[johnny bravo]

lost a few customers to a chap advertising to clean trad  for them.    no big loss  on my side,  3 customers out of around 150 in  one area.       you never know what your customers  will do.   you have a lot of banter with them not realising they will just leave for 50p   less   after years of cleaning,    im  glad they are not my customers  anymore.     one has dog crap in garden,    no big miss       

[RPCCS]

My thoughts exactly, if they are happy to drop you for 50p, then they aren’t worth keeping as customers. I have had a couple  over the years say they had a quote from someone  who is £1/2 cheaper and will I price match. I say to them it’s your house, your money and your prerogative as to who you have to clean your windows. I won’t price match or go cheaper, but if you want to change, that’s your choice, but just bear in mind if you  dispense of my services, and your new window cleaner turns out to be crap,or let’s you down, and doesn’t come back, you can’t come back to me.  Doesn’t make any difference to some, but one or two decided to stay..

[Crystal-clear]

Just remember he won't be able to cover as much ground as you so they may get their windows "rubbed" for now but he will definitely have a full round pretty soon which is going to be probably about one-third of yours.
Eventually he prob go WFP soon and then he might have the same problems as you did
You see so you're both connected in a way

[SB Cleaning]

Trad is better though.

[nathankaye]

I have an old dear customer, who is quite sweet n makes a drink etc on every clean.  She is part of a round that i was contemplating selling and at the time I told her I had someone who was interested in the round. She asked me if he was trad as she preferred that method.  Shes been with me since I was trad. The reason, she simply doesnt like the water being left to dry.  Shes more than happy with the quality its just the old engrained traditional way of thinking.    I dont take it personnally, shes still with me.
So perhaps dont take it so personally

[M & C Window Cleaning]

I have an old dear customer, who is quite sweet n makes a drink etc on every clean.  She is part of a round that i was contemplating selling and at the time I told her I had someone who was interested in the round. She asked me if he was trad as she preferred that method.  Shes been with me since I was trad. The reason, she simply doesnt like the water being left to dry.  Shes more than happy with the quality its just the old engrained traditional way of thinking.    I dont take it personnally, shes still with me.
So perhaps dont take it so personally

I have a similar customer.  She has politely told me on numerous occasions that she doesn't really like WFP because it leaves her windows spotty and she hates waiting for it to dry, but she won't change to anybody else because she trusts me and she doesn't want me running up and down ladders.
I've been bemused by this spotting business for some considerable time because they always look great to me even when I'm due to clean them again. Then last time round she said to me that she 'knows it doesn't do as good a job as traditional window cleaning because every time she splashes water from her sink onto her windows it always dries spotty if she doesn't wipe it off.'
I just wanted to laugh out loud but restrained myself. I began to explain again but then thought, if she doesn't want to change why bother.

[Stoots]

Some people prefer them to be cleaned trad.

Sometimes down to ignorance, sometimes due to some one doing a poor job wfp.

I don't really care, plenty of work out there let them crack on with ladders if they want.

[p1w1]

Why would you even clean a house with dog turd in the garden in the first place?

[RPCCS]

I think overall 95% of my customers aren’t bothered which method I use to clean their windows, 3% don’t like wfp and  2% prefer it.

[dazmond]

lost a few customers to a chap advertising to clean trad  for them.    no big loss  on my side,  3 customers out of around 150 in  one area.       you never know what your customers  will do.   you have a lot of banter with them not realising they will just leave for 50p   less   after years of cleaning,    im  glad they are not my customers  anymore.     one has dog crap in garden,    no big miss     

I lost a long standing customer a few years ago  to some trad lads( £3 cheaper)also they have to climb on 2 sloping roofs to access some of the windows...their welcome!👍

I've bumped into them a few times.....they clean 2 houses on the estate...I clean 90+....

[AuRavelling79]

Trad is better though.

Not for me it's not. 

[Mr B shine]

I'm switching my round from trad to wfp just now.
 So far nobody seems bothered, if anything the customers are happy the frames are being done.

[NWH]

I haven’t had any of this for years now I’d rather have a trad guy etc,even if I take on a new job the method is not questioned.

[the king]

i have had the odd one that dont like wfp but there the pain in the ars ones that moan about everything

[dazmond]

i do both but trad work is around 1% of the work i do these days!(and even then its ground floor windows!)

[harleyman]

I would never do trad again why would  you risk your life for a few quid when there is an alternative dont make sence. Un less you only do bungalows

[jk999]

Would never go back to trad been wfp for around twenty five years now ,you will always get the odd one that wants it trad but i still think wfp is alot better

[Dry Clean]

Would never go back to trad been wfp for around twenty five years now ,you will always get the odd one that wants it trad but i still think wfp is alot better

25 years , there wouldn't have been many polers about when you started Jk.

[nathankaye]

Met with another window cleaner over the weekend and was talking work as you do. He was telling of a chap, his customer who had a large house town, which he wfp cleaned. Anyway after some years of being a good customer, he started paying later n later. So my friend sent a message asking for payment within 14 days of the clean.  As he was in the area, he knocked for payment. My mate was told he was no longer needed as he was going to do them himself.  But what about the back windows, its not safe from ladders to do so, said mg friend. Anyway some time passes and the neighbour of the customer bumped into my friend (as they knew each other) and got talking of the neighbour, his customer.  He only came off the ladder and did some serious damage to his back. Spent a good chunk of time in hospital!
Now you could argue he wasnt a pro trad window cleaner, but even pro's come off ladders!   It just isnt worth the risk!  Wfp all the way

[NWH]

It never really took off until about 2006-7 since then more and more vans appeared with a pole system.

