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That'll teach me.

AnMadraRua

Member
Messages
76
Location
The moon
Quoted a first clean over the phone last week based on what customer told me. When I got there the house was bigger than I thought and the windows/conservatory where absolutely mining. I charged £15 and it took me 1 1/2 hours, that's £10 hour, a lot less than I want to be earning.

 
Thats a bummer mate,Its best not to quote untill you have actually seen property as you have learned unless you know for definite the house concerned. But we all learn from our mistakes you'll know next time.

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Me the same. I quoted 65 for fascia,soffits and gutters clean plus windows- few jobs already done for him and it is going to take 8 hours because it does not come off easily need to do it by hand with pvc cleaner...so 8 pounds and on top of that I killed my pressure washer... /emoticons/sad.png

 
You can now see why I charge the amount that I do now as have also been caught out before giving prices over the phone.

 
if i turn up and things are much worse/bigger i always tell them straight that i cannot do it for original price . nearly everybody is fine with it. the ones who arent usually lied about the state of the place anyway

did one last week,where they had had chickens living in the house-free range! + insulin phials scattered everywhere inside and out

 
if i turn up and things are much worse/bigger i always tell them straight that i cannot do it for original price . nearly everybody is fine with it. the ones who arent usually lied about the state of the place anyway
This^ is exactly what I do. I always give an 'estimate' on the phone and if I'm a little bit out then I take it on the chin. But if its wildly different to what I expected then I am up front with the customer, and detail the reasons why it'll be more. I've not had one yet that has disagreed.

When on the phone use phrases like: 'estimate', 'it shouldn't be more than', 'it'll be around £___'.

These phrases don't tie you down to a price or any kind of verbal contract. So long as you keep things honest you'll never have anything held against you.

 
I do not work like that.My quotation is solid and I need to loose on this one.I would not feel right.on the other hand when the things go better than expected do you charge less?/emoticons/wink.png

 
RS what the guys are saying you just have to cover your back, you mis quote on couple of jobs per week we would all be sick

working for nowt there is nowt worse. You can catch up in summer, extra job but the short days your time is lost

 
yep that was a before shot....to knackered afterwards....it doesnt matter too much as i was doing three jobs so win on one lose on another it all went okay at the end...and i have her own house in and out to do ...

people keep asking me to clean windows....whats going on...i wanna break../emoticons/biggrin.png

 
Did I first clean on,a house today that should be a £10 so I charged 15 because he only wants it doing every 12 weeks. Little did I know, the Windows and frames looked like they hadn't ever been cleaned since pvc was invented. But I'd gained his shop front too so wasn't too bothered. Only to be told after doing his shop front he thought a tenner was too much (idiot). So when he calls again for his shop front the price will be 20, as that's still cheaper than most windys round here on commercials. I guess we learn as we go along.

 
Same here I always give prices out online simply asking the area and how many bedrooms and if there's a conservatory or not usually I can give a accurate quote but we all get it wrong every now and then but it levels out with the good priced jobs /emoticons/wink.png

 
yep that was a before shot....to knackered afterwards....it doesnt matter too much as i was doing three jobs so win on one lose on another it all went okay at the end...and i have her own house in and out to do ...people keep asking me to clean windows....whats going on...i wanna break../emoticons/biggrin.png
A year ago I would of said "don't knock it m8" but now I'm the same

Arrrrr stop bloody asking me to do your house and everyone leave me alone lol

 
Sorry to hear about your washer bud...which one do you have?

Me the same. I quoted 65 for fascia,soffits and gutters clean plus windows- few jobs already done for him and it is going to take 8 hours because it does not come off easily need to do it by hand with pvc cleaner...so 8 pounds and on top of that I killed my pressure washer... /emoticons/sad.png
 
Not good then to be knackered so soon /emoticons/sad.png was it a karcher by any chance?

Just domestic electric one- I do not advertise pressure washing but still ;:confused:has been used 3 times (bought 3 years ago)
 

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