Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: macleod on November 19, 2009, 10:36:10 pm

Title: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 19, 2009, 10:36:10 pm
has anyone any stories about this company?
95 quid to join

are they just a window claning company that sub out work?
or are they some kinda legal association?

cheers
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 19, 2009, 10:53:15 pm
any actual experiences, anyone please?
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: daz1977 on November 19, 2009, 11:13:28 pm
u got a web site to look at, so people can see it
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 19, 2009, 11:25:01 pm
i believe their web address is laddersfree.co.uk

again, any experiences to relate?
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: daz1977 on November 20, 2009, 07:54:36 am
by the look at they are just like a yellow pages for wc, i would rather spend the 95 on google ad words and get higher up there pages
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: wizard on November 20, 2009, 09:28:13 am
They take your cash and gives you nothing. So many lazy people around who want easy cash.
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 20, 2009, 09:32:16 am
thanks guys, anyone done actual work for them?
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 20, 2009, 10:39:36 am
I'm sure someone on here must work for them either now or in the past.
Would be interesting to know your story...
Thanks
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: Roy Harding on November 20, 2009, 01:22:55 pm
You pay your joining fee, and then you select 3 counties that you would like to cover.
They then contact you if any contracts come up in those areas and they get 3 tenders. They bill the customer with some on top and then pay you.

I must add I have never worked for them but know some who have, one has had work and a few have not.

They can offer a nationwide service as they have built a network of window cleaners.

I personally hate all national companies that sub work out to window cleaners that they cannot cover, I have been offered plenty of jobs like this but never take it on. Why “You never get rich digging other peoples ditches” many will disagree and say if the work is there take it.

  I’m in my 27yr and earn a good living and se no need for someone to make money on me. I will do the work and have all the money. ;D

This will open a can of worms! ;D

Roy
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: Steve CM on November 20, 2009, 01:52:49 pm
You pay your joining fee, and then you select 3 counties that you would like to cover.
They then contact you if any contracts come up in those areas and they get 3 tenders. They bill the customer with some on top and then pay you.

I must add I have never worked for them but know some who have, one has had work and a few have not.

They can offer a nationwide service as they have built a network of window cleaners.

I personally hate all national companies that sub work out to window cleaners that they cannot cover, I have been offered plenty of jobs like this but never take it on. Why “You never get rich digging other peoples ditches” many will disagree and say if the work is there take it.

  I’m in my 27yr and earn a good living and se no need for someone to make money on me. I will do the work and have all the money. ;D

This will open a can of worms! ;D

Roy


i heard they take the cream and palm off the poop! dunno how much of that is true mind, just what i heard
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: matt on November 20, 2009, 02:39:43 pm
they took 1 of my better jobs a few years back, it was a nice little 3 day job that i earnt well on

they came in with a price well below what i did it for ( for for 3 years ) and then struggled to get any1 to do it, in the end after less that 12 months they lost the job as the subbie just wasnt doing a good job ( because the price was so low )

Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 21, 2009, 08:26:22 am
thanks guys, what are they like to work for?
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 21, 2009, 09:42:50 pm
has anyone worked for, or still works for laddersfree?
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: Window Washers on November 21, 2009, 10:21:43 pm
You pay your joining fee, and then you select 3 counties that you would like to cover.
They then contact you if any contracts come up in those areas and they get 3 tenders. They bill the customer with some on top and then pay you.

I must add I have never worked for them but know some who have, one has had work and a few have not.

They can offer a nationwide service as they have built a network of window cleaners.

I personally hate all national companies that sub work out to window cleaners that they cannot cover, I have been offered plenty of jobs like this but never take it on. Why “You never get rich digging other peoples ditches” many will disagree and say if the work is there take it.

  I’m in my 27yr and earn a good living and se no need for someone to make money on me. I will do the work and have all the money. ;D

This will open a can of worms! ;D

Roy

Only have to say this is a very short sited view, I get others work and dont take a penny from the jobs, I do charge £49 for a year to do it, but thats less than 15 mins work for a years posibilities.....not everyone try to make a sack load from every person,  if everyone gave me 10p a week on here I would be rich, that not greedy do you get the point i'm making roy, please dont tar us all with the same brush, as you can get rich digging others ditches as sometimes you find gold and can keep it  ;)  :-*

Ian
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 21, 2009, 10:52:42 pm
I'm really interested to know if anyone knows anyone that has worked for, had dealings with or can give me any additional info about laddersfree - feel free to share here or email me.

cheers
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: Moderator David@stives on November 21, 2009, 11:05:00 pm
they asked me to clean a massive retirement complex for £170, the same job if i priced it myself would of been £400.
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: Steve CM on November 21, 2009, 11:07:38 pm
they asked me to clean a massive retirement complex for £170, the same job if i priced it myself would of been £400.

thats the kind of thing i heard about them.
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: matt on November 21, 2009, 11:38:16 pm
they asked me to clean a massive retirement complex for £170, the same job if i priced it myself would of been £400.

thats the kind of thing i heard about them.

