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First one of the year

This sort of thing gets on my t*ts!

I had a customer last year told me to only turn up on Wednesdays as it’s her day off ?.

Bye bye
Yeah know what you mean still people out there think we are desperate ?

She was replaced within 5 minutes a neighbour couple of doors up to her lol. That will be warning to other 5 I do along her road. 

 
I've had a few asking to leave till next time (six weeks). I'll give them a chance as they've been very good upto now. Some have been honest ; Christmas, young children, Grandkids etc. I've been there myself. I'll stamp on it if they try to make a habit of it though. A review in the spring on slight price increases to keep steadily ahead of inflation. We aim to hold prices for at least two years and tell that to new customers so they realise and expect that we have to put up prices now and then, the same as utilities, fuel, insurances etc. ?

 
Yes can understand if someone is hardup over Xmas and wants to miss a clean, but the next three months is a no no for me can also kind of understand if a window cleaner as no or very little customers and desperately needs the work, but I have waiting lists just  about everywhere I work so make no sense to earn less each month when I’m in a fortunate position to pick and choose. 

 
Good for you. I wouldn't wait till March either. That would be 2 cleans missed. Sometimes it's not that easy to tell which are genuine and which are trying it on. Not straight away anyhow. 

 
Good for you. I wouldn't wait till March either. That would be 2 cleans missed. Sometimes it's not that easy to tell which are genuine and which are trying it on. Not straight away anyhow. 
Last clean was November 2018 will be three cleans until the next no explanation as to why resume in March? been on my books for approx 6/8 months a nd cancelled once  before to many good clients out there to worry about people like this. 

 
I can’t wait to be in this position... I’m having to stick with a few crappy customers for now whilst building my round... worst customer so far was one I signed up today and she cancelled tonight [emoji1361]


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I just had one ''Please could I cancel the clean tomorrow as won't be home''

It's only the second clean, they know the date i'm due. I can't stand cancellations the night before. Yes we might be a little skint after Christmas but I can't just fill her spot the night before at 7 o'clock. I know some of the lads work a little differently and just turn up at a frequency that suits them and in those scenarios I guess you could be a little more forgiving but this is just a joke. I've had people cancel before with a few days notice, seems much more reasonable to me.

I responded telling her ''You don't need to be home, I normally invoice you and it can be paid online. There is of course no obligation to have them cleaned. Up to you''.... I've just been ignored. Probably not a bad thing as she never filled out the sign up for GC so could have ended up chasing payment anyway. If i'm honest though I was just hoping she would respond and tell me to cancel it so I could avoid conversation about future cleans. This way when I turn up and clean the neighbours I wouldn't worry about an awkward conversation, i'd just say ''Sorry, you said you wanted to cancel''. If she doesn't respond and then tries to speak to me about not cleaning them in a few months I can just say ''Sorry you never got back to me''

 
I can’t wait to be in this position... I’m having to stick with a few crappy customers for now whilst building my round... worst customer so far was one I signed up today and she cancelled tonight
emoji1361.png



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Everyone as their share of crappers defo takes time to build a good round perseverance is key just keep chipping away the good clients are out there Rome wasn’t built in a day my mother always told me lol.

 
I can’t wait to be in this position... I’m having to stick with a few crappy customers for now whilst building my round... worst customer so far was one I signed up today and she cancelled tonight
emoji1361.png
I've had loads mate, had some genuine ones who have had one clean and then moved house and had some liars doing the same. The thing to be careful of is taking too much ? especially if its an area you clean in a lot. I have one guy in a street who has brought me 4 other customers, all his neighbours. If there's one cloud in the sky he texts me and says I'm not to bother if it rains, can't give him the ''No fair weather window cleaning'' talk because of the potential repercussions. I have another couple of golden oldies who basically cancel every other month because they're off on holiday. I clean loads of their neighbours and they were the first, also they are genuinely away, bloody annoying though as I would be £5 more on 2 monthly.

The point i'm making is it's good to be flexible and a little forgiving but take a step back and ask yourself if they're taking the proverbial out of you. If you don't cut them out they will be cancerous. Later on you might have to drop 10-15 because you have a couple in an area taking the mick!

 
I just had one ''Please could I cancel the clean tomorrow as won't be home''

It's only the second clean, they know the date i'm due. I can't stand cancellations the night before. Yes we might be a little skint after Christmas but I can't just fill her spot the night before at 7 o'clock. I know some of the lads work a little differently and just turn up at a frequency that suits them and in those scenarios I guess you could be a little more forgiving but this is just a joke. I've had people cancel before with a few days notice, seems much more reasonable to me.

I responded telling her ''You don't need to be home, I normally invoice you and it can be paid online. There is of course no obligation to have them cleaned. Up to you''.... I've just been ignored. Probably not a bad thing as she never filled out the sign up for GC so could have ended up chasing payment anyway. If i'm honest though I was just hoping she would respond and tell me to cancel it so I could avoid conversation about future cleans. This way when I turn up and clean the neighbours I wouldn't worry about an awkward conversation, i'd just say ''Sorry, you said you wanted to cancel''. If she doesn't respond and then tries to speak to me about not cleaning them in a few months I can just say ''Sorry you never got back to me''
Don’t sound good TBH. Fully understand when people don’t have full rounds then having to decide whether your going to ditch or not. 

