Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Moderator David@stives on November 10, 2009, 08:53:52 pm
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Hello everyone, here is an email i recieved from a £10.00 commercial job, my vehicles are fitted with tracking software by the way.
Can you help this man find some witnesses ?
I cleaned the windows at 7.00am before anyone arrived
I know it sounds sad but this has really wound me up, am I being too sensitive ?
Hello David,
Just received your invoice for cleaning on 4.11.09.
I don’t want to make a big thing about it but I don’t remember seeing them being done, and I have asked around and no-one else does either. I’m sure they were but I can’t find any witnesses!!
Is it possible to leave a slip each time a job is done?
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lol u should turn up at the busiest time of the day for them and get loads of witness
what is annoy is when you do a house and they are in and see you, so you dont leave a note and then they ask have you been
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sounds like a py wee prick to me..... ;D
i'd give him an email back indicating that the job was done before the premisis opened, and if they wanted witnesses, to get their arse out a bed earlier!!!
maybe not like that but words to that effect
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lol i would just remain diplomatic and explain the job had been carried out at 7 am and you have a vehicle tracker to confirm. and if it makes them feel better a slip can be left in future.
but what i would like to say is get a life muppet
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had one last month
said i had not cleaned his windows and was not going to pay so i said you can find someone else and that i would finish his windoew today as the customer trust had gone between us
Did'nt make a big thing over it
at the door
sorry for anymiss trust but we have checked our bank records and find we have not paid for four months
it was only £15 quid but thats not the point
in the passed we have given the money back and called it quits
send him £10 and say sorry for the inconvieance Dave
:)
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James
You seem to question my integrity, I have been cleaning commercial properties for 12 years without once missing a clean. I clean every notable building in Hayle as well as the rest of Cornwall, not once have I ever had to prove if I have cleaned windows or provide witnesses, I run an extremely successful business and you dont get that by being dishonest.
When I first started cleaning for you I told you my business was built on trust, I told you my staff are all crb checked and we use tracking software to monitor our vehicles movements.
Without creating a fuss you say, In a round about way you are saying you don,t believe we cleaned your windows, which really means you are calling me a liar, which I am deeply offended by.
If you needed witnesses and proof of cleans and you don't trust your window cleaner, why bother employing me in the first place.
You must be a deeply mis-trusting man if you are causing all this fuss for a paltry £10.00.
See below 2 screenshots from my tracking software showing the time we arrived to clean your windows, If that isn't proof enough, please feel free to phone quartix and they will tell you I cannot tamper with the software.
If you still don't believe me, my work partner can be my witness!!! , I can even provide you with the details of a friend who drove past and honked his horn at me, I am sure he will make a fantastic witness !!!
Failing that and you still don't believe me, then just don't pay me !!!!!!!!
How does that sound
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tell him to ring crimestoppers ;D ;D ;D ;D
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James
You seem to question my integrity, I have been cleaning commercial properties for 12 years without once missing a clean. I clean every notable building in Hayle as well as the rest of Cornwall, not once have I ever had to prove if I have cleaned windows or provide witnesses, I run an extremely successful business and you dont get that by being dishonest.
When I first started cleaning for you I told you my business was built on trust, I told you my staff are all crb checked and we use tracking software to monitor our vehicles movements.
Without creating a fuss you say, In a round about way you are saying you don,t believe we cleaned your windows, which really means you are calling me a liar, which I am deeply offended by.
If you needed witnesses and proof of cleans and you don't trust your window cleaner, why bother employing me in the first place.
You must be a deeply mis-trusting man if you are causing all this fuss for a paltry £10.00.
See below 2 screenshots from my tracking software showing the time we arrived to clean your windows, If that isn't proof enough, please feel free to phone quartix and they will tell you I cannot tamper with the software.
If you still don't believe me, my work partner can be my witness!!! , I can even provide you with the details of a friend who drove past and honked his horn at me, I am sure he will make a fantastic witness !!!
