[robertphil]

how do you guys n gals deal with them. ?    heres one i got -

  we have had your firm clean our windows for some time now and up till the last clean hav had no complaints. The glass was ok but on the last clean the pvc is a mess in places it does not look as if its been cleaned so we would like to cancel your service from now. thank you

  obviously im going to hav a word with my workers ,remind them how important the detail is  but im jus wondering what you lot do with complaints ?.do you reply?

 the complaint up above is a 3bedder +conserv that was £11 monthly  and iv never once seen the homeowner in a couple of yrs

[andyM]

I can't fathom people who cancel because on that ONE occasion they have not been happy about the quality of the window cleaning.
In your example the customer says that they have been happy up until then.
If it happened regularly then yeah you could understand it.
Do you offer to guarantee your work when you first take the customer on?
I do.
Although I have lost one or maybe two in the past who didn't give me the chance to rectify.
I would apologise to them and offer a free re-clean.
But you might still lose them anyway, some people are fickle.
   

[robertphil]

my gut feeling is that  folk who cancel  wont change their minds even if i bow and ask forgiveness/free clean or discount scenario  (which iv never done before)

 however i might be handling it the wrong way  by just moving on after a shrug of the shoulders

[Smudger]

We always go back and at least re clean the effected window and depending on the customer anything from a humble apology to a free clean next time if it genuinely a one off mistake you usually are ok

Sometimes it's just the beginning of the end where suddenly the custome then starts to "find" issues every clean

Darran

[DaveG]

I agree 100% with what Andy and Smudge say.

Custie is probably skint and doesn't want to admit it 

[lal]

Hi robertphil, from reading your post this house with conservatory has been done monthly for the last couple
of years without complaint, it seems very odd all of a sudden out of the blue there is a problem with the upvc
since the last clean, i would contact them and get to the root of this to see if this is genuine or not, or if they
are making up a lame excuse to drop your services, just for your own peace of mind.

Regards
lal

[bobplum]

i always use to want to find out the reason,so i could improve...but i have come to the conclusion you will never please everyone and i would say there is more to it than just a pvc problem, any decent person would call or speak to you and want it correcting assuming they want a window cleaner ? and thats were the problem is in this instance its an excuse to get rid of you.

ring them and you will probably be able to tell from there actions/ voice that theres more too it

[MATT BATEMAN (OWC)]

But then again there may not be.

The actual truth is you probably never know. Digging around to find out could be construed as being the actions of a suspicious mind, and that by definition puts you at a disadvantage in securing the truth from the off-set, whether you've been told it or not.

For an £11.00 job I wouldnt overly bother myself, maybe a 'Thanks for letting us know' email in reply.

[windiewasher]

I imagine someone has undercut you and only could think of this to cancel.
Its normally the redundancy excuse.
Dont worry.smile and move on you will get another job for more money today.

[Mike #1]

Complaints i try to resolve immediately and the good custys were a simple error was made is easy to deal with.

The ones who give a lame excuse and are hell bent on cancelling , I just smile and say no problem thanks so much and walk off whistling .

Some custys take the pee, Got a new custy 8 weeks ago windows were filthy after 2 cleans cancelled excuse got one of them things out of betterware , Dingbats  . Mike

[windiewasher]

Complaints i try to resolve immediately and the good custys were a simple error was made is easy to deal with.

The ones who give a lame excuse and are hell bent on cancelling , I just smile and say no problem thanks so much and walk off whistling .

Some custys take the pee, Got a new custy 8 weeks ago windows were filthy after 2 cleans cancelled excuse got one of them things out of betterware , Dingbats  . Mike

I had one a few weeks back cancel have 2 years his excuse is hes bought a pole the same as mine that plugs into his hosepipe.lol
Made me chuckle.
I said thank you no problem.

