[welmac]

right, bear with me on this!
i bought £380 of domestic work from a window cleaner for 3 cleans. the guy i was buying it from was happy to accept £300 cash upfront, a carbon pole i was "selling" to him for the amount of £380 and then a final payment of £480.

so i gave him the cash first, and then began cleaning the work. the second house i got to told me that this man had never cleaned their windows, so i got on the fone to him and he explained and apologised that he must of made a mistake. fair enough, no ones perfect! the fourth house i got to.....nope, he doesnt clean here, we stopped him a couple of months back. Hmmmmm! by the end of the day i had "lost" £50 worth of work! i expected to lose a couple but never this much.

next day.......loads of queries on the prices he had given me. so again i rang him and he explained how he had increased the price but hadnt been able to tell every one!!!!!!!!!!!! so i turn up, explaining how im the new window cleaner, oh and by the way your windows are now more!!!

and theres more..............!

next group of houses: hey your not using that pole in here (i only do WFP), the old guy always used ladders. again i get on the fone to him, and ask whats going on? he told me when i was agreeing to buy the round that EVERY HOUSE WAS WFP.

well i had had enough. i cancelled the cheque i had just posted him, and we both agreed that we needed to have a sit down and come to a new agreement on the price for the trouble i was having.

anyway, today he has rung me telling me that he is going to take the work back and start it again this coming friday, so he wants his book back with all the house numbers. no problem i say, just return my £300 and we will leave it at that.

Well he hit the roof!!! he said: "how can you call yourself a window cleaner when you dont even have a set of ladders". what?? so now its my fault that you lied to me and told me that i didnt even need them on this round?

so basically hes not gunna give me any money back, but hes returning to his customers on friday............any advice/ideas what you would do??? (violence not being an option please  )

thanks for being patient! 

[abacus]

Hi If you have a written record take the matter to a solicitor

if not you have little come back I might be tempted to take a photo of H&s infringments and send them in.
Or write a letter letting all the customers know what he has done explain the new rules and also appeal to them as you have paid for the busines and if he has done this he will probably do it again to them you will of course give them a first class service

it may also be fruad to sell something on a different bases than it really is - saying a price is set but not informing the customer? His time being take up by the police might have some effect!

I think a letter to the customers might be the quickest and at least you will know where you stand  good luck I hope it pans out for you

regards grant

[Art]

What's his reason for not returning your money?

[jouk45]

if thats the way he wants to play it welmac, what to do is take half of what you payed for, give him the other half of the customers, the ones that are canceling, and disagreeing about the prices, you keep the good ones, put that to him and see what he says, sorry but hes taken the p##ss out of your good nature,

[rosskesava]

I'd write it off and put it all down to experience. I know that may sound harsh but without anything in writing it may in the end work out the simplest and cheapest.

The only chance you may have to get your money back is through the small claims court.

A solicitor would cost a small fortune and if you don't win, then you'd still have to pay the solicitor. I've been there already. The court concluded we'd bought work based on hearsay and more fool us.

Just mark it up to experience.

Cheers

[jeff1]

If you still have his book, then make an appointment for citizens advice, you will get half an hour with a solicitor free of charge.do it this way and at least you know were you stand.

[Trevor Knight]

Hi Welmac,

Its easy as I see it.

No Money, NO Book !!

You have acted in a professional and honest way and have done nothing wrong. It appears to me that the guy has now realised your not going to just accept the customers complaints and feels you will be more hassle to him, therefore, if he gets his book back he may be able to sell it to someone not quite as sharp!!

The points he raised about WFP is nonsense. Did he stipulate what method you should use or was he more interested in your cash I wonder??

Is he a company?? If so report him to the Trading Standards and report him to the police for his working ethics.

I would also copy his book out, then pop a letter through EVERY door explaining that you had intended to take over his round but it didn't work out, however, should they wish for you to continue or should he let them down please contact me 01234 XXXXXXX

If he asks why you have done that explain that you are a reputable company and do not wish the customers think bad of you, all you have done is explain that your're not continuing and if they ever need you they have your number.

