[james roffey]

Got to watch how i word this :

I had a call today from an Asian chap seemed pleasant enough i arranged to meet his wife at a first floor flat they were moving into and give them a quote.

The carpet was a cheap white manmade with some wear in the traffic lanes like most jobs i went through what the outcome of cleaning her carpets would be, just to get an idea of her expectations for example i pointed to where the pile was very worn in front of where the sofa must have stood and explained that this was wear, and cleaning it would not change this it would be cleaner but still worn, you can usually tell at this point if you are dealing with someone who has a realistic understanding of what carpet cleaning is :  and either change tac or hear alarm bells
The lady said that her own carpet was the same and it had no such damage and that the stains and soiling would come out, and seemed to be expecting me to restore her carpet.
she then told me that she wanted it done immediately i explained that her husband had asked me to provide a quote and that i was booked for the afternoon, she was very indignant telling me when i could do it.
The access to the flat was a nightmare even with a porty and i had a sixth sense that this was one i should walk away from, which i did.
I treat every customer with respect whoever they are but i find it very irritating that Asian customers are very abrasive and difficult to deal with, i have only yesterday booked a lady from Nigeria in for a house clean next week and that house is in  in a very poor state but she was totally reasonable and polite and friendly, saying i dont expect you to perform miracles.
I have only had three Asian customers so far, one was a Doctor and so was his wife and they kept me waiting an hour after i had finished until 8 at night to inspect the results and pay me that was after they had a problem with the power delaying me still further but no sorry to have kept you you must want to go home now
Sorry to rant but i feel angry that this happens at all and affects the way i may behave next time. i am not saying that all my "caucasian" customers are polite but the huge majority are i think i have only had two job where i have walked both were Asians both due to expectations and attitude
I will try and not let that happen but we are all moulded in our behaviour by our own experiences, but i am finding it a common occurence well three out of three anyway

[wynne jones]

I put the phone down on anyone who sounds foriegn, especially Jocks.

[james roffey]

I must admit if the voice on the other end says how "ow much for cleaning my carpet boyo"
i hang up

[jasonl]

James, the Asian culture is to not say "no" to a request , as this causes a loss of "face" or "honour"

The lady was wanting you to say yes to her carpet being made new again , and for you to clean it immediately.

I counter these kinds of situations by  turning it around... " I can clean your carpet next Tuesday , I will do an excellent job , and you will be happy, I can show you the dirt in my tank ,and I work very hard , that is a good deal isnt it?

She has to say "no" for you to lose out now , and of course she cannot , because she would be admitting failure and  would lose face. Try it !

[M.Acorn]

Have had a few like that,a lot of it is down to the caste system in their home land,and they tend to look down on us,went out to do a quote once,really rough part of Cambridge,no carpet in hall,3 big Alsations,filthy muddy paws over everything,lounge carpet had about 4 inch gap all the way round the room,walked from that one

[derek west]

cleaned for a few asians including doctors, all fine with me, crack a joke as soon as you enter the room and they usually relax straight away.

no complaints here.

ps... no racists jokes though, not sure they would go down to good. or anything that includes a rucksack, thats a time bomb waiting to go off that one.

[jasonl]

Did a job this week for a lawyer , carpet £120 , and curtains £276 , I removed and hung the curtains FOC , 8pairs!
I took the curtains to the cleaners and delivered them back, as a favour.
This morning he calls me and says that one pair of curtains have shrunk and he has stopped the dry cleaners cheque AND mine , until he gets new curtains from me or the dry cleaner.

After some discussion I got nowhere with him and told him to take out a small claim if he wanted some curtains from me.

[garyfindlay]

I discussed this topic before, and the thread was locked, and I was said to be racist.

Ps I agree with everything above.

