[clean]

If you tried to charge £10 for an average shop front in my area you would get laughed out of town.

I have a n £8 minimum for my shop fronts, some of which are £16, they only take a few minutes but I am the only insured wc on the street so they are willing to pay the extra, they only take me 2-4 mins each, Luke

The thing is Luke,someone WILL come along who also is insured and undercut you,believe me iv`e been window cleaning 20 years and it DOES happen 

[Captain Scarlet]

no apology coming mate ,cos you said trad guys leave steaks when I for one don't leave streaks !

I never said that, I just explained that you misunderstood me. I use trad methods too, and I was trad 5 months back, and I was joking about an apology! Luke

[xxmattyxx]

If the phone dosen`t ring your doing it the right way,don`t get to fussy the customers don`t expect to have there window`s absolutley spotless and will accept the odd mark.It still surprises me how good a job the pole does.

My phone doesn't ring too often but there are times when I've walked away thinking "God knows what that's gonna look like in full sun".

I sometimes get the feeling that some customers are almost too embarrassed to complain.

Yes yes yes, you are not the only one there Simon, thankyou for posting that and being honest, I think at times I can be too much of a perfectionist, I have spent on occassion 45 minutes trying to work out why one window wont come up; we can only do our best and sometimes WE are the ones who are entirely satisfied.

Matt

[Adam Boss]

That's great NWH, mine has been built up over 20 years and makes me an excellent living.
When you make statements calling guys mugs for using trad is just asking for trouble, so you reap what you sow !
LUKE, I did not misunderstad you, I just read what you wrote as did simon. If you ment to say something else then write it,  then there will be no problems !

Adam

( I have no more to add, so I will leave it there )

[jampot]

chiill out guys keep your hair on 

[windowwashers]

If the phone dosen`t ring your doing it the right way,don`t get to fussy the customers don`t expect to have there window`s absolutley spotless and will accept the odd mark.It still surprises me how good a job the pole does.

My phone doesn't ring too often but there are times when I've walked away thinking "God knows what that's gonna look like in full sun".

I sometimes get the feeling that some customers are almost too embarrassed to complain.

Yes yes yes, you are not the only one there Simon, thankyou for posting that and being honest, I think at times I can be too much of a perfectionist, I have spent on occassion 45 minutes trying to work out why one window wont come up; we can only do our best and sometimes WE are the ones who are entirely satisfied.

Matt

Nothing worng with being a perfectionist, it builds a good name for you, I do the same my guys hate me, if it costs me money to get the job done so be it, they cant say i didnt do it right, i do try not to cost myself money but it is all a learning curve how ever long you have been window cleaning for.

[Captain Scarlet]

I did not misunderstad you, I just read what you wrote as did simon. If you ment to say something else then write it,  then there will be no problems !

I did write it correctly but the trad/wfp debate led you to take it the wrong way. Simon was having a laugh, he knew what I actually meant, Luke

[Ian_Giles]

I would say that overall WFP does a more THOROUGH job, which does not mean better.

For me at least I clean the whole window, on large conservatories I wash everything form the gutters down, it really makes a difference.

On Georgian work or leaded then I would say that WFP is better, ok, yo ucan still get spots no matter what the style of the window, but these windows done trad will be flawed, when the sun shines at a certain angle these flaws show up.

On normal panes of course you squeegee away and they are fine, but again, get the light in the wrong angle and you can work out the squeegee passes.

WFP is certainly less CONSISTANT, and on most houses, if you look close enough, you will always find the odd window where there is a little trail of spots, and now and again you will get several of the windows wrong, it happens.

I work extremely hard to get my windows as SPOTlessly clean as I can, 95% of the time I succeed.
Some work comes up so well I cannot fault it no matter how hard I try, on others I know I am going to leave behind spots. Usually sash windows  (but not always!)

As for pricing and being a rip off merchant, well, that kind of depends on how you value  yourself and the service you offer.

I watched a guy using WFP on the outside of the Lloydstsb in Chepstow today, and I thought he was dire, he didn't scrub the glass, he just passed over once and gave an off the glass rinse.
He also missed the one top corner on each pane of glass because of the angle he was holding the pole and he didn't touch any part of the frames either, not even the sills.

He had the long, grey fibreglass pole, so it was heavy and clumsy looking, and even though he wasn't very thorough in his work, he was still slower than I would have been and I always thoroughly scrub the glass AND frames.

When people work in such a way, it is small wonder that there are so many complaints flying around about the quality of WFP cleaned windows.

Ian

[Captain Scarlet]

well said, especially the last part, Luke

[Mike 108]

Squeaky, where are you?

Does anybody know if he's on holiday?

Mike

[NWH]

Squeaky, where are you?

Does anybody know if he's on holiday?

Mike

I was thinking the same.

[G Griffin]

Call it a draw  .

   And Squeaky never got to answer his question.
      
             Yet.........


                   Gerry.

[G Griffin]

Oops, bit slow there.

            Gerry.

[Feen]

Ian, thank God for a sensible post in this thread. Luke, read some of the stuff you post. You've been there done that etc etc, yet you seem to know diddly squat to put it politely.

[Captain Scarlet]

You've been there done that etc etc, yet you seem to know diddly squat to put it politely.

I think I've come across you before on the forum Feen. For me wfp does do a better job than trad, and I'm only 18 so how could I have done everything, I have never claimed to have done so. On the other hand my age doesnt make my opinion worthless or less important than anybody elses, Luke

[Captain Scarlet]

oh and have you ever considered that part of my experience comes from my dad who is also a wc'er ?? Luke

[Feen]

Yes Luke I have considered that your Dad gave you some insight. Doesn't change my view.

[Captain Scarlet]

fine

[G Griffin]

Good post Ian.
 Whether you clean trad,wfp or using the top of Ian Lancaster`s head, perfection may be attainable but is highly impractical every clean.

                 Gerry.

[poleman]

Also the saftey aspect is the old excuse.
Adam

Our Industry is one of the most dangers jobs in country, (well know fact) that remark is a slap in the face to every window cleaner that is not with us!  

Andy