[dave f]

imo  a lot of people depending  were you live  up north are still in the dark ages regarding window cleaning and other add ons  .etc  I have a custy who wanted a conny roof cleaned I gave her a price and she nearly  fainted she said I only expected a tenner

[SeanK]

Guys invest in WFP as it makes light work of one offs, I cleaned one today and you could have grown potatoes on the frames, it
took me about 20% longer than a repeat clean.
Decided not to charge her extra as the property was very tidy and I had a hunch that her last shiner was responsible for the filthy frames so there was the potential of picking up a fulltime customer.
I was wrong I got a text tonight asking me to add her to my round along with the neighbours on each side, that said it could have
all went horribly wrong and I would then have ended up stressed, annoyed and bitter like some on here. lol.

I find most first cleans and one offs take at the very least twice as long as a regular job.  Often three times as long. If I used an Xtreme on them as I think you do even longer. It's not bitterness, it's just a desire to be paid for time spent and to maintain a profitable hourly rate.

An Xtreme stiff and a drop of what ever chemical you like to work with sprayed onto the brush for the frames, do all the frames first and then change over to your brush of choice for the glass.
Shouldn't take 2 or 3 times as long even with the odd problem opener.
I don't mind taking a slight drop in my hourly rate if it gains me a long term customer and if it doesn't work out then its
no different than paying for advertising that doesn't get you the desired results.

[sunshine windows]

Not read all the comments but for me, one off cleans are great for adding extra money to your week in the nicer weather.

Only so much work you can do in 7ish hours work during the winter. That's if you're lucky not to get rained off for the day.

I don't pack our rounds to bursting point, falling behind on schedule, we're always on time and as such have a great reputation.

Add ons are great, I price them above what our average hourly rates on windows are too.

[Smurf]

I really don't know why anyone bothers doing one offs can someone tell me what the point is in doing this,let's say it's a £50 job and you charge £100-150 for a one off why not go and do 3 regular not very dirty cleans for the same or more without the ball ache.

The one off quote I did today I cleaned 4 windows for free at the back of the semi only as they just wanted the back guttering cleared of sods & then the outside of the guttering, fascia and soffits cleaned including the kitchen extension. Took less than 2 hours including giving the quote, setting up and packing away for £130 gross takings. Customer was over the moon with the work and I was happy to oblige.

No stress, no hassle just well paid easy work for less than a couple of hours of my time.

I assume a guttervac didn't clear that lot?

8 weekly, No ladders where needed on that job but still I would have used them if required 
The gap between the tiles was good and the sods being dry meant they were easy to remove using an ali bend dirt breaker vac head.

[Smurf]

I really don't know why anyone bothers doing one offs can someone tell me what the point is in doing this,let's say it's a £50 job and you charge £100-150 for a one off why not go and do 3 regular not very dirty cleans for the same or more without the ball ache.

The one off quote I did today I cleaned 4 windows for free at the back of the semi only as they just wanted the back guttering cleared of sods & then the outside of the guttering, fascia and soffits cleaned including the kitchen extension. Took less than 2 hours including giving the quote, setting up and packing away for £130 gross takings. Customer was over the moon with the work and I was happy to oblige.

No stress, no hassle just well paid easy work for less than a couple of hours of my time.

Smurf, you realise there are people on here who would have charged that on a regular job ? and from what I'm reading here would have insisted on atleast double for a one off 

Barry, I'm sure like myself there are cleaners on here that do jobs in less time worth more. I've found Its just a case of swings & roundabouts really as each job is different.

I had to laugh to myself though when I mentioned about the 4 windows would be cleaned for free when the lady said "Oh I've just had them cleaned this morning by my regualr window cleaner"   I then said " how much do you normaly pay to have all your windows cleand?" She said "£10."

So for instance if I was that window cleaner working down that street I would have had to clean 13 semis for the same amount. Makes you think don't it. 

Don't get me wrong I'm not having a pop at hard working folk but for me I know what kind of jobs I would prefer to do.

[Richard iSparkle]

we charge 3 times the price for one off cleans, minimum price £45, and they have to pay upfront for them too.

on these terms they are worth doing for us on a day where there's a bit of space and we're in the area.