[dazmond]

i clean loads of my customers windows  in the rain including today and yesterday.they paid up no problem and i even had a few coffees made for me.   posh houses as well.

thats what you called "trained" customers!

[8weekly]

just skip the job until next month and move on to your next account.

You said in a previous  post that if you are turned away from a job you cancel them?

did i?which post is that then?i have thousands!

if there was no good reasonable excuse and they had already skipped a few times that year and/or were late/bad payers then i wouldnt go back for sure.

i dont dump jobs unless there is good reason to(there no longer viable in a business sense.)
The topic about cleaning in the rain, you said you would cancel them if they turned you away, which i think is unfair.
I have cleaned my own windows in heavy rain as a test and there were marks on them the next day where water had run down the trickle vents.

If the rain gets into the vents and causes runs, wouldn't it do so anyway? I could clean the windows at 11, it rains at 12 and water gets into the vents. It doesn't make sense.

[Walter Mitty]

I had an unusual one recently.  I was turned away because it was hot and sunny and they were laying in the garden.  "Don't come when it's hot and sunny," I was told (I've paraphrased it).  That leaves a dilemma.  Normally good payer and a decent priced job
He said I could come the following week but I explained I was working in another area then.
Normally I would drop it without a second thought but may relent this time.  Not due fdor another few weeks so will decide by then.  If it's a hot, sunny day next time,  may just drop it.

[AuRavelling79]

I had an unusual one recently.  I was turned away because it was hot and sunny and they were laying in the garden.  "Don't come when it's hot and sunny," I was told (I've paraphrased it).  That leaves a dilemma.  Normally good payer and a decent priced job
He said I could come the following week but I explained I was working in another area then.
Normally I would drop it without a second thought but may relent this time.  Not due fdor another few weeks so will decide by then.  If it's a hot, sunny day next time,  may just drop it.

That one would've been dumped quicker than the lone ranger going to the dump.

[Bens windows]

Tell them " I will skip it this time but please give me at least 48 hours notice next time so i can arrange to do someone else's ".

Ben to be honest if it was a property on its own and you had driven out of your way just to clean it then your request would be
justified.
But if it was on a round then skipping one property over the day isn't going to matter much in the scheme of things.
Personally if I came across a property that was getting a bit of work done I would ask if they wanted me to go ahead or to
skip it this time as a matter of courtesy.

Even if it was on a round and they cancelled  to my face at the door i would still say the same as i would be £20 down for the day , If one person did that each day for 5 days a week that would be £100 down for the week unless you have back up work it will not be good for my finances , This method seems to work for me .

[M & C Window Cleaning]

I had an unusual one recently.

Me too, though I wasn't actually asked to leave the windows.

I cleaned a customers windows in late afternoon, and when I called to collect later in the evening I was asked, 'Could you please knock first in future as my son is a night worker and he'd not long been up when you called and was walking round in his underpants.' I replied that I hadn't seen him, and as I use a reach and wash system, there shouldn't be a problem anyway.  And she replied, 'He was downstairs.'

I wouldn't mind but the front garden is modest with a well used public footpath within a few feet of the living room window.

Made me laugh because if I could see him, so could everyone else who walked by.

[Walter Mitty]

I had an unusual one recently.

Me too, though I wasn't actually asked to leave the windows.

I cleaned a customers windows in late afternoon, and when I called to collect later in the evening I was asked, 'Could you please knock first in future as my son is a night worker and he'd not long been up when you called and was walking round in his underpants.' I replied that I hadn't seen him, and as I use a reach and wash system, there shouldn't be a problem anyway.  And she replied, 'He was downstairs.'

I wouldn't mind but the front garden is modest with a well used public footpath within a few feet of the living room window.

Made me laugh because if I could see him, so could everyone else who walked by.

Although I might well drop this job, I would make sure that I did it just one more time for the hell of it.  I would get there earlier than the previous time when he would probably still be asleep in bed - and I would knock until he opened the door.

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Although I might well drop this job, I would make sure that I did it just one more time for the hell of it.  I would get there earlier than the previous time when he would probably still be asleep in bed - and I would knock until he opened the door.

That never occurred to me but it makes her request all the more ridiculous especially as if memory serves, she said he works different shifts each week. I'll be waking him up instead. Sometimes people say things without thinking.

[Walter Mitty]

I had an unusual one recently.  I was turned away because it was hot and sunny and they were laying in the garden.  "Don't come when it's hot and sunny," I was told (I've paraphrased it).  That leaves a dilemma.  Normally good payer and a decent priced job
He said I could come the following week but I explained I was working in another area then.
Normally I would drop it without a second thought but may relent this time.  Not due fdor another few weeks so will decide by then.  If it's a hot, sunny day next time,  may just drop it.

That one would've been dumped quicker than the lone ranger going to the dump.

Just dragged this one back up for the sequel.  After a few days, I had pretty much concluded that the job I mentioned had outlived its usefulness.  It was fine when he lived alone and was working most of the time so not there.  It started getting a little trickier when he retired and I had to be more careful due to new pets.  However, then his girlfriend moved in and I think the concern is about skinny sunbathing in the garden.  They're both decent enough people - no problem there.  But I can't be in a situation where I'm likely to be turned away 2 or 3 times a year during the summer.
Anyway, I was saved from making the decision because a message was left on my phone the other day to cancel.  I suspect he felt put out when I never returned a few days later as requested (I was working miles away by then).  OK, yes, I could have put myself out but the job would no longer have been cost effective.

