Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: chrismroberts on April 09, 2008, 12:21:17 am
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Hi everyone,
I use one of the rectangular mono filament vikans, great brush, a little heavy, but great... I've never had a complaint about scratching until last month, when a customer pointed out to me a deepish scratch on her conservatory window....
...now I'm CONVINCED this wasnt me, I clean off my brush head regularly, getting rid of any grit that I can, and would surely know if I'd scratched a window so deeply? I really dont see how anything lodged in something as soft as one of our brushes could possibly do this...
This is a good customer, and is due again this week... my question is, how do I put her mind at ease that I havent caused the scratch? Any of you guys come across this before? Dont particularly want to do the conservatory by hand.. its quite high and I'm quite short :( :( :(
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Hi everyone,
I use one of the rectangular mono filament vikans, great brush, a little heavy, but great... I've never had a complaint about scratching until last month, when a customer pointed out to me a deepish scratch on her conservatory window....
...now I'm CONVINCED this wasnt me, I clean off my brush head regularly, getting rid of any grit that I can, and would surely know if I'd scratched a window so deeply? I really dont see how anything lodged in something as soft as one of our brushes could possibly do this...
This is a good customer, and is due again this week... my question is, how do I put her mind at ease that I havent caused the scratch? Any of you guys come across this before? Dont particularly want to do the conservatory by hand.. its quite high and I'm quite short :( :( :(
I have had one customer say I scratched the window this was my reply to the call.
I will come round in about 30 mins.
I get there and there are scratches on the glass, I say I cant scratch windows with my brush as it is soft.
I show her the brush and clean the window next to the scratches she sees it not scratching and is ok after this.
I did say that before when I was trad there was a slight film on the glass where as with wfp there is none so now it is perfectly clean you will see any little probs with the glass.
She was amazed by this and is still a customer today and speaks highly of wfp which is a result.
I could have just ditched the customer as many would say to do, but if I did how many people would she talk badly to. this way she speaks highly of me and the waterfed pole.
Saying straight out it was not me will get this persons back out, just explain it to her like I did and show her this way she can see it was not you (hopefully it was'nt)
Good luck
Ian
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A situation like this also highlights the need to make sure that your insurance policy covers you should you need it.
The majority of Public Liability policies will not cover you for damage to "property worked upon" (i.e glass and frames you are cleaning) - unless you specifically request this cover.
CHECK YOUR POLICY NOW !!!!!
The worst time to find out that you dont have this cover is when you are presented with a customer complaint about scratched glass. Imagine the potential for every window in the house being scratched !
Visit our website for more information and assistance.
www.cleaning-insurance.co.uk
Thanks
Martin
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This was a good topic to get your plug in Martin ;D
I pay £70 ish for £1 million basic PL cover, give me an idea what the cost of your "property worked upon" cover then please.
Obviously it will vary from person to person but just a ballpark figure will do for now based on me paying £70 presently.
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This was a good topic to get your plug in Martin ;D
I pay £70 ish for £1 million basic PL cover, give me an idea what the cost of your "property worked upon" cover then please.
Obviously it will vary from person to person but just a ballpark figure will do for now based on me paying £70 presently.
John, We would obviously need to ask you a few questions, but on the assumption that all is straightforward (as in claims etc) then for £1m and including "property worked upon" the premium would be £233.75. There are further discounts available on top of this, but this would need more discussion.
Also important to note that whilst we dont advocate taking the cover without "property worked upon", we do offer it for those who still wish to trade without it. And assuming that you have more than 1yr experience, we can significantly beat the £70 you are paying at the moment.
Hope this helps
Martin
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I pay €600 a tear (In Ireland) for a policy that covers property worked on, but excludes the use of ladders,... so that looks VERY cheap to me!
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This was a good topic to get your plug in Martin ;D
I pay £70 ish for £1 million basic PL cover, give me an idea what the cost of your "property worked upon" cover then please.
Obviously it will vary from person to person but just a ballpark figure will do for now based on me paying £70 presently.
John, We would obviously need to ask you a few questions, but on the assumption that all is straightforward (as in claims etc) then for £1m and including "property worked upon" the premium would be £233.75. There are further discounts available on top of this, but this would need more discussion.
Also important to note that whilst we dont advocate taking the cover without "property worked upon", we do offer it for those who still wish to trade without it. And assuming that you have more than 1yr experience, we can significantly beat the £70 you are paying at the moment.
Hope this helps
Martin
Hi Martin, what is the excess on that policy? If it's something like £200, then......is it worth it?
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Hi everyone,
I use one of the rectangular mono filament vikans, great brush, a little heavy, but great... I've never had a complaint about scratching until last month, when a customer pointed out to me a deepish scratch on her conservatory window....
...now I'm CONVINCED this wasnt me, I clean off my brush head regularly, getting rid of any grit that I can, and would surely know if I'd scratched a window so deeply? I really dont see how anything lodged in something as soft as one of our brushes could possibly do this...
This is a good customer, and is due again this week... my question is, how do I put her mind at ease that I havent caused the scratch? Any of you guys come across this before? Dont particularly want to do the conservatory by hand.. its quite high and I'm quite short :( :( :(
I have had one customer say I scratched the window this was my reply to the call.
I will come round in about 30 mins.
I get there and there are scratches on the glass, I say I cant scratch windows with my brush as it is soft.
I show her the brush and clean the window next to the scratches she sees it not scratching and is ok after this.
I did say that before when I was trad there was a slight film on the glass where as with wfp there is none so now it is perfectly clean you will see any little probs with the glass.
She was amazed by this and is still a customer today and speaks highly of wfp which is a result.
