[PaulTh]

We used to have a nice little man come around on his bicycle with his ladders, and he charged £3 to clean the windows.  Anyway, I heard that he ended up in prison for stealing from a customer. 

I wasn't bothered too much about him going, but then new window cleaner came on the scene.  He has a big transit van with a system to clean the windows using pure de-ionised water.  He wanted to charge me £18 to clean the windows on our house !  Can you believe that?! 

He says it's illegal to use ladders, but my aerial erector chap uses ladders.  I've read about other window cleaners earning up to £1000 a day using this system.

Further Information: Many window cleaning businesses are claiming that laws are about to come into force due to European Directive 2001/45/EC that will make ladders illegal for window cleaners, forcing a change to WFP systems.  However, the government denies this stipulation, as ladder use for window cleaning is "low risk and short duration" - source Wikipedia


source:http://www.weeklygripe.co.uk/quickgripes.asp?mgID=165

[PaulTh]

you obviously havent read my previous posts i have a few points i can make from this customers point of view

1.ladders arent banned and people arent stupid they will research wild claims that they are.
2.a lot of customers dont care if your licensed,insured,paying tax as her post says "where can you find a good cheap window cleaner" that what most of them care about a good job at a cheap price,people dont like being conned.

and 3. how the hell did he get a ladder on a bike 

[tomy jackson]

i seen that one arm thrw the rung and the other on handell bar

[tomy jackson]

youv seen him as well stan

[PaulTh]

1: There’s not an out right ban, but they are banned under certain circumstances.

2: A lot of customers don’t base the service we provide on price alone, you’re wrong to assume all customers do.

3: Ask Stan.   

lol i never said all customers do thats why i worded it "a lot of customers"

[PaulTh]

where can i buy one of these bikes stan?

[tomy jackson]

eby wear ells

[PaulTh]

stabilizers

[peter holley]

you obviously havent read my previous posts i have a few points i can make from this customers point of view

1.ladders arent banned and people arent stupid they will research wild claims that they are.
2.a lot of customers dont care if your licensed,insured,paying tax as her post says "where can you find a good cheap window cleaner" that what most of them care about a good job at a cheap price,people dont like being conned.

and 3. how the hell did he get a ladder on a bike 

carry on and enjoy m8... i couldnt care less what method u use....me personally... i now look forward to working safely... its funny dont u think ... that most very experienced wc now use wfp...I  wonder why?

anyway ... stay safe.... LOL

[PaulTh]

i will probably be going wfp 9 months down the line but i wont be telling potential customers porkies to gain their custom infact ive just had an amazing idea im gonna invent the wfp bike system 

[PaulTh]

umm ive never once stated ladders are better,who in their right mind would want to go up and down a ladder all day if they could do the work from the floor.

[johns window kleen]

Stan out of interest what exactly are you hearing?

If the user knows what he's doing the finish is as good if not better than Trad.
Only mistakes are user error, or not checking the water, {again user error}

If there complaining about water running down the sills onto brickwork then that cant be avoided, nor can rain for that matter.

[johns window kleen]

I reckon a high percentage of my customers dont even know I use WFP.

Last month  I met one, who i'd been doing for about 18 months, whilst I was cleaning and he asked if I'd ditched my ladders!!

[R W C]

The thing is its not just trad cleaner that pick up work due to bad cleaners with the pole, I do too so its not the system its the person using it, when someone says "the system is bad id never have another wc that uses it" i always ask them if they ever had a bad meal out and if so does that mean theyll never eat out again, they give me a chance and realise its the operator.

Chris

[PaulTh]

thats not what im hearing off people whos cleaners have switched to wfp 

everyones heard that wfp isnt all that ppl make it out to be infact i havent heard one customer sing its praises,ive heard lots of customers saying ladders are banned because overzealous window cleaners have to tell porkies to get the customer to accept the system,ive heard customers complain of all the water going everywhere,i read online one time of a hotel owner complain because wfp made the windows foggy,ive also heard the excuses why the windows go foggy and that its because the old way of doing it and the washing up liquid being ingrained into the glass lol they talk some amount of bs,ive also heard wfp users counter the claim it doesnt do the windows right because the people who are using it are not doing it right,frankly im not convinced maybe it does do a great/better job than squegee but the only ppl i hear sticking up for it is the ones whos forked out hundreds and thousands for the systems,i mean their not exactly going to turn round and say its crap and theyve been conned,but as i say im not convinced i do hope its does a great job as i would like to incorporate the system into my business somewhere down the line but am scared that my customers wont like it.

[collins82002]

My custies like WFP due to access to windows trad couldn,t get too and it give me a broader work load with conservatory/gutter & fascia front cleans.

custies happy i'm happy.

[mark dew]

I forked out around £3k for various wfp bits and bobs and and i reckon it had paid for itself within a year and a half.
By that i mean i have taken on work that can only be done with a pole. Or with domestic customers my price increased a quid or 2 per job, cos i'm cleaning windows above conservatory roof or velux windows as well.

There is no excuse for any window cleaner to walk away from a job that isn't up to scratch. Apart from laziness. Regardless of method used.

For the trad guys who want to stay trad, fair play to them.
But some need to get out of the mindset that they are giving the customer some sort of esoteric service that no-one else can.
The vast majority of 'wfp' window cleaners have used and still use traditional methods.

These topics reminds me of a memorable quote i read from macmac (i think), 'employ a teenager while they still know everything.'  
 

[collins82002]

Going from trad to WFP i feel more versatile with the jobs i'm getting.  If i was still trad i would be able to do half the jobs i do now.  The more services i can offer more
££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

If you happy tradding 
If you happy WFP 

Everyone different

[chris@c.m.s]

I've done both trad and wfp and if someone else was to clean my windows tomorrow I would rather they were done by a good wfp window cleaner.     

[AuRavelling79]

Is Paul Th the new Squeaky?

Errr, sorry - custy's opinion - Yup I'd rather have a bicycling thief at £3 do my windows than a driver of a shiny transit at £18.  :

But then I'm a shiny non-thieving doblo driver and would prolly charge about a tenner.