Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: ftp on September 22, 2009, 06:13:01 pm
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Keep picking up work from other cleaners - three today that i don't need ::)
What do you think their biggest complaint is with all their cleaners, trad and wfp?
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Answers on a postcard to :
My Window Cleaner doesn't always turn up Competition !!
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Keep picking up work from other cleaners - three today that i don't need ::)
What do you think their biggest complaint is with all their cleaners, trad and wfp?
EERR asking for too many cups of tea/coffee ?? ;D ;D ;D
PK
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Stealing gnomes?
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hes a cowboy comes in a car :o
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Giving any change in pennies?
Wiping their boogers on the custys underwear whilst its drying in the back garden?
Emptying the sand-pit into the garden pond?
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Peeing in the garden when you thought nobody was in.... ;D
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He's crap in bed?
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Peeing in the garden when you thought nobody was in.... ;D
Or may doing number 2`s aswell :o :o :o :-X :-X ;D ;D
PK
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He keeps looking at my skimpy underwear on the washing line that i allways put out when he comes around... ;D
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Peeing in the garden when you thought nobody was in.... ;D
Or may doing number 2`s aswell :o :o :o :-X :-X ;D ;D
PK
Done that once, under the conifers ;D
She never complained though.
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He keeps looking at my skimpy underwear on the washing line that i allways put out when he comes around... ;D
Do you know me or something ? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
PK
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Peeing in the garden when you thought nobody was in.... ;D
Or may doing number 2`s aswell :o :o :o :-X :-X ;D ;D
PK
Done that once, under the conifers ;D
She never complained though.
When you gotta go you gotta go ;D ;D ;D
PK
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He keeps looking at my skimpy underwear on the washing line that i allways put out when he comes around... ;D
Do you know me or something ? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
PK
;D...well its certainly not me...most of my cussies are over 80....their draws are big enough to have a camping trip in.... ;D
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Is it......'They don't want to listen when I want to do is talk, talk and talk'?
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They don't like the current branding message and are thoroughly sick of succesfull wc's, and have gone for the infamous moaning git with the one foot in the grave outlook on life because it mirrors their own miserable existence.
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Or...
I am never in.
I owe him for 5 months.
He finnaly caught me in and I had no money with me.
He asked me to send payment, but I said I will just pay him next month.
I haven't painted my windows for 40 years and most of the paint cracked and fallen off.
I have over grown plants all over the garden which he had to fight through all the thorny bushes.
My gutters are older than me and him put together and water dripped on him at ever window.
I am very bad tempered at nippy with him.
I pick at everything and also claim he couldn't have cleaned them as I never saw him.
Often when he came by I asked him to come back because it was my husbands day off.
I have never got the key to move my car parked in the drive which is in the way of two windows.
Ohh and I smell really bad and chat for ages and follow him round the whole job.
I try to help and move some things, but its takes me 10 times longer than it would take him but I like to help a little.
then one day he just never came back, and I have got a clue why not, I think he might have found a job. ???
So how much, the last window cleaner charged me £1.50 for the lot and washed my car as well.
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hehe
I find most of the problems with cleaners are they underprice themselves then do a crap job and eventually drop it/ call irregularly... most wcs if they priced right could do a good job its not hard is it, i think they chose not too thinking it pays off doing 2 extra houses that day because they didnt wipe sills etc
I pick up loads moaning about rubbish cleaners give price and theyre shocked but most who want a decent cleaner understand, if not i leave it with them and walk off
Quoted a bungalow on monday only small 6-7 windows said 7.50 she said her current wc who travels twice the distance i do, nearly 30 miles ! Anyway she said - he leaves black marks all over window but id seen the windows and frames as i was walking up path and they were perfect so shed done them herself and does them every time he has been haha
She asked him too wipe sills and he says no we only do glass - why becuase he only charges £4 lol
I just give her a leaflet and said get next door as well and i will knock a quid off for you ....
Funny innit
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Or...
I am never in.
I owe him for 5 months.
He finnaly caught me in and I had no money with me.
He asked me to send payment, but I said I will just pay him next month.
I haven't painted my windows for 40 years and most of the paint cracked and fallen off.
I have over grown plants all over the garden which he had to fight through all the thorny bushes.
My gutters are older than me and him put together and water dripped on him at ever window.
I am very bad tempered at nippy with him.
I pick at everything and also claim he couldn't have cleaned them as I never saw him.
Often when he came by I asked him to come back because it was my husbands day off.
