[Martin ccs]

dont get me wrong ive got some great customers - polite and always chatty and that.
but have/had some right stroopy n rude customers.
like today - doing this house for 4 years and everythinhg was fine, then before xmas i started the front and the door opens and i hear i dont want them done this time - my son has done them and then the door shuts!

call today and thought id just knock first - no answer.
then as i walk away i hear the window open - customer is just looking at me, so i say hi there window cleaner, just making sure you want them done this month before i start? he just shook his head and shut the window!
so bloody rude!

my wife to be nan is this customers neighbour so i know there isnt any private probs they may have.
always to a good job and have full sign written van and smart uniform but still get treated like a crack head wc looking for a few quid.

i never canvass as i have plenty of work, so they came to me asking for a wc. so thats another dump customer!

[ccmids]

i know what you meen, just keep doing what your doing , dont have a go at them . sorry to here that .
ive got some like it dont let it bother you.

[mlscontractcleaner]

Just console yourself with the fact that you no doubt earn a lot more than he does doing a job you actually enjoy!!

[michael papworth]

I know that this sort of thing can hurt - and even play on your mind for a while.

But whose problem is it, really?

If they can't be civil, it's their problem.

You can just let it go and walk off with your head held high.

Best advice is to get on with your own life and leave them to get on with theirs - with a different window cleaner, if they can find one.

[Martin ccs]

i know what you meen, just keep doing what your doing , dont have a go at them . sorry to here that .
ive got some like it dont let it bother you.

i find it bothers me - not the money loss so much just the pure fact of why some people think they can treat you like that, guess they know as you are trading as a business you are not going to be rude or have a go at them.

i remember a few times ive had to stop myself from saying something.

once dumped a house for really poor payments - still do the other houses in the cul de sac and she rang up and starting having a go why i hadnt done her windows - i just said i warned you about too many late payments and im the boss so what i say goes! and hung up.

maybe shouldnt of done that but hey life goes on

[dazmond]

in the main my custys are great.i dont think its because you are a window cleaner though!some people are just plain rude or are going through a rough time or mentally unwell!

i dont have a shiney van(i will do later on this year!).i dont wear a uniform just jeans and polo shirt and fleece and most of my custys wouldnt dare give me any cheek!i think they think id rob em and torch their car if they did.

you gotta keep your custys in a state of fear of reprisals!then they meekly pay you even if its raining hard!

[Martin ccs]

shame we cant start a dump customer list and then every wc wouldnt touch them. be funny.

would love it when they came running back and i just say no!

[ccmids]

that meens i would have to dump most of mine

[daz1977]

its becasue we are in the service industry, people think we can treat us like crap,,   remember a posting on here about a wc who lost a custy becasue he had a newer car than the custy lol

if you said that you are only doing windows to top up your dole, they would probably have more respect for you,  its there lost,

[Mike_G]

I think we all know this feeling,  its happened to me (and no doubt most of you) some many times now that I just ignore it. We all take it personally though and assume its a window cleaner thing but maybe these people are just horrible,  not just to window cleaners but to everyone they meet.

[Mike55]

I think some people are just like that.  I wouldn't take it personally.  You get it in all customer service roles...

[Martin ccs]

I think we all know this feeling,  its happened to me (and no doubt most of you) some many times now that I just ignore it. We all take it personally though and assume its a window cleaner thing but maybe these people are just horrible,  not just to window cleaners but to everyone they meet.

wish they would realise its effecting your income tho. customers just dont realise this!

in effect its taking food off your familys table if you know what i mean

know you just get on with it and go to the next house. then you get a nice customer still giving out xmas tips!

[sparklebright]

I think some people are just like that.  I wouldn't take it personally.  You get it in all customer service roles...

That is very true. I have worked in shops a long time ago when I was twenty odd, and people do treat you badly at times.
Rudeness is the weak man's version of strength.
Walk away, don't look back there are plenty more where they come from.

[AuRavelling79]

dont get me wrong ive got some great customers - polite and always chatty and that.
but have/had some right stroopy n rude customers.
like today - doing this house for 4 years and everythinhg was fine, then before xmas i started the front and the door opens and i hear i dont want them done this time - my son has done them and then the door shuts!