Thats the non violent way, personally I would wait for him to get up his ladder and show him just what the WAH directive is about!!! What a w****r

Best wishes,

Trev

[ronaldo]

This is why and it is only my opinion that buying work is 9 times out of 10 dodgy but i do no of wcs going down this avenue and getting a good result but i have a good pal who recently paid just over £4000.00 for a lot of commercial work in Birmingham and his kick in the B######s was after 2 cleans 70 percent of them cancelled.

I just wander if they are using the old wc again, the good thing is that all this was
exchanged via a solicitor and the matter is now back in his hands.

GOLDEN RULE ON THIS< FIND YOUR OWN WORK OR BE VERY VERY CAREFULL.

[mark dew]

right, bear with me on this!
i bought £380 of domestic work from a window cleaner for 3 cleans. the guy i was buying it from was happy to accept £300 cash upfront, a carbon pole i was "selling" to him for the amount of £380 and then a final payment of £480.

3 X face value.
Although a couple of people have had a negative experience with them, doorknockers do get alot of good feedback and they only charge 2 X face value.
And their bad feedback is nothing underhand.
Try them.
At least try and canvass the addresses you have.

Let us know how this works out.

good luck

mark

[welmac]

i have still got his book that he has been using for the past year or so with all the numbers in it.

his reason for not returning any money is that: "i have cleaned some of the work so thats my money back"..........??

what really annoys me is that before i agreed to get the work i made him work out to the penny what it should bring in a month and stressed numerous amounts of times that i only wanted work that was WFP, and he assured me it WAS ALL WFP, and the amount was £380 per month. (i did this because guess what, the previous guy i got work off did the exact same thing). well it wasnt £380 per month (due to him increasing prices without informing customers) and they were not all WFP houses!

up to now, i have "explained politely" that he is not getting his book, but he has replied saying that hes managed to remember the numbers so doesnt want it now. he is coming to clean the work this friday regardless.

i could go and see him when he does, but ive got a feeling this isnt a good idea (for obvious reasons ).

i have thought of going around the customers and speaking to them, but the problem with this, is this guy has been cleaning them for a few years and he does actually have a good standing with most of them. so if i turn up with my "story", and then he turns up with his on friday, i think the majority will believe him over me  .

let you know how i get on.

moral of the story............just cos you think you know someone doesnt mean they still wont rip you off!!!!!!!!!!!

[Trevor Knight]

Welmac,

Write a letter and drop it through everyones house that is in his book.

Two reasons,

1) Explain what has happened.

2) If he is selling he has aready lost interest and is less likely to maintain this round on a regular basis if at all. At least when he doesn't turn up they will call you and you get the customer back on your books.


Think about it, he tried to rip you off, failed, lost his book and now says, oh yeah, I can remember them. The chances of him actually getting out there I would say is less than 20%, the chances of him continuing on a regular basis is probably zero!

Don't let him walk away from this, take action and take it tomorrow evening. People like to deal with epople they can trust, lets face it, we clean peoples houses when they are not in, so trust is a BIG issue.

Keep going and like I said earlier, report him to Trading Standards/ Helath and Safety/ Tax man the list is endless.

best wishes,

Trev

[welmac]

Write a letter and drop it through everyones house that is in his book.

Two reasons,

1) Explain what has happened.

2) If he is selling he has aready lost interest and is less likely to maintain this round on a regular basis if at all. At least when he doesn't turn up they will call you and you get the customer back on your books.

well i think i know what im doing in the morning!!!!!!

thanks!

[windows_chepstow]

Also,

Ensure the money you have paid and the worth of the pole is written as an expense against your taxes.

Keep the book and any other paperwork you have to support your explanation; should you ever have to explain it!

At least this way, you'll pay less tax, so won't have lost out too much.

[pjulk]

Wouldn't that be classed as theft.
You can't sell something and just take it back.

I would contact the police.
And tell him im doing it he might just change his mind.

