[macleod]

You have been asked to quote for a large complex.

the 'company' that cleans the windows at the moment is one old bloke and his ladder.

he practically works there full time, and you are led to believe he only has this one big job and nothing else

you have a family to support and the income is really needed.

so the moral question is, do you quote, knowing that if you get this job he will not have any income and is of an age that he will not get other work.

answers please

by the way this is the real reason why i hate WAHR. i hate it because blokes like this are losing all their work because they dont have wfp (due to cost or just dont like it or just feel they are to old to change etc etc).

[supernova77]

At the end of the day business is business... If the client want someone with WFP then he'll be out the door anyway even if you don't quote for it.

Andy

[macleod]

cheers tall bloke,

thats what i think, but it bugs me
I hate the thought that wfp or WAHR can kill off this blokes work... even though i dont even know him.

[L plate]

If it’s commercial  
Quote
If you don’t some one else will
It sound if he’s going to lose the job anyway  

It’s hard not to fell bad when it’s his main job
But business is business

[busydaffodil]

Hmm....difficult.  

I think my decision would be based on how well I know this guy and how much people respect him & like him.  
It would also depend on how much I NEEDED the money.    

I dont think I would sleep at night knowing I had intentionally put an old man on the dole without GOOD justification.   "Business is business" is a get out clause to me.....allowing us to do things not 100% morally correct.   I might be weird in my opinion but I think it the reason I have been sucessfully self employed for 18 yrs & have loyal and respectful staff that have been with me for many years too.   My opinion is that we should "treat others as we would like to be treated".

[macleod]

i rekon that he could do it another year
but
then he would be replaced becasue of H&S WAHR...

i want to agree with you daff, but if its not me it will be someone else... and soon!

[Mike_G]

If you are concerned about this chap quote it and try to give him a bit of work, maybe he could do insides and the ground floor outside and you can pole the rest.

That way you get a bit more work and he wont lose everything, not great but better than nothing.

[macleod]

i also thought about this, but looking at the windows today i could not find a single window (4 hours) that looked okay... they all were dirty, streaked etc etc...

so i could take him on but still get rubbish windows and how long before they got rid of me!

[Mike_G]

How often do they want it done?

[macleod]

portions of it is cleaned every week, according to the schedule

[sair]

there s no issue of morality, iam sorry to say.

age is not an excuse to not doing the work properly, if windows are cleaned that bad up a ladder perhaps he shouldnt be up a ladder in the first place 

if you dont some one else will

quote fair and price it well

[Mike_G]

If he is doing a bad job it is odds on that he will lose the job soon enough, as mentioned by others price it fair and see what happens. You might find they are paying peanuts and hence the poor work, you might scare the hell out of em with your price and they will stick with the old boy.

[WavieDavie]

he practically works there full time, and you are led to believe he only has this one big job and nothing else

And the moral of the story is - don't put all your eggs in the one basket.

Here endeth the sermon.

[busydaffodil]

so the question has now changed.  It now has the fact that the present contractors work is rubbish added to it.  That missing information in the original question throws a different light on it and could alter someones opinion.

[macleod]

i counldnt find a single clean window... but thats not why they are looking for quotes...

[Sir Squeaky]

You should leave it until they get rid of him, not take his work and source of income.
He probably has family too.

If you take his work, he's hopefully going to slash your tyres and snap your pole.

I'd hate to think what I'd do if some wfp user tried to take my work.
Put it this way, he still wouldn't be able to work...

[Fast 1 *]

he practically works there full time, and you are led to believe he only has this one big job and nothing else

And the moral of the story is - don't put all your eggs in the one basket.

Here endeth the sermon.

[windows_chepstow]

Does anyone think Squeaks feels insecure about window cleaners with a pole?  LOL.

[macleod]

squeeky im loath to agree with you, so i wont  

i agree with what you say, but if i had not been told this about the guys situation i would not be so concerned...

but there we have it.... if its not me it will be someone else...

not worried about a ladder boy getting upset, but i hate the fact that he is gonna lose the work one way or the other...

so if its not my tyres, its gonna be someone elses  

[windows_chepstow]

so if its not my tyres, its gonna be someone elses  

I've read posts here from guys who've had a large percentage of their work come from one or both of those jobs and end up in dire.

As Wavie says, it's sensible not to put all your eggs in one basket.

You've got a difficult deciscion to make.  Do you go for this account and feel bad if you get it, or do you leave it; only for someone else to get it?

Personally, if it were me, I'd leave it.  I've too much work, and only looking to take on better priced stuff; dropping my lower priced jobs, so I can do without any 'moral dilemas'.

But your family comes first, and if you need it, you should quote.

I'm sure this 'old guy' will get by somehow, begging on the street or something; remember people are more generous towards vagrants comming upto Christmas.