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smeary windows

craig at pure

Active member
Messages
190
I have just called a cust for window cleaning tomorrow, and she says to me, Oh i was going to call you, after your last visit the windows are smeary,

I asked her if it was the inside, she laughed at me and said "I do the inside myself"

I then asked if it was spotting that she could see on the windows, she said no,

Now from my understanding of the WFP in the 4 years that i have been using it you don't get smeary windows.

I will be seeing her tomorrow, how would you guys deal with this?

Many Thanks Craig.

 
I can guarantee 100% it will be on the inside of the window. Just ask to go in and have a look. I usually just get a cloth and wipe the window and wait for there face drop lol

 
I can guarantee 100% it will be on the inside of the window. Just ask to go in and have a look. I usually just get a cloth and wipe the window and wait for there face drop lol
This is what i was thinking /emoticons/smile.png

 
Last winter I was cleaning next to a main road . windy as hell , by chance as I was packing away I noticed the downstairs (road side)glass all smeary , the wind was blowing the salt onto the wet glass as it was drying. Ended up tradding the bottom ones with salt smearing . So she might be right !

 
Smears can be caused by silicon on the glass from seals or rubbers etc but if a regular customer you would have seen it before now

 
I've had customers use WD40 to try to rejuvenate brown pvc frames. If they've got it on the glass it smears all over. Needs a degreaser to get it off like virosol or oilflo 101 or some such.

Sometimes if the seals are breaking down smears can appear in between the double glazing as well.

 
I always reassure them that I will sort it one way or another. And if I've blundered and not been able to reclean them it's an automatic refund with an apology or free clean next time around. They often insist on paying anyway when you make this offer.

 
Yeah WFP has never smeared on me - streaks and spots yes depending on how crappy the windows are I'm cleaning but never a full on smear.

I've had loads of people over the years blame me when their seals have blown or they cleaned the inside with a damp cloth.

I usually ask to see what they're complaining about and act accordingly. On the rare occasion it's been my fault (trad days) then I'd always apologise and give them a bit of discount when I'm next there, which they've always seemed to be happy with.

 
If the customer is not happy ,and the fault lies with the window cleaner it has to a full refund or a free clean . Well that's my policy

 
If a customer has a complaint (rarely..twice a year would be a lot for me) they get no discount or free clean

They know as i tell them all that any problems give me a shout and I'll pop round and fix it at my earliest convenience..it might be a day or 2 depending where i am working but it will be sorted

No need for free cleans etc as they understand that something may drip from a vent etc and they know i will fix it

 
If a customer has a complaint (rarely..twice a year would be a lot for me) they get no discount or free cleanThey know as i tell them all that any problems give me a shout and I'll pop round and fix it at my earliest convenience..it might be a day or 2 depending where i am working but it will be sorted

No need for free cleans etc as they understand that something may drip from a vent etc and they know i will fix it
I'd rather knock £1 or £2 off on my next visit than go out of my way to try and remedy it and lose more. If there's a smear when they call it isn't going anywhere before you return next month.

 
But they have paid for clean windows so i can't in good conscience leave it till next time

I have built up my round from mostly word of mouth and facebook recommendations so to me reputation is worth more than a lost 20 minutes to sort a problem

I do work in a nice compact town though so would never be more than 5-10 minutes out of my way

 
Just re-read the starting post , Now if a customer brings an issue up 4 weeks after the last clean all I can do is apologise and take a look if the issue is still apparent , But if they call me within a day or so I will happily call back and take look and re-clean the window if needed .

 
It was due for a clean yesterday any way. My cleans are 10 weeky. I have to many for 4-6 weeky.
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Over the last 20 odd years I've had smear complaints ( especially this time of year) with the hard low sun showing anything on the glass , every time it's been on the inside !

The odd customer won't have it ( makes them look a Burke) all I do is take my boots off and go inside and wash a window the water coming can be like black ink ( filthy) they never complain again LOL .

Cheers guys .

 
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