Failing that and you still don't believe me, then just don't pay me !!!!!!!!
How does that sound
sounds perfect but you might lose the job
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James
You seem to question my integrity, I have been cleaning commercial properties for 12 years without once missing a clean. I clean every notable building in Hayle as well as the rest of Cornwall, not once have I ever had to prove if I have cleaned windows or provide witnesses, I run an extremely successful business and you dont get that by being dishonest.
When I first started cleaning for you I told you my business was built on trust, I told you my staff are all crb checked and we use tracking software to monitor our vehicles movements.
Without creating a fuss you say, In a round about way you are saying you don,t believe we cleaned your windows, which really means you are calling me a liar, which I am deeply offended by.
If you needed witnesses and proof of cleans and you don't trust your window cleaner, why bother employing me in the first place.
You must be a deeply mis-trusting man if you are causing all this fuss for a paltry £10.00.
See below 2 screenshots from my tracking software showing the time we arrived to clean your windows, If that isn't proof enough, please feel free to phone quartix and they will tell you I cannot tamper with the software.
If you still don't believe me, my work partner can be my witness!!! , I can even provide you with the details of a friend who drove past and honked his horn at me, I am sure he will make a fantastic witness !!!
Failing that and you still don't believe me, then just don't pay me !!!!!!!!
How does that sound
sounds to uptight.
I would just point out that the vans are fitted with trackers and here is the report and leave it at that.
I know its only £10 but its also the reputation of your business.
I've been accussed of similar but the tracker reports are proof enough
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Dave your understandably angry about this, I would be too.
I would go and see the guy, look him in the eye, and say " James, I did them mate, and God is my witness. If you don't believe me then maybe we should call it a day."
Leave him the screen shots in an envelope with a short explanatory note.
He questioned your integrity, you have shown him the proof, he has to go.
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James
You seem to question my integrity, I have been cleaning commercial properties for 12 years without once missing a clean. I clean every notable building in Hayle as well as the rest of Cornwall, not once have I ever had to prove if I have cleaned windows or provide witnesses, I run an extremely successful business and you dont get that by being dishonest.
When I first started cleaning for you I told you my business was built on trust, I told you my staff are all crb checked and we use tracking software to monitor our vehicles movements.
Without creating a fuss you say, In a round about way you are saying you don,t believe we cleaned your windows, which really means you are calling me a liar, which I am deeply offended by.
If you needed witnesses and proof of cleans and you don't trust your window cleaner, why bother employing me in the first place.
You must be a deeply mis-trusting man if you are causing all this fuss for a paltry £10.00.
See below 2 screenshots from my tracking software showing the time we arrived to clean your windows, If that isn't proof enough, please feel free to phone quartix and they will tell you I cannot tamper with the software.
If you still don't believe me, my work partner can be my witness!!! , I can even provide you with the details of a friend who drove past and honked his horn at me, I am sure he will make a fantastic witness !!!
Failing that and you still don't believe me, then just don't pay me !!!!!!!!
How does that sound
Dave, it sounds bad very bad, makes you look like your head is to big, and are being rude to a customer, that said customer could know most of the notable windows in hayle and your busienss could fold.
all unlikely, but no need to be rude to this person, could well be a gen question,
Just reply hello, I have provided you tracking details or the van that was sent out to clean your windows, It up set me a little to feel untrusted as I though we provided you a good service, as said here are the details or the date and time the van was at your location, if there is any problems please call me direct on 8y712398389 and I will make sure this is sorted out straight away.
Kind regards the most professional window cleaner in Hayle ;D
Ian
p.s I would check this for errors, but I cannot see what I am typing, as ciu has a software issue, maybe you could get this looked into..
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maybe he's not doubting you did the work, maybe it's the quality :D
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lol i would just remain diplomatic and explain the job had been carried out at 7 am and you have a vehicle tracker to confirm. and if it makes them feel better a slip can be left in future.
but what i would like to say is get a life muppet
I'd say this is probably the best action.
