[geefree]

Thats what a guy said to me as i pulled up,... it was not raining...

i tried to quickly explain the benefits of wfp even with the rain,

"i will just ask my wife then bud, "....he said

he came back out and said ..no , dont bother this time....

it really annoys me... its now the third time this guy has knocked me back in 8 months....

now i know some of you guys get praised by the customer for turning up in the rain....

i have never had that.... and in this case..it had rained, and stopped.

i also know its up to the customer to say leave it... its their house, and they pay....

but it annoys me , and i want to dump him...

What do you guys think?

Gary.

[tomy jackson]

he mite have a good chin

[stephen s]

I know its a right you know what mate but give them one more chance and if he says it again just explain very calmly to him that because your workload is now full of loyal customers and will customers waiting to join you that your gonna have to let them go in order to take someone more regular on your books.

one thing a problem customer just have no answer for is a nice calm explanation why their being dropped,  in 95% of cases it results in oh I am sorry I do know its your living please clean again.

[AuRavelling79]

I think you need to educate your customers that you will not tolerate such behaviour. (i.e. You are too soft on them.)

As explained previously, calmly explain the above and if they don't accept/won't listen drop 'em.

I wouldn't put up with 1 in 12 let alone 3 in 8!

[GWCS]

dont go back for a few cleans, when they ask where you have been , just say that it was due to rain on the day i was in your area, so as you normally say not today because it may rain, i didn;t bother knocking and got on with the rest of my round.

Leave it as that..

If they dont call you, then they obviously dont care about having you to clean their windows.

Get some decent customers that appreciate you.

OR

say you are unable to give them the regular service due to keep getting turned away, so in future should they wish to have their windows clean they must book you in and you charge £? /hr. minimum 30 mins charge.

[pingu]

Gazza we've been in this for around the same time and I know you have a healthy round now...

I think you really know the answer to this....just remove them from your active clean list and move on...no drama's required...onwards and upwards.

Cheers
Dave.

[ftp]

I normally dump them these days after the first refusal. Let them do it once and sure as eggs they will do it again.
One of my favourite customers came out with "not today can you clean it next week please" that was five weeks ago. I haven't been able to fit her in anyway because of the bad weather but she dropped to the bottom of my priority list.

[eclipse]

DROP HIM
It only happens twice with me they dont get a 3rd chance
I always state to my custies that if there is any problems after the windows have been cleaned in the rain as long as they ring me within 24 hours of being cleaned i will re-clean for free so far 19 month down the road no re-cleans

Also if theymention about me cleaning them in the rain i tell them that just because it is raining i still have to my mortgage i dont get a free month because of the weather (i wish)

[Fieldsy]

same as ftp, had a couple who say "oh I think its going to rain today, don't bother"   enuff said, don't bother is good enough for me.........therefore I won't........ever again. No loss, pick up another couple elsewhere.  I am finally realising you can cull the awkward customers/awkward houses/ too low prices and still maintain a good round by picking up some more, making your round more compact and so increasing the hourly rate..................its taken a time, but the penny has finally dropped : :

[cozy]

Gazza we've been in this for aroudn the same time and I know you have a healthy round now...

I think you really know the answer to this....just remove them from your active clean list and move on...no drama's required...onwards and upwards.

Cheers
Dave.

Totally agree

[cozy]

it is.....good game this window cleaning malarky, better than being a security guard

[boshravie]

Hi guys
Interesting debate, but I would suggest that educating your customer is far better than dumping them, unless they are very cheep priced or they are not that bothered about havening them cleaned regularly.
This is what might work well.
Just write them a letter explaining that is not the rainwater that makes the windows dirty but the pollen in the air.

Perhaps this is a better solution.

Regards,
Bosh

[Window Cleaning Services]

DROP HIM
It only happens twice with me they dont get a 3rd chance
I always state to my custies that if there is any problems after the windows have been cleaned in the rain as long as they ring me within 24 hours of being cleaned i will re-clean for free so far 19 month down the road no re-cleans

Also if theymention about me cleaning them in the rain i tell them that just because it is raining i still have to my mortgage i dont get a free month because of the weather (i wish)

I have the same "24 hr" guarantee but only for the ones marked by the rain. I have never been back to anyone yet, so i still work in light showers and inbetween downpours. As theysay, the mortgage still has to be paid at the end of every month regardless of the we   .

[wfp master]

 dont explain anything to him dump him u will pick up another who wants there windows cleaned every month. not 3 times in 8 months he is mucking u around.

[geefree]

Thanks for the help and i agree with all of the replies,

I dont think i am soft with them, i dont get this as often as it looks,...just this guy ,at the moment,

i am pretty straight talking with people, and i do trim the bad from my round....and replace with better priced customers,

But my thoughts today, when this guy said that was to tell him most of the comments above (too late to type all the same reasons in  )

But one of the reasons i held of was.... they are very old, and i know they called me in the first place because he cant do them any more (i am too soft )........
And another reason was,

he is one of 3 detached properties, and they sit in bay window and watch me clean 2 of them...

So i know to just dump them is not the option....

and to tell them i cant work this way etc etc etc etc...... would upset them.... and maybe they cant afford to pay all the time....

so by, maybe shifting them to every 2 or 3 months, may  be the answer here...??

but its still annoying 

[jonnyald]

yep, theyr going to sit in that bay window and watch u , till their dying days .  just take it on the chin, uve probably only gotta see them for ten or so more years


having said that i did have a custy like that ,when he saw me cleaning the nearby houses but not his he come over n asked why id not called at his, it felt great to brush him off with a curt "look ,iv no time to be mucking around mate "   and then he was begging at my car door to get back into my diary .

[Trevor Knight]

It's your business, you dictate the terms!

We clean in the rain irrespective and our customers accept this as standard practice, its detailed in their terms and conditions and they all sign to say thats fine.

If you took your car through a car wash and it rained 5 minutes later do you go back for a refund?? If you did and I was the cashier I know what i would tell you too do!

[s.hughes]

It's your business, you dictate the terms!

We clean in the rain irrespective and our customers accept this as standard practice, its detailed in their terms and conditions and they all sign to say thats fine.

If you took your car through a car wash and it rained 5 minutes later do you go back for a refund?? If you did and I was the cashier I know what i would tell you too do!

you make them sign an agreement?

[Trevor Knight]

Yes of course??

[s.hughes]

Yes of course??

even a little old lady in a flat?