[clinton]

Done the right thing walking away james

[from edge2edge]

James you were right to walk(you are self employed after all).I get very few problems but at least 90 per cent of them are from the sub continent origin families unfortunately so if i sense a lack of respect for me i dont do the job(that applies to all colours/cultures etc as no one can surely believe they can look down on a scotsman).Regards Alan(swindon)

[Neil Williams]

There's enough examples above as to why I started some months back to submit quotes 3 times my normal rate. To save the hassle I quote over the phone too. Much quicker to get rid of them that way.

[benny d]

I trust them to cook my Indian meal, but I dont trust them as customers. 
So I usually dont work for them. Too hard to deal with.

About 6 months ago, I did a quote locally and gave him the price. He said no not £140-00...but  I will pay you 120-00.
I said, sir you are in England now, and I dont talk that language. This is my price, and this is what I want at the end.

(He owns a Indian resturant btw).
I said , do you have English people coming into your resturant, and at the end when they have the bill, say I am not paying that amount but I will pay £ 20-00 less. No you dont, so dont talk to me like that.
So I drove off. They looked stunned. 
Over threee years I must have spent £2,500-00 on Indian meals each Saturday at his resturant! (I go somewhere else now).
Im glad they are here to cook my din dins!

[Matt Seymour]

Have to say my own very limited experience with asian customers hasn't been great either. I had one tell me that someone usually cleans her 3 storey enormous 5 bed house for £50. I told her to stick with them and left!

I also find that a few of the very well off customers are pretty unpleasant to deal with as well.

In the main I find that the best customers tend to be those on council estates. Never had a problem with any of them.

[james roffey]

I discussed this topic before, and the thread was locked, and I was said to be racist.

Ps I agree with everything above.

I am absolutely not a racist, my daughter went out with a black lad for a while and he was welcomed into my home as a member of my family, he was a nice lad.
What i encountered today is a common occurence and experience albeit only with three of my Asian customers but that still equates to 100% of them, is this a coincidance

[garyfindlay]

As discussed before you could add on £25, and let them haggle you down to your normal rate, but would they think you were trying to "do" them in the first place.

[creighton foyle]

james it has been said in a previous thread that our colonial cousins can be difficult to deal with and sometimes difficult to get payment too, this is not racist it's a fact. however its a strange world but what i find more offensive is your statement " ow much to clean my carpet boyo "  " i hang up ". where i come from that would be a typical way the question would be phrased except we do pronounce our h's, i can understand why you say it because for us here in wales we have an immediate distrust of a scouse accent and a percieved london accent we are probably all wrong to think the way we do but we can only go on our personal experiences.

[Fintan_Coll]

 I suppose of all the ''Foreign'' customers I have worked for the nicest people I have ever met are Phillipinos, are they not Asian?

[Warren Aldridge]

Well you are missing out on business here.

I work West London, and let me assure you 75% of my call ins are Asian.

Simple rules here:

Hike the price up on quote, let them haggle down. They're happy, you're happy.
Asians talk, and because the live like 5 - 8 a house neighbourhoods are packed, even the wealthy areas. Everyone knows everyones business. Next thing you have the aunties and uncles calling, the neighbours... news spreads like wild fire.

As long as you smile and do a good job they show huge amounts of respect and the referrals fly in.

[Joe H]

This is sooo encouraging.
I am doing an asians house on Wed.

I hiked the price up, et them haggle down, and at a price better then I wanted.

Just looking forward to the rest of the hassle now.

[james roffey]

james it has been said in a previous thread that our colonial cousins can be difficult to deal with and sometimes difficult to get payment too, this is not racist it's a fact. however its a strange world but what i find more offensive is your statement " ow much to clean my carpet boyo "  " i hang up ". where i come from that would be a typical way the question would be phrased except we do pronounce our h's, i can understand why you say it because for us here in wales we have an immediate distrust of a scouse accent and a percieved london accent we are probably all wrong to think the way we do but we can only go on our personal experiences.

Are you being serious : my response was in direct response to Wynne's statement about Jocks which was i thought a joke, i have no problems with  the Scots, Welsh, Irish, French, Germans, Italians i dont care where they are from or what colour they are as long as they are polite to me and treat me with the same respect i treat them