[matt]

Right, i do a row of 5 - 6 bedroom detached houses, i do 7 out of the 9 in the lane

1 of them is fairly funny, they lock the side gate, to they have me either phone / email or put a note through the day B4 "asking if they can open the gate"

Ive allways done this no worries, then the last few times, the guy has been funny, and said "ive asked you not to climb over the gate etc etc"  even though the side gate has been unlocked when i have arrived

the last e.mail was rather rude and blunt " Ive asked you a number of times, DO NOT climb over the gate, next time you do it, i WILL NOT pay you for the rear of the house"

i replied "the gate was open when i arrived, i now use WFP and the trolley and water is a hefty weight allmost 50 KG, so i cannot climb over anyway"

yesterday i put a note in the door "can you please open your side gate"

today i pull up in the car, the gate is locked, i ring the door bell, the daughter says "my mum is out, she will be back after 3"

so i go back

only to be told

"the bad weather is coming, we dont think we will have it done till the end of FEB"

 : :

oh hang on, I'll try that with the bank who take 500 quid a month off me for my house, and i will try it with all the other bills

I am well cheesed off 

[Moderator David@stives]

Matt

I would of never let things get that far,I have a 2 strikes and your out policy so basically if they once thats it i am on guard and ready to drop them on the next annoyance.
If the gate is locked i just do the front and they have to wait another month for the rear.
I never ever phone customers the night before.I fell into that trap once and now i refuse to do it,the simple reason when i get home work stops and thats it ,i have better things to do than worrying about phoning.
Sometimes when i get up i decide what i want to do and if i have phoned someone i have to stick to it and have less options of what to do.

Dave

[windows_chepstow]

Matt, it's obvious.  Drop 'em like a hot potato.

Just make sure you have a 'smart ass' reply for when they ask in a polite voice (in a few months time), 'Are you doing me today?'

Laugh and tell them to )(**&&^%^%$$£$^& right off!

[simbo]

yeah been there, had a few in the last couple of weeks but i am afraid it gets to me so much i just drop them. At the end of the day they want good cleaner when it suits, we want good regular customers that are glad to see you. Unfortunately we will all get a lot of dodgy ones along the way, i just wish they could be honest right from the startbut it does nt seem to work like that.
keep it up, even though it gets you down
cheers simb0

[stevef]

Mat
To me it's all about self respect, even though I still need more customers I could not let any one treat me that way. You are a tradesman like any other and deserve the same amount of respect. They are just showing how lowly they regard you and your service. You are better than that, tell them to poke their job and smile to your self when you pass their dirty windows.

Jusy my opinion of course!

Steve

[tomo]

Matt

i always point out to the customer that i clean all year round as this is my full time job. I then tell them that as i am so busy i can't guarantee to take them on next time as i already have a waiting list because people know i am reliable and provide a good service!

 This for me has been true...but the number of customers that have decided to stay regular on my round because i am up front with them and tell it like it is has made it worth all the while...i havent canvassed for yrs now, so all my customers know what to expect year in and out....but every now and then a new customer who has moved onto my round will say about winter...i give them my angle and they always see my point and agree..there is always someone looking for a good window cleaner....like Tosh says they are hard to find!!

chin up show em who's boss

[ian davison]

Their a strange species the customer,where do they come from?
They think their doing us a massive favour!
I remember when i first started and i used to run around like a ****hole trying to please them.Ive become hardened to them now.
I dont think twice about dropping them if their remotly rude or difficult.
I take great pleasure in cleaning their next door neighbours windows while they can bearly see through theirs!
                Ewen

[rosskesava]

I find there is always something that rings some type of alarm bell with these situations like Matts, except that it's not realised untill months later when the customer becomes an obvious pain or starts being obviously arkward.

Last week a customer changed her mind when we called on her because of the weather that was being predicted. This was in spite of the fact I'd phoned her the night before. I was polite. Well, OK I did make a few comments about the previous nights conversation but I was diplomatic when I said that her husband, who is a chiroprater, charges the full amout for canceled appointments at the last minute.

What's interesting though is that the previous month she had been a little 'off' towards us and made a comment that during the previous cleans we'd missed some windows which was hogs wash.

Maybe there's something in it when a customer who has always been ok about things then either starts complaining or changes their attitude or when you get that 'something's a bit odd' type of feeling about them.

Cheers

[petetaylor56]

  dito ewan i do exactly the same now theres plenty more nice customers out that need our service  

[matt]

i dont ever phone them, i dont mind dropping in a note, or sending a e.mail

i have 2 choices :

a. put the price up by a fair amount next time they ask, and when they say why, explain its to cover my "winter period when people dont hae them done"

b. the same as point a, but add a "first clean surcharge on"

of course i should just drop them, but even though i have too much work, i still hate losing jobs, its a funny thing, i cannot explain it

[rosskesava]

Hi Matt

We catargorise our customers. Ones who we always phone. Ones who we can always do regardless - the 'just do it' customer. And those who phone us when they want us.

Then there is the grey area - those who want us to phone for no real reason other than that is what they want. I do not turn down work for the sake of a few phone calls.

Today we did a job. Worth £125 for 2 hours work for 3 of us. They like us to phone and give a time. For that money, I phone them happily every month. For them and a number of other good priced jobs, if we don't phone then forget it.

It would be nice not to have to phone anyone but practiacally speaking - what if you need access or something like that and as with the job we done today, they have guard dogs loose in the grounds.

Also, I think phoning customers help cements a secure business realtionship although not all need that but some do.

I have a window cleaner (I'm lazy) and all I require is either a text the day before or a phone call as otherwise he can't do the backs bacause of access. If he don't do that then he won't do the work and he won't get paid. So it is for some customers of ours also.

As for the sort of approach of whatever and you'll have to pay extra because and so on, I think it's a play it by ear and a bit of give and take thing. Some we charge extra for missing a few months and some we don't. It depends on so many factors.

Cheers

[Paul Coleman]

Matt

I would of never let things get that far,I have a 2 strikes and your out policy so basically if they once thats it i am on guard and ready to drop them on the next annoyance.
If the gate is locked i just do the front and they have to wait another month for the rear.
I never ever phone customers the night before.I fell into that trap once and now i refuse to do it,the simple reason when i get home work stops and thats it ,i have better things to do than worrying about phoning.
Sometimes when i get up i decide what i want to do and if i have phoned someone i have to stick to it and have less options of what to do.

Dave

David.  I'm even less tolerant than you.  I won't even quote for a job unless there is guaranteed access - regardless ofwhether the customer is in or out.  If I have time spare and they seem like OK people, I sometimes offer to do them there and then (at time of quoting) as a one off.  I did too much of this phoning the night before when I first started.  I left messages on peoples answering machines and still couldn't get access sometimes.  Those without answering machines I had to keep ringing back.  Never again.  No access, no job.  Simple.