[stephen s]

Quoted a house yesterday eve and was asked if I could clean today which I did ( £30 regular clean )

As I was round the back cleaning the lady brings me out a cuppa and starts chatting away when she quips now on month 3 the windows will be gleaming then ?

Now love your windows will be gleaming after Ive cleaned them today,       oh she says but my friend a couple of miles down the road has also just had her windows cleaned and the guy told her it would take 3 cleans before the windows were right.

I told her that the guy has told her friend a blatent pack of lies so he can rush through as quick as possible and get to the next job,  its a total con I told her and explained that if she took her car for a valet and was told that it would take 3 seperate valets to bring it up nice  would she pay ?      no way she said,   yet you were prepared 3 times beore your windows were cleaned properly I said.

I then told her that if the windows were not gleaming after I cleaned then she was NOT TO PAY
 anyway after I finished she told me how delighted she was and would be recommending me to others.


with that her friend calls and she tells her everything I said and her friend asked her if I could come to hers after I finished and have a look at her windows.        so I went down ther gave her a quote ( 25 )   and cleaned them there and then.

after I finished she said the difference was amazing and that I had actually taken 15 minutes longer than the other guy who she was now calling for everything and I don't blame her.


I don't feel bad about taking his job   in fact I feel quite good,    maybe if he did the job properly and not try to use that stupid 3 clean con trick he wouldn't lose his work.

I mean how hard is it to clean a window ?    it aint rocket science.

[JRDEasiReach]

so.......what happened?

Its not really a trick, its just if windows have been cleaned in the past with fairy liquid etc it can take to the 3rd clean to shift it and sometimes it can take to the 3rd clean to get rid of some green areas higher up on frames, as for the glass itself, is its just dirt it will clean after the first clean

[Nathanael Jones]

I rarely find problems even on first cleans. If you take your time and do it right it should be a perfect result from day one. You might have to spend more time & possibly even re-do one or 2 troublesome panes on the first visit, but I charge more for the first clean to cover this.

[stephen s]

sent beore I inished  but have fixed it now

[JRDEasiReach]

Now you have finished it makes more sense now, the git who done that musta just rushed it and splashed a bit of water on each window and thought that was it, i always take time on mine and i have not had a complaint yet, maintenance cleans are quicker though for obvious reasons

[stephen s]

absolutely Nat.

its not about how great the window cleaner claims to be      its about doing the job you have been paid for properly and giving attention to detail.

every clean should be spot on 1st time    no excuses

[wfp master]

if u cant do them rite first time u should not charge them ffffffffff ing con man is at it.

[stephen s]

Now you have finished it makes more sense now, the git who done that musta just rushed it and splashed a bit of water on each window and thought that was it, i always take time on mine and i have not had a complaint yet, maintenance cleans are quicker though for obvious reasons

you have just hit the nail on the head by saying taking your time and no complaints and by taking your time on 1st clean it makes future cleans easier and quicker

[stephen s]

the 2nd lady did say I was £3 more than the other guy when I gave her the quote to which I replied I'm saving you £44 on the next 2 cleans if the other bloke did them 

[bad trippy]

Its all down to the confussion of WFP
Never has the industry seen such a divide and utter confussion.
I would just love it if the government brought out a licence only for WFP and that in order to gain the licence the operater must go on a days training coarse.
As regards the other guy saying it will take up to 3 cleans to get the windows gleaming, its only what we hear on here everyday by respected WFP operators.
Confussion reigns!

[JRDEasiReach]

from my own experience and im only at it less than 3 months is you can get the glass gleaming on the first clean if you take your time BUT the frames sometimes need that extra couple to do the glass benefit i feel, depending on what state they are in.  Trippy a license wouldnt be a bad thing would teach some gits how to use it properly, i knocked a house one day recently and they said they had a guy there doing it WFP and the windows were rotten when he left so they dont like it and ended up doing them straight away after he left!!! Doesnt help us honest wfp guys who take their time does it?

[stephen s]

Its all down to the confussion of WFP
Never has the industry seen such a divide and utter confussion.
I would just love it if the government brought out a licence only for WFP and that in order to gain the licence the operater must go on a days training coarse.
As regards the other guy saying it will take up to 3 cleans to get the windows gleaming, its only what we hear on here everyday by respected WFP operators.
Confussion reigns!

cant see why your confused mate,   its simple someone pays you for a service and you provide that service.      if I remeber just a couple of days ago you posted about customers coming out and asking you to leave the clean that day and you said that they entered an agreement for you to cleam their windows  well its a 2 way thing.

