[gsw]

Hi all the working in rain topic comes up on here quite alot but i thought i would add this update.........

yesterday i cleaned (wfp) in the heviest rain i have ever seen, i should have been wearing swimming goggles because it was hard to look up! it was hitting the windows and bouncing off the pavement. yes i got soaked the waterproofs weren't up to the job!

i have just phoned one of the customers concerned to make sure the finish was up to my usual standard (the sun is out!). After offering him the rain guarantee yesterday he said that they were absolutely fine and was surprised this morning that the windows were as clean as usual.

so for all those who are sceptical of working in the rain.....it does work!

[Pj]

I'm still not convinced.  I think light drizzle is ok, because it usually misses the windows anyway, a freak really heavy downpoar probably is ok too, because so much rain drenching the windows while you scrub them is bound to leave them clean.  Steady rain all day along with wind, I'm not so sure on that one.  Mainly because my customers just don't want it.  I've tried all the arguments, they just give me an old fashioned look and end of story 'no thanks'. I can't make them let me clean their windows in the rain!
So, if it was up to me I would clean whatever the weather, but the customer says no! 

[rugby]

same here, im willing to work whatever the weather,but so many of my customers moan groan and say no thanks that even in light rain i hate going out to work.

[dai]

I have had no complaints after cleaning in the rain.
Had a shock the other day though cleaning in strong wind. I went back to a house to recover a dropped scrim and was horrified when I saw the conservatory covered in black bits. The frames were covered too. I looked around to see what could have caused it, and found that peat had blown from dried out plant pots. It was such a mess I had to do it again trad. Dai

[Easyclean Windows]

Ok what if you clean in the sunny day time and it rains the next day do your customers ask for their money back? nope

[Pj]

Ok what if you clean in the sunny day time and it rains the next day do your customers ask for their money back? nope

No they don't, you're right.  They accept that as an occupational hazzard.  Even if it rains later the same day, they accept it, grudgingly.

But, no, they do not accept me turning up when it is raining, to clean their windows.  I can give them all the arguments I've read on here and more.  They are not convinced, they hear it as sales garbage, give me that sarcastic look and say, "no thanks, not today".  I can shoot them a line about how it's my business, they'll be clean when it's stopped raining, I can't keep customers that pick and choose etc.  They say, "Well I don't want them done in the rain!"  I don't have as much choice as some of you.  Be glad if you live in a rich area where you can dictate to your customers such things, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's because you are such a good salesman.  It is just the wealth of the area you live in.  Or it's Scotland.   A friend of mine worked in an area of Scotland for a while, rain, rain, rain!  If people wanted their widows cleaned, they had to accept they would be cleaned in the rain!
But what I charge £10 for he was getting £5!

[groundhog]

I tell my customers right from the beginning that I have a very full round and I clean every month in all weathers, I also tell them that if there are any problems to call me and I will come back the next day to put it right, I think in the last few years I have only been called back twice, and one of those was complaining of smears, but I had to explain to her that they were on the inside and not the outside that I cleaned :
Don't try to sell it to them just tell them, if they don't like it then find another customer to replace them!

[Pj]

What is your location, Groundhog?

[groundhog]

I am in Hampshire, but have quite a lot of customers in West Sussex as I am close to the border, and a couple of large domestic customers in Surrey.

[dougster]

light rain i will work ,but heavy rain no thanks. The most annoying thing is for me is when a cutomer comes to u and says, dont clean them, or not today thanks, like i have not made the effort to get to there property in the first place, all i need is someone to mourn, really annoying

[stuart@skypole]

The only problem with rain is the customers prove to them that rain dose not effect the clean then no probs,

during a downpour on thursday i put outside a cup by the time the rain stopped the cup was almost full so i checked it with our tds reader and almost the same reading as last time

003ppm

now thats probablybetter than some use to clean windows with

explain to customers

then clean in the rain

rgds
stu
skypole systems

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Again, like the WFP vs Trad debate, it's down to personal choice.

My opinion is:

YES you can work in the rain, especially WFP
YES some customers might complain.
YES it is good to respect the customers wish.

ME:

I hate getting wet!!  I think I ought to work in the rain as anytime I have I have had NO complaints from the customer.  It's ME. I'm a lazy sod!!

Take Fri (22nd Sept) morning:
Woke up to the sound of rain ratteling down on the perspex roof below our bedroom window.
"Aw fantastic!" I thought
Then Tracy (My Wife) woke up and heard the rain.
"You don't have to go out in this, spend the motning with me!!" She said.
Well, what would you have done??

David

[sunshine windows]

Why doesn't someone with a tds meter collect some rain water next time there's a heavy downpour and test it for purity. I'm sure it's dirt in the air being blown onto the windows and not  the rain that makes your windows dirty.

Lance

[groundhog]

I have been told that rain water is fairly pure, it is mainly dirt from the frames that is washed onto the glass that makes them dirty, if you wash the frames you should get satisfactory results even in the rain