Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: matt on January 05, 2009, 08:56:24 pm
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it must have been 18 - 24 months ago now it all started, i mentioned it on here, i know a few replied to it
first of all it was " can you not walk on the front flower border " which was 6 foot wide
so i used the WFP to do the window
then they didnt like that, said " can you go back to trad "
he put down bits of wood for me to stand on
i did, he complained my boots were still on the flower bed, not s.prising as im size 11 and the bits of wood were 4 " square ::) ::)
1 day he didnt even speak to me, just opened the door and threw on the drive a few bits of wood
anyways, time moved on, one day i cleaned the front only as the gate was locked, the guy came back and was fairly rude and said " if i am not in, dont do ANY windows ", i said yes ok, its not a major issue
now the next time he see's me pull up in thevan, he jumps in his car and drive off, he didnt unlock the gate
the next time, he has it open, so it gets done
now the next time, he see's me get out of my van, i say " good morning " as he was out doing stuff on the garden, he waits intill im around the rear of next door and jumps in his car and drives off
he does the EXACT same thing again next time
next time he see's me oposite and i say " i will be over to you tomorrow, he says, we will not be in, so i say " i can pop over now if you want them done " i do the house i am on and he has allready driven off
so thats 3 X next to his house, last time i just walk past as the gate isnt open, he knows the score, open the gate or they dont get done
now today
i am trying to get my pump working, i had a 9 " frozen lump in the INFEED pipe, i get that fixed
he comes up and says " i will put the wood out , and i will have the gutters cleaned"
oh i say, i might not have time, as im stacked out, i certainly will not have time for the gutters ( i also have a hernia, so i am not doing extra's )
i walk past his house and carry on and clean all the other houses on his side of the road
i am on the last house and he walks past with the dog " I have put the wood out "
i reply, as i said, i might not have time
he burst into a rant " Who do you think you are, you might not have time, your a bl00dy window cleaner, not a surgeon "
i explained, i have to try and keep my regulars happy and they take priority
he says " well we are your regulars, we pay your wages, get down and clean our windows "
i laugh and say " you havent had them done for 4 cleans, thats 8 - 9 months, hardly regulars "
he starts shouting now " your just a window cleaner, your nothing, you should be grateful for our work "
** now i bite my tongue now, as i wanted to say " who the F&*^ do you think your speaking to " the old me would have had him on his back now with a swift punch , but i am older and wiser and dont need the hastle
he walks off down the street ranting and raging about " your only a bl00dy window cleaner, cannot find the time "
now this guy is in his 60's retired civil servant ( by all accounts a fairly high placed job ) lives in a 4 bed detached house in a very good area, i have cleaned his house since i started, the guy before me did is for 20 years
i really do wonder what the customer thinks of us sometimes
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I must say Matt you did well to control yourself there mate >:(
Making my blood boil just reading it!
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Brilliant! I wouldn't have lasted five minutes before dumping him in the first place, you must be very relaxed? Must have been that spliff.
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I don`t let any customer tell me how to clean there windows,if i trad anything it`s because it`s easier for me not them.
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seriously
i really try to accommodate customers, i know he should have been dumped ages ago
the thing that might have saved him was i do 34 of the 36 houses in that street
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How will the other custies in the road react when they here about it?
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id have put him on his back
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I really don't understand why you put up with any of that ? I only have to start to dislike someone and they are history, and they certainly wouldn't start talking down to me.
Matt you've been going long enough not to put up with that :)
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well done matt!
I hope he ask's you again in the future to do them, you can then flatly refuse on the way he spoke to you for any future work.
i'd like to find out how that goes :P
I really do like it when they say not this month, not this month, and then you dont bother with them, whilst on next doors they say this month please - i reply sorry i cant but, i can book you in later in the week if you like? I have a strict schedule with regular customers and appointments to keep, i can no longer do "as and whens". the look on their faces is priceless ;D
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second time the gates were locked i would of dumped him how ever this year if they miss 2 cleans the price goes up £1 miss another and its up another £1 all the time i will be looking to replace them
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Well done Matt, It's all very well saying dump em, but this is what happened to me.