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Please don't tell me you are really going to send that ..??
I realise that this guy is totally out of order, but you need a much cooler approach, i think simply start by sending the data of vehicle tracking then see if he wants to go further,
I feel you need to take a deep breath count to ten and think how that email/letter would look in the cold light of day - and how it would look to other current/future customers if it was circulated around ! ???
Hope this helps!
Darran
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On this forum you've come in for plenty of stick, including from me BUT, you've always kept your head & responded with respect & dignity- which is hard to do at times & is a very good quality IMO.
This quality has probably played a big part in building your sucsessful business so I wouldn't risk denting that & respond in the way that you normally would. ;) You be the bigger man & he'll soon feel small!
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how about this one
Why would you need witnesses ? my word is my honor.
It sounds like you don't trust me, which makes me feel hurt.
Luckily for me I have 2 witnesses, here's one below.
Printouts from my vehicle tracking software showing we was at your property at the date we billed you for, you can confirm by phoning the Tracking company.
Kind Regards
Dave
p.s. What happens if I forget to post a slip sometime,(It does happen) does that mean I am in the dog house again ?
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have you asked him if his windows are clean?
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how about this one
Why would you need witnesses ? my word is my honor.
It sounds like you don't trust me, which makes me feel hurt.
Luckily for me I have 2 witnesses, here's one below.
Printouts from my vehicle tracking software showing we was at your property at the date we billed you for, you can confirm by phoning the Tracking company.
Kind Regards
Dave
p.s. What happens if I forget to post a slip sometime,(It does happen) does that mean I am in the dog house again ?
sounds uptight. You need to always be calm and poilite
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Hello everyone, here is an email i recieved from a £10.00 commercial job, my vehicles are fitted with tracking software by the way.
Can you help this man find some witnesses ?
I cleaned the windows at 7.00am before anyone arrived
I know it sounds sad but this has really wound me up, am I being too sensitive ?
Hello David,
Just received your invoice for cleaning on 4.11.09.
I don’t want to make a big thing about it but I don’t remember seeing them being done, and I have asked around and no-one else does either. I’m sure they were but I can’t find any witnesses!!
Is it possible to leave a slip each time a job is done?
Your reply:
Dear James
Apologies for any confusion and thanks for giving us the benefit of the doubt. I can assure you they were done. But I quite agree, we should leave you a slip each time the job is done, in fact that is our standard practise.
Thanks for your continuing valued custom.
Yours truly...
Leave it to him to decide if he pays, if not, that's him gone.
Look after the pennies...the pounds look after themselves
Don't lose any more time on it. But never forget when £10 meant something to you... it might again one day.
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personally, id gloss over the issue ,but put on my thinking cap and think of a way to get him back, maybe even a few months later you can set him up sumhow .
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lol i would just remain diplomatic and explain the job had been carried out at 7 am and you have a vehicle tracker to confirm. and if it makes them feel better a slip can be left in future.
but what i would like to say is get a life muppet
I'd say this is probably the best action.
Yep, This would be the best and also expalin why you come at 7am
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I suppose you are all right.
I will just send the printouts tommorrow stating we wont be leaving calling cards, but if there is ever reason for doubt I will always send another printout.
I dont want to go down the route of leaving cards, i never have to with any other commercial job.
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Just say Jehovah is your witness ;D
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I suppose you are all right.
I will just send the printouts tommorrow stating we wont be leaving calling cards, but if there is ever reason for doubt I will always send another printout.
I dont want to go down the route of leaving cards, i never have to with any other commercial job.
i have one of my old contracts starting up again in january. He was the one that acussed us of not being there. when the van trackers said different. Because its worth quite a bit of money though this time i'm gonna get the work signed off by him so there is no future problems. I'm not saying go down that route but i think sometimes there is a place for it but not for a tenner ;D
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Dear Muppet (change name if required),
I would like to apologize for neglecting to leave a slip with yourselves for the clean on 4 nov 09, the reason no one saw the work taking place could be due to the fact that it was carried out 7 a.m, as recorded by the tracking software in my vehicle.
