[peter holley]

i take all customers at face value.... i do some houses on council estates,however i have leartn,t  from experience over the years...
i always look  at the appearance of a property..if it is scruffy and the garden is a mess it speaks volumes about the owner.
 

My garden is a mess @ the mo grass is 2ft high, but that's cause my leg's still in plaster and I can't stand on 1 leg to cut the grass.

its not just about long grass, but about kirbside appearance....and most of all experience...

[steve.ternent]

  as a rule I tend to shy away from C/E, but then I'm an inverted snob  

I live in my own Ex council house are estate is mostly bought and sort after. other C/E in the area have bad reps.
I have found that most find my quote too high!  :

Having said that I did three houses today  (Good C/E) 2@ £12, 1@ £10
1 Hours work all paid... no problems

I would prefer to do these than one £30 house and be moaned at by a richer person!  

[mr D]

i just dont like pikies! there are many on CE that look after there house garden kids but there are loads that dont and ask could you do mine. when you go over to do them there is dogs/cats/kids mess every where bushes over grown, and brown smoke all over the top frames. if i come across a customa thats a heavy smoker i make my excuses and go.

i hate smokers houses and its my choice whos windows i clean.

i know many will say i'm a snob but its my choice.

saying that if i come across a non CE home thats garden is in a mess and smokey frames they too get the same treatment. its got nothing to do with there back ground or income.

but it dose grind on me how some one on the rock n roll in a councle house full benifits can aford to smoke 20 a day, fill there recicle bin with stella cans, drive a kitted up rs turbo and have a window cleaner when i'm working hard to make the rising morgage payments nd cost of living.

[jonah]

Isnt it best to take a person on face value ?   Forget the house , after all they are paying for your service !   I clean several council houses and my customers are spot on , as in they pay me when im there , if not send the payment in the post .   I started a similar post when I first came on this site , and I was saddened to see the downward slide into pure hate !

[rugby]

ive recently moved fom gloucester were i had a four bed detached with double garage,very large gardens etc etc, i have now bought an ex council house in cwmbran and we love it here, at least we did untill this post made us realise that we are now lesser people than we used to be.

Oh my god i live in an ex council house, what have i done 


Get real, most people living in council houses own them, and very often have more money than those in large posh houses who are up to their neck in debt, just like i was,  give me my  ex-council house and the bank account i have now any day 

ps         i can afford to pay the window cleaner too

[mr D]

rugby,

you work there for i wasnt refering to you was i?

[mark dew]

I think it depends on the estate, I did have a couple of really rough estates alot of years ago, where it was "I've got no money" when I knocked to get paid. "I'll collect at the end of the week" was my reply, Friday night  same thing no money.
  This happened about 4 months on the trot, I said "look this can't continue I need paying for the work I've done", "got no money m8 sorry nowt we can do" was their reply.
      They've no money but can still afford to buy tabs ,run a car and pay for sky tv(which was just becoming popular at the time. )I just said there would be no more cleaning until I got paid, still waiting.  Do 3 c/e s  now all prompt payers and nice estates. I too live in an ex council property

get their names before you take them on. For your records of course. And then you are in a position to make a claim against them when they try and skank you.
Alternatively, or in addition to this you could have accidently knocked their sky dish of centre.

[shammy davis jnr]

  i like a bit of pasion in the replys ive been reading 
we all need to flush the loo at the end of the day
do what works best for you is my advice

[RPCCS]

I think it depends on the estate, I did have a couple of really rough estates alot of years ago, where it was "I've got no money" when I knocked to get paid. "I'll collect at the end of the week" was my reply, Friday night  same thing no money.
  This happened about 4 months on the trot, I said "look this can't continue I need paying for the work I've done", "got no money m8 sorry nowt we can do" was their reply.
      They've no money but can still afford to buy tabs ,run a car and pay for sky tv(which was just becoming popular at the time. )I just said there would be no more cleaning until I got paid, still waiting.  Do 3 c/e s  now all prompt payers and nice estates. I too live in an ex council property

 in addition to this you could have accidently knocked their sky dish of centre.

wish I'd thought of it @ the time, have no need now.

[AuRavelling79]

There's good estates and bad estates, good roads and bad roads, good houses and bad houses.

I've got 13 red brick semi ex council houses in one road in Shirehampton, Bristol. They range from £7.50 to £11 each and add up to £122. I move the van 3 times and they take three and a half hours at a brisk pace.

They are a mixture of young couples and retired widows - no forty to fifty year olds strangely.

[simon knight]

Just going slightly off topic: I live and work in Wandsworth which is a pretty ethnic area.  We have Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Blacks (Caribbean and African)...etc

99.99% of my customers are white English.

I suppose window cleaning must be a "British" thing.

[Xline Systems]

Just going slightly off topic: I live and work in Wandsworth which is a pretty ethnic area.  We have Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Blacks (Caribbean and African)...etc

99.99% of my customers are white English.

I suppose window cleaning must be a "British" thing.

def a British thing.

[Sanity]

If £30 per hour for untrained, unskilled work that most people could do with a days practice is 'cheap', thank god I ain't a nurse on £14 per hour after 3 years training and a degree under my belt.

Get real!  Too cheap.  Sheesh.

[windowwashers]

If £30 per hour for untrained, unskilled work that most people could do with a days practice is 'cheap', thank god I ain't a nurse on £14 per hour after 3 years training and a degree under my belt.

Get real! Too cheap. Sheesh.

I am not saying about the hourly rate, but skilled in doing this job if you want to be good at it you do need, you cant learn all you need in an hour unless you clean port holes and nothing else.

I will stop there as this is off topic, and want it to stay on topic.

Ian

[Sanity]

If £30 per hour for untrained, unskilled work that most people could do with a days practice is 'cheap', thank god I ain't a nurse on £14 per hour after 3 years training and a degree under my belt.

Get real! Too cheap. Sheesh.

I am not saying about the hourly rate, but skilled in doing this job if you want to be good at it you do need, you cant learn all you need in an hour unless you clean port holes and nothing else.

I will stop there as this is off topic, and want it to stay on topic.

Ian

Sorry Ian, wasn't directed at you m8.  Was directed at the guy who said I am too cheap in my pricing.

Back on topic

[windowwashers]

55 replies, there must be more of you that have an opinion on this,  please add it

[Paul Coleman]

55 replies, there must be more of you that have an opinion on this,  please add it

I live in an ex council flat myself.  Most of the flats in this block are rented from the council.  I live in a town that probably has one of the largest concentrations of council and ex council housing outside the major cities.  I go out of town for most of my work as the parking problems and no access to the backs of houses would be real killers for any window cleaner  - more so for WFP operators.  It's purely the parking and access though - nothing to do with the people.

[Dean Taberner]

, i get good tips from these at xmas   

I got a £100 tip from a customer last xmas and several tips of £50!!! Guess what, they weren't council tennants!!!!

Superb tipping!!!!

[M & C Window Cleaning]

One council/ex-council estate has provided the bulk of my income for 31 years with few problems. Yes, I've had a few bad payers and messers but you soon learn who they are and ditch them. I've also had and have some very loyal customers, some of which I've had for the entire thirty years.

For 15 years I also had a small round on a private estate and again had few probs. However, even there I had a few I had to get rid of for the same reasons as above.

However, there are also estates in and around where I live that have bad reputations as far as finding good payers is concerned.

[Sir Squeaky]

55 replies, there must be more of you that have an opinion on this,  please add it

Ok then.

I don't do them, it depresses me and I make less money.
What more reason do you need?