I started WFP about the same time that the news night programme had a guy from the fed bad mouthing WFP. This guy had seen the programme and said that he was not having me use WFP on his house again, He also said that I was leaving marks on the walls of his house, these houses have a kind of slate cladding on them, and all the houses had marks where the rain had fallen off the sills and washed the cladding, even the ones I didn't do.
Ok he had sacked me and was bad mouthing me to the rest of the estate. a couple of months later he asked me to do his windows again. I said "go and whistle Dixie". This was a bad move because after bad mouthing me, he would have looked the Pratt that he is by having me do them again.
Eventually, he got a new lad to do his windows trad, the lad being new was dead keen and took about 30 mins to do the job for 50p less than I was charging [£5.50].
Now we can say what we like about WFP, but the fact is that many older customers put up with it, but really prefer Trad.
I ended up losing 8 customers to this new guy.
He that laughs last, laughs longest, and that old bugger is still laughing.
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well here goes a funny story about why customers are a pain in the rear
first off, they have a little yappy dog that goes mental when im in the street, i do 28 out of the street of 30 houses, it barks the whole day and a bit
about 3 years ago, i started doing the front of this house ( downstairs ) with WFP , the front lawn has a massive corner flower bed, full of roses and other flowers, the lawn is about 8 ft away from the window, so it makes sense to wfp, saves me walking in the flowerbed, this was fine for about 12 months, then they asked me to stand on these 6" sqaures of wood that the guy had set out, im size 11 feet, it didnt work that well
the next time i arrived, the guy come down his side path and threw these bit of wood on the drive and didnt even speak to me, so i just stood where i wanted and ignored the bits of wodd strewn down the drive, he came out and asked why i didnt use them, i said " well as you just threw them down the drive, and didnt speak to me, i thought they were just being trown out and you were tiding up", he knew he had pi ssed me off
so the next time i arrive, i park my van, do the 2 houses next door and he jumps in his car an drives off, gate still locked, so i do the front and change him 6 quid and away i go, i call in at the end of the day and he says "if we are not in, then dont just do the front, you wll have to call back and catch us in " ::) ::)
so the next 3 times he see's me do the next door, runs out to his car and drives off
today im accross the road
him says " hi, are you going to do ours today "
me " no, i still have this side to do, then tomorrow i will do them and then get to yours "
him " we might be out, if we are out, dont do any of it, call back some other time"
me " i will not have time to call back, i will be out of area after tomorrow "
him " oh ok, your loss "
me " i will cope "
i then walk down the road and speak to a guy who is allways out pottering around, i tell him of our discussion and he laughs, i ask whats funny
he explains the guy is punishing me, as the dog goes mad, i ask him what he means, he says he is not paying you to punish you
its only 9 quid ::) ::) ::)
made me laugh
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;D ;D
What a nut job
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matt, have you seen the signs in hospitals, dentists, clinics, all over, the place , any bad laungage, racist, remarks, ect, we are no diffrent because we are w/c, £8 or not get shot of them m8
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well here goes a funny story about why customers are a pain in the rear
first off, they have a little yappy dog that goes mental when im in the street, i do 28 out of the street of 30 houses, it barks the whole day and a bit
about 3 years ago, i started doing the front of this house ( downstairs ) with WFP , the front lawn has a massive corner flower bed, full of roses and other flowers, the lawn is about 8 ft away from the window, so it makes sense to wfp, saves me walking in the flowerbed, this was fine for about 12 months, then they asked me to stand on these 6" sqaures of wood that the guy had set out, im size 11 feet, it didnt work that well
the next time i arrived, the guy come down his side path and threw these bit of wood on the drive and didnt even speak to me, so i just stood where i wanted and ignored the bits of wodd strewn down the drive, he came out and asked why i didnt use them, i said " well as you just threw them down the drive, and didnt speak to me, i thought they were just being trown out and you were tiding up", he knew he had pi ssed me off
so the next time i arrive, i park my van, do the 2 houses next door and he jumps in his car an drives off, gate still locked, so i do the front and change him 6 quid and away i go, i call in at the end of the day and he says "if we are not in, then dont just do the front, you wll have to call back and catch us in " ::) ::)
so the next 3 times he see's me do the next door, runs out to his car and drives off
