[ftp]

Got stopped today by a lady from the next town. Wanted a card and a quote for her gutters. Started chatting and it turned out she had a windowcleaner but he stopped turning up. This cleaner is desperate to fill his books to the max so I wanted to know more.
"well I told him when my car's on the drive he must clean all the windows and when my car's not on the drive he can clean the front only". i said why is that is your gate padlocked? "no - i don't want anyone round the back of my house when i'm not there!"

I would have dropped her too.  :

[simon knight]

Why would you drop her? All she seems to be saying is: If I'm there do the lot and if I'm not just do the front.

So basically he can turn up knowing that worst case scenario he'll just do the front...and if she's in he'll earn front plus pounds for the back as well.

Blimey I wish all my customers were like that!

[ftp]

because to me it means you are untrustworthy

[simon knight]

because to me it means you are untrustworthy

Oh come on!  Most of my long time customers will leave me in the house and tell me to lock up and put the keys through the letter box when I'm finished. But I've also got long time customers who although perfectly happy to let me roam around their house unattended wouldn't (for some bizarre reason) actually leave the house while I'm there.  It has nothing to do with you or me being untrustworthy, it's just that some people don't feel comfortable with strangers (and we're not exactly family are we?) on their property and they're not there.

Perhaps the good lady in question has had a "nasty" experience at some point that has made her cynical about tradesmen!

[Oakley Windows]

Id feel inclined to bin her too, it does imply she thinks you're not trustworthy, if all my customers thought like that Id struggle to make a living.

The vast majority of my customers work and theyre out when I turn up, can't be piecing a living together with customers like that.

[NWH]

There`s no way i`d clean that i`d say give me a call when you think i`m worthy of your trust and then when she calls say no thank`s.

[simon knight]

Id feel inclined to bin her too, it does imply she thinks you're not trustworthy, if all my customers thought like that Id struggle to make a living.

The vast majority of my customers work and theyre out when I turn up, can't be piecing a living together with customers like that.

Matt: Here's a scenario.

Large mansion. Owner says " Do the front and I'll pay you £200. Now I have priceless statues in the back garden so I don't allow any strangers there when I'm not around...it's not that I'm implying you're untrustworthy Matt it's just that I wouldn't feel comfortable, sorry but that's the way I am".

Now here's the question: Would you work for this man?

[williamx]

You are in a service industry, if a customer has certain conditions on what you can and cannot do, so long as its not illegal or unsafe, then why not.

I have loads of customers who have diiferent requirements, I don't see why I cannot work with them.

[ftp]

She's not my customer, but if she was and she felt i couldn't be trusted then i wouldn't want the job. Obviously the last cleaner didn't either.

[williamx]

So what do you do if a commercial client wants you and your staff (if any) police checked?

[ftp]

Once you have been checked then you are trusted. For residential customers I have a sign written van, land line number, address etc. If i still can't be trusted then let them find someone else for a ten quid house.

[Oakley Windows]

Id feel inclined to bin her too, it does imply she thinks you're not trustworthy, if all my customers thought like that Id struggle to make a living.

The vast majority of my customers work and theyre out when I turn up, can't be piecing a living together with customers like that.

Matt: Here's a scenario.

Large mansion. Owner says " Do the front and I'll pay you £200. Now I have priceless statues in the back garden so I don't allow any strangers there when I'm not around...it's not that I'm implying you're untrustworthy Matt it's just that I wouldn't feel comfortable, sorry but that's the way I am".

Now here's the question: Would you work for this man?

Thats not a comparison.

A £200 job is a days work.

This woman is poncing ftp about over what I assume is a 10 squid job. Shes not worth parking up for if she doesnt trust him.

[Oakley Windows]

FWIW I rejected the opportunity for a £30.00 about a month ago, her terms were she wanted to be there when I did them as her back gate was locked.

I suggested she give me a key, I live in the village she lives in, I advertise locally, EVERYONE knows me as the local window cleaner, she knows EXACTLY where I live (shes been to my house) but she didnt trust me to have a key to her back gate.

I understand she doesnt have to have ANYONE on her property she doesnt want, but if she wants a regular/trustworthy/conscientious local window cleaner shes going to have to move her goal posts too.

Its all about compromise.

[matt]

i guess its all down to how people perceive you

now me, i look at times a little scruffy, i dont shave every day ( shock horror, cue the " you give us a bad name posts "

BUT

people trust me, i often get asked to clean the insides and they go out and tell me to just shut the door, this can be little cottages to bigger country houses

i must look trustworthy, i guess by people knowing me ( back to the " i chat too much to my customers, they know where i go on holiday, they know my childrens names etc etc "

[ftp]

Matt, i think a lot of your customers have forgotten what you look like 
Your kids will have left school by the time you go back to work. 

[AuRavelling79]

Id feel inclined to bin her too, it does imply she thinks you're not trustworthy, if all my customers thought like that Id struggle to make a living.

The vast majority of my customers work and theyre out when I turn up, can't be piecing a living together with customers like that.

Matt: Here's a scenario.

Large mansion. Owner says " Do the front and I'll pay you £200. Now I have priceless statues in the back garden so I don't allow any strangers there when I'm not around...it's not that I'm implying you're untrustworthy Matt it's just that I wouldn't feel comfortable, sorry but that's the way I am".

Now here's the question: Would you work for this man?

No cuz he's obviously a nutter leaving priceless statues in his back garden.

And no because he doesn't trust me.

[matt]

Matt, i think a lot of your customers have forgotten what you look like 
Your kids will have left school by the time you go back to work. 

you have me worried now

i think i will do a newsletter and picture of me on it

that'll remind them

[williamx]

Trust is something that can at times take time to earn, also you do not know what if anything has happened to this customer, they might have been robbed, attacked, raped or many other horrible things could have happened to them.

In Scotland there is a licence scheme, this is required by the Police and Councils, the whole point of the scheme is they are saying that no window cleaner is trustworthy unless thay have one, yet before they were indroduced window cleaners carried out their trade for years without robbing anyone.

You also have to bear in mind the insurance companies, if they give access or keys to their property and they are robbed the insurance company will  not pay out.

[simon knight]

Id feel inclined to bin her too, it does imply she thinks you're not trustworthy, if all my customers thought like that Id struggle to make a living.

The vast majority of my customers work and theyre out when I turn up, can't be piecing a living together with customers like that.

Matt: Here's a scenario.

Large mansion. Owner says " Do the front and I'll pay you £200. Now I have priceless statues in the back garden so I don't allow any strangers there when I'm not around...it's not that I'm implying you're untrustworthy Matt it's just that I wouldn't feel comfortable, sorry but that's the way I am".

Now here's the question: Would you work for this man?

No cuz he's obviously a nutter leaving priceless statues in his back garden.

And no because he doesn't trust me.

Perhaps the £200 mansion bit wasn't a good comparison. But even so while it's obviously better to be trusted I accept that some people are naturally distrusting (perhaps they'd had a bad experience in the past) and as long as I can earn from them I'm not overly-bothered whether they trust me or not.

I clean their windows...I don't especially want to be their best mate.

[williamx]

Also what would happen if after you have cleaned the house and a housebreaker has watched you go though the unlocked back gate which is still unlocked.

They then rob the place, who do you think the first person will be named as the possible suspect.

and if the neighbours hear about the break in and the only one who was around at the time was the window cleaner, do you think they will still have trust in you.