Nightmare week off...

[ashley1337]

So the wife talked me into going on holiday for a week which I didn't want, had a bombardment of customers asking where I am, and little of messaging 350 customers that I'll be a week later than usual there's nothing I can really do lol how do people even notice?

Spent half the holiday in hospital with cellulitis from a bite I got on my knee on the first few hours here lol ?

Drs in Spain just seem money grabbers trying to fleece insurance that I have to pay upfront for, had hiccups for 24 hours probably from all the medication I'm on and Im not fit to work and feel when I get back to work Wednesday I'm not going to be able to even walk nevermind get in and out the van all day working.

Do I just let the customers know who've been chasing and take a few extra days off? Or just try go back and power through it and hope I can last the week lol.

I understand it's nice to have clean windows as I've always had a windy myself before doing it but if mine was a few weeks late I probably wouldn't even notice nevermind ring and ask where they are...

 

[Pjj]

I used to try and let customers know if I was going away theses days I just say we will see you in approximately 4 /8 weeks but due to a number if situations it may vary a bit most are fine with that . As for commercial stuff we generally either do it a bit early or a bit late depending on the customer. As an example last week we were supposed to have done a hotel and 4 large apartment blocks but due to the weather they weren’t done they are due again in 4 weeks and if we do them this week it will mess up our schedule, so I just phoned the manager and explained he said don’t worry leave then until next time , it’s a bit of a financial hit though as it’s a 1:3k job but you just have to take the rough with the smooth

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I know how you feel as I have the sore throat and cold that's doing the rounds. This is the only downside to this job, customers don't realise we take holidays and get sick. I would try and do some windows to see how it goes and take it from there. I'm back out tomorrow unless I'm worse but looking forward to it because the weather is good for cleaning.

 

[steve garwood]

So the wife talked me into going on holiday for a week which I didn't want, had a bombardment of customers asking where I am, and little of messaging 350 customers that I'll be a week later than usual there's nothing I can really do lol how do people even notice?

Spent half the holiday in hospital with cellulitis from a bite I got on my knee on the first few hours here lol ?

Drs in Spain just seem money grabbers trying to fleece insurance that I have to pay upfront for, had hiccups for 24 hours probably from all the medication I'm on and Im not fit to work and feel when I get back to work Wednesday I'm not going to be able to even walk nevermind get in and out the van all day working.

Do I just let the customers know who've been chasing and take a few extra days off? Or just try go back and power through it and hope I can last the week lol.

I understand it's nice to have clean windows as I've always had a windy myself before doing it but if mine was a few weeks late I probably wouldn't even notice nevermind ring and ask where they are...

Just have your time off then start back where you left off.
If anyone says anything, just tell them that everyone is entitled to a holiday.
I have a lot of foreign holidays and it’s a running joke with my customers who are always saying ‘blimey another holiday’.
I never work to a schedule which really helps.
Life’s to short mate, have holidays and enjoy life ???‍?

 

[Dabber]

Same here, I enjoy my holidays, the customers know that and they also know that I will turn up…. eventually ?

 

[Crystalalan]

Look at the end of the day they are going to have dirty windows for slightly longer then usual. Its not life or death. Its more important you get yourself up and running and fighting fit. They will understand and if they don`t, well **** em.

 

[Iron Giant]

Most customers never bat an eyelid and probably only had a handful ask where I have been in over 23 years and it's usually the same older people, surely it's common sense that with school half-term people do take time off and that can happen any time of the year, will they be bending your ear after xmas

 

[ashley1337]

So back out of hospital, fly home tomorrow morning and can barely walk lol been recommended to have a week off... But still feel like I'll be back working Wednesday lol.

No holidays for me again anytime soon! Wish if of stayed home with the dog lol

 

[Deleted member 5762]

I totally agree with @Pjj . I've had the odd one moan a bit if I've been late, but I always say it's a 6 weekly service (only because that's what I offer personally), but it might be a few days either way due to weather, breaks etc. 99% of people are fine with that. Might be different if you have commercial customers obviously. If you send a brief message to anyone that asks (don't go into too much detail), anyone who still has a problem will probably always be a problem customer anyway.

