[john63.]

Been w. cleaning about a year Do 5 houses all nearly next door to each other, all them little georgian windows done by hand, went collecting yesterday.
Talking to bloke and his wife,his wife goes in for the money and he says last time i done them few smudges on one or two windows but other times ok.
why complain if not like that all the time feel like dropping it and just do rest so he looks bad for complaining where neighbours are all happy with cleans.
felt a bit like a boss telling u what to do one of the reasons i work on my own.

[Small but perfectley formed]

Forget it some people just like to moan.

[rah]

Customer feedback!!

Maybe you had a bit of a off day and didn't clean/rinse as well as you normally do, maybe the other four in the row haven't looked / noticed....

So you drop, neighbours chat, they look, then your 4 in the row decide to move to the new window cleaner who your dropped customer replaced you with !!

Part of the job.

Rob

[John F]

some people just comment without a good reason to comment. some comment to keep you on your toes. we have all had this. just keep going and if they moan again then check your work. if its good and you have no smears etc, then get another cutomer.

[john63.]

Cheers for replys if he complains again i wont bother doing again.

[dazmond]

You need to change your attitude mate.how dare they expect clean windows after they've paid you to clean them!

Low sun will show any smudges up.use wfp as cloths smudge.even microfibre do sometimes.

Also make sure its not the inside windows!its amazing how many customers get it wrong!

Offer to clean the offending window for free and humour them!no need to let it get to you.we all make mistakes.even me occasionally!I rectify it asap though.

A good reputation takes yrs to build up.don't spoil it with a childish strop over a few smudges!

Regards

Dazmond

[john63.]

The day i cleaned them it was sunny maybe he was having a bad day i do check my work.
I will take it and learn from it.
suppose we all have bad days.

[Tom White]

Also make sure its not the inside windows!its amazing how many customers get it wrong!

Spot on!  I once went out on a Saturday morning to look at a 'complaint' - to provide a good service - only to find out the marks were on the inside. 

[AuRavelling79]

I had a classic like this (I posted at the time) - most of you know my faith and my wife was out "teaching the word" a couple of years back and the lady she was talking to asked her to ask me to do her windows and so I did. Anyway after a few times she says to my wife "Malcolm's left my patio doors all smeary."

My wife who is there (!!!! ) looks at the patio doors and agrees with her and tells me so I hot foot it around there to put it right. (these are old ally doors with frames that are white and run like milk so I thought I'd check out whether I'd sprayed the top frame and brought lines or spots down)

I only find the outsides are spotless and it's all on the inside! I don't mind the custy getting it wrong occasionally but you'd think my wife would know better!  

[bobby p]

last week an old bird opened an upstairs windows while i was up my ladder to point out a green mark on her tatty wooden sill- at the same time her sour faced hubby was accusing my lad down below of us turning up early

that was it!!, after finishing the job i knocked and told him my reason for dropping him /ungrateful pair /  also dropped the neighbour at the same time, a tight fisted Greek who had got me to lower my price by 1 quid by missing out 2 frosted  windows

[gary999]

if somebody is paying you for a service they have every
right to complain if they feel the service provided isnt
good enough,it doesnt matter if its one smudge out of
a 100 cleans.

get over it,get over yourself and get on with it!

[G Griffin]

John63,
    Offer to correct the mistake and then you might get an idea if he's just having a moan. If he's not prepared to point out the smudges, then he's probably trying it on.
But it could be your error- low winter sun, dirtier than normal etc.
We all make mistakes; don't get over sensitive about it. Although, I have been myself    .

[lee09]

I love an occassional complaint!
It shows that your customer cares about their windows being clean.
It also shows me that although there is little challenge to the work I still need to consentrate!
Lee

[EandM]

I had a wfp customer complain that there were some spots on the windows. I went back and found that the vast majority were on the inside, with maybe one or two over the 40 or so panes. Put it right free of charge with no problems in about 5 minutes, a few more cleans with no problems. Then she tells me that there are always a few spot left behind. I asked her to show me, went round every window and couldn't actually find any. We left it and I said that if there were any other problems tell me immediately and I would return, thinking that this lady is a bit mad but being fair. After the last clean she calls me after TWO Weeks to tell me that there were spots again. In those two weeks it had rained very hard and very often. I checked out the spots and found that they were simply bits of dust that had blown off the field, attached themselves to the windows and now had attracted water droplets. I explained this to her and all was well.

A month later, two weeks before my return visit, I met up with a local window cleaner, nice chap, who told me that he'd just picked up one of my cast offs. Guess which one?... She'd asked him to quote for a trad clean, which he did at twice my wfp rate. Two days before my return she texted me and said she was just going to try another method and could I leave it this month? To which I replied, 'Yes I know, I've spoken to him'.

Goodbye!

[Paul Coleman]

I had a classic like this (I posted at the time) - most of you know my faith and my wife was out "teaching the word" a couple of years back and the lady she was talking to asked her to ask me to do her windows and so I did. Anyway after a few times she says to my wife "Malcolm's left my patio doors all smeary."

My wife who is there (!!!! ) looks at the patio doors and agrees with her and tells me so I hot foot it around there to put it right. (these are old ally doors with frames that are white and run like milk so I thought I'd check out whether I'd sprayed the top frame and brought lines or spots down)

I only find the outsides are spotless and it's all on the inside! I don't mind the custy getting it wrong occasionally but you'd think my wife would know better!  

Dear oh dear!!  Whatever happened to subjection?  .

[AuRavelling79]

>Paul!

I know who is boss in my house! It's all run to strict scriptural standards - there are four "women" if you include teenagers and I'm very much in "subjection"! 

In Proverbs 31v 24  it says that (among other things) that a capable wife "has given belts to tradesmen" (NWT) and I get belted regularly! 

Just kidding dear, owwww! oooooow!

[rycalshaw]

i agree with garry999, if you are being paid to provide a service the customer has every right to expect it doing properly, don,t get me wrong we all make mistakes and i think the custy knows that and thats why they told you in a proper manner and didn,t try getting out of paying, ya just need to chill out a bit and not take it too much to heart as i say we all make mistakes but we have to take responsibility for them and not blame the customer...

[EandM]

>Paul!

I know who is boss in my house! It's all run to strict scriptural standards - there are four "women" if you include teenagers and I'm very much in "subjection"! 

In Proverbs 31v 24  it says that (among other things) that a capable wife "has given belts to tradesmen" (NWT) and I get belted regularly! 

Just kidding dear, owwww! oooooow!

Experience indicates that in marriage subjection is relative ( E=MS squared) 
Prov 31 (Theory)

[Londoner]

A few complaints are not a bad thing. There is a line of thought that says if you don't get the odd one now and again you are being over fussy

[andyM]

A few complaints are not a bad thing. There is a line of thought that says if you don't get the odd one now and again you are being over fussy

I agree.
The occassional valid complaint will keep you on your toes and keep your standard of work high.
I always tell customers when I take them on that they MUST let me know if they are not happy with the standard of work within 24 hours of cleaning taking place. Because if they are not happy I will come back and rectify the problem. This helps to build trust.
And I can count the number of times i've had a complaint with the fingers on one hand.  
I think Dazmond has the right attitude and custies usually prefer someone who is laid back and willing to listen to what they have to say. Obviously if only one particular customer is constantly finding fault then they probably have OCD or something.  
Look at the big picture. Most of us have a few custies that are slow payers or don't leave the back gate unlocked sometimes etc. But in the grand scheme of things the majority of custies are alright and most of the time this job is money for old rope!