[P @ F]

Right , been out to quote this fella today , met the owner and boy did he go into one when i gave him the price ......I will tell you what was said when i have had a few of your quotes , i need a price for monthly and 3 monthly please.
All in extremely good condition , no flake , no rot , no lead runs , all very good access, fire away chaps.....

 

[P @ F]

..

[8weekly]

Around £180 8 weekly. It'd be about the same 4 or 12 weekly. That would include VAT so £150.

Maybe a bit less.

[Ian Lancaster]

£125 x 4 wks   £150 x 12 wks 

[jo5hm4n]

I'm not used to cleaning houses with that many windows but i would probably say around £90 4 weekly - £140 12 weekly

[Dry Clean]

£500 12 weekly.

[Tosh]

150 squid.

[dazmond]

£120 4 weekly

£150 12 weekly

[Shrek]

£80 once a month

£160 12 weekly

[tlwcs]

I see it as 2 hours monthly £80 or 3 hours  quarterly £120
Don't have any like that though so may be well out
Tony

[p1w1]

£499 gonna undercut dry clean.

£95 month
£150 2 monthly
wouldn't offer 3 monthly.

[lal]

 12 Weekly   £150

   4  Weekly   £120

[8weekly]

Well? Baited breath here.

[nathankaye]

I lost count on the windows and got myself confused from the pictures.  Is each picture showing a different part of the house?

Each set window will be £3 for the smaller and £5 for the larger ones.  The large bay an extra £15.
So for instance the first picture would be £35 for that side.

The total would be 4 weekly and 8wkly an extra 20% on top

[dazmond]

rich is cheap and cheerful so i reckon he offered to clean it for £85 and the customer said it was far too expensive!

[P @ F]

rich is cheap and cheerful so i reckon he offered to clean it for £85 and the customer said it was far too expensive!

For a nice change i was bang on the mark with price , i only went under the assumption that it was to be a monthly clean , that changed after a chat with the rather posh rude man of the manor !

My price was £120 for monthly , which jumped to £150 for 3 monthly .

The conversation went like this........

Him - So how much to clean it every 3 months then ? 
Me  - Every 3 will be £150.
Him - I want an hourly rate .
Me  - Ooh , not really done or do on an hourly rate sir , what i have done is counted the windows , and charged at £2 per window ,
            that gave me £120
Him - But you just told me £150 .
Me -  Yes because you just changed from monthly to 3 monthly , that will cost a little more of course .
Him - I still want an hourly rate , i do everything on an hourly rate .
Me - OK then , i estimated 4 hours at monthly to cost £120 , so at 3 monthly i think 5 hours at a cost of £150 , therefore £30
           per hour.
Him - I just get fed up of window cleaners taking the money , and being gone after 2 hours , with it not being done properly
Me - I can assure you that i will be here for the full 5 hours , and not go if its not right !
Him - Well thanks for popping out , the office will be in touch , goodbye !!!

What you make of that then   

[Dave Anderson]

Stay well clear !

[p1w1]

Stay well clear !

That's for sure especially if it's gonna take you 5 hours to do that's crazy

[Og]

It won't take 5 hours.
2 and a half hours.
£100 + vat.

[nathankaye]

Me " im sorry sir, can I just clarify the rate of pay in which you feel is adequate for a squire to clean windows?"

Him  "blar blar bla"

Me  " I can put you in touch of my supplier sir who can fit you a system in, inwhich you need to produce your own pure water and you can clean them at your own leisure. A small deposit of 2500 would secure you a unit  and then you can minus labour fees per hour if you clean them yourselve.
Here is my card if your offices would like to be intouch. thank you for your time.
Goodbye"

[P @ F]

There are so many endings to the story , i think we all know that it wont take 5 hours , i am very fussy , and i see that it could be done in far less time , i wouldnt bust a gut to get it done in 2.5 hours , i look at what i want to earn a day and go with that , if i am honest i can see me doing it in 3.5 or 4 hours tops .
But due to the fact that he is a per hour merchant if i said 3 hours he would have then said £50 an hour is too much .
This man wants blood ,sweat and tears for his no doubt inherited money !
I run my biz doing as little as poss for the most i can get , if i have to mill around this job for 5 hours for £150 then so be it , if i had one of those every day what could be easier.
£750 a week is good enough for me , if i did get it done in 2.5 hours i would still go home after anyway , lets not forget that i have a dodgey ticker , and had a stroke 2 years ago ............i am taking it easy man 

[p1w1]

yeah fair play to you..

[robbo333]

Sounds like you're better off out of it.
I had a snotty woman in a big house did exactly the same thing (I didn't like her from the outset). She asked a price and then my hourly rate so I told her. She got really irate and said "my husband's a builder and he doesn't earn that". I looked inquisitive and gently said to her "perhaps he should take up window cleaning". Needless to say I left skid marks...

[P @ F]

He is in fact , no different than our usual custie when you came off the ladders and started that brush on a stick nonsense .
Why do i still need to pay you £12 , you are here for less time now ?

Dont tell me im the only one who got that 

Some people just need to see VFM !

