[rednick]

Went out doorknocking friday afternoon,one particular street i noticed the windows were well grotty,first door i knocked old lady said she had a window cleaner but he had'nt been for 3 months,i know most of us are behind due to xmas and this crap weather,should i go ahead and do this street or will i be taking another cleaners work ?

[Londoner]

three months is fair. If the window cleaner has a problem he could always send a note round to his customers.
I have taken on new customers only to have the old window cleaner turn up again months later but I don't see that as my problem by then.

In one instance some years ago a new window cleaner turned up at some customers of mine saying he had bought a round off some bloke called Andy who hadn't cleaned those houses for about two years

[S.A.J]

I would say 3 months then the work is fair game for any w/c to take up.

Stuart

[Londoner]

I often wonder what happened to the old window cleaners. I can't ever imagine just walking away from a whole round.
Some of the customers have obviously been dropped but in other cases good customers who are paying competitive prices tell stories of window cleaners just dissappearing.

Its one of the arguements in favour of leaflets rather than door knocking. I have had phone calls from people months, and in a few isolated cases years afterwards because they had kept my leaflet just in case. A lot of window cleaners are erratic and just become more and more so until they are finally judged to be gone.i

[windows_chepstow]

I can't ever imagine just walking away from a whole round.

Some do.  In my short four years of window cleaning, I know two guys who've just 'binned' their whole round and moved on to do something else.  Both times were great for me!

Also, this Winter, I've had to drop around 50 to 60 accounts because I just couldn't get round them all within a reasonable timeframe.  So my worst (mostly awkward access) had to go.  I'm probably slightly short of work now, but that doesn't bother me, because I know I'll fill any gaps this year.

I've also got other areas I know I'm going to chop when I take on better quality work.

It happens.

[macc]

If some one said to me they had not seen their WC for 3 months i would take it. 

There is no reason i can think of for being 3 months behind apart from lazy & on the dole. 

[Paul Coleman]

If some one said to me they had not seen their WC for 3 months i would take it. 

There is no reason i can think of for being 3 months behind apart from lazy & on the dole. 

Well it took me four months to get around my work in the Winter some years ago.  Loads of underpriced work where people wouldn't let me clean if there were a few clouds in the distance.  One wet Winter, I just couldn't get going with it so I made sure that I kept my better work serviced.  When I returned, someone had started doing some of them and he was cra**ing himself when he bumped into me.  I just smiled and asked him if he wanted some more.  We exchanged numbers and I met him a couple of days later with a list of work that was worth about £500 a month (should have been nearer £1,000) and gave it to him.  I was glad to be shot of it.  He couldn't believe his luck.
So ended my years of slave labour in the Sussex village of Handcross.  A few months later some of them started ringing me up to go back after he let them down.  I guess they started messing him about too and he was less tolrant than me.  Don't misunderstand me.  I had some good work down there too but there was too high a proportion of bad work where the customers wanted to run my business.

[macc]

Not been rude Shiner but why take it, your the boss not them.

If any of mine say not this time with out a valid reason they are dumped. I had one last year in November i think, just looked ive done 3 cleans since. The last time he almost begged, not a chance. I told him to get another WC but he want me because i take pride in my work.

Told him im not a corner shop for his convienience.

Macc

[Paul Coleman]

Not been rude Shiner but why take it, your the boss not them.

If any of mine say not this time with out a valid reason they are dumped. I had one last year in November i think, just looked ive done 3 cleans since. The last time he almost begged, not a chance. I told him to get another WC but he want me because i take pride in my work.

Told him im not a corner shop for his convienience.

Macc

Macc.  I don't take it these days.  If you look at my post, I do say it was some years ago.
My attitude to this business has changed a lot in recent years.  I even had a conversation with one womana whiler back who queried my rates when she asked why she should pay that.  I told her that she could probably get the service for less elsewhere but asked her if she really wanted to be searching for a window cleaner each time someone walked away because they felt they were not earning enough.  I said to her "Why should I be the cheapest?" I'm the guy who will come back every 6 weeks, year on year so long as I am making a reasonable profit from the job.  I got the job.
Never again will I let myself get saddled with loads of underpriced work as I did way back.  I still have some to unload in other areas - but not too much at one eh?  I can't unload it all at once or my finances would suffer.  You would find it hard to believe the difference in rates between my newer work and work I've had a long time.  It can sometimes cause a problem when a newish customer knows an old customer and they compare notes but, these days, I realise that the problem is not mine.

[macc]

Shiner, my attitude as well.