[David Slater]

Went to price a commercial job yesterday and was absolutely gobsmacked!!!

OK, full story -

Just found out my brothers best mate in the world is the manger of this store (and has the nod for contracting). He found out what I was doing and my brother gave him my number and phoned me (yep, HE phoned me!)....a bit of nepotism never hurts I suppose.

Anyway, gets to the store and starts walking round with him. The windows and frames are shocking. It was purpose built about 4 years. Almost every pane still has the original 'sticky' sticker from when the glass was fitted. In some cases, the sticker has gone but the square of glue is still there and clearly visible.

The frames are deep recessed and every single one of them is disgusting. I'm talking covered in a thick layer of dust/dried water from squeegie/stains.

They also have those 'magic eye' doors (that open on a sensor as you approach them) so the rear panes have never been touched....I presume because as they are cleaning, the doors slide open so they leave them.

The cleaning schedule surprised me as well. Once every 6 months on the exterior and fortnightly on the 'walkable' (ground level) windows.

I said I'd put a quote together and give him a few options - first will be 'like for like' then another for 12 weeks plus fortnightly and another for monthly plus weekly.

Big problem in this place is they have some very odd large metal louvers over the high windows (something to do with heat dissipation in the offices I think) which will require a cherry picker/boom to access and the main foyer has a 35 foot atrium which will require an internal cherry picker/boom....wouldnt get a pole behind them from the ground.

The guys currently doing the job do use cherry pickers and booms (which I thought) but the standard of cleaning is shockingly poor.

Why is the cleaning so poor so you think?...they have all the gear so why not wipe the frames/remove the stickers?

I could maybe understand if this was a small office/factory/independent business but this is a VERY LARGE well known retailer who I imagined would have impeccable standards.

Is this how commercial works?

Is this level of work acceptable?

   







 

[Chris Cottrell]

Not acceptable in my book, if your going to do a job then at least do it right

[AJ]

Totally unacceptable.
The problem is staff.
They go in and give it quick lick over and see how long they can get away with it.
If nobody is monitoring them, it can go on for a while.
Make sure you get this one, good words travel fast.

[Nathanael Jones]

Keep your ongoing costs competitive,.. but hit them hard for the first clean,.. especially if you know the guy and can explain just how much work is required to bring them up to standard. That sounds like its nearly a full builders clean to me, so don't sell yourself short.

[David Slater]

I want this job. Not for the money, but because of who they are....well OK, for the money as well!!

Its one of the "Top five" magnet retailers and the current standards are so low a chimp with a broom could do better!

Do you think its OK to sort of gently ask what they are paying right now?

I was very careful not to rubbish the current work (but oh my Lord!! it was difficult!) I've read on here before - he chose the current cleaners so in effect, I'd be laughing at him for wasting his money!.

....but I did gently query why the 'sticky' stickers werent removed or frames wiped or if there was some reason a staff member could'nt be made available for 5 minutes to disable the doors while the rear panes were cleaned (they can disable the door with a key).

He asked me to include a quote to remove the 'sticky' stickers...I explained this is part of a window cleaners task and does not attract any premium. It is STANDARD practice to remove bird strikes and stickers.

When I asked about the frames (we were stood in front of a filthy frame) and  who was responsible he wasnt too sure. Maybe the its the cleaners fault he said.

I explained that if it needed a boom or cherry picker to be brought on site to clean the windows it would make sense to have all the framework cleaned by the window cleaner to reduce overall costs and inconvenience (why get the cleaners AND w/c bringing in pickers to reach the same thing!).....and added - but we always quote glass and frame cleaning as standard anyway.

I know I'm going to be asking for more money....but I know I can do a million times better than the current crowd.

Any other advice on how to swing this in my favour?

[Oakley Windows]

Any other advice on how to swing this in my favour?

Dont get too excited about it, you'll end up putting your foot in it if your not careful, and regret it, especially as its 'close to home'.

[David Slater]

Keep your ongoing costs competitive,.. but hit them hard for the first clean,.. especially if you know the guy and can explain just how much work is required to bring them up to standard. That sounds like its nearly a full builders clean to me, so don't sell yourself short.

Nat,

Thats what I'm thinking.

This is almost a builders clean....after 4 YEARS!!!

The filthy buggers havent even removed the bloody stickers and no-one has ever touched the framework.

If I say its a builders clean this will imply the current level of cleaning is inferior (which it is!) but I dont want to ruffle his feathers.

Its all I can do not to phone this crowd and laugh at them....yep, they are of the of "The Big Boys"

[stevekennedy]

Probably charging a very low price

[David Slater]

When I quote for jobs in that condition I break it all down and put a cost for each service same with frequency of cleans. Just give them lots of options so you are coving all possible budgets, from spending an hour on the building to days cleaning.

That way you are giving the customer choice there will be no misunderstanding in what they expect as they have chosen it. Ultimately let the customer decide on the level of cleaning not you, even if it doesn’t meet you own personal standards it’s not your building or budget.

You have to move away from I only do perfect work, its not about you it’s about the customer and there needs.

 

Good points Ewan.

I'll include a few extra quotes and try and break it down so he can see the why's and wherefores of it all.

I do have the chance to speak to him after I've put the quote in, so I can always explain it further at that point.