[P @ F]

Sounds like you're better off out of it.
I had a snotty woman in a big house did exactly the same thing (I didn't like her from the outset). She asked a price and then my hourly rate so I told her. She got really irate and said "my husband's a builder and he doesn't earn that". I looked inquisitive and gently said to her "perhaps he should take up window cleaning". Needless to say I left skid marks...

My other half said  " I hope you told him to stick his windows where the sun dont shine "  when i told her 

[Splash & dash]

We would be £150 what ever the frequency on a job like that estimateit would take 2 people about 1 and a half to 2 hours max doing everything including all frames we have several similar to this but smaller mostly 4 or 8 weekly some is national trust properties they are very fussy have to approve the brush type inspect after every clean for paint chipping water ingress etc , your customer sounds a right pain I will not give an hourly rate that's non of there business if they accept your price and a good job is done the time taken is irrelevant, sounds like one to walk away from

[P @ F]

We would be £150 what ever the frequency on a job like that estimateit would take 2 people about 1 and a half to 2 hours max doing everything including all frames we have several similar to this but smaller mostly 4 or 8 weekly some is national trust properties they are very fussy have to approve the brush type inspect after every clean for paint chipping water ingress etc , your customer sounds a right pain I will not give an hourly rate that's non of there business if they accept your price and a good job is done the time taken is irrelevant, sounds like one to walk away from

That is pretty much how i try to operate , why does it matter how long it takes , the price is the price , as long as the finished product is as described , thats all that should matter .
I wonder if when he replaces the Jag parked out front he quizes the salesman on build hourly rate , dont think so myself !

[Marc Stock]

I'd say leave it well alone.

It's a £150 job, but it's going to give you £500 of trouble when you have to chase payment from him, and meet his expectations of monitoring if you have met the required slogging your guts out time.

He will probably have someone monitor the time you take and expect you to refund the difference if you did it quicker.

I had a really snotty customer a few years back, I carried on doing the windows despite his light-hearted banter remarks of that's a lot of money for the time spent.

One day before he had a chance to say anything I asked him how his rental property busines is going, it's going very well he said, so I said to him well before you say anything about my prices, you remember every time you celebrate the fact you have been able to increase the rent you charge, you push up the living costs for everyone....including your window cleaning costs. He just smiled and couldn't say anything to that....

[Bungle]

Hourly rate makes me laugh!

Here's a scenario, paddy turns up to dig a drive up with a pick and shovel, it takes him all day and charges £150. Mick turns up in a JCB to do the same job and it takes him an hour, Mick charges £150 also.

Paddy has bought a shovel and pick costing a total of £20, Mick has bought a JCB costing £20,000.

Now, if Mick was to be paid by the hour he'd be paid around £20 to dig the drive up. Would that make sense to Mick?

The same job has been done for the same price but one of the workers is working smarter. Why should the smarter worker be out of pocket?

@op, I would charge £125 for that job, but I reckon the owner is looking to pay around £60/£75 max by asking your hourly rate and talking of doing it in 5 hours. I reckon he thinks he'd be doing you a favour by paying you £15 an hour. You are the boss of your business not him!

[dazmond]

ive never had any customer mention an hourly rate!no way would i want to spend 5 hours at £30 an hour as id be taking a pay cut to clean his windows compared to my other work.

i reckon id be done and dusted in 3 hours.id want to earn £45-£50 an hour on bigger jobs like them or else whats the point?he can clearly afford it.some people are really not worth bothering with.im out to make a little money too.

id give him my price take it or leave it and walk away.i couldnt give a feck really if i cant earn at least £45-£50 an hour.

[Small but perfectley formed]

Tell him it's 3hrs @ £50 per hour or 5hrs @ £30  with 2 hour break

[Johnny B]

I would (and do) say if ever asked about my hourly rate, that I don't work that way.

I just take as long as it takes to do the the best job I can, and if it takes me one hour or all day, the price remains the same.

John

[dazmond]

Tell him it's 3hrs @ £50 per hour or 5hrs @ £30  with 2 hour break

 

[Tosh]

Conversations like that are disappointing.


He's gonna be disappointed.

[dazmond]

Conversations like that are disappointing.


He's gonna be disappointed.

i agree.

theres just no pleasing some people no matter how good a job you do.he basically wants you to jump through hoops for your money (you lowly window cleaner!)

[P @ F]

I agree with pretty much all points above , he will never be satisfied with price or job done no matter how cheap or good it is , nothing will ever be just right for this chap.

With regard to £30 an hour , true its not quite right , its fine but just not there is it , it is however the lowest i like to go , the way i see it is i will be in one place for 5 hours tops and getting £150 .
Or i could be on my usual 12 basic  3 bedders at £12 a pop  and get much the same , with the added grief of moving , chatting .

On Tuesday i did a retirement complex , 5 hours for £220 .....£44 per hour , but its not like that all the time is it ?

I am looking at this new job as a little break from the norm , im not chasing it , but if it comes then i get a day in the country 

[dazmond]

i used to think £30 an hour was brilliant money a few years ago but now im disappointed if i only earn that for an hours work.

