Gates locked but customer reminded

[NewGuy]

it very rarely happens but it only takes 5 mins to get the ladders off and hop over a gate....i will only do this for higher paying longer frequency jobs though...i dont want to do half a job and then not clean the backs for another 6-8 weeks which will be 12 or 16 weeks without the back windows being cleaned...all because i couldnt be bothered to get my ladders off.....

I used to compete in 20km obstacle course races a few years back but there's no way I'm prepared to climb over fences or gates for work! 

 

[dazmond]

I used to compete in 20km obstacle course races a few years back but there's no way I'm prepared to climb over fences or gates for work! 

why?its hardly a major hassle.....sometime i use 2 foldaway steps if the gates low enough

 

[NewGuy]

why?its hardly a major hassle.....sometime i use 2 foldaway steps if the gates low enough

For the same reasons Davy G listed.  All it takes is one bad landing.

 

[Davy G]

I picked up one job while canvassing in a road of nice houses over six years ago. Mostly folk that are now retired but who had bought their houses when they were first built twenty or thirty years ago. The lady said she'd take me on as the guy she had used to climb over the gate. She didn't like him climbing over but didn't want to tell him. She never knew when he was coming. It could be weeks. It could be months. If anyone climbed over my gate they'd be escorted off the premises if they were a tradesman. I'm not sure how it would unfold if they were up to mischief.

I didn't set out to take anyone else's work. I still don't but I couldn't turn the new customer down as I was just starting and had no other income and he was on borrowed time till she found another windy anyway. That one customer lead to me getting several others as they've all known each other for decades. It's now one of the most lucrative clusters on our books, is only five or six minutes from home and Is a pleasure to service.

 

[Chris34]

I charge 2 thirds of the price.  So a 15 quid job would be 10 quid.

I find it's an incentive to keep the gate unlocked.  

 

[Iron Giant]

I picked up one job while canvassing in a road of nice houses over six years ago. Mostly folk that are now retired but who had bought their houses when they were first built twenty or thirty years ago. The lady said she'd take me on as the guy she had used to climb over the gate. She didn't like him climbing over but didn't want to tell him. She never knew when he was coming. It could be weeks. It could be months. If anyone climbed over my gate they'd be escorted off the premises if they were a tradesman. I'm not sure how it would unfold if they were up to mischief.

I didn't set out to take anyone else's work. I still don't but I couldn't turn the new customer down as I was just starting and had no other income and he was on borrowed time till she found another windy anyway. That one customer lead to me getting several others as they've all known each other for decades. It's now one of the most lucrative clusters on our books, is only five or six minutes from home and Is a pleasure to service.

I picked up a custy just the same, the custy told me the previous cleaner was supposed to text but never did and climbed over multiple times and caused damage to the gate, he shrugged it off and told her it was an easy fix he was an instant dump.

I only carry my tele ladders on days I need to and I ain't climbing over any gates as it's a long way up and down for me ?

 

[Marko067]

If I have customers who frequently forget their gates but are happy to pay my minimum price which is usually a little over half the full cost of most of my jobs, I move them to the ‘front only’ column on my books. I still text them re their gates but I’m not expecting the money for the gated part of the job unless I actually do them.  This way I see it as a gain when I can do them rather than a loss when I can’t.

 

[dazmond]

For the same reasons Davy G listed.  All it takes is one bad landing.

your going soft in your old age!?

 

[NewGuy]

your going soft in your old age!?

That's what happens to our bodies as we age gracefully ?

 

[Marko067]

When I was younger I saw these obstacles as challenges to overcome. Now I think, I’m only cleaning windows, not saving a life. 

 

[Davy G]

When I was younger I saw these obstacles as challenges to overcome. Now I think, I’m only cleaning windows, not saving a life. 

Some people get wiser as they get older. Not all, but some. ?

 

[Marko067]

There's a trad windy that works near me - friendly fella.  A while back I saw him separate an extension ladder, hang one half of it over the plastic finials on top of a conny roof and use the other half to gain access to it, to climb up and clean a 1m square window over the conny roof.  He was charging about £1/window at the time.  Funny thing is the guy is not desperate for work.  If that plastic finial had broken there would have been further damage to property, and very likely serious injury to himself and it would have been for just one more £.  

 

[Armistead Cleaning]

Why not try texting a reminder to open the gate in the morning of the job, and not the day before? Send a text at 7 am or 7:30 before the client goes out. 

 

[Davy G]

Our customers would not appreciate being disturbed that time of the morning. We would not be willing to start work that early to inform people either. They are more than happy to be informed the afternoon before. Also it gives them the time to organise the payment and have it ready to put out in the morning when they unlock the gate. 

 

[Jamesmarshall]

Normal procedure would be to charge just over half or a little bit over for the amount of windows so if there’s more at back just charge half

if they’re doing it regularly even texts the night before just ask them if they just need fronts cleaning and explain when the backs need doing it will be slightly more for the extra dirt etc. IMO people don’t just keep forgetting ?

You haven’t lost any money unless you’ve drove miles to them by not doing  the backs surely you can fill the time with another job? If it was an isolated job they would be dropped second time it happened 

 

[Suhrly]

If the gate is locked I do what I can get access do and generally charge them half price. Sometimes I quite prefer this for example if they have a big conservatory round the back and I've charged them £20 then I'll do a few windows on the front and charge them a tenner for doing a few windows. Swings and roundabouts. 

 

[HWCS]

Clean the front bill 50%.

 

[Marko067]

Why not try texting a reminder to open the gate in the morning of the job, and not the day before? Send a text at 7 am or 7:30 before the client goes out. 

In my case it is most often those I text the night before that forget.  So when it become evident that I need to text for a gate to be unlocked, I usually ask them how early I can text. Most are happy for me to text from 7.30am onwards and some even earlier.

 

[Minty]

I’m also happy with 2/3rds for fronts only. There’s generally more to clean round the backs. 
The days takings are down a little but your finished a little quicker

 

[Armistead Cleaning]

Our customers would not appreciate being disturbed that time of the morning. We would not be willing to start work that early to inform people either. They are more than happy to be informed the afternoon before. Also it gives them the time to organise the payment and have it ready to put out in the morning when they unlock the gate. 

In that case send a text the afternoon before: "Your windows will be cleaned tomorrow", then in the morning at what you feel is a reasonable time, send another text reminding to unlock the gate to the ones that usually forget. 

 

[Davy G]

In that case send a text the afternoon before: "Your windows will be cleaned tomorrow", then in the morning at what you feel is a reasonable time, send another text reminding to unlock the gate to the ones that usually forget. 

We don't get many problems where people forget. We explain and train our customers from day one on how our access and payment system works. I think we might have two or three out of about 600 that we have intermittent slight issues with.