[dazmond]

It never really took off until about 2006-7 since then more and more vans appeared with a pole system.

i was the first window cleaner to use the pole system on domestics where i work back in 2010,only me had a wfp set up!id say its only taken off around here since 2017.....most of the window cleaners who used to take the mick out of me for not climbing ladders anymore have swapped to the pole over the last 3 years.

[deeege]

It never really took off until about 2006-7 since then more and more vans appeared with a pole system.

i was the first window cleaner to use the pole system on domestics where i work back in 2010,only me had a wfp set up!id say its only taken off around here since 2017.....most of the window cleaners who used to take the mick out of me for not climbing ladders anymore have swapped to the pole over the last 3 years.

Was you?

I was wfp from March 2009.

[robbo333]

I cleaned a bungalow using wfp and the husband had just retired.

He was saying how he was really pleased with the quality of my work, but he could never get the insides clean.

So I thought I'd do a good deed, take 10mins out, and show him how to do straight pulls using a proper squeegee.

Got a text about 3 weeks later...he wants to cancel my services as he is now going to do them all himself!   

[aztec]

if you have a pole system in your van and then decide to work from a ladder and have an accident, do you think the insurance company will believe you used the safest method to clean and pay you out? thought not!

[dazmond]

It never really took off until about 2006-7 since then more and more vans appeared with a pole system.

i was the first window cleaner to use the pole system on domestics where i work back in 2010,only me had a wfp set up!id say its only taken off around here since 2017.....most of the window cleaners who used to take the mick out of me for not climbing ladders anymore have swapped to the pole over the last 3 years.

Was you?

I was wfp from March 2009.

you dont work the same area as me though mate

[deeege]

It never really took off until about 2006-7 since then more and more vans appeared with a pole system.

i was the first window cleaner to use the pole system on domestics where i work back in 2010,only me had a wfp set up!id say its only taken off around here since 2017.....most of the window cleaners who used to take the mick out of me for not climbing ladders anymore have swapped to the pole over the last 3 years.

Was you?

I was wfp from March 2009.

you dont work the same area as me though mate

I have a day a month in your area and I believe you have a day or so in mine, but I get what your saying.

[jk999]

There was only 2  people using the poles in my area when i started quite a few now

[RPCCS]

I started with wfp in Jan 2008

[harleyman]

I lost a customer the other day said he was gonna do them is self.... sure Enough I was passing he had only got a resing bottle and a c l x.  penny dropped when he was asking a few questions  prior . Leson learned  I'm gonna skirt round any more questions.
 

[dazmond]

I lost a customer the other day said he was gonna do them is self.... sure Enough I was passing he had only got a resing bottle and a c l x.  penny dropped when he was asking a few questions  prior . Leson learned  I'm gonna skirt round any more questions.

why?...do you honestly think most customers would then go out and buy the equipment to clean their own windows?....i dont think so!a fair few of mine cant even walk properly never mind clean windows!

[Dry Clean]

I lost a customer the other day said he was gonna do them is self.... sure Enough I was passing he had only got a resing bottle and a c l x.  penny dropped when he was asking a few questions  prior . Leson learned  I'm gonna skirt round any more questions.

Should have talked him into getting a
SLX then in six months time when he's had enough offer him half it's worth in free cleans.

[NWH]

It’s flipped on it’s head it used to be WFP was the minority now it’s Trad cleaners that are in that boat,you can offer a much better service with WFP if you can see the window from the ground you can clean it,you can’t offer this when you use a ladder you can’t offer this.

[robbo333]

I have a very old customer and I wfp his bungalow. He always used to sit in his conservatory and watch me.

I ran out of water one day, so I cleaned his bungalow trad.

The next time I phoned him he said 'I hope you're going to use your pole thing because I like watching the water disappear on glass!'

I've heard of 'watching paint dry' but that's ridiculous!

[nathankaye]

I have a very old customer and I wfp his bungalow. He always used to sit in his conservatory and watch me.

I ran out of water one day, so I cleaned his bungalow trad.

The next time I phoned him he said 'I hope you're going to use your pole thing because I like watching the water disappear on glass!'

I've heard of 'watching paint dry' but that's ridiculous!

I wonder if its just the old dears, i have two (seperate ones) which like to watch the water cascade down the glass

[Johnny B]

I am still trad, but not using ladders at the moment, so I'm trad poling upper windows.

I was a bit anxious at first about the quality of work I could produce by cleaning windows that are 12 feet rather than 12 inches away, but I'm getting quite confident now having been doing this now for 7 weeks. I've had no complaints, and I am quite happy not to be climbing ladders, so there may yet be some possibility that I will convert to wfp one day!

John

[Small but perfectley formed]

Get it done John.
I bought a Trad round few months ago has a Bolt on to a round nearby.
What I ball ache can't believe I cleaned like this for 20 years.
Any one Trad cleaning deserves a medal it's so inefecient.

[NWH]

Could never go back to the old mop and squidge lol.