a customer of mine died around 6 months ago but her niece told me to carry on cleaning the windows which i did and she sent me a cheque after every clean(4 weekly)no problem.then she said she was renting the property out and could i start cleaning for the new tenant and bill the tenant...again no problem(she told me that its in the contract to have the windows cleaned regularly)....
anyway turned up and cleaned it yesterday and gets a text a few hours later "we havent requested windows to be cleaned so please cancel the service"....i then reminded them thats its in their tenancy agreement to have them cleaned.
they then texted me this morning saying that there is no requirement to have the windows cleaned in their contract but they would like to have them cleaned 8 weekly instead.so i text back that i charge an extra £2 for a longer frequency(small 3 bed semi).so £12 instead of £10.they then text back "dont worry ill find someone else to sort it out!"
i then text back "good luck with finding someone to do them for such a cheap price(not a chance) "
i clean 80+ properties on this estate and have done for many years.i cant see any window cleaner making the trip for one house for less than £12 8 weekly!!
they only moved in last friday!the landlord is fuming!she said she ll get back to me.....not that im bothered.....i dont want the job anyway now......
I had a similar situation once.
It was a big mansion though wasn't super expensive but a solid hours water fed pole £50 the owner moved out and rented the property and strictly put in the contract the windows are to be cleaned by my window cleaner.
After a couple of cleans they started to send me away at the gate.( this was after they owed a couple of cleans)
In turn I told the landlord we continue to clean her house where she moved out to and she asked how's it going I said we have to stop because she owes and she sends us away.
She got the estate agent wrote a formal letter to the tenant outlining that the landlord's has put in the contract the windows to be cleaned specifically by her window cleaner and that if they do not pay for what they are they will be in breach of contract.
I was fascinated as how far she was going to take this because it seemed she was prepared to start eviction proceedings on this possible ground.
They contacted me paid what they owed and even charged a little bit of an extra clean for the clean they sent us away for because there was a difference in the frequency.
One things for sure I was really happy that the landlord was on our side and was pursuing the tenants for what they owed and to continue the service as she requested.
I guess high demand contested property landlords won't accept anything less. And if they skip one claws they might just get the other so they nip it in the bud