[Ian101]

If they just say they want to cancel because of moving / job loss / skint then fine just forget about them

however

if they criticise quality of work then im around their like a shot asking to see the problem.


a truthful customer in my experiance will allow u to rectify the issue and wont take up an offer of a freebie but a few times the truth has come out such as well actually husband is retiring and to save money he is going to be cleaning them from now on.

i used to fall for the quality issue complaints but if you clean lots of windows every week without complaint chances are they may be fibbing 

[Perfect Windows]

my gut feeling is that  folk who cancel  wont change their minds even if i bow and ask forgiveness/free clean or discount scenario  (which iv never done before)

 however i might be handling it the wrong way  by just moving on after a shrug of the shoulders

In general, try not to think with your gut.

If you see it from their perspective, something's been wrong enough that they have plucked up the courage to tell you not to come.  If, in return, you just say "cheerio" then that's fine.  If, however, you deal with their problem and resolve it you may have a customer for life who recommends you as the guy who, even though he made a mistake, dealt with it.

If you see it as "bowing and asking for forgiveness" you'll never do it.  The conversation will run "I'm so, so sorry, can you forgive me, have a free clean" and it'll be humiliating.

If you see it as dealing professionally with a problem, it's all pretty straightforward.  "Hi, it sounds like we made a mess of your last clean.  First of all, thanks for letting us know; we assume we're getting it right, so hearing where we're getting it wrong really helps.  I know it's tempting to cancel but it sounds like we've been getting it right so far, so how about we pop along and have another go?   What I'll also do is point out to the team where they are going wrong so we can make the service better for everyone.  Hopefully it'll be right and will carry on being right"

One's abject creeping and the other is businesslike friendliness that resolves the problem they have, namely dirty windows.  And if it isn't really the quality of the clean they won't want you to "fix" it so you'll know.

Vin

[Richard iSparkle]

Sometimes it's just the beginning of the end where suddenly the custome then starts to "find" issues every clean

Darran

this is true.  it seems to be in some cases the client trying to cut back on spend but they havent made up their mind enough to call in, so they start spotting faults or problems that weren't an issue before.  it is funny, but it's as if they cant just call up and cancel, but they need to make out that you've done something wrong, so it's your fault.

i had one where they tried to cancel me on the door once but i said if theyve not cancelled us with notice they get charged whether they have their clean or not, so they had the clean, then she mentioned that the reaosn they didnt want us was because the skylights werent 100% last time, so i gave them extra attention.  then she called us back and said the sills weren;t right so we went back and sorted that, and then she called up and said they cauldnt afford us.  it's frustrating, but it seems to be human nature.

these type of complaints are very different when calls you back because something isnt right, so you call back and fix it, and everythings fine after that, or often better than fine because now they know you a little better and trust you a little more

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

I agree 100% with what Andy and Smudge say.

Custie is probably skint and doesn't want to admit it 

Agreed!

[dazmond]

i would phone her up and ask her which windows were not cleaned properly and go and rectify it.telling her we always go back if customer not happy with the clean.if shes hesitant then you know shes cancelled for another reason.if this is the case.be polite and thank her for her custom and say good bye!

dont second guess!just phone up and speak to her!

customer relations and service are always important to me.thats why i get lots of work through word of mouth and recommendation.

your staff might of just splashed and dashed without touching the frames for all you know which you need to sort out.

[g.brookes]

i tell all of my customers 'im human, and if you ever notice any mistakes just give me a call and I will come and sort it out'.  No one can expect perfection and im sure of the hundreds of jobs i do i make mistakes quite frequently.  I just tell my customers to tell me if theres a problem and that always sorts it.

[mark dew]

my gut feeling is that  folk who cancel  wont change their minds even if i bow and ask forgiveness/free clean or discount scenario  (which iv never done before)
 however i might be handling it the wrong way  by just moving on after a shrug of the shoulders

I don't believe you're wrong. Go with what your experience tells you.
But i think you should go round and check while she's at work though, Because we can all make mistakes.

I personally wouldn't make any effort to keep the customer in this situation. Beyond letting her know the problem (if there is 1) has been rectified, apologise if so, thank her for her custom, goodbye.

I've only had the same experience on £25+ properties. And the reason has always been I was too quick, compared to when I trad cleaned them.

Satisfy yourself 1st. Then move on.

[PoleKing]

I say i'm really sorry, don't pay for the clean. Let me know how they come up next time.
Don't let them go just cause of one hiccup.
If they want to go though-let em