[garry]

  today was the first time ever i have lost my temper with customer or should i say ex customer now .
 this is what pees me of with window cleaning you turn up at customers house and they say no more mate we found cheaper wc
thats ok by me but what really anoys me is they couldnt be bothered to ring and tell you so waste your time goin round there when could be somewhere else. i lost it a bit with them and had a few choice words for wasting my time not proud of just in heat of moment.
what im thinking of doing from now on is getting customers to sign 1 year contract with 1 months notice has anybody done anything like this or do you think its a good idea?
has anyone felt like punching customers or even done it or what sort of barneys you had with them let us know

[JM123]

its not easy mate - think most of us have been there, just try and remember that for every w****r there are 4 or 5 decent people, you were just unlucky.  Anyone that has said anything like this to me has been dumped but I always ask them why for the sake of a few pounds a month they would get someone else, not as reliable, doesn't do a good job etc

[windows_chepstow]

Garry,

I would be angry too, however and remember, we're self-employed; we're our own 'man', and the 'poo' we have to endure is much less than your average blue-collar worker has to put up with.

We also live in an age where you can pick and choose your supplier; especially when it comes to gas, electric, water, telephone and probably some others that don't spring to my mind right now.  This 'chop and change' or 'shop-around' mentality is fair enough and will affect us window cleaners.

I doubt this will be your last cancellation when it comes to someone underpricing you!  You just know it's going to happen.  Your ex-customer needs a pat on the back for being honest.  Normally they say their son/uncle/father is taking over the window cleaning duties; but you just know they've got themselves another window cleaner.

Anyway, with regards to punching customers; I've only felt like it twice; but kept it to myself.  Your reputation is far more important than the joy you'd get from giving someone who deserved it, a thick lip.

Just smile, thank them for their custom and resolve to never take them on again; especially when their cheaper window cleaner has packed up and moved elsewhere.

[Trevor Knight]

Totally agree with Tosh on this one.

All I would say is when they do pick up the phone because the other guy has failed to turn up, agree to take them back on but double their price.

Tell them you have replaced them and can only do it but have to go out of your way.

Then when they finally agree, you will have had the last laugh!!

Chin Up

Best wishes,

Trev

[P @ F]

I love it when a customer does that , had one today , he said , i still want you to do the windows , but can you only do it when im here !
That to me says , i dont trust you mate ,
I had great pleasure in telling him that i simply could not run my business that way and i would be cutting him from my list .
He will ask me to do them again , and i will say no !

 While i was in the street a SE plumber was working there and he asked me to start doing his house just up the road {bigger job }
So you see all the time wasters will get replaced , sleep easy mate !

 Rich   P @ F 

[abacus]

Hi 
we all have days like it, you could cut your prices to match or just be happy that you earn what you want a lot easyer that the chap hes found. every cloud and all that ,   cup half full ect       and yes I can be a little volatile caught on a bad day Ive not punched anyone but I am sorry to say I have let some know how I felt doesn't make me feel any better in fact I feel a lot worse.
I dont think people will want to sign up for a year most people dont like to commit to  much they expect you to but thats just a human trait.
lets face one less wont see you bankrupt and you know its just the weather for people to start looking youll pick up several over the next month if summer finally arrives chinup

regards grant

[chris@c.m.s]

I dont think the contract thing would work, sometimes I think how you  take things like that depends on your own self esteam, I will never place a customer above myself, its only when you see them as such rejection matters. Just look at it as its their loss, there's always a new customer around the corner.  

[Paul Coleman]

today was the first time ever i have lost my temper with customer or should i say ex customer now .
 this is what pees me of with window cleaning you turn up at customers house and they say no more mate we found cheaper wc
thats ok by me but what really anoys me is they couldnt be bothered to ring and tell you so waste your time goin round there when could be somewhere else. i lost it a bit with them and had a few choice words for wasting my time not proud of just in heat of moment.
what im thinking of doing from now on is getting customers to sign 1 year contract with 1 months notice has anybody done anything like this or do you think its a good idea?
has anyone felt like punching customers or even done it or what sort of barneys you had with them let us know

Well I've had several full and frank exchanges of opinions over the years but thankfully, it's pretty rare.  I take your point though.  It's not them going elsewhere that irritates me but the fact of going there and not being told beforehand.  I did put it to one customer that if they hadn't been in when I called, I would have just carried on cleaning and would have expected payment too.

[Londoner]

Yeah, been there. Tosh's comment about at least they were honest enough to say they had another, (cheaper) WC is valid.
You will probably find some to55er is going round the area trying to build up a round by undercutting. These people never last in my experience.

The worst thing that can happen is when they find fault as a way of "justifying" themselves. That hurts.

[pjulk]

I had one cancel today she's always been as good as gold.
The phone went and i got CANCELL MY WINDOW CLEANING hollard down the phone.

Anyway i asked her what the problem is and she said you should have been here yesterday and i don't like my windows being left wet.
Shes never there anyway so i can't see a problem.
I also pointed out when i took her on about 18 months ago that i told her that i will not stick to a certain day.

I think she was just after an excuse for cancelling and plus there has been a few new one's start up in the last couple of weeks so maybe someone has said they will do it cheaper.
Who knows.

Plenty more where she came from

Paul

[baldeagle]

I had one about two weeks ago - I did what was, normally, my first house of the day on that round - the customer paid me, and said "We shan't need you again".

Reckons he's going to do it himself.

He's in his eighties, grossly overweight, and I doubt he's ever climbed a ladder in his life!

I knew that there is a young lad doing a bit of canvassing in that street, [it's in Stafford].

So what the hell, we all started somewhere - I came into window cleaning just over a year ago, aged nearly 60 then, and it was all by accident - I didn't start out to do it, but I bloody love it.

I don't let the other W/C bother me - there's a hell of a lot of glass out there.

I took the money, thanked him, did two more houses, and was then called off the ladder by a fellow, who asked me, "Can you fit us in? Oh! and can you "do" the old lady next door?"

Of course I can, and what's more the two new ones have been taken on at a quid more than the ex-customer!!

Grin and bear it, and see it as an opportunity to clear out the dead wood!

Baldeagle in Staffordshire