And this is the point where in my opinion you should have never gone back.

call today and thought id just knock first - no answer.
then as i walk away i hear the window open - customer is just looking at me, so i say hi there window cleaner, just making sure you want them done this month before i start? he just shook his head and shut the window!
so bloody rude!

And here you are asking permission to clean their windows ... knock by all means but start straight away - you only knock (and some wouldn't) to let them know you are there.

my wife to be nan is this customers neighbour so i know there isnt any private probs they may have.
always to a good job and have full sign written van and smart uniform but still get treated like a crack head wc looking for a few quid.

Your demeanour is apologetic and frankly a little bit "cowed" - even if you don't feel like it walk tall, be polite but take no nonsense from anyone.
i never canvass as i have plenty of work, so they came to me asking for a wc. so thats another dump customer!

That's the spirit!

I wouldn't worry about why they are stroppy - as leapstall says you'll only get that feeling in your stomach every time you call on them - just ditch'em.

[Jack Wallace]

its becasue we are in the service industry, people think we can treat us like crap,,   remember a posting on here about a wc who lost a custy becasue he had a newer car than the custy lol

if you said that you are only doing windows to top up your dole, they would probably have more respect for you,  its there lost,

A similar thing happened to me once. When I first started I had a beaten up old astra estate for work, it did the job and was a good car.
 I took on a new customer in a 3 story town house, nice place with a 2 year old BMW on the drive, when I had done cleaning he was so apologetic as he never had any cash, I just said no worries pay me next month, but he insisted on bringing me the cash that night “after all its your livelihood” so I told him my address and forgot about it.
That night there was a knock on the door and there stood my customer with his chin on the ground. “oh” he said, “this is your place then!”  (I am fortunate to have a very nice and quite large house) then he looked and my old astra parked next to my 3 month old CRV. His face was a picture. Lol
After that he was one of my worst payers, so I made an exception just for him. I never usually collect money but I did with that job. And guess which car I ALWAYS used to collect with.   

[jonnyald]

a fellah on here gave me a one-liner that iv used to good effect  twice recently.

iv found  its best said ,directly after theyv  peed me off  .

first catch their eye,then a shrug of my  shoulders ,then i say   "your unreliable luv, see yer " and i add in a goodbye wave with my hand , a top-to bottom wave (not side to side )      ,this seems to nark them right off,but isnt abusive  .

[Pole 2 Pole]

I'm getting alot of that too this week. Every 2 month custys asking me to leave it this time,even though i left it a month,last month. One every 3 monther saying the same. BOTH without giving a valid reason. I'm looking at a serious overhaul of some areas of my work. I just wanna do the canvassing bit. I thought(or hoped) them days were behind me. Funny thing is.........it's the "top end" work i'm getting the most crap from. Run of the mill punters ain't a problem at all. I'm on a serious downer this week. Even been getting thoughts of jacking it all in,BUT it's all i know. The weather is getting on my tits too. Fed up of being cold,wet and cold and wet. Shoulda been a lawyer  

[Ta-ra]

Talk posh and wear a cravat (not a crevette, that'll only pee them off more).

[shammy davis jnr]

hey i dare say if you worked at a till in say a next our homebase ,and out off a hundred customers in a day there would always be the one prick will in to have a go ,i just be really really nice to them and it pees them off even more and puts them on a downer thinking about it for an hour our so it makes me laugh when you see there face ,when they dont get the reaction they were looking for ,try it its funny as 

[Murdie window cleaning]

Like I've said a few times on this forum I've just left working in retail management after about 10 years and it is very true that there is a small percentage of ignorant prats out there. They will talk down to you and try and act all superior to you. Now if they decide they don't want you to clean your windows then that's there choice, but you also have a choice, clean them next time or dump them. Up to now I have only dumped one custie as they twice told me to "Leave it this time" so I politly told him that I'll not be back as I provide a regular service. He mumbled something as I was walking away, but as I've got a number of houses in that street it's his loss.