I would like to think that I have established a reputation for trustworthiness in my years as a window cleaner, however I feel from the wording of the email I received, that you have some doubts about this. I hope this is not the case, as it would hurt me to think I had created a negative impression.
regards
Dave, King of my little world ;)
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Like macmac and some of the others i'm surprised this got such a reaction from you. I thought your long email was well written but a bit involved. Window washers matter of fact reply giving the tracking printout was better because you don't want to give the impression that you are being a clever clogs.
I would make three points.
1. I am certain this job was done because on this occassion i was one of the operatives
And
2. I have tracking printouts (see enclosed)
And
3. Thanks for the suggestion of leaving a customer visit card.We do do this on domestic jobs, but on commercial we normaly use an invoice system, and try to simplefy and standardise things for our operators as much as possible.Often letterbox's are not available, our card could be confused as double billing, or simply lost in amongst other mail and circulars, so out of the many hundreds of jobs that we do leaving a card for one is not practical.
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Dear James.
In order to keep our prices low, we often have to work a longer day. This often entails carrying out the window cleaning out of hours when no staff are around. This is one of the reasons that we have been able to freeze the price for cleaning windows at your premises to £10. If you would prefer us to alter our schedule this would mean extra travelling and would drastically increase our costs in cleaning your premises. We can certainly carry out the window cleaning when some witnesses are around at your premises, but due to the extra travelling involved, we would have to pass on the extra cost to you.
However, we would prefer to keep our price the same as it is currently and I imagine that you would too.
I am surprised to see that there is a hint of mistrust in your letter. I can assure you that I would not permit you to be charged for work that has not been carried out. The good name of my company is largely based on trust and goodwill.
So stick your job up your a*** .
No no, not that last line ;D.
I do agree with Windowwashers that your initial response seems far too strong. Sleep on it a day or two I suggest.
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BLIMEY!!!I can feel the anger and energy coming out of my computer...LOL.....I wouldnt even reply, he probably did it to the last guy , and hel do it to thne new guy and th neext new guy...£10 JOB ? whats the point in getting angry...ok... I would just cll him and say I did the job ... please pay ...and leave it at that!!
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Don't lose your cool/control.
I think that Replies 20 (Pj) and 27 (slumpbuster) have it covered.
Mike
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I might have this totally wrong..... but....How does giving him the tracking software sheets prove you have cleaned the windows ???
Surely he can tell they have been cleaned otherwise why pay you to clean them, and I personally think leaving a slip after every clean is a must, but even that doesn't prove you have cleaned them, you'll just have to video every property cleaned from now on ;D
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Dave
You are a better person than the response you want to send. Do not send a cutting email. As has been stated you don't know who this guy knows and how this may affect your business in the future.
Give yourself time to calm down and then look at the whole situation with a clearer head. In the instance where there is no one around why can you not drop a slip through. There can be no confusion in the future then.
I have always worked with slips and wouldn't do remote or out of hours cleaning without dropping one off.
You are a succesful window cleaner and you have an enviable business but you are only in this guys life for 10 minutes max per month and he has not seen you, or any of his staff. You should know by now that people will not check the windows to see if they are cleaner than they were yesterday.
I have read the email a couple of times and see nothing malicious in it = he just hasn't seen you. He doesn't know your schedule and would not even think that you would turn up at 7 in the morning.
Be cautious in your response - ten pounds is only ten pounds but if you start to lose them they will soon mount up.
Good luck
Rob
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Whilst this would irk me....just let it go...give what he has asked for and continue on with your business. Not really worth the time and effort of being angry and annoyed for too long.
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Like others have said Dave,let it go.This fella might not
Like the look of ya face anyways etc. etc.it`s happened
To us all at sometime I recon.Oaky,it`s èrked`ya. I`m
Surprised someone of your experience has let it get to
Ya the way it has.
