helped me out in my life in one way or another.granted.most of the time its been my own hard work and commitment but im in a very good place right now at this time in my life.
Fair enough. You gotta do what you feel is right.
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Lots of my customers look like they are going to die - I never charge any of them.
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I would of done the same, unless it was a big job.
The reason I say that is I cleaned a big farmhouse in and out on Monday, the ladies husband had just died and she was preparing for the wake.
Whilst I was doing the insides we were chatting and she was literally crying on my shoulder, it was really awkward. She was telling me how the business has gone down the pan and the only company she has now is her dog.
I felt really guilty asking for payment at the end, but the job was a big chunk of my days earnings and was hard work, it was to much for me to just give away.
Tell her to audition for Britain's Got Talent she would go far.
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I would of done the same, unless it was a big job.
The reason I say that is I cleaned a big farmhouse in and out on Monday, the ladies husband had just died and she was preparing for the wake.
Whilst I was doing the insides we were chatting and she was literally crying on my shoulder, it was really awkward. She was telling me how the business has gone down the pan and the only company she has now is her dog.
I felt really guilty asking for payment at the end, but the job was a big chunk of my days earnings and was hard work, it was to much for me to just give away.
Tell her to audition for Britain's Got Talent she would go far.
;D ;D
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a friend of my partner asked me to quote her parents house, its at the end of our road & i only charge £8 for ones nearby but they have a conservatory so i said £40 for 1st clean + conny + roof cos its minging, an hour after i left the husband died
now, i don't think it had owt to do with my pricing but i'm still left feeling like i should do it for free , my lasses mate is partially disabled as well
if it takes me an hr or even 2 none of my kids will die of starvation & i'll feel better about life ;D
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a friend of my partner asked me to quote her parents house, its at the end of our road & i only charge £8 for ones nearby but they have a conservatory so i said £40 for 1st clean + conny + roof cos its minging, an hour after i left the husband died
now, i don't think it had owt to do with my pricing but i'm still left feeling like i should do it for free , my lasses mate is partially disabled as well
if it takes me an hr or even 2 none of my kids will die of starvation & i'll feel better about life ;D
😱
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I think most would prefer your time and having someone to talk to than a free clean.
Money doesn't seem that important, at times like that, but the gesture might be.
Nice one.
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Lots of my customers look like they are going to die - I never charge any of them.
I've got one that every time I go, I think it's going to be her last clean. I actually thought she was dead the last time I was there. She was just sleeping at a strange sideways angle though. She's too frail to pay me, so I just e-mail her son and he transfers the money to us.
But she's been like this for about three years now.
A creaking door can creak for a very long time I guess.
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Lots of my customers look like they are going to die - I never charge any of them.
I've got one that every time I go, I think it's going to be her last clean. I actually thought she was dead the last time I was there. She was just sleeping at a strange sideways angle though. She's too frail to pay me, so I just e-mail her son and he transfers the money to us.
But she's been like this for about three years now.
A creaking door can creak for a very long time I guess.
ive got around 10 customers like that tosh!one of em has been in and out of hospital for the last 20+YEARS(ive cleaned her windows for this long too)last year she was in for 3 months and thought thats the last time i see her now..........but a few months ago the neighbour said to me shes back home so im back cleaning hers again.some people(esp women)are tough as old boots. ;D
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That's because us men work harder ,how many old people on your books are widowed old women
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Maybe it depens on your relationship with your customers. In general I don't want to talk to my customers I want to clean there windows as quick as poss and get paid.
:o
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Yeah in general I don't even know the first names of many.
There's always exceptions though and one or two I've almost come to regard as friends I know them so well and cleaned for them for so long.
One of them runs a small boutique clothes shop ( cleaned it 10 + years for her )
Towards end of last year noticed it closed, the following week friends of hers rallying around holding the fort and keeping shop open. Her partner had died from a heart attack and she was devastated obviously. I continued to clean until xmas for free ( 3 or 4 cleans can't quite remember ) felt it the least I could do to show my support - she had good people around her to save her business from going under in her hour of need. Plus side is she now has a second new shop ( plans she'd already started with her partner ) that I'm cleaning and her business is back on track. :)
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I had a customer who was 99 and said I would clean her property for free once she got to 100,,,she did,,,but then died a couple of weeks later,,,,sad. ,I thought she would last another 10 or so years
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Maybe it depens on your relationship with your customers. In general I don't want to talk to my customers I want to clean there windows as quick as poss and get paid.
:o
Me too, but it's important to develop some kind of bond with your customer. I never worry when someone canvasses or drops leaflets through their doors; not even about the guy who was cheap and used to offer the first three cleans at 50% discount from his already cheap prices (a local window cleaner used to call him 'Mr 50% guy').
If you've not made an effort - at some point - to develop some 'kind of bond' (for the want of a better phrase/word), then nothing is stopping your customer going cheaper.
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Mr 50% guy? Obviously "not all there".
Wasn't Roger was it?
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Only times I have done a free clean is if for some reason there was a problem or it makes sense for business. One day I pulled over a load of expensive plant pots customer was furious, so I did a free clean next time round worth £70
Another time I found out that 1 customer was responsible for me getting 20 odd customers, so I did a free clean.
Also mum and dads window cleaner was rubbish so I do them free also
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Only times I have done a free clean is if for some reason there was a problem or it makes sense for business. One day I pulled over a load of expensive plant pots customer was furious, so I did a free clean next time round worth £70
Another time I found out that 1 customer was responsible for me getting 20 odd customers, so I did a free clean.
Also mum and dads window cleaner was rubbish so I do them free also
Lol, I charge my folks £10
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I have as a rule always given a free clean to any customer retrenched from his job as a helping hand. This has paid me well as they often move and I build a round off the new area they have moved to helped by them.