Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Steve_Richardson on April 10, 2008, 01:06:25 pm
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Just got back for lunch and had the strangest phone call. Went something like this (capital letters deliberate to show shouting..can you see where this is going!):
Me - hello how can I help?
Customer - we were a bit surprised you cleaned our windows today.
Me - yes it's 6 weeks as arranged and they are due.
Customer - WE DIDNT ARANGE SIX WEEKS, I ASKED FOR A ONE OFF CLEAN WHATS GOING ON I DONT WANT MY WINDOWS CLEANED YOU JUST TURNED UP AND CLEANED THEM HOW DID YOU OPEN TEH LOCKED GATE etcetc (he repeated this about 5 times shouting louder and louder, when he eventually finished)
Me - Well, when I first met you to discuss....
Customer - I DIDNT WANT THEM CLEANED, I WASNT HAPPY WITH THE FIRST CLEAN EVEN THOUGH WE POSTED THE CHECK TO YOU. WE SAW A MESS EVERYWHERE, I THOUGHT YOU WAS USING PURE WATER NOT TAP WATER AND THE DECORATOR WORKING HERE SAID THEY WERE A MESS HOW DID YOU OPEN THE LOCKED GATE....(again repeated for a few minutes at full volume, I had to hold my mobile well away from my ear...)
Me - I left a text message and a voicemail message on youe mobile as arranged.
Customer - SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT
Could I please speak....
Customer - SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT.. ETC ETC ETC. (waited until he stopped).
Me - I am sorry you are unhappy but when we first spoke I said to call if ever you are unhappy with a cleacn & we made arrangements for 5 or 6 weeks and I never take on one-off cleans so I wouldn't have arranged that with...
Customer - SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT.....(etc etc - you get the idea.) I WILL POST YOU THE CHECK BUT I DONT WANT YOU TO TO CALL AGAIN. I WAS UNHAPPY WITH THE FIRST CLEAN, YOU USED OUR TAP WATER NOT PURE WATER. SHOUT SHOUT.
Me - by now already decided not going back so just decided to see if I could get him to let me finish a sentence without SHOUTING over the top of me....Every time he interrupted me I just said: "Excuse me, excuse me" until he stoped talking then said "please let me finish as I have listened to you". I must have gone through that with him easily 8 or 9 times....I had to do it to take my tension away a bit as he really annoyed me.
Well, will see if he does send the cheque....must say I am very surprised as he seemed such a nice guy when I first met him - but now I've seen him as he really is..but I can't post that here!!
Tomorrow I will get 2 better customers to replace him. I just feel for the decorator who was there today, he was such a nice chap and I bet he gets it in the ear too at some point...!
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You showed more restraint that me. I would have let him have it with both barrels.
Unprofessional?....probably, but I don't care 8)
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Shame you couldn't of taped the conversation and then left it as a voicemail for him and his family. I honestly think that some people have personality problems and don't realize it. Better off with out them.
Simon.
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So long as he wasn't built like the Hulks big brother I would have politely told I was on my way over to discuss this with him face to face.
I'd have been ultra polite too and would then have gone straight around to see him.
People aren't as brave face to face, or perhaps I'd have written a very detailed letter.
Whatever, I would make sure that he heard me and took note of what I had to say.
Ian
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i would have sent him the cheque back, with a message on it, please put this towards a course of anger management classes, as your need is greater than mine! kindess regards, kiss, kiss, kiss, not a very nice person! C.C.S.
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I had a similar phonecall which I posted on here a few months back. She was shouting and saying she had never asked me to clean etc etc ( she wasnt complaining about the job though ). It was a horrible experience but I remained polite, Luke
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Once you know you've lost the job just put the phone down and laugh
Lee
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I had a new customer ranting and raving to me down the phone even though he phoned at 11.30 at night i remained proffesional the whole time that was until i realised to myself their was no way i was going to go back and do his windows so i just put the phone down while he was mid rant
Some people will not be swayed once they start move on theirs plenty more good customers
Dean
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Hopefully this man is well on his way to an heart attack. Pig.
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you should have gone straight around there, bullies like him dont like face to face confrontation. I would have scared the living daylights out of him. You must be a mild mannered guy.
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Post his name and address here.
