[Sir Squeaky]

 

[williamx]

ok

williamx - as for looking around, thats fine - I'm scottish after all!! however when its something so puny as a 17ft xtel or some fittings or something then its not worth considering.  I made a point on another thread to Dave St Ives about resin use - he uses loads of it and I suggested going for an ro to save money, but it was as much about consistantly producing high quality water.  Dave's response about not really caring about the cost so much (even though I didn't necessarily agree 100% with it) really just proved a point about how the bigger outfits (and I believe Dave is not a one man band) just get what they need and get on with it.  After all, we're all earning £40/hr - £1600 week so what point is there in trying to save a fiver?

When I want to buy anything, I always look at the price factor first, if I can get the same product at a cheaper price then all well and good, but price is not the be all and end all.

Other factors have to be considered as well such as customer aftercare.

For example the garage who I use to repair my van are very expensive compared to others in my area, but their customer care is priceless, if my van breaks down they will send a mechanic straight out to access and repair it.  If it does need a repair they charge me the hourly rate it should normally take to repair, but if they take longer than normal, they don't charge any extra.

Their are many cleaners and other tradesmen who price the job up on what they think the customer is worth not what the works worth, this I consider "ripping people off".

Their are also many cleaners who only clean the glass and not the frames, if the customers wants the frames cleaned  then they want more money for the job, why? a window is the hole in the wall and everything that fills it should be cleaned.

Many customers think the same as well, they are willing to pay higher prices because they believe that they are getting good value for their money.

Any tradesmen should price their work at what they consider is fair and reasonable, if they are more expensive or cheaper than others, so what.

And as for them telling others what they earn, this is a good thing, because there are no set rates for the job, how do newbies and older cleaners know what is possible to achieve.

I also do carpet cleaning, I am still charging the same price per room that I was charging 20 years ago, but I earn more per hour than I was then, mainly because of the improvements in the equipment and chemicals that are available now.

I don't feel guilty earning more per hour for the same amount of work than I use to do.

[Paul Coleman]

shiner

sorry about the illness - really sucks.

the big personal debt is bad though, having ran up debts when I was younger (like most of us) it can be hard to repay, my debts reached £42000 in 1987!

I don't know if I would have taken the route you have taken regards borrowing so much from the bank but clearly you did the numbers and that was the best option for you.

I did my sums very carefully on this one Alan.  If I had allowed things to stay the way they were, I could have been looking at making special arrangements with creditors, IVA, or bankruptcy.  As a single person with no dependants, I would miss all the safety nets concerning homelessness etc.  By borrowing so much money, I actually bought myself some time which I badly needed.  It's starting to look like it's paying off.  I'm not out of the wood yet but it's quite a bit easier than it was.  As my health returned, I was able to step up my workload more.  This is one reason I have reservations about "loyal" customers.  Although many were fine with me providing a skeleton service for some months, others dropped me like a hot potato.  It's not like I just stopped calling either.  I did a mailshot to everyone and just said that if they wished to go elsewhere, just to let me know.  That mailshot cost me money I could ill afford and still quite a few of them just went elsewhere and said nothing.  So I can feel quite cynical when some W/Cers say that their customers all love them and that they would never go elsewhere.
If it weren't for the fact that I will be fighting for my financial life over the next few years, I would be quite happy to work for a bit less.  As things stand, I could be Mr Niceguy to my customers and end up with nowhere to live.  I don't intend that to happen.

[Alex Wingrove]

I do a job for £28 that someone else quoted at about £120.  I do it in half an hour so it's not as if I am selling myself short.  I was unaware of the other quotation until I had cleaned several times.
I know the other guy works trad ands it would be a bit more fiddly working that way but I find it hard to see how £120 can be justified.

who was is?

[Paul Coleman]

I do a job for £28 that someone else quoted at about £120.  I do it in half an hour so it's not as if I am selling myself short.  I was unaware of the other quotation until I had cleaned several times.
I know the other guy works trad ands it would be a bit more fiddly working that way but I find it hard to see how £120 can be justified.

who was is?

Not naming on here.  It wasn't anyone who comes on here.
It wasn't Mike though, so I think you can already guess who it was (begins with B.).
I think I should also say that this is what the customer told me.  No reason for them to lie about it but who knows?

[Alex Wingrove]

haha,

you know what at first i thought mike, and then no, hes not that crazy, and then the big B pooped into mind,

Paul can you imagine what he would earn if he was WFP, and it all worked out, haha,

have you heard some of his stories?

Mike used to say working with B should be part of the nation curriculum

[Paul Coleman]

haha,

you know what at first i thought mike, and then no, hes not that crazy, and then the big B pooped into mind,

Paul can you imagine what he would earn if he was WFP, and it all worked out, haha,

have you heard some of his stories?

Mike used to say working with B should be part of the nation curriculum

I've not really had any lengthy conversations with B.  Just a few minutes here and there when our paths have crossed.  I did discuss WFP with him quite a while back.  He said that his main reason for not switching was because it did not remove "fly poo" - a view with which I do have some sympathy.  Maybe hot water would work on it better.  I suspect that the day will come when he at least has to use WFP on some of his work as I think he has a fair bit of commercial and the customers may force the issue.  Personally, I would hate to go back to ladders again now I'vew grown used to WFP.
I do wish I had the balls to ask some of his prices but charging so much can leave you very vulnerable to losing loads.  I've had a number of requests to quote for his work down the years.  As you know, I'm not really into doing things that way.  I have had a little bit of his work come my way but wasn't aware that they already had a W/C till some time after.
The prices I mentioned above aren't typical though.  Usually it sounds like he is between 50% and 100% dearer than me.

[Alex Wingrove]

you could fill a book with stories about him, one involving a piggy bank, and another a squirrel, i could go on,

his prices are nuts, and i dont know why his customers pay him, but they do, its great if you can get it i suppose, i dont think i could ever charge a customer as much as he does, but he does, so good for him,

i saw you the other day in buckswood i think,

[Paul Coleman]

you could fill a book with stories about him, one involving a piggy bank, and another a squirrel, i could go on,

his prices are nuts, and i dont know why his customers pay him, but they do, its great if you can get it i suppose, i dont think i could ever charge a customer as much as he does, but he does, so good for him,

i saw you the other day in buckswood i think,

I have not really heard much about him so can't really comment.
As for Buckswood - yes I do have a job at the Horsham Road end of it (bottom of the hill).  Anyway, off to bed now.  Feel free to stop for a natter if you see me around.