[LWC]

at the end of the day simply

works work where ever or whaterver it is

you take it if you need it, you leave it if you dont

[matt]

so it seems most think that "D.A. Services" is a mug for doing some OAP a job as a favour

persoanlly, i think good on him, afterall when we get old ( or our folks get old and dont have loads of money to pay 50 quid a hour to a "semi-skilled window cleaner" ) we / they might just find a good person to do the job for them for a non rip-off price

all this, i dont do anything for anybody attitude is just heading down the road of pure greed

i cleaned out a weed / plant from a blocked downpipe for a OAP the other week, now this involved :

going to car, get ladders off
take apart "swanneck" of downpipe
unblock
put back together
put ladders on car

must have taken me 20 mins, in which time i could have cleaned the next house

she was gratefull, end of

sometimes its nice to do a favour to some1 and gives you a nice feeling, try it sometime, you just might like it

[LWC]

i also do anything for my customers. the other day i was at a customers of 3 years and was talking to the gentlemen there. anwyay, went to the next house and my pump was acting strange, so i popped back to the house and asked if i could just plug my charger in to see if it was just my battery.

i spoke to the gentlemen and he really couldnt understand me, his wife told him to go sit down and explained to me that hes feeling a bit funny at the mo, it was strange because we had a good chat not even a hour ago.

anyway, i did my days work and decided to pop back to see if he was ok, he had a stroke, the ambulance was there when i arrived, they took him off and she had no way of getting to the hospital, i took her and waited with her, its 20 miles away and i was there over 3 hours.

its nice to be nice, besides, theyve looked after us for all these years, why not help them out once in a while?

[steve k]

matt...how I conduct myself in my business is entirely different to how I conduct myself in my personal, real life.
I will help anyone in need if I am able to do so.
If I remember rightly, do you not have a nice sideline in importing and selling on campervans...?
I`m making a guess that your income from window cleaning is not the be all and end all of your family finances.
My customers treat me with respect and I do likewise with them...but the lunatics and status snobs have long gone...the non-payers, the "leave it this month" brigade, the bad access customers, the "I don`t want mine done with the pole" customers etc etc.
I search out the customers who I can earn a respectable living from and sell them a service and then deliver that service.

Funny thing here though....just before Christmas, I was cleaning 5 semis in a row and the last house who is not a customer of mine had put a pitiful Christmas tree in the window...the windows were filthy, old leaded and you could hardly see the tree.
I had always assumed it was a single pensioner who never got out as the house is in poor condition and very aged.
I thought I would at least let her see out of her windows and proceeded to WFP the downstairs...I thought if she comes out, I`ll just say "it`s on me for Christmas"
They came up a treat and I thought she would be really happy to see out of her windows at Christmas.
Next month in January, I`m back there and a young man comes out the house and asks me to give him a price.
I asked if he lived there, yes he said.
"did you notice how clean your windows were at Christmas...I done them as I thought an OAP lived there"
"No, never noticed mate!"

No Matt, we are not greedy or insensitive and we all do favours for the genuinely needy...but to run a business along those lines means you will always be struggling to finish your round on time and earn your wages.
How many of your customers came round last winter in the snow and offered a little something to see you through the lean weeks...
Not a single one I guess!

When you can help...do!
But remember the reason we are out there doing this is to provide for our loved ones...they come first.

[LWC]

When you can help...do!
But remember the reason we are out there doing this is to provide for our loved ones...they come first.

i can agree there

[steve k]

another thing...just get the post back on its original track...these OAPs dropped Jay without a thought to how it may have affected his income and family finances...just because someone could do it cheaper.
Then when it never worked out, thinking of themselves...NOT jay...they ask him to come back.

If they have done it once, they will do it again and I guarantee, the relationship with these customers will never feel the same again due to this incident.

