Window Cleaners Ripping People Off

[OoO]

True, but you have guys like myself who have had accidents and not keen on trad anymore.

I still do some trad and i mean some. less than 5 hours a month.

It really does swing in circles.

I did two big Georgian houses today for £13 and £14. Chat at both of them, didnt rush 50mins the pair. If i was trad jesus i would have been double the time.

 

[Posh]

Yeah I can see that. I got some jobs that must admit if I used wfp would take half the time but cost me more.

 

[Mart1001]

Yes Damo, as Posh say's, wfp does cost a bit more to run but then, you get through the work quicker and more importantly, you're working in a safer envoiroment and are basically illiminating alot of what could be called 'danger money' to us trads. I don't believe customers should have to pay for your tools and most customers should pay the same(give or take a few quid), reguardless of the method.

Yes, I could charge a few quid more and to be honest, I'm still struggling to make 15 quid an hour and sometimes, struggling to make 10 such is my work still so few and far between but that's because it's still in it's infancy and any business is supposed to be a struggle in the early years. I don't object to you making 30+ quid an hour mate because you've obviously worked hard to build what you've got. It's these people that are starting up amd charging 20-30 quid a 3 bed house and cutting the corners to success that I have a problem with.

Fair play to um some would say but not me because, it is a threat to the trade, it has to be. I cleaned my 1st window back in 1980 when I was 14 and back then, no one wanted to clean windows for a living...it was considered unglamerous and low paying which it was...normally some scruffy bloke in a cap. carrying a ladder over his shoulder complete with bucket and cloth. But wfp has put a sparkle into the job(pun intented) and while it can now look very specialised and technical, it's actually easier than it's ever been. No head for heights required, no mastering the blade and very little risk involvement. Anyone can do this job now....any gender any shape or size and while there's a belief that 40, 50 quid + is possible from the get go, we're gonna see wc's triple in the next 10 years in my opinion. I passed a wfp guy wheeling out his hose the other day and as I turned my attention back to the road, there was a tradder walking down the same road. I've been up my ladder, heard the sound of ladders and seen a fellow wc pop up to clean the neighbouring windows, these kind of instances would never have occured just 10 years ago.

Type 'window cleaner' into googlemaps and see how long it takes you to count all the little pink spots, and that's just the guys that register with them. There's plenty of work out there for everyone they say but, for how long...that's when the price wars will hit and you'll get more and more wc's undercutting each other to get their slice and more and more customers asking 'can you leave mine this time'.

Maybe I'm over reacting I don't know....I just feel that this business is getting milked at the moment as more and more people focus on how much they can make rather than the job itself.

Mart.

 

[Masons]

^ You don't believe customers should pay for your tools? What logic is this?

I agrre with some of your points, but not all.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Belfastcleaning]

Mart I'm not trying to be funny but if your struggling to earn £10-£15 then you should be concentrating on your own prices and working towards raising your hourly rate.. After expenses, is it really worth it? Working at a rate of £10?

Being self employed, we don't get holiday pay, paid leave etc.. All those benefits of an employed job..

For employed people they only have to turn up on time.. Being self employed is a lot more work and stress.. So you need to make it worth your while

IF I was working for £10ph i would earning less than min wage!!

We should be in business to make money, not to be a nice guy and scrub **** of windows for little reward..

 

[Gmeister]

Mart if your like me when I start, well I was charging £5 for a council house (2 bedroom) now most say I am undercharging but I can do 4 an hour trad so thats 20ph.

Starting to put prices up now as wfp but most are due a rise as bedn doin some for year if not longer.

 

[tench0771]

i do think some are faster than others so some £10 to 15 ph an some £20 to £40 ph, i charge no xtra 4 wfp because u r doing job twice as quick any way if ur doing a big block of flats an u clean the lot than £50ph to £60ph can b done cos ur wrk is so compacked if u have to travel btween jobs than u urn less ph.i think £1 per window is about rite dependin on hight an how easy to clean ect.

 

[OoO]

£1 a window has been quoted for years and years in window cleaning.

What could a £1 buy in 2000 ?

What could a £1 buy today.

Everyone is capable of earning decent money. Doesn't matter where you live or where you clean.

I think Richard has said it before. You out grow customers.

I gave away trad work as it freed up space for WFP work. At the time it felt weird. Now I think why didn't I do it sooner.

 

[OoO]

And yes I think speed has A LOT to do with it.

I know I am quick as I have been told by several WFP cleaners. But then we was one of the first to convert in our area.

Lets try and get back on topic tho. As I feel it's turning into

Trad vs WFP lol. And even I have joined in with that /emoticons/sad.png

 

[tench0771]

£1 pw is gud money, u can urn a lot in a day at that price i did £216 once trad all day an some were less than £1 per window i clean fraims to started at 8am fin an 20 to 5pm i think thats gud just my view tho

 

[tench0771]

And yes I think speed has A LOT to do with it.

I know I am quick as I have been told by several WFP cleaners. But then we was one of the first to convert in our area.

Lets try and get back on topic tho. As I feel it's turning into

Trad vs WFP lol. And even I have joined in with that /emoticons/sad.png

agreed trad vs wfp an the topic

 

[Belfastcleaning]

Some of my customers asked when I changed them to wfp, if it was going to be more expensive.. I told them no, as its safer, and will speed me up, then that's just as good as a pay rise..

 

[tench0771]

Some of my customers asked when I changed them to wfp, if it was going to be more expensive.. I told them no, as its safer, and will speed me up, then that's just as good as a pay rise..

thats it ive halfed the time on most jobs using wfp an they get xtras thrown in like doors cleaned, o an plants watered lol .

 

[Neil]

I did a job by ladder earlier and it was scary !! I use to be like Spider-Man on the ladder few years back for a company I worked for but never will I do any ladder work again lol took me for ever!! Fair play to you trad lot you do well !!