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Ignorant customers

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Cottonlung

Well-known member
Messages
176
Location
Manchester
Hi all, rant time..

A lady customer recently moved to a new part of town so she asked me would I be able to still clean her windows.. I went and told her it would be £10 to which she said this new house is smaller than her last blah blah blah, I tried to explain im coming out of my way, fuel, time etc etc.. so anyway fast forward 4 months... she greets me this morning after cleaning her windows yesterday accusing me of trying to con her out of £10, as last time I thought she wasn't in so i got the ladders off the van to unlatch the gate, she came out and I said " hello I didn't think you was in" she said i'l open the gate so I said I'd already done it.... so today she thinks I said I'd already cleaned the back windows but because she saw me cleaning them after she came out it looks she belives I'm trying to rip her off and only did the back because she was in.... 

I told her I don't quite understand as your windows got cleaned, she said let's go through it again seeing as your thick!... I told her no need to insult me and she gave me the "woe is me " your trying to take money from me for cleaning 3 windows thinking I wasn't in ..

I know I shouldn't let it bother me but I run an honest business and don't want my reputation tarnished from one misunderstanding as I do some of her friends houses.

 
Cottonlung said:
Hi all, rant time..

A lady customer recently moved to a new part of town so she asked me would I be able to still clean her windows.. I went and told her it would be £10 to which she said this new house is smaller than her last blah blah blah, I tried to explain im coming out of my way, fuel, time etc etc.. so anyway fast forward 4 months... she greets me this morning after cleaning her windows yesterday accusing me of trying to con her out of £10, as last time I thought she wasn't in so i got the ladders off the van to unlatch the gate, she came out and I said " hello I didn't think you was in" she said i'l open the gate so I said I'd already done it.... so today she thinks I said I'd already cleaned the back windows but because she saw me cleaning them after she came out it looks she belives I'm trying to rip her off and only did the back because she was in.... 

I told her I don't quite understand as your windows got cleaned, she said let's go through it again seeing as your thick!... I told her no need to insult me and she gave me the "woe is me " your trying to take money from me for cleaning 3 windows thinking I wasn't in ..

I know I shouldn't let it bother me but I run an honest business and don't want my reputation tarnished from one misunderstanding as I do some of her friends houses.
Click to expand...
So what if you clean her friend's house, stand your ground. You did the job, if she doesn't believe you than the trust's gone. I'd have binned her on the spot, she's not worth the hassle. If she tells her friend's, be honest with them, they probably know what she's like anyway. Plus a good windy is hard to find nowadays in most parts of the uk, mainly because they're fully booked up

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Clisty1989 said:
So what if you clean her friend's house, stand your ground. You did the job, if she doesn't believe you than the trust's gone. I'd have binned her on the spot, she's not worth the hassle. If she tells her friend's, be honest with them, they probably know what she's like anyway. Plus a good windy is hard to find nowadays in most parts of the uk, mainly because they're fully booked up
Click to expand...


I've had exactly this a few times over the years. The thing is, don't run down one friend to the other if you know what I mean. If they say anything just express yourself in a friendly way. Tell them that you run your busines honestly but that sometimes misunderstandings occur, and that's all this unfortunately is.

 
if you begin giving out different prices for same job then expect trouble. The moment they find out they will want to know why. just charge everyone a fair price and you will have nothing to worry about.

 
scottish cleaning service said:
if you begin giving out different prices for same job then expect trouble. The moment they find out they will want to know why. just charge everyone a fair price and you will have nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...
Her friends houses are far larger, I don't pull prices out of thin air, I weigh up the job in hand and price accordingly.. when pricing I always think would I pay that if that was my house and take into consideration someone's actually putting time aside to clean my windows

 
I picked up a street last year as the window cleaner had done a vanishing act, anyway I got 7or8 straight away good customers happy days. A couple of months later the woman across the road asked me to do hers so I did, and charged her a quid more than her mate across the road (because she had an extra window on her porch). And of course neighbours talk,
So she decided to lecture me on the injustice of the situation and was too thick to realise that more work means more money.
In the end she said "don't do them again my son's got a ladder and he'll do them" I made sure I got paid and jogged on.
This week while on the street I noticed that she'd had a concrete imprint garden and drive way and a nice glassy finish, not recommended for ladders, see how the son gets on with this.
I hope this pita comes back to ask me to do them, because I get immense satisfaction from declining their kind offer of work.
Right, I'll calm down now, deep breaths......

Sent using the http://Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 
Sorry, but I personally don’t do the  ‘sorry for the misunderstanding etc’

You done her windows and she called you a liar.

Only two words required, the second one being ‘off’. It’s worked for me over many years.

Pub time ?.

Have a good weekend fellow windies ?

 
dmw said:
I picked up a street last year as the window cleaner had done a vanishing act, anyway I got 7or8 straight away good customers happy days. A couple of months later the woman across the road asked me to do hers so I did, and charged her a quid more than her mate across the road (because she had an extra window on her porch). And of course neighbours talk,
So she decided to lecture me on the injustice of the situation and was too thick to realise that more work means more money.
In the end she said "don't do them again my son's got a ladder and he'll do them" I made sure I got paid and jogged on.
This week while on the street I noticed that she'd had a concrete imprint garden and drive way and a nice glassy finish, not recommended for ladders, see how the son gets on with this.
I hope this pita comes back to ask me to do them, because I get immense satisfaction from declining their kind offer of work.
Right, I'll calm down now, deep breaths......

Sent using the http://Window Cleaning Forums mobile app
 
Click to expand...
I've come to the conclusion were just window cleaners so people think we are lower class of workers and can treated like riff raff if only they knew how much we actually earn... pay peanuts you get monkeys as the saying goes 

steve garwood said:
Sorry, but I personally don’t do the  ‘sorry for the misunderstanding etc’

You done her windows and she called you a liar.

Only two words required, the second one being ‘off’. It’s worked for me over many years.

Pub time ?.

Have a good weekend fellow windies ?
Click to expand...
Hind sight is a lovely thing haha.

 
Cottonlung said:
Hi all, rant time..

A lady customer recently moved to a new part of town so she asked me would I be able to still clean her windows.. I went and told her it would be £10 to which she said this new house is smaller than her last blah blah blah, I tried to explain im coming out of my way, fuel, time etc etc.. so anyway fast forward 4 months... she greets me this morning after cleaning her windows yesterday accusing me of trying to con her out of £10, as last time I thought she wasn't in so i got the ladders off the van to unlatch the gate, she came out and I said " hello I didn't think you was in" she said i'l open the gate so I said I'd already done it.... so today she thinks I said I'd already cleaned the back windows but because she saw me cleaning them after she came out it looks she belives I'm trying to rip her off and only did the back because she was in.... 

I told her I don't quite understand as your windows got cleaned, she said let's go through it again seeing as your thick!... I told her no need to insult me and she gave me the "woe is me " your trying to take money from me for cleaning 3 windows thinking I wasn't in ..

I know I shouldn't let it bother me but I run an honest business and don't want my reputation tarnished from one misunderstanding as I do some of her friends houses.
Click to expand...
See I think when someone speaks to you like that the absolute best thing to do is ask, in the most patronising tone of voice possible, 'why are you speaking to me like that, i'm speaking to you with respect. I don't understand why you think it's acceptable to speak to me without respect'. I've used this so many times over the years... Works on the kids too. They have no idea what to say and normally look at you dumbstruck!!

 

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