[8weekly]

I agree with pretty much all points above , he will never be satisfied with price or job done no matter how cheap or good it is , nothing will ever be just right for this chap.

With regard to £30 an hour , true its not quite right , its fine but just not there is it , it is however the lowest i like to go , the way i see it is i will be in one place for 5 hours tops and getting £150 .
Or i could be on my usual 12 basic  3 bedders at £12 a pop  and get much the same , with the added grief of moving , chatting .

On Tuesday i did a retirement complex , 5 hours for £220 .....£44 per hour , but its not like that all the time is it ?

I am looking at this new job as a little break from the norm , im not chasing it , but if it comes then i get a day in the country 

I think you'd be mad to do that job.

[P @ F]

I agree with pretty much all points above , he will never be satisfied with price or job done no matter how cheap or good it is , nothing will ever be just right for this chap.

With regard to £30 an hour , true its not quite right , its fine but just not there is it , it is however the lowest i like to go , the way i see it is i will be in one place for 5 hours tops and getting £150 .
Or i could be on my usual 12 basic  3 bedders at £12 a pop  and get much the same , with the added grief of moving , chatting .

On Tuesday i did a retirement complex , 5 hours for £220 .....£44 per hour , but its not like that all the time is it ?

I am looking at this new job as a little break from the norm , im not chasing it , but if it comes then i get a day in the country 

I think you'd be mad to do that job.

But for what reason , whats sooo wrong ?

[8weekly]

I agree with pretty much all points above , he will never be satisfied with price or job done no matter how cheap or good it is , nothing will ever be just right for this chap.

With regard to £30 an hour , true its not quite right , its fine but just not there is it , it is however the lowest i like to go , the way i see it is i will be in one place for 5 hours tops and getting £150 .
Or i could be on my usual 12 basic  3 bedders at £12 a pop  and get much the same , with the added grief of moving , chatting .

On Tuesday i did a retirement complex , 5 hours for £220 .....£44 per hour , but its not like that all the time is it ?

I am looking at this new job as a little break from the norm , im not chasing it , but if it comes then i get a day in the country 

I think you'd be mad to do that job.

But for what reason , whats sooo wrong ?

Because you will feel like an idiot dragging out a two hour job to 5 hours to keep him happy.

[Walter Mitty]

I was thinking a comfortable two hours per clean - probably longer on the first one.  So, whatever you want for two hours.  Add a third for the longer intervals.  Maybe £80 and £107 would do it, but if it's well out of your way, bung £20 on.  There's room to charge more for jobs like that though as there can be some messing about when there's horizontal stone work between windows (IMO, it's more important to allow time for water to stop running down as the window below is more prone to run marks).

[P @ F]

I agree with pretty much all points above , he will never be satisfied with price or job done no matter how cheap or good it is , nothing will ever be just right for this chap.

With regard to £30 an hour , true its not quite right , its fine but just not there is it , it is however the lowest i like to go , the way i see it is i will be in one place for 5 hours tops and getting £150 .
Or i could be on my usual 12 basic  3 bedders at £12 a pop  and get much the same , with the added grief of moving , chatting .

On Tuesday i did a retirement complex , 5 hours for £220 .....£44 per hour , but its not like that all the time is it ?

I am looking at this new job as a little break from the norm , im not chasing it , but if it comes then i get a day in the country 

I think you'd be mad to do that job.

But for what reason , whats sooo wrong ?

Because you will feel like an idiot dragging out a two hour job to 5 hours to keep him happy.

Why would i feel like an idiot , its no hardship to me to take it easy on that job , i said before that i would probably give it more time anyway due to my health needs to slow down , the only way i can get bitten on the butt by this job is to spend the time dragging it out  to appease the man and it still be not good enough ! (High possibility to be fair).
But im willing to try it out , i have met his type many times , give them what they want and you never know what will transpire , why am i being so accomadating you may ask ?
Well put simply , this is more than just a house , its way more , its 70 acres of land that is rapidly being converted , old barns , even yurt villages , whatever they are , i just hope they have windows !!! 
Truth is i like to do a good job , and to this day i can honestly say that i have only lost work due to binning them or them moving or dying on me 

Rich

[P @ F]

Ooops , just had a look again and it appears it wasnt 70 acres , it was only several hundred acres 
Best get this job then eh !

[P @ F]

And i have just googled a yurt , dont think i will get rich in that area 

[S.A.J]

FFS!!! 1 man 2 hours £72 easy! Next job!

[P @ F]

FFS!!! 1 man 2 hours £72 easy! Next job!

And that is exactly why you are a busy fool ........

[8weekly]

FFS!!! 1 man 2 hours £72 easy! Next job!

Gotta say that's very cheap if you're sending an employee. Does that include VAT?

[P @ F]

FFS!!! 1 man 2 hours £72 easy! Next job!

Gotta say that's very cheap if you're sending an employee. Does that include VAT?

Thats Stooey all over , he loves the kudos of having all the work out there , and he has it because he is charging peanuts for it , coupled with the fact that his boys seem to love working all hours for £8 an hour 
Stu , if you want the job that bad i can ring my contact and let them know you will do it for £72