[dave0123]

you seem to get a lot of these dont you? it was a driving insnutructor the other week 

[robertphil]

go and knock on the door, if no reply push a sliver of bamboo deep  into the doorlock , nothing can be proved but itll cost them a new lock

[Fin Clearview]

lighten up johnny, how many have actually carried out a revenge attack. Probably one of the daftest things to do when running your own business.

[robertphil]

i havent done many revenges,  over 5 yrs about 4 of the bamboo slivers and about 5 of soaping up the whole house , which i always do while the person is there in person  (heres a special clean for you ).

 if you do nothing in the long run you could get very bitter

[keyser soze]

theres one woman in my town who for the last year has had her windows cleaned for nothing . i did 2 cleans a friend of mine did 3 cleans and I've heard she's been doing this for a long time. when it comes to payment she's never in . even when the lights and tele's on... and the windies drop her and she gets another ... same story every time. i drive by sometimes when someones cleaning and i always stop and warn them

[PoleKing]

i havent done many revenges,  over 5 yrs about 4 of the bamboo slivers and about 5 of soaping up the whole house , which i always do while the person is there in person  (heres a special clean for you ).

 if you do nothing in the long run you could get very bitter

I've done this in my more immature days.
Just fairy liquid.

[Cliff perkins]

every 1 has different views on how to run there business
if they want to soap up or maggots or do locks thats their choice.

myself on the other hand nearly have a few times but just write it off.

you can also be to soft and friends of that particular family can also take the pi.. so who can say who is right or wrong.

regards

[Johnny B]

lighten up johnny, how many have actually carried out a revenge attack. Probably one of the daftest things to do when running your own business.

Well said! Revenge certainly would be folly, but then we aren't the most cultured group of people are we?  

I would certainly warn other window cleaners of the misdemeanours of these 'customers'. I have a few friends in my locality who are also window cleaners, so we look out for each other.

I am a bit passive aggressive at times, meaning my natural inclination may be to want to exact retribution, but then good sense kicks in and keeps me from doing anything that would only harm my reputation!

I'm calm now!

John

[AuRavelling79]

Call back Sunday morning?

Just one word of caution - the OP has been back 3 times and the curtains were shut. Unless he goes back when it is dark I just wonder if the place is empty at the mo'.

As suggested on page 1 - Hospital?

Even died - if so and corpse still in place you won't need maggots down the chimney! 

[Cliff perkins]

exactly

warn others,but she may move lol.

i to have just told fellow win dies.you get fed up if you do nothing or not.

your reputation is important to.

all I'm saying is were all different.

regards

[H20cleaning]

I could always alert the police, get them to break entry track the owner down and ask politely for my £18.00.

Can i just say nothing annoys me more than people saying right it off!!!??? Would you go to tesco and fill your trolly walk out and expect them
To let you off?

Or fill your car with fuel and drive off?

If we were all professionals we would track down every penny owed to us! Im not going to let her/him get away with it(providing they are breathing)

[SeanK]

I could always alert the police, get them to break entry track the owner down and ask politely for my £18.00.

Can i just say nothing annoys me more than people saying right it off!!!??? Would you go to tesco and fill your trolly walk out and expect them
To let you off?

Or fill your car with fuel and drive off?

If we were all professionals we would track down every penny owed to us! Im not going to let her/him get away with it(providing they are breathing)

The two examples you mention come under stealing which the police will sort out.
As are most of the revenge suggestions above.
Even if you dirty the windows again you could be done for vandalism or harassment.
What you have is a word of mouth contract which is worth nothing under the law, if the customer
decides not to pay and sticks to their guns then you have no chance of ever getting the money.
I am not saying that you shouldn't try to get the money back but how many hours are you prepared to waste
to get back 15 or 20 minutes.

[P @ F]

I once had a customer , he took me for a £10 clean , told me straight he wasnt paying to my face , his wife had asked me to leave it for 2 months , i had let it go for 3 just to be sure , i then cleaned and returned for my cash , i thought stay pro and write it off .