Paul

[paul west]

why dont you just clean the windows on thursday the day before  and get your money back that way

[awl]

right, bear with me on this!
i bought £380 of domestic work from a window cleaner for 3 cleans. the guy i was buying it from was happy to accept £300 cash upfront, a carbon pole i was "selling" to him for the amount of £380 and then a final payment of £480.

so i gave him the cash first, and then began cleaning the work. the second house i got to told me that this man had never cleaned their windows, so i got on the fone to him and he explained and apologised that he must of made a mistake. fair enough, no ones perfect! the fourth house i got to.....nope, he doesnt clean here, we stopped him a couple of months back. Hmmmmm! by the end of the day i had "lost" £50 worth of work! i expected to lose a couple but never this much.

next day.......loads of queries on the prices he had given me. so again i rang him and he explained how he had increased the price but hadnt been able to tell every one!!!!!!!!!!!! so i turn up, explaining how im the new window cleaner, oh and by the way your windows are now more!!!

and theres more..............!

next group of houses: hey your not using that pole in here (i only do WFP), the old guy always used ladders. again i get on the fone to him, and ask whats going on? he told me when i was agreeing to buy the round that EVERY HOUSE WAS WFP.

well i had had enough. i cancelled the cheque i had just posted him, and we both agreed that we needed to have a sit down and come to a new agreement on the price for the trouble i was having.

anyway, today he has rung me telling me that he is going to take the work back and start it again this coming friday, so he wants his book back with all the house numbers. no problem i say, just return my £300 and we will leave it at that.

Well he hit the roof!!! he said: "how can you call yourself a window cleaner when you dont even have a set of ladders". what?? so now its my fault that you lied to me and told me that i didnt even need them on this round?

so basically hes not gunna give me any money back, but hes returning to his customers on friday............any advice/ideas what you would do??? (violence not being an option please  )

thanks for being patient! 

hi welmac

we never buy any round off  no one, its only the good will you are buying, and means nothing, if a costumer dont like the look of you , they get another window cleaner,  we all learn by our mistakes, sorry this as happened to you.
mandy and angie

[craig jwc]

Why not name him in the local newspaper and explain what has happened.
 
I would also go to the Police and see what they have to say because i'm sure this is classed as theft.

He might try it again with someone else and do exactly the same.

At least putting it in the local paper will probably let most of his customers see what he is really like (untrustworthy) and hopefully and new customers he's likely to get.

Craig

[Paul Coleman]

Why not name him in the local newspaper and explain what has happened.
 
I would also go to the Police and see what they have to say because i'm sure this is classed as theft.

He might try it again with someone else and do exactly the same.

At least putting it in the local paper will probably let most of his customers see what he is really like (untrustworthy) and hopefully and new customers he's likely to get.

Craig

They would not print it.  Without proof it is libellous.  Even truth is not always a defence against libel.

[macc]

Hi Welmac.

I would keep the book like Trever said & also get some legal advice. Unfortunatly there is people out there that think its alright to con others. 

Giving him a slap may make you feel better  & i think people like that deserve it but why lower yourself to his level.

Get some advice but dont hand the book over. If you come to the conclusion its a no win, put the book though the shredder. 

Macc

[jinky230]

Welmac this guy sounds like a fly by night

tell him that you have passed the details onto your solicitor, and it is now out of your hands including the book."So sorry I cant talk to you as you will need to deal with my solicitor", keep your cool while doing this.He will panic and try to come up with some solution for you to withdraw from the solicitor, as he wil be afraid that more than just a window cleaning round will come out into the open
regarding his affairs.Tell him" if you want to carry on then that is fine, my solicitor told me that I have an open and shut case, so I will get my money back anyway"
"oh and by the way you will have the court costs as well.Thank you for your time but I must move on now I am busy"

you dont need to approach a solicitor- but basically bluff your case, and I would be surprised if this does not work

you have nothing to lose- you are using the fear of opening a can of worms for him

hope this helps jinky