Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: stracey on April 06, 2010, 05:13:56 pm

Title: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: stracey on April 06, 2010, 05:13:56 pm
Picked four up cleaning the same round today, cust comes out with flyer saying you have some competition qouting £5:50 for what we think is a relistic £10 three storey property.
The cust pays me for the clean and remarks how can they do it for that low price, then say there is something not right about this and say see you next month.

Gets me thinking now has this low pricing actually been putting people off and i carry on doing the first cleans.

My cousin working at side of me today get a phone call from fellow WFP guy relates this tale only to find out that the undercutters are well known to him, Two Firemen moonlighting to make ends meet. >:(
Is this legal? do i tell my cust why they can be that cheap or hope they just fade away ???   
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: formb on April 06, 2010, 05:16:08 pm
It is legal if they declare it to the tax man but they wont.

Cheeky numptys were on strike not long ago wanting, and getting more chuffing money.

Grass em up.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: ♠Winp®oClean♠ on April 06, 2010, 06:53:33 pm
It is legal if they declare it to the tax man but they wont.

Cheeky numptys were on strike not long ago wanting, and getting more chuffing money.

Grass em up.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: mci services on April 06, 2010, 06:59:03 pm
ah the firemen ::) theres one round my way that does carpet cleaning and is cheaper than all the rest. he openly admits he just wants to maake enough to pay for his golfing weekends.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: daz1977 on April 06, 2010, 07:03:28 pm
thats the problem this business has got, people will do it for the extra bit of cash, where we all do it for a living,  they usually vanish in the cold months, but how many wc do they put out of business in the mean time,   its usaully the custy that go with the cheaper option who moan they cant get a wc,   when they just stop coming
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: martinsadie on April 06, 2010, 07:31:38 pm
firemen have been cleaning windows on the side for many a year,my dad had trouble with some in the 70s
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: dazmond on April 06, 2010, 07:48:17 pm
firemen,doleys,beer brigade,part timers with other jobs,gardeners fillin in a few gaps!the list goes on and on! ::) ::)
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: barry mallett on April 06, 2010, 08:04:48 pm
firemen get on my nerves they should be made to work proper hours so they cant do part time work we call em glorified bin men . go to there station and ask there officer if they have permission
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: mci services on April 06, 2010, 08:09:38 pm
get on my wick as well. i had to fly back from a 6 month tour do a weeks green goddess training and fly back out to finish my tour. then on my return had leave cancelled to cover the strikes >:( then when i choose my new career hey they undercut my work

but hey ho as long as they got their pay rise all is good :-\
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Paul Coleman on April 06, 2010, 08:10:00 pm
Picked four up cleaning the same round today, cust comes out with flyer saying you have some competition qouting £5:50 for what we think is a relistic £10 three storey property.
The cust pays me for the clean and remarks how can they do it for that low price, then say there is something not right about this and say see you next month.

Gets me thinking now has this low pricing actually been putting people off and i carry on doing the first cleans.

My cousin working at side of me today get a phone call from fellow WFP guy relates this tale only to find out that the undercutters are well known to him, Two Firemen moonlighting to make ends meet. >:(
Is this legal? do i tell my cust why they can be that cheap or hope they just fade away ???   

Well that explains it then.  Income tax 20ish%.  NI 8%.  Business insurance £100 - £300 a year etc etc.  Without the overheads like that, I could probably halve my own prices never mind someone else's.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: daz1977 on April 06, 2010, 08:41:52 pm
the problem you got is most people think fireman are heroes and it disgusting that they have to get an other job just to live and how great it is that they are offering a service like wc that people want,  yet wc are just doles who do it for beer money or because they couldnt get a proper job


(am sorry if people dont like this, but am sick and tired of the way wc are looked down at becasue of the job we do)
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Alan McTernan on April 06, 2010, 08:49:48 pm
I tried moonlighting as a fireman!!!! But my hose wasnt long enough!!! ;D LOL
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: barry mallett on April 06, 2010, 09:25:35 pm
i actually did a bit of part time firefighting .playing pool ,cards watching sky , making curries  cruising round with my arm out the window and a nice 6 hour kip,, oh and 10 of us went to put a chip pan fire out .but when we got there a neighbour had put it out.had to stop a dvd halfway through as well  ;)
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: richard jagger on April 06, 2010, 10:18:25 pm
 I worked with a chap he was part time fireman, The thing that got my goat he earned 7 grand a year more and was always away on call 8 hours a week in work time but was paid the same a we got. We would have to jump in and do his work. Everyone thought he was a hero as was doing the nation so much good. 
I have two fire man in my street doing windows and there are more who do it there chief told them to boost income, do windows. Another also drives a posh chaffier car   and also cleans windows. All live a very good life style its just greed.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Londoner on April 07, 2010, 08:14:34 am
ALWAYS report people like that to the tax man and keep on doing it. Send them leaflets if you get one and keep at it.

If you are an honest man earning an honest living then you shouldn't have to put up with moonlighting firemen working cash in hand.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: formb on April 07, 2010, 09:08:05 am
Round our way we get offshore oil riggers cleaning windows,

Some of the buggers are on £50,000 + a year.

They only tend to do it in the summer tho.