On the way home my blood began to boil and i thought F it , your gettin it matey !

The next day i went back with a pressure bottle brimmed with muddy water and got every single window , the neighbours saw me do it , and told him too .
I parked my sighned up van on the drive so they could see who did it .

That night i got a real nice call , police , local rag , all would be told and i would never work the area again.........I told him to fill his boots as i had a bit too much on the books anyway !!!

Nothing ever came of it .....the best bit is , he lives at number 9 , i now live in number 25 !!!!

I always give him a grin on passing , the look on his face is quality.......he is real burned by it.

I DONT SUFFER OVER NON PAYERS ANYMORE .......THEY DO THOUGH ....

Rich

[rosskesava]

I could always alert the police, get them to break entry track the owner down and ask politely for my £18.00.

Can i just say nothing annoys me more than people saying right it off!!!??? Would you go to tesco and fill your trolly walk out and expect them
To let you off?

Or fill your car with fuel and drive off?

If we were all professionals we would track down every penny owed to us! Im not going to let her/him get away with it(providing they are breathing)

I'm still trying to work out the similarities between Tesco's and window cleaning.

Maybe when out next window cleaning take a fully automated check out till with you and scan the windows as you clean them.

[windowswashed]

Never take on new work in December as always get the ones who just want xmas clean. Look after regular customers and new ones who are genuine will wait til new year. Always ensure new quotes are happy with price and cleaning interval making sure they understand it's not a one off clean before starting any new work.

Xmas brings out all the idiots trying a one off clean to impress their relatives coming to stay!

[dazmond]

OP you shouldnt have cleaned them without speaking to her first agreeing the price and payment method.also any people that approach me right before xmas dont get cleaned until new year.if they want a decent window cleaner they will wait.

as for all the revenge attacks for non payment.no ive never resorted to it.

its a fact that all businesses have problems with non payment or shoplifting etc,etc but for me its miniscule in window cleaning.

i normally have to write off £35-£50 a year.this year itll be more like £120 but ive made thousands of pounds more than last year.

i do chase up debts but after a while its just not worth it as i have plenty of customers that will pay me.

you learn to sniff out bad customers after a while but i still get stung occasionally.as annoying as it is no point getting bitter about it.

most customers of mine are good solid payers,some pay me late but as long as i get paid in the end im not too concerned as i always have "rolling debt" as most of us have.

chin up lad.just think of all the xmas tips you ve got!


best wishes


dazmond

[H20cleaning]

I could always alert the police, get them to break entry track the owner down and ask politely for my £18.00.

Can i just say nothing annoys me more than people saying right it off!!!??? Would you go to tesco and fill your trolly walk out and expect them
To let you off?

Or fill your car with fuel and drive off?

If we were all professionals we would track down every penny owed to us! Im not going to let her/him get away with it(providing they are breathing)

I'm still trying to work out the similarities between Tesco's and window cleaning.

Maybe when out next window cleaning take a fully automated check out till with you and scan the windows as you clean them.

Who said there was similarities? I suggested that tesco is a professional business, and so are we, if someone walked in and helped themselves and walked out without paying they wouldn't write it off?? So why should we.

I will wait until after christmas to make sure that there not just on holiday or anything, but i will get my £18.00 back without a doubt.

[advanced]

Id bash her back doors in

[keyser soze]

its part and parcel of this trade . you really do put trust in people. i did a commercial clean last year which i did at that particular time of every month , id been doing it for over a year, when i returned home there was an email saying thank you for the service and he no longer required my services . (probably cheaper windy) i said that i had cleaned that day and i acknowledge his instruction and it would be the last time i would be doing it ,invoice went in and he didn't pay . his reason being he thought it was a coincidence that the day he cancelled was the day i cleaned it .... never got the money but i chase him every time i see him .. fun for me seeing him squirm especially when he has colleagues with him .. often drive by his flats and like to do something to his windows just so he didn't get my window clean for free 

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Im with Dazmond, i constantly have rolling debt in the thousands per month , so it is inevitable that you may have to write off some debt from bad payers from time to time. Ed