[AuRavelling79]

Last Wednesday week I get a phone call off of Mrs B - whom I have never met before and who has phoned from my ad in the local rag. She leaves a voice message basically saying she is moving out at the end of June to retire to Spain and she needs to have the windows cleaned externally to ensure she has no charges from her landlord.

So I look up George and see I'm in her road that Friday and can fit it in - I know from the address that it is a 1960/70's tile hung house in a terrace of five with flat windows and I ask her if she has a porch or a conny - No. I ask her how long, honestly, since they've been done.

She says at least a year but that she "has had a go at the downstairs a few months ago but she'd rather say a year than guess".  So I say normally it would be between £20 and £30 for a one off and that I can be exact when I call.

She says she is at  work but is happy to leave me £30 "to cover it" in a polythene bag "behind the toolshed" and asks if I can put a receipt through the letterbox when I'm done.

So I agree - thinking if the lolly isn't there I will just walk away.

On the Friday I turn up - parking is a bit tight but she has put her wheely bin in the road with a taped on note saying "window cleaner calling - please leave space for a van" and her neighbours have!

Sure enough, the money's there and so I get started. The windows weren't bad at all and I spent a bit of extra time scrubbing them - really so she got at least some of her money's worth - and despite having to park the van the other side of the house to get the fronts (terrace remember?) the whole job didn't take more than half an hour.

I was away on the weekend and came back to an answer machine message thanking me profusely for such a good job and how the windows sparkled and how pleased she was and IF SHE HADN'T LEFT ENOUGH MONEY SHE WOULD SEND ME A CHEQUE FOR MORE!

Unbelievable. Far and few between but there are some decent folk out there.

And no, I didn't ask for any more money in case you are wondering. 

[Stoots]

Pity these seem to be a rare find these days.

[richard groves]

By the sounds of things you are far too cheap, could easily have charged £60 and had a lie in.

[dazmond]

yep loads of decent customers out there(i have on my round).its pleasure to clean their properties.

[rosskesava]

It's nice to read something like that.

I did an EOT clean recently where the person complained about the scratches around the edges on the Victorian glass sash windows caused by painters over the years.  He reluctantly handed over the £25 as if it was my fault the glass was already scratched and didn't come up as sparkling as he'd hoped for.  After a 10 minute conversation about how over the years the painters had scratched the glass with sand paper, I just stood there with my hand out until he paid up.

[nathankaye]

Theres times like today, that no matter how long we've been in this line of work, we can sometimes still under price a job.
I say we, as im sure im not the only one who sometimes does this.

Anyways, I did so today. I felt I undercharged by £10 for a first clean. Like most of us, I took it on the chin and put it under "one to learn from"!
But its alwayd nice when the customer recognises the work and effort being done and apart from supplying a coffee, pays extra voluntarily for the work done.
It wasnt quite the extra 10 I had in mind but close to it, but its the recognition in the end which is more valuable

[Soupy]

Last Wednesday week I get a phone call off of Mrs B - whom I have never met before and who has phoned from my ad in the local rag. She leaves a voice message basically saying she is moving out at the end of June to retire to Spain and she needs to have the windows cleaned externally to ensure she has no charges from her landlord.

So I look up George and see I'm in her road that Friday and can fit it in - I know from the address that it is a 1960/70's tile hung house in a terrace of five with flat windows and I ask her if she has a porch or a conny - No. I ask her how long, honestly, since they've been done.

She says at least a year but that she "has had a go at the downstairs a few months ago but she'd rather say a year than guess".  So I say normally it would be between £20 and £30 for a one off and that I can be exact when I call.

She says she is at  work but is happy to leave me £30 "to cover it" in a polythene bag "behind the toolshed" and asks if I can put a receipt through the letterbox when I'm done.

So I agree - thinking if the lolly isn't there I will just walk away.

On the Friday I turn up - parking is a bit tight but she has put her wheely bin in the road with a taped on note saying "window cleaner calling - please leave space for a van" and her neighbours have!

Sure enough, the money's there and so I get started. The windows weren't bad at all and I spent a bit of extra time scrubbing them - really so she got at least some of her money's worth - and despite having to park the van the other side of the house to get the fronts (terrace remember?) the whole job didn't take more than half an hour.

I was away on the weekend and came back to an answer machine message thanking me profusely for such a good job and how the windows sparkled and how pleased she was and IF SHE HADN'T LEFT ENOUGH MONEY SHE WOULD SEND ME A CHEQUE FOR MORE!

Unbelievable. Far and few between but there are some decent folk out there.

And no, I didn't ask for any more money in case you are wondering. 

I think this is the pertinent point here.

Cleaning windows is easy enough but if you don't do it often and are attempting it with a betterware squeegee and a tea towel it's a pain in the bum.

Customers are always delighted after clean 1. When you get to clean 120 they haven't cleaned a window in 10 years and have forgotten how much of a pain in the bum it used to be for them. They see you waving your huge pole about in the garden for 10mins and think; "I could do that myself, easy. Save myself some money."