today im accross the road
him says " hi, are you going to do ours today "
me " no, i still have this side to do, then tomorrow i will do them and then get to yours "
him " we might be out, if we are out, dont do any of it, call back some other time"
me " i will not have time to call back, i will be out of area after tomorrow "
him " oh ok, your loss "
me " i will cope "
i then walk down the road and speak to a guy who is allways out pottering around, i tell him of our discussion and he laughs, i ask whats funny
he explains the guy is punishing me, as the dog goes mad, i ask him what he means, he says he is not paying you to punish you
its only 9 quid ::) ::) ::)
made me laugh
thats the guy
was it really july i last moaned about him, it seems longer
i got the numbers wrong on the road aswell, its not 28 out of 30, its 34 out of 36, i looked today, 2 on each corner are actually in this road, not the road its off
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you actually made a thread out of this?
mate gt a grip, if someone abuses you like this clown then get shot of them - he's looking down his nose at you, and what for? does he think he's a BETTER person?
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I would never have tolerated a customer that expected me to go back to trad. Even less one who wanted me to mess around with bits of wood! He'd have been dropped at the first sign of trouble.
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Dai made a good point which brought me back to reality. It coud open the way door for another (worse if it's a trad) cleaner. That is a very nice niche you have there matt.
But you should still dump him. That kind of abuse has a knock on effect and no matter how well it's handled at the time, it's unavoidable taking that feeling home with.
And you have a woman and young daughter there waiting for you who will pick up your vibes.
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when someone talks down their nose at me like that, i poter about in my van or carryon doing paper work , i dont look at them in the conversation, its as if im talking to them , but have no interestin what they have to say..... it really annoys them , but more importantly it gets the message to them that you really dont care who they are and couldnt care about their buisness....oh, and remember to be pleasant.
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Just enjoy them,
They havent got a clue mate :D :D
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Matt,
When he says you are just a b.... window cleaner just reply,
I may be just a w/c to you but my parents brought me up to be polite and tactful to all.
What you are saying is abusive. If I was working for you I would have put in an official complaint.
Have you always acted this way towards people who work for you and the like towords your collegues.
Now lets go inside for a cuppa and get this matter sorted out! ;D
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I must say that turning the other cheek is one thing, but becoming a regular doormat is another...
Professionally...
You have 34 out of 36 houses in that road, so would a new starter be the thin end of the wedge as dai's experience might suggest?.
This isn't a wfp/trad thing like his was.
It sounds like you are already bending over backwards for him so I guess you treat all the other custies with a phenomenally forgiving attitude too. The chances are tiny that anyone else would put up with his swearing and abuse for long.
So unless/even if you are charging really top dollar I cannot understand why you put up with this.
Strange ...
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people are rude in all walks of life, it doesnt bother me, if people rudeness bothered me, i wouldnt spend time on online forums would i ? ?? ? as we have a small % of idiotic rude people here, lifes too short to be bothered by people who are rude, in my younger days, he would have been smacked and on the floor, but today, turn the other cheek and carry on with life
people look down at me because im a window cleaner, do i care, not a jot, it provides with me a nice life and thats all i need
i posted the thread just to show people that we all have pain in the rear customers, its not allways roll out of bed go and clean a house or 3 and pocket 300 quid ::)
mark dew most of my work is like that, the little area's i do, i do most of the houses in them area's
i get the idea that next time i am around he will ask me again, i guess he is just that type of guy
its not a he doesnt like WFP as ive been doing the upstairs for years with WFP, it was he just didnt like the front downstairs left wet, he is the customer i guess he has a opinion, the post wasnt really about this though, it was just showing not every customer is nice and polite
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TBH Matt - all my customers are polite. And I'm polite back; but that doesn't mean I won't have a spirited discussion with them or give them reasons for my proposed actions. But if they cross a certain line without good reason then they are history. So just as I prune my round for better profit I also prune it for rudeness.