I have never got the key to move my car parked in the drive which is in the way of two windows.
Ohh and I smell really bad and chat for ages and follow him round the whole job.
I try to help and move some things, but its takes me 10 times longer than it would take him but I like to help a little.
then one day he just never came back, and I have got a clue why not, I think he might have found a job. ???
So how much, the last window cleaner charged me £1.50 for the lot and washed my car as well.
i think we have the same customers! i cant believe how true that is, bushes in front of windows, ive dropped a few for that, specialy when its been raining and they are soaked.
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Close, but they all complain about the speed of their cleaners. Customers hate it when their cleaner whips round the house. "he cleans my windows alright but he does all three bungalows in less than quarter of an hour"
They seem to hate the thought of paying twelve quid for five minutes work. Don't know why they pick on me I could be quicker.
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if they agree price they cant moan
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if they agree price they cant moan
In their minds they can, they see how quick you are Vs how much they pay you, add it up to a hourly total & think **** that, I ain't paying a window cleaner £40+ p/hour!!! ::)
They want value for money!!! right or wrong I honestly think that some do think like this.
If you agreed a price say, for your gutters cleaning out @ £100 & the guy came & did the job in 15 mins would you not feel a little bit done? Especially if you were expecting him to spend 3 hours there!
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They don't like it. So much so that they are going to sack the guy whoever he is and use me.
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I picked up work from a wfp outfit too. They work as a team - one guy did the fronts whilst the other did the backs. Half a dozen customers and they all complained about the speed, really didn't like it.
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The thing is we all have work like that and I for one do try to complete my work then finish and home in time for tea and medals.
Slowing down just does not work for me...but you can certainly see the customers point of view.
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Its jealousy is all
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It's business not jealousy, i'm part of a front and back team , and on compact work can do ten tens in an hour.You can guess what hourly rate this is.
Times are hard so it's understandable that some should feel resentfull. If i get dropped for this there's not much i can do.
My 'churn' is quite high, and thats why i grab every job i can get.
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You can really see the customers point of view...we turn up in our flash vans, uniformed, headed note paper and 500quid poles and charge 20 quid for a 3 bed semi 20 minutes later bing, bang bosh...swag in the bag and the get-away van is running....
We can seem to be over charging...it is certainly food for thought.
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maybso but at end of day decent van as you said uniform and £500 quid pole never mind the time sorting out the pure water filters,not a couple of ripped up t shirts and a bucket of mucky water,
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I often charge ten for a four/five bed detached, with cons it might be twelve, and most are eight weeks.
I clean gutters doors etc as standard and try hard to do a good job.
But..... speed is my thing and i have a very fast wfp delivery system . Side door opens at job, harness round neck, pole in hand i attack the window.Same thing thing happens at other side door.
Hot water, very high flow, slx fan jets, electric rewind on almost frictionless red ash reels.This kit costs money but pays for itself.I have also invested in a rolls royce collection method.
The only food for thought i see is that as i improve so does everybody else.There was a thread about sing written vans and they were all brilliant, very different to examples on here two years ago.
Standards on here are now so high it's scarey. I like to think i'm still a little bit in front of course in one or two areas.
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I often charge ten for a four/five bed detached, with cons it might be twelve, and most are eight weeks.
I clean gutters doors etc as standard and try hard to do a good job.
But..... speed is my thing and i have a very fast wfp delivery system . Side door opens at job, harness round neck, pole in hand i attack the window.Same thing thing happens at other side door.
Hot water, very high flow, slx fan jets, electric rewind on almost frictionless red ash reels.This kit costs money but pays for itself.I have also invested in a rolls royce collection method.
OOO!! You sound like Indiana Jones
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standards are high?ive still got a old car at mo.have good TRAD equipment,dress reasonable and doin well at mo.i pick up work by recomendation usually.the norm iz last cleaner not regular,missed sills etc but also i think its personality.it goes a long way in this game.i choose to spend my money on holidays,clothes and decorating flat but im gona save up for van and WFP next year.nice and simple,low overheads at mo. ;Dbut shiney new van or not im still a goodWC ;D
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At times I think that the old image of the old chap, ladder and bucket..working the streets in his local area have not really been forgotten...and the new 'order' does conflict with those old images and when people add a few numbers they do find the equivilient of 40quid an hour a bit steep...ok so I know that 40quid an hour is not normal..but hey thats not what they think is it?
So again it's all about misconceptions.
Dave.