[Paul Coleman]

so it seems most think that "D.A. Services" is a mug for doing some OAP a job as a favour

persoanlly, i think good on him, afterall when we get old ( or our folks get old and dont have loads of money to pay 50 quid a hour to a "semi-skilled window cleaner" ) we / they might just find a good person to do the job for them for a non rip-off price

all this, i dont do anything for anybody attitude is just heading down the road of pure greed

i cleaned out a weed / plant from a blocked downpipe for a OAP the other week, now this involved :

going to car, get ladders off
take apart "swanneck" of downpipe
unblock
put back together
put ladders on car

must have taken me 20 mins, in which time i could have cleaned the next house

she was gratefull, end of

sometimes its nice to do a favour to some1 and gives you a nice feeling, try it sometime, you just might like it

I do stuff like that sometimes myself Matt - but only if it doesn't interfere with my business.  Being too easy going about things in the past has led me into a major financial mess.  To emerge from this mess, I am having top adopt a more money orientated attitude.  Believe me - I hate it.  It doesn't come naturally to me.  I much preferred the times when I had little, owed nothing, and was able to treat work a bit like play.  When I 've sorted my mess out (will take a few years), I hope to have those days back again.  In the meantime, I will be businesslike in my business dealings but underneath, I will stay very aware that it is not the real me.  It can sometimes feel quite debilitating needing to live the sort of life that goes against some of my values just to keep my mortgage paid and ahead of the debts.  However, feeling angry at myself for getting in that mess would be counter-productive.  I will just play the game and will remember that's all it really is - a game.
You've just read a bit of gut level honesty.

[DASERVICES]

The reason I do this for my customers is I hate seeing them being ripped off, how many times I have seen jobs done by so called professionals and they have charged the earth. For instance one customer had a fence put up and got charged £700 for six panels, which were made out of pallets. Now that annoys me as they have ripped her off as the fence fell down in a couple of months.

So I just inform them if they need anything done let me know, I tend to do them on weekdays provided I have nothing on and charge a small fee. Like today nearly killed myself chopping a tree down with an axe, had to do it that way as someone had took my tree saw 

In the end after having a heart attack the old guy made me a cup of tea and we sat down with biscuits and I let him talk about when he was young  Folks like that I will do anything for when I have time as they do not have money to throw away, on the other hand where people can afford it I will charge a reasonable rate.

It's called getting to know your customer , this works for me. The downside too much work.

Doug

[matt]

steve k, The Shiner and any1 else on this thread

i wasnt having a go at you, i was just pointing out its nice to do " a favour" for some1 once in a while, i run my business differnet to alot here, i have tme to chat with the OAP's who dont see any1 for a week or so, it doesnt pay, but hey, i feel i bring a little happiness into a life or 2, they allways ask after my 4yr daughter and i tell them a story or 2

Steve k, the campervan thing is only starting out, i own 1, yes, im about to make interiors for them in Kit form ( i knew my carpentry would come in handy sometime ), im also importing and restoring come sept this year BUT your right, my window cleaning round isnt my only earner, my wife works part-time aswell ( though choice )

[Russell Macdonald]

steve k, The Shiner and any1 else on this thread

 its nice to do " a favour" for some1 once in a while, i run my business differnet to alot here, i have tme to chat with the OAP's who dont see any1 for a week or so, it doesnt pay, but hey, i feel i bring a little happiness into a life or 2,

I'm with Matt on this one, unless i'm really tight for time i have a quick chat with my customers, its the personal bit a customer likes, not grabing their money & run. I've been told many times they like that, ok i'm not getting paid while chatting but if it keeps them on my books i'm happy.

I have also got a lot of extra work that way, fascia & soffits plus con roofs.

As Matt said, alot of the time we are the only ones the olden's may see for days, dont forget we will be old sooner or later, we too might want a chat, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.

Macc

[marc]

you  speak very well steve k considering your from liverpool ONLY joking steve i have enjoyed reading your posts and pics keep it up i take it your a red , im a not too happy hammer