[Bungle]

I like reading these type of posts as we all get dumped at some stage and it does hurt your pride when it happens. You start to question yourself and think about what has happened for hours. Then all of a sudden the phone goes and a new customer wants you to clean their windows and the world is a good place once again.

I've never lost 3 in a day like OP and that must really sting. Losing one in a day hurts enough.

[Blackadder]

I got forwarded a number of someone who wanted Trad, I rang her today to see if she wanted to try WFP, she said 'no, that's not window cleaning' wouldn't even discuss it, I offered to do it for free first time just to see what she said....she said No. 
Nowt queer as folk.

[Walter Mitty]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

[chris turner]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

[Bungle]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

Any idea who he is? It might be worth having a word in his shell like. Undercutting is a big no no in my book. At one time I wouldn't even take on work where they had dumped their last window cleaner.  I do now, but never undercut, but I don't need to though as any new work comes to me not me going to it.

[LT carpet cleaning]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

Any idea who he is? It might be worth having a word in his shell like. Undercutting is a big no no in my book. At one time I wouldn't even take on work where they had dumped their last window cleaner.  I do now, but never undercut, but I don't need to though as any new work comes to me not me going to it.

Wow. Hope everyone adheres to your written and enforced law.   

[colin bird]

What they mean is that they really don't care about you and your personal safety - better off without them.

+1

[lal]

What they mean is that they really don't care about you and your personal safety - better off without them.

+1
+2

[jk999]

 Had one  other  week rings up in morning  cancelled  , rung back at 6pm  asked me to  do them again  I asked y she cancelled  she said she thought she  could do  them herself  lol top flat ,windows don't even tilt inward s

[chris turner]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

Any idea who he is? It might be worth having a word in his shell like. Undercutting is a big no no in my book. At one time I wouldn't even take on work where they had dumped their last window cleaner.  I do now, but never undercut, but I don't need to though as any new work comes to me not me going to it.

A customer actually offered me the guys details as he left them a "business card ".
I say business card but it was actually one of those homemade cheap knockoffs, an a4 piece of paper cut up into little strips with just his first name and number on, no business name or address.

At the end of the day though I have to stay professional, calling him up won't do me any good and will just make me look like one of those aggressive territorial window cleaners.
Customers are free to make there own decisions, il soon replace those I lost so I won't be loosing any sleep.
My satisfaction will come from knowing this other guy is working like a donkey for next to to nothing. Good luck to him!

[dazmond]

I like reading these type of posts as we all get dumped at some stage and it does hurt your pride when it happens. You start to question yourself and think about what has happened for hours. Then all of a sudden the phone goes and a new customer wants you to clean their windows and the world is a good place once again.

I've never lost 3 in a day like OP and that must really sting. Losing one in a day hurts enough.

my attitude these days is "more room for a better paying job" when i lose a customer.sometimes its relief esp when im busy enough with other work.(which is most of the time)

losing the odd customer here and there has never stopped me from earning more money year on year.

thats the bottom line!

[jk999]

My opinion  is its a customer  not worth having . There are customers  that's always gonna want to save some money . I don't mind other guys canvassing as long as they don't say we will undercut . I've been lucky with my customers  as my dad's been  cleaning  since he was 17 and still cleaning  now at 75 so to us it goes on reputation  and trust

[Bungle]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

Any idea who he is? It might be worth having a word in his shell like. Undercutting is a big no no in my book. At one time I wouldn't even take on work where they had dumped their last window cleaner.  I do now, but never undercut, but I don't need to though as any new work comes to me not me going to it.

Wow. Hope everyone adheres to your written and enforced law.   

Jog on, twit.

[DaveG]

I was once dumped by a "lady part" of a customer, who continually asked me to "leave it this time" for being unreliable 

[dazmond]

I was once dumped by a "lady part" of a customer, who continually asked me to "leave it this time" for being unreliable 

when he was dressed as a drag queen?

