[eddie d]

i lost quie a few .but cant remember how many .
doesnt seem to worry new custys though .

[matt]

i lost 1

he was the 1 who said it got his grass wet  : :

though to be honest, i still do downstairs trad, which i think helps matters

rog, if i were you, i would be thinking of just doing upstairs WFP and down trad still, otherwise your going to lose your work , i know you have spent all this money on WFP kit, but its not going to be any good without work

i had this discussion today with some1, people accept a " not %100 " finish on the upstairs, they accept it as its a safety thing, they dont downstairs as you dont have the excuse of safety

[Russell Macdonald]

I think most of my customers like the results but cringe if they see the process. I feel quite embarassed when I see the mess it makes down the front of a rendered three story house
 I also have a flat right above the entrance of a seven day shop - embarassing or what?

What mess, it's water. 

When it rains i dont hear people complain about the mess coming out of the clouds. 

[Captain Scarlet]

Matt, you should know better than most that wfp gives flawless results upstairs , Luke

[Sir Squeaky]

i lost 1

he was the 1 who said it got his grass wet  : :

though to be honest, i still do downstairs trad, which i think helps matters

rog, if i were you, i would be thinking of just doing upstairs WFP and down trad still, otherwise your going to lose your work , i know you have spent all this money on WFP kit, but its not going to be any good without work

i had this discussion today with some1, people accept a " not %100 " finish on the upstairs, they accept it as its a safety thing, they dont downstairs as you dont have the excuse of safety

Quite right on that last bit Matt.
That's why I squeegee off a lot of downstairs windows.

It's just annoying when I see people wfp'ing the whole lot and rushing off leaving a pond, yet no problems.

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

about 3 for me, but have gained many more since

[johnny_h]

lost 2 so far since december .no 1 said it left the windows spotty i went up the ladders and couldnt find a single spot told her so too she blamed her husband and said she will find someone else to do them in future and they not been touched in 7 months and no 2 said she didnt like the idea so dont bother to do them in future but changed her mind when she saw the results her neighbours were getting

[Paul Coleman]

I voted 10 - 15.  Some cancelled, some i dumped - about a 50/50 split I think.  This doesn't tell the full story though as I have gained work due to WFP as well and the work I've gained is far better than the work I lost.  There were a few I lost which may have been due to WFP - the mystery cancellers.  I can never be sure if WFP was the reason.
There's a job I do with all Georgian windows.  Some of them are above a sloping slate roof.  The customer told me that he had got rid of the previous window cleaner because he walked up and broke his tiles.  The tiles were slates.  I'm amazed anyone tried walking up them.  The windows could not be cleaned by Unger pole (squeegee on a stick)    due to being Georgian.
He was amazed at what I showed him.  I gave him a quick demo.  He told me I'd got the job.  We hadn't even discussed price at this point.
It is one of my more expensive jobs but that is as much to do with location as anything else because it is a few miles out of the way.
What I found is that it's not just the squeegee and ladder I needed to let go of.  It was a way of thinking that had to be discarded too.

[Pure H20 Cleaning Services]

I've lost none, got rid of one and gained 3 today

[matt]

Matt, you should know better than most that wfp gives flawless results upstairs , Luke

Luke, ive been cleaning with WFP for a few years now, i still get the odd window that has a run of "dirty water spots "

it happens, i accept it, and it seems the customers accept it upstairs aswell, downstairs im not sure they would

[Captain Scarlet]

but downstairs you could just carry a cloth for that odd window to dry it off, Luke

[matt]

but downstairs you could just carry a cloth for that odd window to dry it off, Luke

thats what im doing

ive been doing "hard to reach" widnows downstairs with WFP, the 1's that have a massive bush / flower bed etc etc etc in front of it , i wipe the top edge with my dry scrim

i still do a fair few trad, the customers are happy and im very happy with my round as it it, nice and compact and earning me what i need to earn, so im happy not to rock the boat so to speak, im only after a earning for the family, thats it really, no risks needed

[Sir Squeaky]

You can't buff it with a cloth.
That would take longer than ever, and would leave streaks.

Squeegee it you mean surely?

[matt]

You can't buff it with a cloth.
That would take longer than ever, and would leave streaks.

Squeegee it you mean surely?

no i just wipe the top edge of the window, it gets rid of any build up of water, that imho are the cause of spots

[Captain Scarlet]

each to his own, if your happy I'm happy! Luke

[windowwashers]

I thought I'd see how unlucky I had been with WFP, or whether other people have had as much trouble.
Maybe some people were telling porkies about how customers love it...

I've lost another 2 today, to go with the 2 on monday.
That's 4 this month already, and I'm 6 months in.

I reckon that makes about 35-40 altogether.
It's cost at least £300-£400 of work so far.

They use every excuse in the book, but I've rarely seen much in the way of bad work.
I'm sure there will be many more.

That's a quarter of my round... so far...

What excuses are they giving you and could you give your reply to them, I am not trying to tell you to suck eggs just would like to know as there could be a problem with what you are saying, please dont feel offended as we maybe able to help a little, cant lose you any more can it but could save you a few.

also while i am writting, what are your customers moaning about? I have a couple of moaners out of 100's and thats never about quality of work. you must be the must be the unluckyest window cleaner in the world or you are doing something wrong.

[neil100]

I lost about 6 customers when I went wfp, these were the ones where wfp was a NO NO.

I have lost a lot more since, but I know that its mostly natural fallout.

W/cleaning is like the ebb and flow of the tide. You lose customers and you gain new customers.

You have to be sure you get more then you lose. I lost a customer on tuesday night, Nothing to do with wfp, Its a customer I have had for 15 years, I still do it trad as wfp is no good on his wooden frames. The reason He cancelled is Another w/c will clean them for £10 and I charge £20.

Says he probably will regret it as hes only doing it to save money. He had no complaints, He praised and thanked me for cleaning them and he hopes the new guy can clean them as well.

Ebb and Flow, Ebb and flow.

Nel

[david68]

I have lost about 25 over 8 months.
But have made about the same in new customers.

But when i started with getting them to send me a cheque, It seem to be easier for them to stick a little note in saying thanks for your services but no more ect

Dave

[NWH]

If they sent you a cheque in the post that must mean they wern`t in,therefore didn`t see how you cleaned.So was there a problem with the results.

[Nathanael Jones]

Is there much competition in your area Squeaky? It could be just some cowboy undercutting you, and custies just using WFP as an excuse.