Spotless Water is it not working out?

[scottish cleaning service]

Why 1p a litre? We often draw off the mains and the price varies. Usually about £1.50p/1000 litre

That' the reason for water rationing, selling it too cheap but that will change and rain water harvesting will be all the rage. ?

 

[spruce]

And a customer, you're getting hard hearted ?

I'm sorry. What I said didn't come out right did it?

What I meant to say was our older customers never give us any hassles. They are the ones who always pay us on time and as has been stated, nearly all of them grew up bred with not wanting to owe anyone anything. They are the ones who will always offer us a drink on a hot day.

Over the years we have had a few develop dementia. We just advise their next of kin we will be calling to clean windows the following day and will collect payment from them.

Over the years we have unfortunately lost a few very dear customers who have either passed away or gone into a nursing home. If I've cleaned and later found out they have passed away, I'm happy to write the debt off. "Here, have the last one on me. Thank you for your past custom. It was my pleasure knowing you." (There isn't an emoji of me raising my hat in respect or else I would have put it here.)

The new estates are full of young people who are never there and we have always had difficulty getting payment from them as they are committed up to their eye balls financially. I just don't understand why window cleaners gravitate to new estates. We also did once thinking everyone was a potential customer. We hit the last new estate at the perfect time and got about 40% of the houses on that estate. 10 years later we only clean a few on that estate. The rest just were a nightmare we didn't know about until later.

 

[Part Timer]

I'm sorry. What I said didn't come out right did it?

I knew what you meant, many of us have lost good customers due to age related issues. I am actually starting to find quite a few younger customers that have a lot of pride in their houses appearance and are good paying customers. I don't chase residential work, never have, and only take on people that come to me. I suppose I am fortunate I can build my business in this manner.

 

[Dave B]

I knew what you meant, many of us have lost good customers due to age related issues. I am actually starting to find quite a few younger customers that have a lot of pride in their houses appearance and are good paying customers. I don't chase residential work, never have, and only take on people that come to me. I suppose I am fortunate I can build my business in this manner.

We need to have a chat as I've got plans to get more commercial work.

You seem to have it sussed.

I recently got 3 nursing homes in hampstead london for 1 company but want to get more.

 

[Part Timer]

We need to have a chat as I've got plans to get more commercial work.

You seem to have it sussed.

I recently got 3 nursing homes in hampstead london for 1 company but want to get more.

You seem to be doing alright on your own.  Getting Commercial work is far more hit and miss then residential. Getting to speak to the right person is hard enough and when you get given their email address it usually translates to bugger off. All I would say is if you get an in do the best job you can and try and get on with the site / works manager. They sometimes move on so if they "like" you they might get you in to another place.

The latter is how I got the London work and looks like it will get me a lot more work, fingers crossed. 

 

[Tango]

They must be making money at the rate the guy who makes the units is fitting them out here.

He used to do it himself from a unit here and now joined with them.

They have great setups inside as I've had a good look at them while talking to him as I top up there when needed and did before it was spotless.

For all the kit they have and cost to make them

Do you know how much each unit actually costs to make? - I guesstimated it must be in the region of around £30k but i'd be interested in knowing the actual figure. Oh and yes, the setup inside is awesome - one of their engineers show me once when he was installing one near me.

I would love to see whats inside one of their units. If the guys are regularly filling up they must have a good size storage tank, a couple of 4040's with booster pumps and large di vessels.

BIG storage tank..well not just one lol. Infact you'd be surprised such a large one would fit inside such a small box frankly. I dont know where i stand legally speaking if i were to tell you whats inside one so i probably shouldn't but it's impressive and the RO system is physically huge. They also don't waste any space inside them, they literally fill as much of it as they can. No idea about fast they refill but whenever i finished with the barrels you'd always hear it coming to life internally.

I understand a lot of people may not have the room for an RO but to rely so much on a supplier for your main product is mad.If spotless went under at least 60% round here would be bang in trouble. 

