Spotless Water is it not working out?

[Wind o kleen]

Newcastle station , at 7:30am they are expecting over 50 windys 





Newcastle station , at 7:30am they are expecting over 50 windys 

 

[Part Timer]

I wouldn't care, I turned this down last week but now have to go up to Stanley and could have called in. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

It will be gone in 6 months. The first thing in their business is the right location and it looks like they have chosen a poor one.

 

[Wind o kleen]

I was chatting with the land owner not long ago , he runs car detailing shop , I asked him how it was doing and he showed me the meter, also says lot of car valeting guys use it, 

seems have plenty customers, 

only downfall you have to park on path to fill up so get lot of public eyes on you, 

if I was starting out I wouldn’t bother buying a  RO system, when ya can fill up and leave no messing on with anything 

It will be gone in 6 months. The first thing in their business is the right location and it looks like they have chosen a poor one.

They have a contract with land owner , as I was speaking with land owner n says could they just pull out he says yeah if they buy out the contract 

I wouldn't care, I turned this down last week but now have to go up to Stanley and could have called in. 

They are putting one in Sunderland that’s what thr sales guy reckons 

 

[Tango]

It will be gone in 6 months. The first thing in their business is the right location and it looks like they have chosen a poor one.

My local one is right in the middle of an industrial park surrounded by cleaning companies. I suspect they'll do fine. 

 

[Part Timer]

They are putting one in Sunderland that’s what thr sales guy reckons 

I've told them I need one in Cambridge 

 

[moto]

I use one in Enfield, 3p, 24 hrs access and always 0ppm ? 

 

[Hyzer373]

I hope they stay in business, even when I get a van I’m staying with just filling up my barrells at the spotless water station, nice, quick and convenient.

 

[Tango]

@Hyzer373 same here matey I find spotless to be super quick and convenient. Other windys in my area are switching to them too as a while back my previous supplier rang me up trying to tempt me back - when i said spotless are in town he sounded really grim!

I did buy a 2nd hand RO and tank off ebay (bargain price) but being on a water meter those are for emergencies only. The tank i might just fill and keep in the garage - ferrying barrels back from the spotless filling point.

 

[malcy700]

They promised one in Ramsgate but it never appeared ,  The nearest was Ashford kent [ 40  minutes drive ]     Now they shut that one after I joined .  something strange is afoot ,  Why not put a water unit in an area for a year to see if it grows .  Maybe they haven't got the long term investment . 

 

[mike007]

The main ingredient needed for a window cleaning business using WFP is pure water. More installations they start...the more newbies will be attracted to wfp window cleaning because they will not have to buy the equipment to produce their own. That means more competition for wfp operators, and that means pricing wars to get customers 

 

[LEEDS LAD]

I dont get the comments on price. 3p per litre with no resin or filter costs or time to produce pure.  £30 for 1000L 

IMO bargain.  If you cant make SUBSTANTIAL profit on those margins there's something wrong. 

If they had one round here I'd fill the vans daily quite happily for that price.  

Think of it from a practical view and not a penny pinching point of view. It makes sense. 

As one who has only ever cleaned trad  I'm still trying to educate myself on WFP. Youtube, a fb forum and this one in particular have been very helpful, I've managed to use the search bar and found most of the answers I needed rather than appear a pest and ask on here. Having been out of the game for a few years  I'm planning to go again but this time with WFP.

My question is in relation to your comment " If they had one round here (spotless station)  I'd fill the vans daily quite happily for that price. "  Basically I was interested to know the reasons why?

In planning, I'm in a position where I'm thinking do I buy a system for a van that filters, or delivery only from a built in tank as I have a spotless station nearby.

Live in an apartment 60m from car park, so impractical to fill from home anyway, initial and ongoing costs  of one or the other ?, ease of mind on getting things right by just filling at the station as opposed to using a system that initially I'd be unfamiliar with / not totally clued up on.

My initial budget isn't huge (enough for a small van and system), so any short term savings will be helpful as I get going again.

BTW Green watched some of the stuff on youtube re WFP,, good sfuff....you seem a genuine fella .

 Almost feels like I've answered my own question but any advice from anyone on this subject would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Part Timer]

Sometimes  it's easier, due to circumstances like yours, to buy the water in. The other option would be if you had a family member nearby that had room for you to filter and store your water, probably cost you a free wash.

 

[LEEDS LAD]

Sometimes  it's easier, due to circumstances like yours, to buy the water in. The other option would be if you had a family member nearby that had room for you to filter and store your water, probably cost you a free wash.

Sure, I don't have family nearby mate, plenty of mates nearby but don't really want to be bothering them for free water every day !! 