I have plenty of gated properties I clean, dumped the one and only one that I didn’t have either a fob or code no answer last time I turned up end of November she wanted a txt the week before and also the night before she txted today asking when I will be there next without a thought in the world told her we don’t do as and when and thanked her for her custom good paying job just my personal choice and respect others would react differently. 

 
Don’t sound good TBH. Fully understand when people don’t have full rounds then having to decide whether your going to ditch or not. 

I have plenty of gated properties I clean, dumped the one and only one that I didn’t have either a fob or code no answer last time I turned up end of November she wanted a txt the week before and also the night before she txted today asking when I will be there next without a thought in the world told her we don’t do as and when and thanked her for her custom good paying job just my personal choice and respect others would react differently. 
Fair play to you though dude for actually telling them. I hate that old phrase ''The last window cleaner just stopped coming''. With customers like the woman I had tonight she will be able to work it out for herself but the ones who keep taking the mick and expecting you to come back on the 6th Sunday of each month and 3:18pm and finished within 15 minutes, squeegee off the windows and wear pink socks.... They can naff off, and so can Man City ????

 
Let’s be honest, we all have had the customers when you txt the night before and think are they going to cancel or the gate is locked even though you have txted the night before I can honestly say I do not get that feeling anymore and if I don’t get a reasonable answer they get dropped also I have dropped all the miserable and up them self sort of folk also  just tried to make my work that little more enjoyable ?

 
I've had loads mate, had some genuine ones who have had one clean and then moved house and had some liars doing the same. The thing to be careful of is taking too much [emoji90] especially if its an area you clean in a lot. I have one guy in a street who has brought me 4 other customers, all his neighbours. If there's one cloud in the sky he texts me and says I'm not to bother if it rains, can't give him the ''No fair weather window cleaning'' talk because of the potential repercussions. I have another couple of golden oldies who basically cancel every other month because they're off on holiday. I clean loads of their neighbours and they were the first, also they are genuinely away, bloody annoying though as I would be £5 more on 2 monthly.
 
The point i'm making is it's good to be flexible and a little forgiving but take a step back and ask yourself if they're taking the proverbial out of you. If you don't cut them out they will be cancerous. Later on you might have to drop 10-15 because you have a couple in an area taking the mick!

Yea I’ve not really had any @rsey customers yet but I’ve only got about 45 all together so there’s time yet.

I’ve had another cancellation today of an old dear that wanted to change from 4 to 8 weekly and couldn’t believe that I’d charge an extra £4 for it. No phone to text about unlocking the gate, wasn’t keen on having her windows left wet and had to be in when I cleaned so I was glad to see the back of her.

You’re definitely right about not taking on too much [emoji90] I’ve started as I mean to go on (minimum charge, GoCardless only, first clean charge, sticking to my prices) I think all that helps to weed out the cr@p and has given me a good foundation to build upon


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Let’s be honest, we all have had the customers when you txt the night before and think are they going to cancel or the gate is locked even though you have txted the night before I can honestly say I do not get that feeling anymore and if I don’t get a reasonable answer they get dropped also I have dropped all the miserable and up them self sort of folk also  just tried to make my work that little more enjoyable ?
Depends what you want really. When you're happy as you are or considering downsizing then you can afford to just drop miserable people. I want a multi van round so I don't think i'll ever be able to be that choosy while I have these ambitions. The woman tonight doesn't even have a locked gate. If I turn up and the gate is locked I would just charge a minimum price, there has to be a limit though and if they do that a second time I would warn them after that they're gone. You get the idea after the first time though to be honest, if they're apologetic then it probably won't happen again in my experience.

 
Everyone as their share of crappers defo takes time to build a good round perseverance is key just keep chipping away the good clients are out there Rome wasn’t built in a day my mother always told me lol.

Perseverance is definitely the key. I’m pretty pleased at the minute I’ve found an estate in a good area that I’ve been canvassing picked up 11 new customers in the last two days.

Majority of the new customers have warned me about the local window cleaner he sounds like your typical bucket bob can’t wait for him to see me cleaning on his “patch” [emoji23]




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No phone to text about unlocking the gate, wasn’t keen on having her windows left wet and had to be in when I cleaned so I was glad to see the back of her.
I've got some oldies who were a little like that about the windows being left wet, when I quote (unless i'm cleaning at the same time) I offer to clean one window for free so they can see for themselves. I learned early on to tell them both prices (all 3 in my case as I do 4/6/8 weeks) that way its less of a shock when you whack a few quid on. Some of the old ones are always home to be fair and pay cash on the day, not to be sniffed at just need to be dealt with correctly.

I agree about sticking to your prices. I was cheeky with one guys early on, he asked if I could do it cheaper and I said yeah, half the price and i'll just clean the downstairs, he didn't take to kindly to that ?

 
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