I think in reality it's pribably best to have 2 or 3 suppliers if you can't make it yourself (if you can find any obviously). I have a small RO but and the space but no booster pump. I could technically setup and make my own but i just can't be bothered when i can go to someone else who's got it ready and waiting for me.

This is such a telling post. If you are having r/o setup issues then this is a very big issue. It is totally understandable for someone to feel this way. When processing water becomes as easy as pressing your remote to unlock your van then you would never go back to buying water in.

If only i could actually find a van lol. I've spent lockdown hunting for a good automatic van but it's a minefield, timing chains that stretch, timing belts that need doing, various other things. I have the space to RO my own water but it's a hassle i can't really be phased with at present.

But even so spotless is fast. I mean REALLY fast. No need to have an IBC at home or any other gear, just turn up, scan the RF fob, lift the handle and it'll fill you up - very quickly.

I went along to a sign up they had there.They must of had 10 vans infront of me it was kaos.I said hello to the rep they had there and just said this would never work for me and drove off.

On the signup / breakfast morning yes you'll see plenty of people. When you go for a normal fill it would never be like that - plus you can go at any time of the day or night. I've filled up at 1am many times.

 

[spruce]

Do you know how much each unit actually costs to make? - I guesstimated it must be in the region of around £30k but i'd be interested in knowing the actual figure. Oh and yes, the setup inside is awesome - one of their engineers show me once when he was installing one near me.

BIG storage tank..well not just one lol. Infact you'd be surprised such a large one would fit inside such a small box frankly. I dont know where i stand legally speaking if i were to tell you whats inside one so i probably shouldn't but it's impressive and the RO system is physically huge. They also don't waste any space inside them, they literally fill as much of it as they can. No idea about fast they refill but whenever i finished with the barrels you'd always hear it coming to life internally.

I think in reality it's pribably best to have 2 or 3 suppliers if you can't make it yourself (if you can find any obviously). I have a small RO but and the space but no booster pump. I could technically setup and make my own but i just can't be bothered when i can go to someone else who's got it ready and waiting for me.

If only i could actually find a van lol. I've spent lockdown hunting for a good automatic van but it's a minefield, timing chains that stretch, timing belts that need doing, various other things. I have the space to RO my own water but it's a hassle i can't really be phased with at present.

But even so spotless is fast. I mean REALLY fast. No need to have an IBC at home or any other gear, just turn up, scan the RF fob, lift the handle and it'll fill you up - very quickly.

On the signup / breakfast morning yes you'll see plenty of people. When you go for a normal fill it would never be like that - plus you can go at any time of the day or night. I've filled up at 1am many times.

I can understand that. Automatic vans will be like hen's teeth. I found it very difficult trying to find a manual with low mileage at a price I could afford. I would never have bought a van with 89k on the clock before this.

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

On the signup / breakfast morning yes you'll see plenty of people. When you go for a normal fill it would never be like that - plus you can go at any time of the day or night. I've filled up at 1am many times.

Long before spotless came about I used to buy water from one of the owners before he set spotless up and know him well.When you sign up to spotless you get sent a brochure and inside is my ugly mug.

Spotless has its place, if you have limited space or limited money to set up then it works well.it also works well if your part time and use little water or like @Part Timer work out of town a lot.

Once you become full that's when you start to look at it.I could often go there and wait 20minutes in a queue before filling even at 6am and then the cost. It would cost me £32.50 a day to fill my tank that's £162.50 a 5 day week and £650 a 4 week month.You could rent a unit yourself for that money and install your own static I would be surprised if it cost me much more than that a year.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Long before spotless came about I used to buy water from one of the owners before he set spotless up and know him well.When you sign up to spotless you get sent a brochure and inside is my ugly mug.

Spotless has its place, if you have limited space or money to set up then it works well.it also works well if your part time and use little water or like @Part Timer work out of town a lot.

Once you become full that's when you start to look at it.I could often go there and wait 20minutes in a queue before filling even at 6am and then the cost. It would cost me £32.50 a day to fill my tank that's £162.50 a 5 day week and £650 a 4 week month.You could rent a unit yourself for that money and install your own static I would be surprised if it cost me much more than that a year.