It sounds like you have had "pendulum swing" change of view on this (you said you would have flattened your custy in the past; other than in self defence I would never lay my hands on anybody) - I have always treated people equally and expect the same in return. If it's not too personal perhaps you could explain why this is - I'm keen to understand and learn.
I don't believe it has affected my income adversely, but maybe I'm wrong - and I'm sure you would agree that there is more to life than money! ;)
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TBH Matt - all my customers are polite. And I'm polite back; but that doesn't mean I won't have a spirited discussion with them or give them reasons for my proposed actions. But if they cross a certain line without good reason then they are history. So just as I prune my round for better profit I also prune it for rudeness.
It sounds like you have had "pendulum swing" change of view on this (you said you would have flattened your custy in the past; other than in self defence I would never lay my hands on anybody) - I have always treated people equally and expect the same in return. If it's not too personal perhaps you could explain why this is - I'm keen to understand and learn.
I don't believe it has affected my income adversely, but maybe I'm wrong - and I'm sure you would agree that there is more to life than money! ;)
I agree why deal with annoying people in life it makes your worse for it.
Does it matter if you lose an area? So long as you are constantly adapting and modifying your round to benefit you, losing a round and gaining one paying better elsewhere isn't going to hurt. Perhaps the custies will find a worse cleaner? Or a better one, but at least you know you have to improve.
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So unless/even if you are charging really top dollar I cannot understand why you put up with this.
Strange ...
So the amount of abuse to be received directly relates to the rate they pay? :0 (I know you didn't mean it like that Malc) :) .
I can just imagine it now.
"Well Sir. For £10 you can use one blo*dy each time. If you pay me £15, that entitles you to an eff word on top. For £20, you can make innuendos about my sexuality and for £25, you can say things about my parentage".
Just for fun. Hope no-one minds.
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More serious note now. I don't abuse customers and I don't expect to receive it. Regardless of whether it would cost me a few customers in that area, this customer would have been history a long time before. I would probably have let it go once on the basis that everyone is entitled to a bad day sometimes but that's as far as I would let it go.
I recently let go a customer who represented 3% of my turnover due to their regular rudeness (and other matters). This customer was nowhere near as bad as Matt's.
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I walked away from my old job because I was bored, but more importantly because I was sick of hypocracy, and the way in which I saw people treating junior staff, with a total lack of respect.
When I became self employed I had the power not to tolerate any disrespect off of anybody. So any customer who was either disrespectful or arrogant to me in any way I dropped immediately, after I had made it perfectly clear to them why. Let them give their measley £7.50 TO SOME OTHER MUG.
I treat my customers the way they treat me, most of them are so nice. cups of tea, come in and have a look at this new painting ,etc,etc, they gave me wedding presents, ask how the family is that kind of thing. So why should I keep those who are arrogant or think they are superior to me?
And I still drop jobs out even if I get vibes off them thinkin "he's just a window cleaner".
Matt you are a saint mate, but I just cant tolerate doin business with people like your guy. Dump him and tell him he is an arse , loudly in front of his neighbours, they'd probably agree.
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its not a he doesnt like WFP as ive been doing the upstairs for years with WFP, it was he just didnt like the front downstairs left wet,
Matt
When I started WFP I always felt uneasy about leaving downstairs windows wet, and so (in an attempt to 'normalise' the experience for the customer) I always 'bladed off' the main living room window (and sometimes the kitchen window - if they were working in there).
I think that it helped enormously in getting the 'doubters' to accept the new way.
With regard to your Mr Nasty, however, I doubt that anything would make a difference - so I too think that you should 'lose' him for good.