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next time don't use tap water ;D
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I've had a laugh about it since but at the time I was boiling. To be honest we needed the money so I wanted to make sure he was going to post the cheque and really tried to keep my calm. But mind you, if he doesn't pay I will certainly be using one of those collection websites to get back my losses!
Just hope he doesn't manage to find another window cleaner as most guys around here are full up - now to finish off that chocolate bar :-)
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next time don't use tap water ;D
Yeh! And how'd you get over that gate anyway?
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That aside, I clean the windows of some friends of Wor Lasses from her running club. One is a school teacher, her husband has some top job in the patent office; both intelligent university types; top runners too.
Anyway, I cleaned their windows last week and left a SAE with payment instructions.
I received the envelope through the post today, still with the payment instructions hanging out the back of the envelope; the envelope not stuck down (it's a self-sealer; you have to peel the bit off to make it sticky), AND NO RUDDY CHEQUE.
Stupid or what?
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THE DECORATOR WORKING HERE SAID THEY WERE A MESS
Somebody should have a quiet word in that decorator's ear.....perhaps along the lines of: "MIND YOUR OWN B****Y BUSINESS" ;D
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......... I cleaned their windows last week and left a SAE with payment instructions.
I received the envelope through the post today, still with the payment instructions hanging out the back of the envelope; the envelope not stuck down (it's a self-sealer; you have to peel the bit off to make it sticky), AND NO RUDDY CHEQUE.
Stupid or what?
I left the same type of self seal envelope at one of my customers, it came back stuck down with sellotape with cheque and also a very rude note saying next time leave a new envelope that will stick down as i had to go out to buy sellotape...
As you say stupid or what
Darren
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steve do as i do inform every w/c'r you meet in the area warn them and us quality cleaners will keep well away from him all he will get is the part timers / dole boys , angry people like that die young
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THE DECORATOR WORKING HERE SAID THEY WERE A MESS
Somebody should have a quiet word in that decorator's ear.....perhaps along the lines of: "MIND YOUR OWN B****Y BUSINESS" ;D
Put sand in his paint pot when he's not looking. Teach him a lesson he wont forget.
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So long as he wasn't built like the Hulks big brother I would have politely told I was on my way over to discuss this with him face to face.
I'd have been ultra polite too and would then have gone straight around to see him.
People aren't as brave face to face, or perhaps I'd have written a very detailed letter.
Whatever, I would make sure that he heard me and took note of what I had to say.
Ian
dont think i would be as polite as ian :D :D
good luck with the rest of your custys
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Just got back for lunch and had the strangest phone call. Went something like this (capital letters deliberate to show shouting..can you see where this is going!):
Me - hello how can I help?
Customer - we were a bit surprised you cleaned our windows today.
Me - yes it's 6 weeks as arranged and they are due.
Customer - WE DIDNT ARANGE SIX WEEKS, I ASKED FOR A ONE OFF CLEAN WHATS GOING ON I DONT WANT MY WINDOWS CLEANED YOU JUST TURNED UP AND CLEANED THEM HOW DID YOU OPEN TEH LOCKED GATE etcetc (he repeated this about 5 times shouting louder and louder, when he eventually finished)
Me - Well, when I first met you to discuss....
Customer - I DIDNT WANT THEM CLEANED, I WASNT HAPPY WITH THE FIRST CLEAN EVEN THOUGH WE POSTED THE CHECK TO YOU. WE SAW A MESS EVERYWHERE, I THOUGHT YOU WAS USING PURE WATER NOT TAP WATER AND THE DECORATOR WORKING HERE SAID THEY WERE A MESS HOW DID YOU OPEN THE LOCKED GATE....(again repeated for a few minutes at full volume, I had to hold my mobile well away from my ear...)
Me - I left a text message and a voicemail message on youe mobile as arranged.
Customer - SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT
Could I please speak....
Customer - SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT.. ETC ETC ETC. (waited until he stopped).
Me - I am sorry you are unhappy but when we first spoke I said to call if ever you are unhappy with a cleacn & we made arrangements for 5 or 6 weeks and I never take on one-off cleans so I wouldn't have arranged that with...
Customer - SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT.....(etc etc - you get the idea.) I WILL POST YOU THE CHECK BUT I DONT WANT YOU TO TO CALL AGAIN. I WAS UNHAPPY WITH THE FIRST CLEAN, YOU USED OUR TAP WATER NOT PURE WATER. SHOUT SHOUT.
