[from edge2edge]

Nice one Colin

[jasonl]

I am clear and firm from the outset , writing down exactly what I AM CLEANING FOR WHAT MONEY! I also manage expectations , telling them what will and will not come out, how long it will take etc.

They do haggle , but never once the job is done .

Locally , I have a whole floor of the Siemens office full of Indian software engineers as fans , I charge good money , and get paid cash every time I go to one of thier houses.

Be firm and clear and you will have no problems , but then that applies to ALL customers, white english people can be a pain too!!!!

 I always do a walk through at the start of each job , and say " are there any spots ,stains , marks or other areas that concern you?" From this I know thier real concerns and can discuss from there, I then always under promise on what results they will get for thier money.

[yorky]

Gave up even trying in the end it was not worth the stress. Did one job at a huge house, the owners had the drive full of mercs and owned a string of very profitable business and frankly made my life a misery all day moaning at everything including the price when they added rooms. That was the final straw for me with the lovely Asian community.

[Helen]

No matter what race or culture, it's the ones who think they can get away with lying about things as Topgunn said.
I was there at a job where it kicked off about hallway being a living room etc etc. The guy said the telephone girl I spoke to agreed all this, she said this she said that blah de blah de blah......she has told you wrong. I just let him go on and on digging the hole bigger and bigger......Yep I was that telephone girl, so I knew exactly what had and had not been said! Once he drew breath I let him know that I was the one who answered the phone to him....his face was a picture, he started to back track and try to joke, but he already had made me dig my heels in, for every barter he made, my price stayed the same and he actually said to me" no that is not the way it works" so i told him that for me that is exactly how it works. Had he not shouted at me, insulted my intelligence and told  lies, I may well have come down a tenner, but principle stood firm that day.
Saying that we have cleaned for many lovely people, from many races or cultures, so cannot tar all with same brush, it's just the odd few that hack me off with their attitude

[Dean Cudd]

I would an on site survay and then give them a written Quotation in there hand, 

[Simon Gerrard]

Dean,

That's not going to change anything. No matter what you agree to either verbally or in writing they will always try to get you to do more, or shave a few quid of the price by asking for a discount.
 
Simon

[jasonl]

It always helps if you look a bit brownish like I do 

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I do atm

Shaun

[jasonl]

Thats all that time you spend in Skegvegas

[clinton]

Its the rust from filley by the sea

[JandS]

As your probably aware we have a fair few round here.
When I hear the Asian voice asking for a price the price
he gets is + PAT, that gives you some leverage.
If you do get the job the first thing that happens when
you get there is the inevitable "while your here can you
do the stairs as well, it will only take you 2 minutes" To
which I reply "unless you know a quicker way than me
the stairs will take me about 15 minutes for an extra 10
pounds" then you can get to work but always quantify
with them what your cleaning first.
At the end of the job they will both look at the carpets for
some time even though they've virtually followed you round
the house and woe betide if you haven't turned there 20
old polyprop into a persian silk carpet.
Also price in for the kids and old people getting under your
feet and tripping over hoses.
Asian rental owners are the worse when they want an EOT.
They will not change the carpets no matter how bad.
The worst one I saw, he had the plasterers in doing the
ceiling, no dust sheets laid, true pros!!!! Then the painters
followed and did the same. Lumps of plaster and gloss paint
everywhere, I walked.
Must admit though I have always been paid.
And I've worked for some nice ones as well.

John

[Bob Allen]

i once quoted on arrival a job which totalled £110,
he was in the middle od saying "we may as well call it.........."
and i quickly interupted and said"£120 thats very kind of you"
should have seen his face it was a picture
needless to say he did only pay the original £110.

[Neil Williams]

At  even though they've virtually followed you round
the house

Oh did that wind me up or what
How can you stand there totally expressionless watching someone spray-suck for 2 hours. Must admit to shutting the door in his face at one point, I'd just had enough. I wouldn't mind if there was any expression or speak but nothing.
I wonder if they watch the painters for days on end in the same way

But I think at least most of us have learnt something from this thread. When an Indian mentions Hall what they actually mean is 25 sq/m of living room.  

