[Steve kiff]

Had a phone call at 9am this morning from a potential customer. This is how the call went.

Me:  Good morning SJK window cleaning

c:    Hello are you the guy that cleans windows

me:   Yes hello I am steve the local window cleaner, how may I help you?

c:   how much do you charge?

me: To give you an accurate quote i would have to see you property, however to give you an idea of prices, a 3 bed semi including all you pvc frames cleaned will be around £ 9.

c:  well thats far to expensive, my last window cleaner only charged me £4.

me: im sorry sir but i am uniformed, insured, reliable & i pay tax and national insurance. I just would not be prepared to do the job for as little as 4 pound.

c:   nevermind i think i will leave it this time. £9 is just far too much.


Are these people on another planet?   ha ha

[Tom White]

Yep.  I know many here don't like giving quotes over the telephone, but I will if I suspect the person phoning me is unwilling to pay a reasonable price for a reasonable job; it sorts the wheat from the chaff without having to go and visit the property.

[GB Window Cleaning]

  good one

[Steve CM]

4 quid in Northampton. Some people just don't know how to run a business

[EandM]

Yes - These people are on another planet.

Customer muppetry never ceases to amaze me!

[bobby p]

week before xmas an old bird came over to speak to me,
how much to do my 1 bed house?.
well im doing this one here for 6 quid,its every 6 weeks,theyre every six weeks at 6 quid ,every time
 mm,well i only want it doing as ive family coming over and i tell you now its really dirty
tell u what as its a 1 off i can do it for ten quid ,do it today ,one time only
 oh no not ten,i wont pay 10 and i wont pay 8

ok,lets just forget it then
 yes bye  

[Jackal]

week before xmas an old bird came over to speak to me,
how much to do my 1 bed house?.
well im doing this one here for 6 quid,its every 6 weeks,theyre every six weeks at 6 quid ,every time
 mm,well i only want it doing as ive family coming over and i tell you now its really dirty
tell u what as its a 1 off i can do it for ten quid ,do it today ,one time only
 oh no not ten,i wont pay 10 and i wont pay 8

ok,lets just forget it then
 yes bye  

mad,wont pay £10 for a one off this would of really annoyed me

[Mr. S]

  Do people not realise some of us are running a proper business not a charity!!!!!
It really does amaze me sometimes!

[Ian101]

Had 1 a few months back ... he rang me and asked me to give him an idea of 3 bed with small conny so said cant give a price without seeing the house ... well the last window cleaner charged me £8 says he .... mmmm well my minimum is £10 (now £12) ok he says but I wont pay a penny more than £10 ... so goes to take a look and conny friggin massive so says sorry would have to be £12 should have been £16 in reality but too soft in them days ....

NO NO NO NO says the chap £10 or leave it

errr OK I will leave it  

had a late plate Merc on drive and a nearly new Honda Jazz for the missus


I do a few in the road and his windows are now minging .... was hoping he asked me again but still waiting ... price now be £18 

[jonboywalton75]

I had these exchanges of messages with a potential custie.

Hi, please could you give me an approx price to clean my fascias, gutters and windows for the upstairs only. As my neighbour decided to clean his gutters out with a jet wash! And got all of mine filthy! It is something that my husband could do himself, but we are quite busy with work at the moment, so if it was cheap enough I'd rather just get it done.
There will be 5 windows to include window sills gutters and fascias only on the upstairs of house, house is 3 bed semi, in (location). Just as 1 off job.
Many thanks
Heather


Hi Heather,
If you let me know your address i can have a look and quote you,
Cheers,
Jon



I then replied with a written quote for £40.00. I thought i could do the job in around an hour to the standard required


Hi,

Thanks for the quote, to be honest its quite a bit more than I had anticipated for the job, I had budgeted a max of £30, could you match this figure? As it would be greatly appreciated.



Hi Heather,
Sorry it would not be worth my time to do the job for less.
Thanks for the emails though,
Regards,
Jon


I would have to be desperate to lower my prices like that.
She emailed two other windies, both approx ten miles from her property (i am 1 mile away), does anyone really think they would drive to quote and then do the job for £30.00


Custies

[Ian101]

u can just smell trouble there .... u missed a bit ..... its still dirty between gutter and fascia ... is a cheque ok ... I will pay you online later etc etc etc

[Jackal]

that sounds cheap aswell,tight c@w,iv quoted a really green one before and they wernt happy with price so husband ended up doing it,he got the worst of it off but still looked really cr@p 

[CraigBlues]

Unfortunately this is the world we now live in!

Plus there is always one idiot!

[GB Window Cleaning]

i get a warm feeling inside when they say things like "oh no i'd only pay a tenner" and i reply with "sorry that is the price, thankyou for your time, bye" i feel there eyes on me as a walk away with a smirk. 

i like to think at that moment in time ive made them realise that window cleaning is a business like any other and there talking to a business man not a smuck on the doll doing it for beer tokens 

regards

george

[concept]

9 quid for a 3 bed semi in Northampton. Some people just don't know how to run a business

Fixed.

[colley614]

I always ask when their last window cleaner charged them 68p for their 3 bed semi.

Then I always ask them if their wages have gone up in that time after I've told them the reason why he disappeared is that he was underpricing the job and now the unemployment office will have found him a new job in mcdonalds or stacking shelves in asda. I tell them that I've invested thousands of pounds into my business and for them prices I would be better off on minimum wage.

[Simon@ Clearview contractors]

Alarm bells start ringing for me when the customer tells me "it's not a big job" or "it wont take you that long to do"...

The one I refuse to do are the customers who tell me that they want their driveway or plastics "cleaned up like brand new" avoid avoid avoid!!!

[GB Window Cleaning]

I always ask when their last window cleaner charged them 68p for their 3 bed semi.

Then I always ask them if their wages have gone up in that time after I've told them the reason why he disappeared is that he was underpricing the job and now the unemployment office will have found him a new job in mcdonalds or stacking shelves in asda. I tell them that I've invested thousands of pounds into my business and for them prices I would be better off on minimum wage.

very true mate well said sir

[andyM]

I always ask when their last window cleaner charged them 68p for their 3 bed semi.

Then I always ask them if their wages have gone up in that time after I've told them the reason why he disappeared is that he was underpricing the job and now the unemployment office will have found him a new job in mcdonalds or stacking shelves in asda. I tell them that I've invested thousands of pounds into my business and for them prices I would be better off on minimum wage.

You shouldn't have to justify your prices to anyone. If they think your price is too expensive for them then they are not the type of customer you wanted anyway.  

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

think a doley boys doin it for drugs