Any tips how to get this off the glass?

[Stuart S]

For my 2 cents on this, if I get something like this I would tell the customer I can get dirt off the window, but I'm not insured for specialist stain removal. If I scratch the glass or damage the seal with chemicals as I try to remove the stains, (I suspect) my insurance won't cover it.

I wouldn't be faffing around with different chemicals that cost me, but might not even work, and I CERTAINLY wouldn't feel confident about using abrasives such as Pink Stuff on it. At the end of the day, the customer is unlikely to pay you relative to your effort (think of time researching, time spent procuring cleaning materials, extra time on the job). You won't get paid much more, if anything, and the risk of a big payout if you knacker the window would surely make it uneconomical - even if you get it right 99 times out of 100, there's still a big compensation to pay on the 100th. You might get a bit of a customer loyalty bonus too, but I'm not sure that counts for a massive amount these days - either a customer is happy to continue employing you or not (as DS said, companies are running 4 vans when they aren't even doing the job properly).

BTW, it's not that I don't care, I do my best to do a good job. Ultimately though, I'm not doing this for my friends or for fun, it's my business and livelihood. Therefore if something is going to cost me significant time and energy which I'm not going to get paid for, and I'm taking the risk that it will bite me in the butt and cost me a significant amount if it goes wrong, why would I do that voluntarily? And then I'd have to do the same again in the next month or 3 anyway!

Just my thoughts.

 

[Part Timer]

A customer being Fussy is based on your perception of them, in my world if there attitude is friendly & they are simply asking if there is anything you can do, then they are not being fussy.

it's not harsh to say that many cleaners don't care enough, because i see so many of those who don't & spend my time cleaning up what they didn't clean.

Simple stuff like carbon stains rust stains, left for years at a time by other cleaners, then i come in a reset them frames & glass and get paid properly for it..

comments from the customer are always the same " they were only here five minutes" or " they still looked dirty" funny because these guys who don't care enough, seem to have three or four vans, but don't do the job properly...

It wasn't my perception, it was the OP's. The customer had already said she's cleaned it before, but it's come back so will more than likely keep coming back. The fact that you do the extra work is your choice, all I'm saying is I wouldn't as, in my opinion, it will keep coming back. We clean windows, we don't do restorations, if this is what the customer wants then they will need to find someone that offers that service.

Now if this means, in your book I don't care, then your perception of me is vastly different to my customers.

 

[DS WC west midlands]

It wasn't my perception, it was the OP's. The customer had already said she's cleaned it before, but it's come back so will more than likely keep coming back. The fact that you do the extra work is your choice, all I'm saying is I wouldn't as, in my opinion, it will keep coming back. We clean windows, we don't do restorations, if this is what the customer wants then they will need to find someone that offers that service.

Now if this means, in your book I don't care, then your perception of me is vastly different to my customers.

I am not being rude just telling it how it is if your not doing restoration's, Then your not a window cleaner, your glass washer, there is big difference & the customers always notices how long you spend there, what you use to clean & what you did and did not do...

Believe me you're customers might not say anything out of being polite, but i can 100% guarantee my perception & their's are aligned...

however what you do is up to you, it's not for me too say.. I just know that if your prepared to let the industry down by not doing the proper prescribed job, you should not be doing it at all, because your giving all of us that do a bad name & driving down the market value with you're race to the bottom failure to do the proper job... I am just saying its the facts you don't have to like them..

 

[Pjj]

I am not being rude just telling it how it is if your not doing restoration's, Then your not a window cleaner, your glass washer, there is big difference & the customers always notices how long you spend there, what you use to clean & what you did and did not do...

Believe me you're customers might not say anything out of being polite, but i can 100% guarantee my perception & their's are aligned...

however what you do is up to you, it's not for me too say.. I just know that if your prepared to let the industry down by not doing the proper prescribed job, you should not be doing it at all, because your giving all of us that do a bad name & driving down the market value with you're race to the bottom failure to do the proper job... I am just saying its the facts you don't have to like them..

We are there to provide a 4, 6, 8 weekly maintenance clean not do builders cleans removing paint silicone , cement ,stickey labels etc if ones want that doing it’s a builders clean we don’t do builders cleans and make that quite clear to customers we are there to remove a month of general dirt that accumulates on the windows in that time . This does not make us wrong we are charging fir what we do if they want a builders clean then the price will be many times that of a regular window clean , @Part Timer does a very good job and has a very good reputation he’s certainly not dragging the industry down , I think your facts are way off , window cleaning is not about restoration if it were then we would be painting wooden windows and replacing blown glazed units etc we are simply here to clean not restore , if ones want to offer that service at a much higher price that’s fair enough but it’s not regular window cleaning , I know dozens of window cleaners and none do what you are suggesting ,that’s a totally different job

 

[Part Timer]

I am not being rude just telling it how it is if your not doing restoration's, Then your not a window cleaner, your glass washer, there is big difference & the customers always notices how long you spend there, what you use to clean & what you did and did not do...

Believe me you're customers might not say anything out of being polite, but i can 100% guarantee my perception & their's are aligned...

however what you do is up to you, it's not for me too say.. I just know that if your prepared to let the industry down by not doing the proper prescribed job, you should not be doing it at all, because your giving all of us that do a bad name & driving down the market value with you're race to the bottom failure to do the proper job... I am just saying its the facts you don't have to like them..

You are being very rude and to be frank, totally clueless. If a customer asked me to do a service I didn’t offer then declining it is being upfront an honest. I also clean dirt from frames and sills, not just glass.
I am currently sitting in a pub just outside Swindon, been on the road since Sunday and get home Thursday, doing contract work for a client, a PM company, that actually states in their sales pitch that they have 1 window cleaning company that does all of their work as they are very good and very reliable.
SafeContractor registered and constantly turning down work, that's how bad I am. Hope you continue enjoying cleaning other people's mess up for a pittance and I'll continue working 2 weeks a month on my way to the bottom

 

[tench0771]

I would try under rubout if that don’t shift it it stays as it is

 

[DS WC west midlands]

We are there to provide a 4, 6, 8 weekly maintenance clean not do builders cleans removing paint silicone , cement ,stickey labels etc if ones want that doing it’s a builders clean we don’t do builders cleans and make that quite clear to customers we are there to remove a month of general dirt that accumulates on the windows in that time . This does not make us wrong we are charging fir what we do if they want a builders clean then the price will be many times that of a regular window clean , @Part Timer does a very good job and has a very good reputation he’s certainly not dragging the industry down , I think your facts are way off , window cleaning is not about restoration if it were then we would be painting wooden windows and replacing blown glazed units etc we are simply here to clean not restore , if ones want to offer that service at a much higher price that’s fair enough but it’s not regular window cleaning , I know dozens of window cleaners and none do what you are suggesting ,that’s a totally different job

It's all good, the customer knows difference, if you want to be too lazy to do a proper job, be my guest... slowly but surely more & more customers are turning away from five minute splash & dash window washers. lmao your on borrowed time & not a real window cleaner

 

[Pjj]

It's all good, the customer knows difference, if you want to be too lazy to do a proper job, be my guest... slowly but surely more & more customers are turning away from five minute splash & dash window washers. lmao your on borrowed time & not a real window cleaner

I dont think so 4,500 customers says different and turning work away daily