Mike
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Matt
Don't bite!
Mike
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Haven’t you noticed how you and a few of your troll friends always look down on any Professional Window Cleaners that come on CIU who have invested in there business and themselves.
Thats funny coming from the king of trolls ;D
I forgot I have only been a Professional Window Cleaner for a couple of years, still two years more than you. After all it’s not Rocket Science. :P
Yeah well if it's not rocket science how come you are so wide of mark. The word deluded springs to mind. Fair play Ewan keep posting as I need a good laugh ;D
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people are rude in all walks of life, it doesnt bother me, if people rudeness bothered me, i wouldnt spend time on online forums would i ? ?? ? as we have a small % of idiotic rude people here, lifes too short to be bothered by people who are rude, in my younger days, he would have been smacked and on the floor, but today, turn the other cheek and carry on with life
people look down at me because im a window cleaner, do i care, not a jot, it provides with me a nice life and thats all i need
i posted the thread just to show people that we all have pain in the rear customers, its not allways roll out of bed go and clean a house or 3 and pocket 300 quid ::)
mark dew most of my work is like that, the little area's i do, i do most of the houses in them area's
i get the idea that next time i am around he will ask me again, i guess he is just that type of guy
its not a he doesnt like WFP as ive been doing the upstairs for years with WFP, it was he just didnt like the front downstairs left wet, he is the customer i guess he has a opinion, the post wasnt really about this though, it was just showing not every customer is nice and polite
Maybe you should learn to be more professional and not take things to personally.
Having difficult customers at times is normal; it’s how you deal with it that sets you apart.
Haven’t you noticed how you and a few of your troll friends always look down on any Professional Window Cleaners that come on CIU who have invested in there business and themselves.
They may even be only a few weeks in there new business and spent ten’s of thousands of pounds on equipment, infrastructure and training yet are able to conduct business in a more professional manner.
I don’t know any professional window cleaners who have long term problems with customer in the way you describe, then again I don’t know any professional window cleaners who use fishing rods and portable shower units as part of there kit.
I forgot I have only been a Professional Window Cleaner for a couple of years, still two years more than you. After all it’s not Rocket Science. :P
When did you become so bitter? I never agreed with much of what you said but I don't remember the bitterness your recent posts are showing.
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Please guys, just ignore him.
PLEASE!!
Responding is what he wants.
I was in e-mail discussion with Mike a while ago, all he wants is a professional forum, ask yourselves this, does Ewan fit the bill. He WILL be banned shortly.
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sooner the better.
i enjoy reading these posts, the banters top notch, lets keep it that way
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What difference does it make if you have an Ionics system? Surely there are professional Trad cleaners too. I ask you again Ewan what is a professional? You spend 90% of your posts acusing people of being unprofessional or stupid. Why? what is your point, what are you getting at? You obviously think you are the bees knees - why?
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Surpassed in what way? Do you mean you've made more money? Got more customers what?
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matt find my post a few days ago about antidoormat policy the letter with a check box ticked against you /your house does not fit our companys profile
would leave him spitting feathers.
to him you will always be second rate low life scum..............................
but to us your friends and equals you will always be a star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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matt find my post a few days ago about antidoormat policy the letter with a check box ticked against you /your house does not fit our companys profile
would leave him spitting feathers.
to him you will always be second rate low life scum..............................
but to us your friends and equals you will always be a star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:) i'm touched :)
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dont tell the wife !!!
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I would have thought matt with your so called years of experience you would have dealt with this type of customer more professionally.
But then again you’re not professional are you. :P
Ther is allways a nasty undertone in some of your posts Ewan....not a nice trait.
Matt,i would have dumped him ages ago,but i would also have got chatting to the other customers in the street about his attitude,just to let them know why you are not cleaning his property anymore.
Some people's attitude stinks,thinking they are better than others....
The name of the road where this guy lives...it's not called EWAN CLOSE by any chance.... ;D