[gordons]

How does everyone feel about window cleaners moving in on their area and under cutting them to steal their customers. I personally feel that this is ok, would understand someone doing it to me and would have no problem doing it to anyone as i feel that is only fair in business and should be expected.

[a-r window cleanin]

I think the same business is business after all!!!!
I never undercut infact I charge more then most wc's round near me but I sell myself on the high standards that I work If I pinch someone elses customer I dont really care as I know I dont undercut I assume they were not happy ewith the service they were getting

[tonyoliver]

alls fair but some wc will give you a slap...... ive seen it .
 there is enough work with out stealing poaching ,borrowing anothers income some get very nasty indeed.

[Adam Boss]

If you do a good job for a fair price then your customers won't stray.
 

[Spursboy1972]

I got threatened by one a year or so ago for leaflet dropping what he decreed as his area. Tosser. lol
I politley explained that I had no idea who he was or where he was talking about and that he should only be worried if he is doing a crap job!

[tatman]

dont agree in nicking others work theres plenty of houses out there why undercut other peoples prices cant understand people like you im afraid mate anyway customers like that aint worth having if you do a good job a good custie would say no anyway.

[East coast window cleaning Services]

Never Undercut always find if the customers going to go with you cause you undercut it the likely hood is they will ditch ya when the next window cleaners comes along

[Biscute]

Im glad none of you live by me, as i know it aint rite and i highly dout you would get any of my customers but i would have to drag you of my round by the blond and curlys, nothink personal but like you say buisness is buisness. And unercuting is stupid, quote what you think the job is worth, work for quality not quantity you will just work you self into the ground in the end if you dont.

[brightnclean]

Biscute...My round?   Please explain what basis you use to define your round.

Come on. No-one owns a round. The times are changing and for the better. The ones who invest in their business and run it well will do fine and the customer will benefit in the long term. Also healthy competition will help to improve the image of us WC'ers in the public eye.

I don't give a monkeys whether a window cleaner operates in the areas I work in. If I need new work and want to canvass I never knowingly undercut another WCer. All I do is to offert a top class service at a price that I am prepared to do it at. If the customer accepts it then that's fine. If not it's also fine.

I can forsee a time in the not too distant when we will all have to fight on every level to keep and grow our customer base. Some very smart cookies are beginning to realise that a lot of money can be made out of window cleaning on a large scale.

[Biscute]

I understand your point and i know how i think is frowned upon and can be labeld as ignorant or even childish. I do have work in mixed areas, by this is i meen i do work wich overlaps others rounds if you get what i meen, but i also have isolated areas were it is only me and a bloke who subs from me who work there, this i class as my round. As for the parts that are overlaped well yer fair play and like i said i dout they would take mine as work speeks for its self.

[matt]

How does everyone feel about window cleaners moving in on their area and under cutting them to steal their customers. I personally feel that this is ok, would understand someone doing it to me and would have no problem doing it to anyone as i feel that is only fair in business and should be expected.

Ive qouted Gordons post and made a few words BOLD

now, if you undercut my 9 quid price, fair anough, ive lost work, you have gained some, the customer has got a job done cheaper, save he has saved £1

so then along comes " mr shiney shiner" he expalins he will Undecut the exixiting price, so the customer lie's to him and says " i get it down for 7 quid ", so " mr shiney shiner" does it for 6.50

some time down the line, a new guy starts up " squirt and run" who comes a knocking on the door, i will beat your price, homeowner says " i get it done for 6 quid ", ok, mate says squirt and run, i will do it for 5 quid, home owner is happy

the only people who win from UNDERCUTTING is the homeowner, he now pays 5 quid for a 9 quid job

[calk]

Hi there this is my first post, excellent informative forum.  Have read many threads but this is the first one I have felt that I want to reply on.  I have been a window cleaner on the west coast of scotland for eight years built up and bought good runs have went from trad to wfp and spoke to loads of window cleaners in my areas over the years and was always told and taught never to poach work I have never canvassed for work and only take on work in my own areas which their are other window cleaners but we all know each other and we know most of the prices and we dont undercut because we all work too hard to get the prices up without some unlicensed, uninsured tax dodger lowering prices because as was already stated by T.W.C. the prices in scotland are nowhere near the prices down south

[macmac]

I had a cousin who's friend pinched someone's work. He went blind, lost a leg, all his hair fell out, his wife & kids left him, his house burned down & his balls fell off!!!

David Guest

[East coast window cleaning Services]

By undercutting your never push the prices up and people will still be doing 3 bed houses front and back for £10 in 10 years time

[archercleaningserv]

BANG OUT OF ORDER IN MY OPINION.....

Like other people have said theres enough work out there without undercutting other window cleaners.

I had a lad working for me for almost 15 years , and i hadnt put my prices up for 3 years,so when i told him that i was increasing the prices & we would be telling the customers of the increase he said "IM NOT TELLING THEM , THEYLL GO MAD ,TELL EM YOURSELF"

i said if you dont tell them f--- off home.