Was that for a 650 litre tank?

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

Was that for a 650 litre tank?

yes.

 

[johnny bravo]

I registered with them,  but never even filled up as its on an estate out of the main town where I am, plus I think charging too much, if I was to fill my 500 litre tank even a few times a week.  cannot justify spending that much weekly. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

yes.

I thought that, 5p a litre  but as you say, when your round keeps growing then the next step is to build a system. I'm all over the place now and some places I only clean one house which does seem a bit daft but today a neighbour came over to speak with me. She isn't happy that the Trad guys don't remove the cobwebs from her wooden windows nor will they do anything else like staining them. I don't want to take anyone's work but I think I'll get a call from her as she likes my wfp system.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

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

The comment I made was when I was still running employees and had not Franchised my company.  

I would have gone that route as I expect eevry employee (or otherwise) to be as self sufficient as possible BUT experience shows that they are NOT checking water readings daily - will not go to the trouble of changing resins when water is above 000 PPM etc -- 
 

In this scenario I would have happily used a service like this as they guarantee the water quality - I would not have to worry and if there was an issue with quality I have someone to shout at that isnt an employee that does not really care thats just looking for a pay check. 

 

[Tango]

The comment I made was when I was still running employees and had not Franchised my company.  

I would have gone that route as I expect eevry employee (or otherwise) to be as self sufficient as possible BUT experience shows that they are NOT checking water readings daily - will not go to the trouble of changing resins when water is above 000 PPM etc -- 
 

In this scenario I would have happily used a service like this as they guarantee the water quality - I would not have to worry and if there was an issue with quality I have someone to shout at that isnt an employee that does not really care thats just looking for a pay check. 

I've noticed spotless have previously had a PPM above 0 in the past, several times. First time i reported it they fixed it and sure enough within 24 hrs, it was 0. The next few times i didn't bother and they didn't fix - clearly not monitored daily either.

But with that said, their filling stations do make life incredibly easy.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I've noticed spotless have previously had a PPM above 0 in the past, several times. First time i reported it they fixed it and sure enough within 24 hrs, it was 0. The next few times i didn't bother and they didn't fix - clearly not monitored daily either.

But with that said, their filling stations do make life incredibly easy.

Strange, I would have thought Spotless would have been spotless. ?

 

[Wind o kleen]

I've noticed spotless have previously had a PPM above 0 in the past, several times. First time i reported it they fixed it and sure enough within 24 hrs, it was 0. The next few times i didn't bother and they didn't fix - clearly not monitored daily either.

But with that said, their filling stations do make life incredibly easy.

Customers obviously monitor the TDS for them ?

 

[Tango]

Customers obviously monitor the TDS for them ?

Thats the daft thing, the filling station clearly showed 0PPM so i have a hunch that the TDS sensor is in the wrong place and falsely reporting 0PPM when it's higher - eg the sensor is on the output of the filters but doesn't detect the TDS of water alread in the storage tank / being pumped out to the customer.

Only a theory that..

 

[Part Timer]

I filled at Wembley last month and it was 0ppm when I tested it.

 

[Wind o kleen]

Thats the daft thing, the filling station clearly showed 0PPM so i have a hunch that the TDS sensor is in the wrong place and falsely reporting 0PPM when it's higher - eg the sensor is on the output of the filters but doesn't detect the TDS of water alread in the storage tank / being pumped out to the customer.

Only a theory that..

Used spotless this morning , 6tds?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Contact their head office to see what they say about it? They may have a tolerance in the small print like anything below 010ppm.

 

[Wind o kleen]

Contact their head office to see what they say about it? They may have a tolerance in the small print like anything below 010ppm.

Hi
 
Thank you for letting me know; we have dispatched an engineer to take a look at the site this afternoon. I will keep you updated with our findings as soon as I get them.
 
Kind Regards,
 
Alex