As you say it appears to be the easier option, but was interested to know if others bought water and their reasons why (advantages / disadvantages). Trying to educate myself based on other folks experience I guess

 

[mike007]

Not sure if it is 3p a litre now, signed up probably 3 years ago and never used them (make my own) but then they were doing lots of "opening near you soon" seem to remember trying to visit where one was supposed to be and nothing there then. But as commented as long as the station is not too distant you could factor the water price easy enough into the price of clean.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Not sure if it is 3p a litre now, signed up probably 3 years ago and never used them (make my own) but then they were doing lots of "opening near you soon" seem to remember trying to visit where one was supposed to be and nothing there then. But as commented as long as the station is not too distant you could factor the water price easy enough into the price of clean.

I think Spotless will slowly shut down because they can't remain at 3p plus vat a litre and if they double that price then no one will go. Its getting cheaper making your own and its all on utube to show you how to set it up. Making pure is getting cheaper all the time and one doesn't need to pay for expensive filters. fwiw

 

[spruce]

Sure, I don't have family nearby mate, plenty of mates nearby but don't really want to be bothering them for free water every day !! 

As you say it appears to be the easier option, but was interested to know if others bought water and their reasons why (advantages / disadvantages). Trying to educate myself based on other folks experience I guess

You have no other option but to get pure water from another source because of where you live.

Others might live in a house without a garage to process and store water in.

Others buy in water because they just don't seem to be able to operate an r/o effectively, perhaps from buying the wrong r/o to begin with or low tap water pressure.

Others find its more convenient just to use these Spotless Water fill points. They know what their price is for a tank of water and know how many houses that tank of water will clean. Its about fixed costs.

Others got 'stage fright' when they were forced to fit a water meter in the same way some new car buyer change their new car every 3 years because they are petrified of the MOT test.

Pure water is the essence of our business. I have an issue relying on someone else to provide that. So to ensure I have ample supply and good quality water I process my own.

With more and more window cleaners using Spotless they are putting their business at risk if the company moves a water point or the whole business fails.

Each Spotless water outlet is an expensive investment for that company. Think of the equipment inside one of their containers. Then they still have to pay for water and continually monitor each outlet for water purity.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Just looked at their locations. Mostly around big cities so they should be okay and they can keep the price down but in Scotland where no domestic is on a meter would be very hard to compete.

 

[spruce]

Not sure if it is 3p a litre now, signed up probably 3 years ago and never used them (make my own) but then they were doing lots of "opening near you soon" seem to remember trying to visit where one was supposed to be and nothing there then. But as commented as long as the station is not too distant you could factor the water price easy enough into the price of clean.

Wasn't their initial price 5p a liter + VAT?  I seem to think that Mark Munro suggested they promote their services on his cleaning show but reduce the price. They have obviously calculated a return on 5p a liter when this was in its concept stage. Reducing that price by just less than half will have thrown their return on investment forecast into disarray.

How many windies would buy water a 5p a liter? I'm sure that some still would. If it takes 20 liters to clean a standard 3 bed semi their water cost would increase by 0.48p. A £1 price increase on the clean would cover that cost increase. However, many would be put off by the increase filling a 650 liter tank from empty. That increase would add £15.60 to that fill bringing the total fill price to £39. If I'm filling my 650 liter tank 3 times a week, water will cost me around £470 a month. I would have a major problem with paying that. Even at 3p a liter that would cost me £281 a month.

Some of the lads still buy water from one of the local businesses at 5p a liter. 15 years ago another outlet wanted 6p a liter including VAT at 17.5% from me.

 

[spruce]

Just looked at their locations. Mostly around big cities so they should be okay and they can keep the price down but in Scotland where no domestic is on a meter would be very hard to compete.

Yet

 

[Tango]

They promised one in Ramsgate but it never appeared ,  The nearest was Ashford kent [ 40  minutes drive ]     Now they shut that one after I joined .  something strange is afoot ,  Why not put a water unit in an area for a year to see if it grows .  Maybe they haven't got the long term investment . 

I've heard a couple of rumours about the state of Spotless's finances (credible rumours) - none that i'll reveal here as i don't want to cause them any harm however one of their reps friended me on facebook months ago and was always responsive. He's still not read my most recent PM after several weeks.

I think Spotless will slowly shut down because they can't remain at 3p plus vat a litre and if they double that price then no one will go. Its getting cheaper making your own and its all on utube to show you how to set it up. Making pure is getting cheaper all the time and one doesn't need to pay for expensive filters. fwiw

Spotless's main feature isn't just water, it's the sheer speed it's pumped out at and general convenience. I had to switch back to my old supplier after they lifted the filling station i was using (we worked out a deal) but the speed of his water against the spotless pump is very noticable. It takes me around 15 mins to fill my barrels now vs 5 mins (or less) at a spotless filling point. It really was that fast and literally 24/7 - i've filled up at 1am several times.

I think the problem with spotless is that they spread themselves too thin and far. Imagine the cost and time of sending an engineer to 3 sites in a day when it's going to take him 2 or more hours to travel between them, so that's a few extra engineers on the wage bill straight away.

Would i go back to spotless if they put a filling point in my local area? Like a rocket.