MUST POINT OUT = over those 3 years his wages had gone up every year, mine hadnt because i hadnt increased the price.

So because he lives in and around the one of the rounds he had cleaned with me , he decided to build his own round at all costs.

Knowing the customers personally and undercutting me, therefore i have lost a good few houses to the tosser.

i found out that hed taken another house from me 2 weeks ago so i telephoned the lazy numpty (starts work at 11 finishes at 12, one of them)

unlike myself whos out at 7-4 then collecting, fully insured tax payer , member of master wc,fwc,bwca etc

"HELLO" he said

that was it , i basically had taken enough & said i was p------ off with him and that if he attempts to take 1 more customer by undercutting or anything, that he would be seriously filled in.

WHY should i set up and invest in a buisness i have done since the age of 10,(schoolholidays for my uncle) for this p---- to take my livelihood away from me.

I have NEVER undercharged , ALWAYS OVERCHARGE , and i accept the customer can have whoever they want to clean their windows = but as he had work alongside me,got to know the customers as good as me, and thought chris wont say anything about me being a complete numpty..

WELL I DID , and different areas have different methods in dealing with other wc who behave this way ,

so in my opinion your exactly the same as him..

bet your signing on aswell , not insured and thats how you can justify undercutting your fellow window cleaners.

AND YOU WONDER WHY WE GET A BAD NAME !

[brightnclean]

Sorry Archer but that's the perils of employing.

I can see a nasty underbelly here of window cleaning. He worked for you for 15 years so he cant have been that bad for you or you would have got rid of him a long time ago. You ask him to tell the customers that the price is going up. Maybe he felt uncomfortable with that. Perhaps a letter from you as the owner of the business would have been much better.

He leaves you and sets up on his own and you get upset. He knows the prices and like you say has a relationship with the customers. He is now competition and you threaten him.  I think that is bang out of order. Also you say you always overcharge. Well is thats the case then of course people can compete with you on price.

Just wait till you get a bunch of Eastern Europeans after your work. Not personally yours but knocking on your customers doors and doing a good job for a lot less than you charge. Try threatening them and see what happens.

[archercleaningserv]

your right brightnclean,

obviously i didnt get my point over as good as i thought i had ,

just have to wait for the easern europeans to come knocking -

let em have all the work , i will get a job as a muff diver instead ,

or get a job making lefthanded screwdrivers.

[Pat Purcell]

Here in the US we dont really have patches, we work anywhere within a 50mile radius of Boston, same as you lads theres always a new guy willing to work cheaper but theres so much work that it goes mostly unnoticed, but lately there has been an influx of franchises, who hire low-cost labor and charge cut-throat prices
Most of my customers dont even entertain their phone calls but some newer customers have called to say thet they have been offered window cleaning at 30-40% of our prices and would we be willing to match that ,We dont
But as opposed to the one man band new guy, these franchises come with a sales force , advertising, glowing reccomendations from previous customers in other citys, and are willing to have their lads work for peanuts on the premise that they are paying them anyway so a few losing money jobs are better than doing nothing

[Trevor Knight]

WOW?

An interesting read and some very DIFFERENT ideas on what is and isn't right?

My call is this.

I live in a medium size town with an estimated 29,000 houses.

Out of those 29,000 50% won't or can't afford a window cleaner.

Out of the remaining 14,500 probably 25% are the less desirable houses lets say.

Out of the 10,875 possible customers I think with my canvassing and company background of 15 years I would have a more than fair chance of getting 5% of these which would give me a customer base of 543 houses.

Now our minimum charge is £10 so lets say half are 1 x m and half are 2 x m that gives you an average monthly income of £4072

Now thats just my local area, we cover 3 COUNTIES so think about the possibility of customers?

My question is this, with so much work available out there, why:

1) deliberately undercut another window cleaner to clean someones house for less than what they were happy to pay previously?
2) Be prepared to work on a lower rate than you could have achieved had you got your own customers?
3) are you not prepared to knock on the next house until you find a house who hasn't got a window cleaner and is prepared to pay the going rate?

No one has any rights to any area and they are a fool if they think that. However, likewise, it is a very sad person who deliberatley takes work away from someone else when there is so much work out there.

Lets fight like cats and dogs when EVERY house in the country has a window cleaner, lets worry about that when it happens!

Guy's we should be working together and helping each other out?

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I wouldn't undercut to get work, I don't think it's healthy for the industry. 

You undercut me, my mate undercuts you and so on until the standard price is pennies and we all give up. 

If you do a good job for the money a customer will less likely leave you.  If I'm asked to quote for a job I will, if they have a window cleaner all ready I'll still quote, I might ask the price even but I would never give a quote below that price as the customer might be lying and also it's bad for the industry.

Simon.