[Smurf]

Best one so far was leave it today as we are away on holiday.
Not only was I being messed about I had to pay for an overseas phone call to boot...Bloody mobile phones 

[slap bash]

Thank him move on and use that 15 minutes to canvas  more customers so that you fill up quicker. Your role should as a newbie should be clean canvas clean canvas eat canvas think canvas pee canvas. If you look and your days work 90% MUST BE CANVASSING. Canvassing is the way to been a good window cleaning, any ass can clean glass not all can canvas. Its key.

[dazmond]

Best one so far was leave it today as we are away on holiday.
Not only was I being messed about I had to pay for an overseas phone call to boot...Bloody mobile phones 

theyll be a few customers like that over the next 6 weeks mate for all of us!end of july and the whole of august is the worst  to get paid on time as well!

[Stoots]

I had one today, text him for gate, text back at 11am this morn, can you leave it this time please. they said that 2 months ago as well.
Unfortunately for now im putting up with it due to lack of custies as much as i wanted to say no problem find another windy. Still made a note of it mind and if it continues will drop.

[Smurf]

I got my own back  as they were charged more than double for the next clean which they paid 

Best one so far was leave it today as we are away on holiday.
Not only was I being messed about I had to pay for an overseas phone call to boot...Bloody mobile phones 

theyll be a few customers like that over the next 6 weeks mate for all of us!end of july and the whole of august is the worst  to get paid on time as well!

[8weekly]

I had one today, text him for gate, text back at 11am this morn, can you leave it this time please. they said that 2 months ago as well.
Unfortunately for now im putting up with it due to lack of custies as much as i wanted to say no problem find another windy. Still made a note of it mind and if it continues will drop.

From day 1 I always dropped this type of "customer".

[SeanK]

I had one today, text him for gate, text back at 11am this morn, can you leave it this time please. they said that 2 months ago as well.
Unfortunately for now im putting up with it due to lack of custies as much as i wanted to say no problem find another windy. Still made a note of it mind and if it continues will drop.

From day 1 I always dropped this type of "customer".

Even if you need the work take this advice, this type of customer can be soul destroying and is best avoided from
day one.

[Walter Mitty]

I did put up with some garbage from customers at first but my first few months were canvass in the evening and clean the next day.  It really was hand to mouth.  My income was so low the first month or so, I was still claiming dole money (legally).  Once I started profiting more than about £50 a week (I think it was back then), I signed off.  This was back in '91 with a borrowed ladder and a clapped out car.
If I had dropped customers straight away, I would have had aproblem.  As soon as they were getting in the way of other work though - dumped.

[LT carpet cleaning]

I had an unusual one recently.

Me too, though I wasn't actually asked to leave the windows.

I cleaned a customers windows in late afternoon, and when I called to collect later in the evening I was asked, 'Could you please knock first in future as my son is a night worker and he'd not long been up when you called and was walking round in his underpants.' I replied that I hadn't seen him, and as I use a reach and wash system, there shouldn't be a problem anyway.  And she replied, 'He was downstairs.'

I wouldn't mind but the front garden is modest with a well used public footpath within a few feet of the living room window.

Made me laugh because if I could see him, so could everyone else who walked by.

Although I might well drop this job, I would make sure that I did it just one more time for the hell of it.  I would get there earlier than the previous time when he would probably still be asleep in bed - and I would knock until he opened the door.

If I was on a night shift and some fool kept banging on the door deliberately, they would receive a bop on the nose. 

[Walter Mitty]

I had an unusual one recently.

Me too, though I wasn't actually asked to leave the windows.

I cleaned a customers windows in late afternoon, and when I called to collect later in the evening I was asked, 'Could you please knock first in future as my son is a night worker and he'd not long been up when you called and was walking round in his underpants.' I replied that I hadn't seen him, and as I use a reach and wash system, there shouldn't be a problem anyway.  And she replied, 'He was downstairs.'

I wouldn't mind but the front garden is modest with a well used public footpath within a few feet of the living room window.

Made me laugh because if I could see him, so could everyone else who walked by.

Although I might well drop this job, I would make sure that I did it just one more time for the hell of it.  I would get there earlier than the previous time when he would probably still be asleep in bed - and I would knock until he opened the door.

If I was on a night shift and some fool kept banging on the door deliberately, they would receive a bop on the nose. 

I take your point but I wrote it to illustrate the impossible situation facing the window cleaner.
That is:  Knock on the door before starting the clean but don't wake up my son.
It reminds me of one of the early jobs I did way back.  The list of rules lengthened by the clean.   It ended up as, "Clean mine at the very start of the day.  Knock on the door first.  Don't wake up my husband.  Only clean if I am at home."  They didn't have a letter box to put the bill through either.  I'm astonished that  I managed as many cleans as I did before pulling the plug.

[LT carpet cleaning]

I suppose all you can do Walter is grin, bear it, swear at them under your breath.......move on to the next one!