the thing is though, they will only expect you to spend 170 quid of time on the job, cut the odd corner, clean quickly etc etc
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 22, 2009, 10:24:58 pm
thanks guys, Im not sure but i feel that perhaps they mislead clients into thinking that they are somehow an 'official' representation of window cleaners - is this true?

and give the impression that they are are a national window cleaning company when in effect they simply 'sub' work out to local window cleaners (via yellow pages etc) - and this sub contracting is the very practice that they say they dont do.

also if a client is paying £100 to clean their windows, is that what you get or do they 'cream off' a 'management fee' or is it simply the £95 quid a year that they make.

help to answer my suspicions please.

this topic is proving to be rather quite - so come on lads get involved.
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 23, 2009, 04:32:00 pm
bump, really interested in any feedback
Title: Re: Who Knows this lot - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 23, 2009, 07:27:56 pm
.
Title: Re: LaddersFree
Post by: Frankybadboy on November 23, 2009, 07:39:21 pm
they took 1 of my better jobs a few years back, it was a nice little 3 day job that i earnt well on

they came in with a price well below what i did it for ( for for 3 years ) and then struggled to get any1 to do it, in the end after less that 12 months they lost the job as the subbie just wasnt doing a good job ( because the price was so low )


did you get the job back after matt
Title: Re: Who Knows this lot - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 23, 2009, 08:13:59 pm
Hi Ewan

Its a good point you raise that if I want these questions answered, then just call them however the reason is that I would like these questions answered from the perspective from someone who has worked for them is this:

The company were fairly active on this board a few years ago, but very quite since, but they are still out there and operating in a less than honest way or so it seems to me - I could be wrong.

The best way I can illustrate this is if a 'national' wfp manufacture were to say "ladders are banned" when in fact they are not - they are operating in a less than ethical way, or bending the truth just to make money by taking your and my clients.

And the same thing is happening here, and so this discussion should be of interest to you - and most window cleaners - is that this company have positioned themselves as some sort of representitive of window cleaning - thats you and I - with some sort of quasi legal standing.

Commercial companies buy into their claims that they are some kind of 'fair trade' organisation, that have been granted legal weight or that they are somehow enshrined in law and represent window cleaners'

Mac
Title: the Illuminati are LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 24, 2009, 08:58:19 am
looks like they are worse than the Illuminati...
they exist, but no one will talk about them, is everyone really that scared of them?
Title: Re: the Illuminati are LaddersFree
Post by: niceandclean on November 24, 2009, 11:37:15 am
looks like they are worse than the Illuminati...
they exist, but no one will talk about them, is everyone really that scared of them?

If you do a search, looks like they run a couple of other businesses from the same home address.
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: Nathanael Jones on November 24, 2009, 12:17:10 pm
FTP and John Garnett were both members. John never got any work from them,.. Andy did, but wasn't impressed by the low prices offered for some jobs so he didn't renew. Andy is still listed on their website though!
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 24, 2009, 08:31:59 pm
is it clear what percentage they cream of the top?
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: wizard on November 24, 2009, 08:42:19 pm
Can you not read between the lines looks like you would like to work for them. Go for it and then you can tell us the truth.
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: Smudger on November 24, 2009, 08:57:59 pm
I agree with wizard,  you seem very intent on knowing everything about these guys,

you seem to want to work for them, if so contact them and find out about the T&C's - other than that it appears no one works for, or cares about them.


Darran
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: M Henderson on November 24, 2009, 09:00:51 pm
I'd be interested to know whether they are actually still running the business. The site is live but I seem to remember seeing there business for sale a couple of years ago. Could be wrong.

Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 24, 2009, 11:30:09 pm
Just so we are clear; I do not want to work for them.

Few years ago I did some free work for on behalf of a window cleaner as a favour to the family (it was only 3 days a month but as their dad had fallen off his ladder they had no income and he never recovered from his head injury).

I promised that I would do this round so they could sell it, for 2 months I did it for free, then I 'subbed' out the work to someone and out of my own pocket I paid them a day rate to do the round for another 2 months...

I would have liked to brought the round, and was prepared to pay a fair price due to the circumstances.

the work was all commercial, all hotels - 3 months later I lost all the work to another window cleaning company.

This led to a major falling out between this family, myself as they thought that I took the work when in fact I had lost it to a 'national window cleaning company'.

I just found out it was this company that took the work by using unethical 'bending' of truths (in my opinion), making great stock of this National Register of Window Cleaners.

And now I want to do something about it... win it back, nothing else!!

So forewarned is forearmed, hence the questions.
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: Moderator David@stives on November 24, 2009, 11:45:32 pm
Laddersfree have just pulled the plug on their corporate ads in the yellow pages, you know the ones just like the fed boxes.
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 25, 2009, 08:04:56 am
thats interesting, what happening with them? taking everything inhouse? and get rid of their "national network of sub contractors?"
Title: Re: out to get you - LaddersFree
Post by: macleod on November 25, 2009, 04:38:50 pm
thought I'd bump this one last time, to see if anyone has anything to add.

Thanks again