[Londoner]

As above. Five that I have never seen before, four with van mount WFP and one with a trailer WFP. God its getting crowded round here.

[stuart mc]

is that all maybe prices will drop

[windiewasher]

i seen one drinking a can of special brew up his ladders

[Skyglide]

Same round here.
All the weekender and holiday traffic gone exposes local trades. Not so many sign written vans, but a hell of a lot of ladders on cars and vans, quite a few with poles strapped on top.

[Pope vader]

there are loads starting as they sit there and watch there wc charge them £15 for ten minutes work and think i can do that

[stuart mc]

what is the problem every morning I go out and see dozens of them, hard not to when one firm has 30 employees and 10 vans on the road, makes no odds to me, and when I do my shops there must be a dozen or so doing windows, still makes no odds to me, I just get on with doing my business

[Klean07]

what is the problem every morning I go out and see dozens of them, hard not to when one firm has 30 employees and 10 vans on the road, makes no odds to me, and when I do my shops there must be a dozen or so doing windows, still makes no odds to me, I just get on with doing my business

Ditto, why bother about other wc's as long as your own business is in good shape then theres nothing to worry about.

[TomCrowther]

I saw on old boy cleaning a pub in Bowdon the other week in his vest! It was chilly to say the least and he was tradding away in an old pair of trousers and a string vest 

[Pureclean Essex Services]

I agree with Klean07, if your business is in good order then nothing to worry about, if you do a good job & your reliable, then I find customers stick with you, some will shift to save a couple of quid, but they always come back eventually, I see many on my travels, but I have never lost any custy's to them.

Brian.

[supernova77]

As above. Five that I have never seen before, four with van mount WFP and one with a trailer WFP. God its getting crowded round here.

It was always going to happen with the advance of WFP.

A lot of people used to shy away from window cleaning because it involved being up a ladder all day... Thats not a problem anymore.

Andy

[dazmond]

ive not seen any windys today!far too windy!!!!i dont know how i managed 2 hours work to be honest!!!

[windowswashed]

I seen seven window cleaners (all trad) within 5 mins this afternoon, bet they sign on as well, they usually do around here

[Frankybadboy]

to busy to notice other cleaners

[Dave66]

seen loads today whislt driving to get some shoppin...(far too windy and haily)

loads driving around in there estates hoping its going to all of a sudden become nice..

just go home! or to bookies 

[gary999]

 i saw one old boy hauling all his gear round by hand
and his large pair of double ladders, i watched him climb
the hill i was on got to the house then got turned away
picked his gear up and went trudging down the hill.
poor sod 

i felt like egging their windows myself

[Blue Frog Systems]

saw 5 today myself ... 2 of them i have never seen before too

[Scoop]

i saw one old boy hauling all his gear round by hand
and his large pair of double ladders, i watched him climb
the hill i was on got to the house then got turned away
picked his gear up and went trudging down the hill.
poor sod 

i felt like egging their windows myself

Well said Gary. No matter how many cleaners, there will always be more unappreciative customers.

[Londoner]

The point I was making in the OP is that I work a very compact area. Never more than a couple of miles from my home. So I pretty much know who is who.
I regularly see other W/Cs  and they come and go but to see five new  WFPs in one day is quite something. WFP really is becoming the normal way of cleaning now but To see newbies arriving on the scene with signwritten vans is getting worrying. Not for my business that much, I am pretty well established but more for what it tells you about the jobs market in general.
Good luck to them, I hold no grudge for anyone who gets up off his arse and tries to do something. But I do fear that this oversupply of window cleaners will result in a price war eventually. Its an economic law of supply and demand. Its unavoidable.  

I have seen all of this before in the taxi world and I know very much that it is happening now. As soon as work gets a bit patchy the prices go silly.
 There are private hire firms round here quoting £12.50 to run you to the airport. Thats two hours there and back plus fuel, insurance, wear and tear etc.
 How can you call that making a living? you can't except that a lot of the drivers are living on benefits and not paying tax. And they go illegally trying to blag fares when they shouldn't.
 It does however screw it up for the honest ones. On the meter in a legit taxi that goes around £40