 

[Deleted member 5762]

So back out of hospital, fly home tomorrow morning and can barely walk lol been recommended to have a week off... But still feel like I'll be back working Wednesday lol.

No holidays for me again anytime soon! Wish if of stayed home with the dog lol

Just have a week off mate if that's what the doctor has advised. Maybe if you feel better sooner then fine, but at least have a few days and see how you go.

 

[ched999uk]

You need to recover fully otherwise you might take a step backwards. Anyone who asks just explain that you have been ill, I can't imagine anyone will object.
Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[spruce]

IMHO you don't tell anyone you are going away or are away @ashley1337

Johannesburg was once called the crime capital of the world. You left on your holidays at 4 o'clock in the morning and slipped out of your driveway without drawing any attention to yourself. You told no one. We packed our car in the middle of the night in the garage with the garage door closed. The curtains weren't drawn, and lights came on and went off on timers. The police were the last ones you told, as they were the least trustworthy.

It's a policy I've stuck with. If a customer messages while I'm away, I'll get to them shortly is my response.

We cleaned a house once on Friday in Skelton. There was no one in. We put a slip through the letter-box, which was still on the floor. Over that weekend, the house was burgled. They removed everything except his pool table in the conservatory. They must have had a removal van, and it must have taken all weekend, according to the police. No one of his neighbours either side saw or heard them.

The first question the police asked was if he had a window cleaner. The second asked was who were we.
It just so happened that one of the policemen attending was a customer of ours and told the homeowner it wasn't us.

They discovered that when our customer moved into his house, one of his mates put on Facebook that everyone was welcome to come to his roof wetting party and gave his full address. This was 6 months earlier. The same guy then added that he wished our customer a good bachelor party in Spain that weekend and not to get locked up. Concluded with the day they would see him back, which was the following Tuesday.

Another thing we see regularly. A family gets a new TV and puts the box outside for the bin men to collect. All they are doing is advertising to some thief what's inside. I can never understand why people don't think about this.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I have an alarm and expensive cctv which is handy. A big dog is good, that's the new deterrent in the US but they are expensive because they are expertly trained.

 

[spruce]

I have an alarm and expensive cctv which is handy. A big dog is good, that's the new deterrent in the US but they are expensive because they are expertly trained.

Having a guard dog doesn't always stop thieves.
When we sold our home in Randburg, the family who moved in had an German Shepherd. That dog was vicious.
I'm usually not scared of dogs. We grew up with 2 on the Copperbelt in Zambia which were also vicious guard dogs first, then pets. But this was one that I didn't trust. It wanted to kill me when I went round there a couple of times.

It took me 10 months to finalize my departure from South Africa though foreign exchange procedures due to the change of government in 1994.
In that time the new owners of our old house were burgled twice.

We were never affected when we lived there but someone did get shot in the street outside our house once by the neighbour across the road.

 

[Iron Giant]

They discovered that when our customer moved into his house, one of his mates put on Facebook that everyone was welcome to come to his roof wetting party and gave his full address. This was 6 months earlier. The same guy then added that he wished our customer a good bachelor party in Spain that weekend and not to get locked up. Concluded with the day they would see him back, which was the following Tuesday.

Another thing we see regularly. A family gets a new TV and puts the box outside for the bin men to collect. All they are doing is advertising to some thief what's inside. I can never understand why people don't think about this.

The issue with some dimwits is that they have their profile set to public so any posts can be seen by anyone and for some bizarre reason people have 100's of FB friends how on earth can anyone be actually friends with 200+ people, my wife and I had ours set to private over 10 years ago and only have a close circle of friends.

Plain and simple they are lazy, they can't be bothered to spend a few minutes tearing up a cardboard box and put it in the bin.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Read this about being lazy a few weeks ago. Two guys lying on a foreign beach and one said I wish I had a million water melons. The other guy said and you would give me a 100 of those water melons. He replied no and I wouldn't even give you one of those melons. The other said you would give me a slice of a water melon. The other replied I wouldn't even give you a slice. The other couldn't believe what he was hearing and asked why. He said because you are too lazy to wish for your own. ?