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yes its custys idea of what windy cleaners are your not supposed to earn good money as your a window cleaner,but i do agree going to fast naffs them off they dont think you can do a good job being fast
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Yes very true.
I picked up a new custy today, and was just explaining about payment options, he was gobsmacked when I told him he could pay online. Impressed but gobsmacked.
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At times I think that the old image of the old chap, ladder and bucket..working the streets in his local area have not really been forgotten...and the new 'order' does conflict with those old images and when people add a few numbers they do find the equivilient of 40quid an hour a bit steep...ok so I know that 40quid an hour is not normal..but hey thats not what they think is it?
So again it's all about misconceptions.
Dave.
shouldnt we be meeting them half way then
i have been in a discussion about uniforms " you can look smart without wearing a uniform " is my point of view, a nice fleece without the logo's etc
does the unifrom just rub the customers nose in it, by wearing a uniform are you trying to justify the high rates ? ? ?
just food for thought
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As with all things there is a 'middle way' during the boom that is window cleaning at the moment...a bit like when bank managers were leaving banks and becoming plumbers.
And to a certain extent I think we as window cleaners get a little too focused on the mechanics & image of window cleaning when in reality it is just another service industry..I mean I do not get all wet and gooey when I take the van in for a service and the put it on one of those hydrolic lifts...just another tool really.
As for uniforms (no thinking what to wear required)...I wear a bib and brace get-up, boots, a cap but I think the main thing that sticks out like a red rag to a bull is flash vans...does'nt matter why we have got them..it just say's hey look at the money I have got to spend/waste on looking flash.
I am not knocking anyone who has a flash van...hey I am saving for a Landrover 110 double cab pickup...and that'll be my flash work vech ;D
Perceptions....misconceptions...do you think that we as window cleaners sometime oversell our products?
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im quite happy the way i am and i do earn 40quid an hour sometimes all TRAD.just not every hour and thats in manchester. ;Dbut like i said in an earlier post,personality goes a long way.mind u when i try out this WFP business and get round in half the time then speed of in a smart van i might start losing custys ;D ;D
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Good posts on this thread, written by real window cleaners, took a long time.
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I have lost a few customers due to my badger fetish :-[.
But some people are just sett in their ways.
Gerry.
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Biggest complaint i get about other window cleaners is that they dont do the frames & sills. Had one yesterday.... there previous windy was trad and did frames & sills. Then he went wfp and now does glass only ???
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Biggest complaint i get about other window cleaners is that they dont do the frames & sills. Had one yesterday.... there previous windy was trad and did frames & sills. Then he went wfp and now does glass only ???
In the last 2.5 years I have only had 3 people ask me if I do frames, and 2 of them I still do today.
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at the end of the day the genral public still think of windy cleaners as lower class citizens,i have a mate who does security on the courts and nearly every1 that goes through the court says they are window cleaners,and this gives people the impression that every windy cleaner is a little shaddy ashame but true,people once in a mindset are very hard to change
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Ok then ftp - you now take on this fast window cleaners custies - what are you going to do? Half the speed and earn half the money you could?
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I got my first complaint today after starting March.I didn't wipe the cill down thoroughly enough,apparently.By Christ,this woman was livid!She tore strips off me.Left me feeling a bit deflated to be honest.She pays me £6.50 to do her front and sides and the windows were sparkling.Felt like telling her to stick it but need the customers unfortunately.
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Just got to bite yer tongue and then when the time is right..replace her...just think of her as a cash-cow for the moment.
Dave.
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Just got to bite yer tongue and then when the time is right..replace her...just think of her as a cash-cow for the moment.
Dave.
It's fair to say I already think of her as a cow of some description.
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Ok then ftp - you now take on this fast window cleaners custies - what are you going to do? Half the speed and earn half the money you could?
Erm, don't know to be honest. I am pretty slow due to being very thorough. I'll spend extra time getting the front door and sill spotless. Maybe that's part of the reason I'm picking up so much work i don't know.
I don't go in for this speed cleaning game that many post on u-tube - I find it just brings on extra stress when your going like the clappers and snag your hose.
I don't need to earn £200 a day either. Thus my working days are fairly relaxed (apart from moronic customers ;D)
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Ok then ftp - you now take on this fast window cleaners custies - what are you going to do? Half the speed and earn half the money you could?
No, he charges more & takes a bit more time & as a result of this will have a more stable account. ;)
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The previous cleaner charged £12 for every two months. I've told them I can do it for the same price but every five weeks.