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Thanks guys
I feel much better now, I just couldnt stop thinking about it yesterday, it really wound me up.
It just smacks of being You are a window cleaner so you are not trustworthy, so please prove you have been.
I have loads of commercial jobs and never leave slips, I have to get dockets signed at certain jobs, but I really dont want to go down the route of leaving slips, all my shops etc trust me to have cleaned them, it has been that way for 10 years or more.
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I believe you Dave!
I know that's the most important thing to you .... ;)
I reckon PJ/Slumps/Leapstall's advice is good - and why not make an exception and leave a slip for him?
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You could leave a slip and not do the job ;D
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You could leave a slip and not do the job ;D
i agree !- youve been loyal tooo long dave ,this is your time to be a rebel dave
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Hi Dave
I wouldnt worry about it, just keep taking his money. He might not even work there in a months time. Then you would have lost the job for no reason.
A very large proportion of customers will always have the attitude of your "just the window cleaner" but don't let it bother you just keep banking the money..
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I would pick up the phone and call him, I would be surprised if he was as uptight as his mail sounds.
I agree with you about not leaving slips and would drop the job if he insisted, I would also hold back the information that you use vehicle tracking until you have decided what to do.
A call will probably resolve it within seconds.
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Hello everyone, here is an email i recieved from a £10.00 commercial job, my vehicles are fitted with tracking software by the way.
Can you help this man find some witnesses ?
I cleaned the windows at 7.00am before anyone arrived
I know it sounds sad but this has really wound me up, am I being too sensitive ?
Hello David,
Just received your invoice for cleaning on 4.11.09.
I don’t want to make a big thing about it but I don’t remember seeing them being done, and I have asked around and no-one else does either. I’m sure they were but I can’t find any witnesses!!
Is it possible to leave a slip each time a job is done?
You must be feeling better now you have that off your chest :) It's not the price it's the principle. As you have his e-mail address why not offer that you mail him each time the clean is done(would take 2 minutes) and that the e-mail would serve as a receipt for his records. Of course there would be an admin charge of £2.00 per invoice though :)
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Thanks guys
I feel much better now, I just couldnt stop thinking about it yesterday, it really wound me up.
It just smacks of being You are a window cleaner so you are not trustworthy, so please prove you have been.
I have loads of commercial jobs and never leave slips, I have to get dockets signed at certain jobs, but I really dont want to go down the route of leaving slips, all my shops etc trust me to have cleaned them, it has been that way for 10 years or more.
I know you would like to go and slap the guy Dave but keep the slap head happy because its not £10 your loosing its £10 multiplied by the amount of times you clean per annum, upset the fool and chance him bad mouthing you to others and you being the good business man that you are value your customers.
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I always thought that a confession was better than any number of witnesses.
Boy I wonder what this guys is like with the garage that sevices his car.
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And here I was think we are runnibg a window cleaning busuness and guys tell me I have to have witnesses sound more like a court to me.Next we will have to prove we are innocent for doing our job.Sing him a hyme F Him.
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What is the problem?
Just leave a job completed slip each time and bob's your whatsit
He's not refusing to pay he just wants ressurance that he's not getting ripped off, probably heard all the horror stories about "dodgy" window cleaners
leave him a slip show him how good you are and put the price up a wee bit
cheers
Gordon
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This may be another moderators thread but he can't be expected to moderate it too...
So I've done it for him....a couple of replies deleted due to profanity.
Foul language, regardless of the use of asterisks or blank spaces are not allowed on the forum...
Ian
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cant believe you would trip over something that small, just let it be and get ten more. Saw you out in the van the other day. Looking good.
Next step is to crack the nationals, given the tools you could take the lot in the next five years, will be dropping them your way as and when they come in.
for a fee of course 8)
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Just say Jehovah is your witness ;D
[/q
people always say to me" are you a jehovah witness" they say most window cleaners are , is this true ???????