Because in Scotland we need a license it's nice and easy to grass them up.............
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: mickeybok on April 07, 2010, 09:32:09 am
Getting away from the fireman angle for a minute, I had a chap ask me for a quote while I was out canvasing the other day. It was a 3 bed detached and I quoted £12, he said you want to lower your prices I'm paying £7.50. I just shook my head at the thought that he thought that he could get it done any cheaper. 2 doors down I got a job for £12.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Platinum on April 07, 2010, 10:55:35 am
Something that people do on here is boast of how much they charge  for a clean. I know that living costs etc are higher down south the the divide isnt that much. I used to think they were lying about their prices to impress everyone else but i know why people charge these prices. THEY DONT CLEAN THEM AS OFTEN ...

i charge £5 a fortnight and have been told its cheap but twice a month is £10. Some 3 bed semis i charge £6 for thats £12 per month. I have monthlys @ £8-£14 and i had bi monthlys @£10-20 a clean. You might be telling the truth about your prices but state how often you clean them.

I like the ones who wont work for less than £10 but clean on a monthly, bi monthly or quaterly ;D

PLEASE STATE YOUR FREQUENCY WHEN STATING YOUR PRICES


Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Platinum on April 07, 2010, 10:57:54 am
Something that people do on here is boast of how much they charge  for a clean. I know that living costs etc are higher down south the the divide isnt that much. I used to think they were lying about their prices to impress everyone else but i know why people charge these prices. THEY DONT CLEAN THEM AS OFTEN ...

i charge £5 a fortnight and have been told its cheap but twice a month is £10. Some 3 bed semis i charge £6 for thats £12 per month. I have monthlys @ £8-£14 and i had bi monthlys @£10-20 a clean. You might be telling the truth about your prices but state how often you clean them.

I like the ones who wont work for less than £10 but clean on a monthly, bi monthly or quaterly ;D

PLEASE STATE YOUR FREQUENCY WHEN STATING YOUR PRICES


If i was the customer and a window cleaner came round monthly charging £10 and another window cleaner came fortnightly charging £5 i would go with the £5 cleaner because im getting 2 cleans a month for my £10
THATS VALUE FOR MONEY
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: formb on April 07, 2010, 01:54:06 pm
Something that people do on here is boast of how much they charge  for a clean. I know that living costs etc are higher down south the the divide isnt that much. I used to think they were lying about their prices to impress everyone else but i know why people charge these prices. THEY DONT CLEAN THEM AS OFTEN ...

i charge £5 a fortnight and have been told its cheap but twice a month is £10. Some 3 bed semis i charge £6 for thats £12 per month. I have monthlys @ £8-£14 and i had bi monthlys @£10-20 a clean. You might be telling the truth about your prices but state how often you clean them.

I like the ones who wont work for less than £10 but clean on a monthly, bi monthly or quaterly ;D

PLEASE STATE YOUR FREQUENCY WHEN STATING YOUR PRICES

I assume that you are a squeegee man, I do all my customers WFP, monthly, and the windows are pretty much ALWAYS clean all year round.

If I did them every 2 weeks I could probably get away with splash and dash though.........
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Londoner on April 08, 2010, 07:10:43 am
Surely its better to do once a month for £10 than once a fortnight for £5? Round here customers don't want frequent cleans, you wouldn't get any takers for once a fortnight.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: TC1 on April 08, 2010, 07:51:57 am
Doing twice the amount of work for the same money doesen't make great business sense IMO!! ???
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: jonnyald on April 08, 2010, 08:04:06 am
there is a school of thought who go for fortnightly cleaning-  when i first meet customers, i Ask Them how often ,rather than suggesting monthly myself,otherwise im saddled with monthly .
I usually say-- "how oftenwould u like ?,nearly all  is a fortnight (isnt true) but a few are every 4weeks (mutter the last bit ) "      . by saying it this way it filters out the "draggers " who really wanted to be every couple of months but now think they are being  a bit draggey by becoming monthlys


my price is the same whether fortnightly or monthly or 6 weekly.
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: daz1977 on April 08, 2010, 08:11:14 am
the fortnight thing comes from years ago i think, where to make life easier they would say it need doing every 2 weeks, that way you wouldnt need as many custys

when i first started i picked up a few from a bloke who was insisting that they get done weekly
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Platinum on April 08, 2010, 10:48:03 am
Doing twice the amount of work for the same money doesen't make great business sense IMO!! ???

It more of a northern thing now. Like daz says its easier to start with because you dont need as many customers.

All my new work im canvassing now is on 4weekly. Im still charging around £5-£7 for a standard 3 bed semi but the fortnightlys are the bread and butter so to speak
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: james44 on April 08, 2010, 11:09:52 am
Quote
Doing twice the amount of work for the same money doesen't make great business sense IMO!! Huh

Agree the only person that wins out of it this way is the customers who get 2 cleans for the same price of 1
Title: Re: Under-cut nuisance update
Post by: Platinum on April 08, 2010, 12:50:13 pm
Quote
Doing twice the amount of work for the same money doesen't make great business sense IMO!! Huh

Agree the only person that wins out of it this way is the customers who get 2 cleans for the same price of 1

All depends on how compact the work is....

I can clean £150+ worth of work in 6 hours which is good going.