[james roffey]

In 18 months i have had only 3 customers take the p.ss last week turned up for a job, noone at home when i arrived outside house, phoned customer, no answer waited 20 minutes went home including loading and unloading wasted  1.5 hours, got a call in the evening from customer apologising, returned the next day makeup on white poly gave him a price, he replied i will get back to you
That guy was just an ignorant white guy, the other two were both Asian, only ever worked for 3 Asians since starting walked on 2 of them found them both very rude, the one i worked for were 2 doctors they had the power cut out and i waited around for an hour and a half for it to be fixed then at the end of a long Friday afternoon the wife insisted i wait first for her husband to return to pay me and inspect the job, no apology for delaying me earlier or thought that it may be rude to waste anymore of my time, no not a care in the world !  another hour later he came and she wrote a cheque got home about 7.30 instead of 5.30, i came into carpet cleaning with a completely unbiased opinion on all cultures but these experiences affect our opinions.

[Steve Rothwell]

I worked in Leicester for a good few years, and at the time I had a policy on my leaflets that if I was not not happy with the result, then I would not charge.
Cleaned this lounge for an Indian lady, and did a damned good job for the turmeric etc that was plastered all over the carpet under the blacktop, got it so that you could actually see the carpet colours again.
Took about 2 1/2 hours for a 14 x 14 foot room.

I asked her for the £15.00 which was what I charged then, she promptly pushed my leaflet under my nose and said " I no happy so no pay" whilst smiling at me. I tried to explain that it was me who would refuse to charge if I was not happy, but she insisted on no pay.
I promptly said that she could have all her cr*p back then and emptied the whole bucket of dirty water and sludge over her nice clean carpet.

Boy did it feel good. she still never paid though.

[Carpet Dawg]

I had one good asian family that had ALOT of property in my city. I'm not talking about a few flats here an there, but 19 guest houses at the last count, doctors and dentists surgerys etc, I think the youngest son once told me they had over 150 flats that they rented also << by the amount i cleaned for them I dont doubt that for a second!
I also cleaned the family home, and what a house that was!! Straight out of MTV cribs, not your typical Asian household... a huge 10 bedroom masion, all bedrooms had jacuzzis in them, indoor swimming pool, gym, a staircase that would be better suited in a castle! In the drive (which was constantly changing) there was a fleet of fancy cars, lambos, ferraris, bentleys, audi R8, land rover sport, rolls royce etc

Anyways, i used to clean for all their properties and they always left me to it! They did haggle a little in the early days but i kinda offered them a fixed price clean and they always seemed happy at that.

Then came the day that i cleaned for one of the eldest sons! And his wife was a right ****er!
She moaned about everything! and obviously the price! When it came to getting paid she gave me £20 less! and said thats the price we said on the phone! I didn't give her a price on the phone!   I just left it at that. I only cleaned for her once... When she called again to book i tried to give her the i'm fuly booked for 2 weeks chat but she wanted it done for the end of the month!   So I never turned up to the appionment! I was going to call and give her some excuse but quite frankly i couldn't be arsed.

Long story short, cos i didn't turn up to that appionment i no longer clean for that Asian family anymore. Just goes to show how tight asian familes are in more than one way!
Am i bothered? Not really, more than busy enough without them Also, the jobs i got from them where always last minute jobs. I hate last minute jobs!

Tony

[Jon Tabbener]

I've got to say i've never had a problem - if ive given a price over the phone - i'll walk around & confirm what needs cleaning & the price before my gear is even out of the van & my machine is never emptied until i have been paid - whoever the customer is

Not sure about you guys but i'm not busy enough to turn away the whole of the asian community - i live in quite a multi cultural city like alot of you guys so that can be quite a % of the whole city & like has been said if you can get in with a certain community & you get yourself a good name they will be able to pass your details to alot of people

[Adam P]

just echoing what others are saying. always walk first as the pridce given over the phone is only an estimate, so you can't start unil you've seen what is actually involved. just this morning had a huge house said place was splotless and should only be a few hours including full eot clean. saw the place first room was kids play room, covered in so many stains, second room was office covered in ink stains. by seeing this before the work start i managed to shoot the price up to what it should be and explain what will come out, if i'd done this after there is no way they'd pay more.

[Helen]

just echoing what others are saying. always walk first as the pridce given over the phone is only an estimate, so you can't start unil you've seen what is actually involved. just this morning had a huge house said place was splotless and should only be a few hours including full eot clean. saw the place first room was kids play room, covered in so many stains, second room was office covered in ink stains. by seeing this before the work start i managed to shoot the price up to what it should be and explain what will come out, if i'd done this after there is no way they'd pay more.

Think you missed the point here. You have done what anyone does giving an estimate and then firming up. If your customer had been a "haggler" type as per the rest of the thread, your job would not have been that straightforward

[Steve Rothwell]

I agree Helen, don't think I really need a lesson in how to price up a job after 19 years cleaning, and nor do any of the other people who have shared their "Asian" experiences.