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Just say Jehovah is your witness ;D
[/q
people always say to me" are you a jehovah witness" they say most window cleaners are , is this true ???????
Funnily enough, when I used to live in East Grinstead, West Sussex (close to the UK centre of scientology), some people used to ask me if I was a scientologist. Apparently a fair number of them who live nearby at Saint Hill used to take up window cleaning.
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Just say Jehovah is your witness ;D
[/q
people always say to me" are you a jehovah witness" they say most window cleaners are , is this true ???????
Maybe not most be deffo a lot!!! You will find that some who have helped you are JW - Dont worry I didn't know this fact until I came on here! Nothing to worry about, no one has tried to convert me yet ;DJust say Jehovah is your witness ;D
[/q
people always say to me" are you a jehovah witness" they say most window cleaners are , is this true ???????
Funnily enough, when I used to live in East Grinstead, West Sussex (close to the UK centre of scientology), some people used to ask me if I was a scientologist. Apparently a fair number of them who live nearby at Saint Hill used to take up window cleaning.
I've heard of them. They gave a load of money to the Bluebell Steam Railway a couple of years ago, which was nice! Not sure of their profession though!!!
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Thanks guys
I feel much better now, I just couldnt stop thinking about it yesterday, it really wound me up.
It just smacks of being You are a window cleaner so you are not trustworthy, so please prove you have been.
I have loads of commercial jobs and never leave slips, I have to get dockets signed at certain jobs, but I really dont want to go down the route of leaving slips, all my shops etc trust me to have cleaned them, it has been that way for 10 years or more.
I know you would like to go and slap the guy Dave but keep the slap head happy because its not £10 your loosing its £10 multiplied by the amount of times you clean per annum, upset the fool and chance him bad mouthing you to others and you being the good business man that you are value your customers.
Unless it was daily wouldn't worry - even at weekly, £520 PA is hardly going to break the bank!!!
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I don't think the guy was that out of order. He just questioned because he and others didn't know. He said he didn't want to make a big thing out of it, so he would probably feel mortified if he knew how you feel about it.
I personally wouldn't drop them, but explain you do them early and have vehicle tracker software giving times and locations etc. So you know have records of your employees locations and times at all times (I know you cleaned this one yourself).
The money isn't worth a seconds thought, but it wouldn't hurt to put a slip through the letterbox.
And i think you are getting too big locally to drop customers with as much ease as us sole traders. Your name can't be far off being a local brand now, can it?
The tone of the letter indicates they are very happy with your service. Leaving a slip is good practice anyway i think.
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still think you should go look the guy in the face,
after all, it's reputation and integrity at stake
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Lets be realistic about it, people jumping on the band wagon suggesting its about integrity etc, next someone'll suggest getting a posse together so we can have a lynching. Its just an error, a mistake a misjudgement.
The guy said that he had just recieved your invoice, so why dont you just invoice him when the job is done on the spot, there and then and he can take that as his 'slip'.
You get to invoice him immediately he gets his slip and no-one is any the worse off.
I can be diplomatic when I try ;D
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Why dont we get a posse together so we can have a lynching ;D
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weres me pich fork ;D
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i've got some matches. ;D
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Lets be realistic about it, people jumping on the band wagon suggesting its about integrity etc, next someone'll suggest getting a posse together so we can have a lynching. Its just an error, a mistake a misjudgement.
The guy said that he had just recieved your invoice, so why dont you just invoice him when the job is done on the spot, there and then and he can take that as his 'slip'.
You get to invoice him immediately he gets his slip and no-one is any the worse off.
I can be diplomatic when I try ;D
The invoice probably has about 4 cleans on it and he probs doesnt remember one of the cleans on the list as im sure Dave doesnt do one clean go home sit at his comp, print out a invoice for £10 then post it, otherwise im sure if a clean had a individual invoice dave would do this the night before and post it straight after the clean or am I the only one that lets small commercials build up like this, as I invoice every 4 cleans on these small £10 jobs as there normally done Daily or weekly.