I could have just ditched the customer as many would say to do, but if I did how many people would she talk badly to. this way she speaks highly of me and the waterfed pole.
Saying straight out it was not me will get this persons back out, just explain it to her like I did and show her this way she can see it was not you (hopefully it was'nt)
Good luck
Ian
Thanks Ian :) I know what you mean by getting their back out.... I did sort of say, briefly, last month, that my brush was soft so there was no way it could have been me. Politely, of course, this is a good customer that I don't want to drop :-[ By that point though, the gear was back in the van, so I might show her this month and let her see how soft the brush is before I do the work.
Martin,
So your "property worked on policy" would cover me if I, for example, put my brush through an ancient leaded window? Or left enormous scratches on a persons brand new conservatory? This does seem to be a major failing of a lot of policies.... if your policy actually covers these sitations, then it might be worth a look. Thanks :)
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GQC Window Cleaning:
The excess on the policy is £250, but as with all excesses, they are designed to reduce the single claims for small amounts (which helps keep premiums at the levels they are). A conservatory roof or large panel of glass would be much more than this I would guess ???
sheepmeister
Our policy with the "property worked upon" cover would indeed cover you for the roof or leaded glass and anything else that you were cleaning and damaged. Your comment on it being a failing of the policy is an interesting one, as I view it differently, in that it is usually the failure of the broker to point the exclusion out to his client in the first place....the number of cleaners we speak to who think they have the cover only to check and find out it isnt there is amazing !
Hope this helps
Martin
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GQC Window Cleaning:
The excess on the policy is £250, but as with all excesses, they are designed to reduce the single claims for small amounts (which helps keep premiums at the levels they are). A conservatory roof or large panel of glass would be much more than this I would guess ???
sheepmeister
Our policy with the "property worked upon" cover would indeed cover you for the roof or leaded glass and anything else that you were cleaning and damaged. Your comment on it being a failing of the policy is an interesting one, as I view it differently, in that it is usually the failure of the broker to point the exclusion out to his client in the first place....the number of cleaners we speak to who think they have the cover only to check and find out it isnt there is amazing !
Hope this helps
Martin
I guess you could see it either way.... although am sure most insurance companies would say that it was up to the customer to read the small print. Universal get out clause I think :(:(:(
Thanks though :) Will definitely have a look at your policy when mine comes up for renewal :)
Just an update on the scratched glass situation... did the house today and there was noone in. Called back to collect tonight and she didnt mention it at all... I asked if they'd all been OK and she was almost OVERLY nice..... as if she realised her mistake :P:P So no need to break out the big guns.... thankfully :D:D
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This was a good topic to get your plug in Martin ;D
I pay £70 ish for £1 million basic PL cover, give me an idea what the cost of your "property worked upon" cover then please.
Obviously it will vary from person to person but just a ballpark figure will do for now based on me paying £70 presently.
John, We would obviously need to ask you a few questions, but on the assumption that all is straightforward (as in claims etc) then for £1m and including "property worked upon" the premium would be £233.75. There are further discounts available on top of this, but this would need more discussion.
Also important to note that whilst we dont advocate taking the cover without "property worked upon", we do offer it for those who still wish to trade without it. And assuming that you have more than 1yr experience, we can significantly beat the £70 you are paying at the moment.
Hope this helps
Martin
Hi there just wondered if that cover for property worked upon would cover things like water leaking into property from WFP, ie through vents or through old leaded glass windows?
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This was a good topic to get your plug in Martin ;D
I pay £70 ish for £1 million basic PL cover, give me an idea what the cost of your "property worked upon" cover then please.
Obviously it will vary from person to person but just a ballpark figure will do for now based on me paying £70 presently.
John, We would obviously need to ask you a few questions, but on the assumption that all is straightforward (as in claims etc) then for £1m and including "property worked upon" the premium would be £233.75. There are further discounts available on top of this, but this would need more discussion.
Also important to note that whilst we dont advocate taking the cover without "property worked upon", we do offer it for those who still wish to trade without it. And assuming that you have more than 1yr experience, we can significantly beat the £70 you are paying at the moment.
Hope this helps
Martin
Hi there just wondered if that cover for property worked upon would cover things like water leaking into property from WFP, ie through vents or through old leaded glass windows?
The Public Liability cover covers you for your legal liability for
* injury to members of the public and/or
* damage to third party property
Therefore it will cover you for damage caused as a result of leaking pipes onto the customers premises.
Some insurers may try and use the "property worked upon" exclusion to get out of this, but our policy automatically includes it and therefore takes away another grey area for you.
Insurance is often all about peace of mind, and that is why we have tried to make our policy as comprehensive as we can.
However, we are always happy to listed to suggestions on how to improve the offering even further.
Cheers
Martin
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Two major culprits with scracthed glass, cats and birds.
The cat sits on the window sill scratching the glass , birds at this time of the year are in the mood ;D, so they see their reflection in the glass and go hammer and tongs ;D
Pure water does not effect the film on the glass, chemicals in cheep liquids destroy the film. Good selling point.
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I have scratched the glass with the brush head: On a first clean. You know when your cleaning away working nice and hard to keep the bread on the table. Well over time the brush head gets a bit knocked about as you pole up and down. As you go round the frames it rubs against the brick work and over time making the edges of the brush head nice and ruff. Your trying to do your best to get the frames nice and clean on the first clean. And as you are working across the sill and breading from left to right to get all that green stuff off that collects in the bottom corners sometimes the brush head touches the glass. And hay-presto a nice neat scratch. The custie was a friend so all forgiven but lesson learnt. Jase