Me - by now already decided not going back so just decided to see if I could get him to let me finish a sentence without SHOUTING over the top of me....Every time he interrupted me I just said: "Excuse me, excuse me" until he stoped talking then said "please let me finish as I have listened to you". I must have gone through that with him easily 8 or 9 times....I had to do it to take my tension away a bit as he really annoyed me.
Well, will see if he does send the cheque....must say I am very surprised as he seemed such a nice guy when I first met him - but now I've seen him as he really is..but I can't post that here!!
Tomorrow I will get 2 better customers to replace him. I just feel for the decorator who was there today, he was such a nice chap and I bet he gets it in the ear too at some point...!
I know it's not very professional but I would probably told him to keep his money and told him where to shove his cheque.
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THE DECORATOR WORKING HERE SAID THEY WERE A MESS
Somebody should have a quiet word in that decorator's ear.....perhaps along the lines of: "MIND YOUR OWN B****Y BUSINESS" ;D
Come to think of it, perhaps you could go around there and gloss paint his windows - not the frames though :)
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Considering the whole conversation with him was basically him bare faced lying to me I don't for a second believe the decorator said that. I met him today and he was a nice chap, we had a laugh. Oh well, moving on to new customers :-)
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No way would I let a customer speak to me like that...I had enough of that crap when I worked in the bank >:(...had to bite my tongue back then: "yes sir, no sir, 3 bags full sir".
Don't have to bite my tongue any more ;D
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My take on this. Initially I'd be boiling and probably would have put the phone down to stop myself from saying what I thought. Next step, delete the customer from my list. If he sent payment, OK. If not, forget it. I've seen how someone I know works (nothing to do with wc) and it reminds me how stressless a job I have. Scrath 'em off. Move on.
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Should have told him the telephone conversation was being recorded for training purposes and would be posted on the clean it up forum where 12,000 other members could hear what a pratt he was, then deleted his name off your customer list asap.
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I once had a similar experience with a custy, i was boiling too but the good thing was, he got run over on the high street the week after so i took some comfort from that :) needless to say that was the end of him (literally) ;)
Tony
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I once had a similar experience with a custy, i was boiling too but the good thing was, he got run over on the high street the week after so i took some comfort from that :) needless to say that was the end of him (literally) ;)
Tony
I am sure you dont mean that !
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I once had a similar experience with a custy, i was boiling too but the good thing was, he got run over on the high street the week after so i took some comfort from that :) needless to say that was the end of him (literally) ;)
Tony
I am sure you dont mean that !
He probably does - this is macmac we're talking about! ;D
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i would drop him......and after i had dropped him i would take him off the customer list ;)
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i would have shredded the cheque , and posted it back ....and sent phsycologists card for their benefit ... ;D
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I once had a similar experience with a custy, i was boiling too but the good thing was, he got run over on the high street the week after so i took some comfort from that :) needless to say that was the end of him (literally) ;)
Tony
Wasn't a WFP van that got him by any chance, was it?
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I once had a similar experience with a custy, i was boiling too but the good thing was, he got run over on the high street the week after so i took some comfort from that :) needless to say that was the end of him (literally) ;)
Tony
I am sure you dont mean that !
WHAT? you should have seen the smile on my face when i opened the berwickshire news & read of his fate :D even my c****y tasted better that night for some reason ;)
Tony
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WHAT? you should have seen the smile on my face when i opened the berwickshire news & read of his fate :D even my c****y tasted better that night for some reason ;)
Tony
maybe they scraped him up and chucked the bits in the chow mein ;D
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True or not this is realy bad taste !
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True or not this is realy bad taste !
You're right, comforting though at least. ;)
Mr. G. reeper
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some of us have been wc for years...educated people looking down at us ...but as buisness grows and wfp has begun...circumstances change...
the tables have turned ;D
i for one will milk it ;D
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We have had trouble with people who only want a one off clean because when they phone up we say that we don't do one offs anymore. Then they agree to have them cleaned regularly.
You can guess the rest.
Have had to alter what we say to people to try and prevent these situations happening.
I do think however that a lot of people don't really think things through and once they have their filthy windows made spotless they lose the motivation to keep paying money to keep them that way.