I know what your customer did was wrong and you got ped off and I'm not in any way knocking your cleaning  I was just using your post as an example.

[stephen s]

from my own experience and im only at it less than 3 months is you can get the glass gleaming on the first clean if you take your time BUT the frames sometimes need that extra couple to do the glass benefit i feel, depending on what state they are in.  Trippy a license wouldnt be a bad thing would teach some gits how to use it properly, i knocked a house one day recently and they said they had a guy there doing it WFP and the windows were rotten when he left so they dont like it and ended up doing them straight away after he left!!! Doesnt help us honest wfp guys who take their time does it?

its a little differnet for someone starting out WFP mate but what your doing is the correct way  but with time and experiance and technique you will find frames a lot easier

[Murdie window cleaning]

from my own experience and im only at it less than 3 months is you can get the glass gleaming on the first clean if you take your time BUT the frames sometimes need that extra couple to do the glass benefit i feel, depending on what state they are in.  Trippy a license wouldnt be a bad thing would teach some gits how to use it properly, i knocked a house one day recently and they said they had a guy there doing it WFP and the windows were rotten when he left so they dont like it and ended up doing them straight away after he left!!! Doesnt help us honest wfp guys who take their time does it?

Exactly, I'm not wfp yet, but it has always been my intention to go down that route at some point(hopefully in the new year) but as I posted on another thread earlier, there is only one guy in my town uses it and I have heard a number of complaints about him in a short space of time, so when I go that way the seeds of doubt are allready in the minds of folks

[JRDEasiReach]

thats where you have to go and do a good job, thats how your name spreads and you get a good rep, i dont care if i dont do 20 jobs in the one day, id rather do 10 and do them right than do 20 and do them poope!!  Wouldnt you agree?

[Milltown Cleaning]

thats where you have to go and do a good job, thats how your name spreads and you get a good rep, i dont care if i dont do 20 jobs in the one day, id rather do 10 and do them right than do 20 and do them poope!!  Wouldnt you agree?

and there is your new slogan!! lol

[Murdie window cleaning]

thats where you have to go and do a good job, thats how your name spreads and you get a good rep, i dont care if i dont do 20 jobs in the one day, id rather do 10 and do them right than do 20 and do them poope!!  Wouldnt you agree?

I agree if you get the first clean done to a high standard the the maint cleans sould be easy

[Steve CM]

I don't think the 3 clean rule is a con. I think its just a disclaimer to cover our arses.

I agree that time should be spent on first cleans and attention to detail is vital. But sometimes you could spend a long time on them and they won't be 100%

The odd spot, spec or run may still be visible. There are many variables why this may happen but it should only be minimal.

it can take 1, 2, 3 or even 4 cleans on some windows to get them perfect. not on many but it can happen.

I always say to the guys that we only get 1 chance to impress them and the first cleans are really important in building the relationship.

I think the 3 month rule is good because if there not expecting them to be 100% and you achieve that with 90% of new customers then they'll think your great!

[JRDEasiReach]

im going to market that slogan now milltown, would fit in better up your end though said in a belfast twang hows the business going now? wee question you in facebook lol

[stephen s]

I don't think the 3 clean rule is a con. I think its just a disclaimer to cover our arses.

I agree that time should be spent on first cleans and attention to detail is vital. But sometimes you could spend a long time on them and they won't be 100%

The odd spot, spec or run may still be visible. There are many variables why this may happen but it should only be minimal.

it can take 1, 2, 3 or even 4 cleans on some windows to get them perfect. not on many but it can happen.

I always say to the guys that we only get 1 chance to impress them and the first cleans are really important in building the relationship.

I think the 3 month rule is good because if there not expecting them to be 100% and you achieve that with 90% of new customers then they'll think your great!

thats the poorest excuse Ive heard,   1,2,3,4 cleans before the glass is clean   if it takes you that you should be working in a factory and defo not window cleaning because to be honest you cant be much cop if it takes you that many cleans.

SO ITS OFFICAL THEN ?   window cleaning is as complicated as brain surgery

because thats how you nake it sound