[DaveG]

Not that sort of lady part Daz

 

[LT carpet cleaning]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

Any idea who he is? It might be worth having a word in his shell like. Undercutting is a big no no in my book. At one time I wouldn't even take on work where they had dumped their last window cleaner.  I do now, but never undercut, but I don't need to though as any new work comes to me not me going to it.

Wow. Hope everyone adheres to your written and enforced law.   

Jog on, twit.

Sorry, but idiots who suggest "having a word" are a big no no for me. 

[davids3511]

It's the name of the game m8.

I was going to start a thread as iv lost 3 customers on one estate today but may as well have join you for a moan here instead

Had 13 houses planned today, all on a fairly new build estate that iv been doing for a while. All these houses have small cons at the back which I clean top to bottom as well as the windows, 6 weekly, all around £15 -£17 each.
I thought I was being very reasonable with my pricing including full con cleans each time. I would never normally do this but as the estate is fairly new the cons are in good condition and pretty easy to clean, so I didn't mind.
First 3 houses today all dumped me, been offered a cheaper price  and the other windie has also offered to clean all the cladding on the front of the houses included in the price.
So windows, cladding and entire conservatory for less then £15..
I didn't argue with any of them, just said if it's cheap your after then your probably going to get what you pay for. You have my number, call me when this other guy relealises what he's doing is unsustainable and either gives up or whacks up the price.

Was slightly annoyed about being undercut in such a way but that's life, customers come and go.

Did they wait for you to show up before dumping you, or did you clean and then they cancelled.  I don't have an issue about cancellations but when they do it with no notice, my blood boils.
I just say to them that if they turn up for work and their employer sends them home for the day, they would expect to be paid.  I used to girl thingyfoot around these people.  Now I just let them know how selfish they are.  I just tell them that it is too late for me to arrange another job that day (not necessarily true as most of my jobs have decent access) and that their selfishness has cost me £x.

Turned up at the first house, they came out and told me.
The next 2 houses I decided to knock first and low and behold they both said the same thing, "sorry we've decided to use someone else".

It's true what someone else said, you begin to doubt yourself, but after some digging I soon realised that I'd lost these customers through no fault of my own, but rather them being offered alot for such a small amount of money.

I was worried about how the rest of the day was going to pan out, how many more has he pinched etc..
But the other 10 houses were fully with me and had no intention of switching even at the ridiculous low price on offer.
Most even agreed what he was doing was out of order, undercutting is a sly way of picking up work and it lowers the value of our service.

Any idea who he is? It might be worth having a word in his shell like. Undercutting is a big no no in my book. At one time I wouldn't even take on work where they had dumped their last window cleaner.  I do now, but never undercut, but I don't need to though as any new work comes to me not me going to it.

Wow. Hope everyone adheres to your written and enforced law.   

Jog on, twit.

Lol, the irony!!!

[bobplum]

Better off being rid now, customers like that usually turn out to be a pain in the *ss!

I had one a few years ago, I had converted her to wfp & they were perfect every time. Been wfp'ing them over a year when she said she wanted to go back to mop & blade. To cut a long story short, after her admitting that they were indeed perfect with wfp it turned out it was because she watched me do the house opposite traditional & thought it offered better value as I was there longer & actually looked like I was cleaning windows! Even her husband couldn't believe what she was saying & trundled off back into the house with his eyes rolling. The house opposite was more expensive & couldn't actually all be done wfp so was easier for me to trad anyway. Needless to say........ dumped!!  Don't waste any time over stupid customers!

There is some logic to her thinking, people want value for money and if they aren't earning good money and you take 15 minutes for £15 you can see how they think.......foot note, new estates always have a high turn over of windys and customers until it settles down, some times takes a few years

[NWH]

You will always be limiting yourself to earning less on these estates,as soon as someone sees another cleaner they will ask for a price just out of curiosity. If your higher than most chances are they will give them a go,if I ever take a house on in a place like this I tell them you will get cheaper but you won't get better at least then when another windy says they'll do it for £10 less they will know I wasn't trying it on