[fishman]

Having recently started my own business by purchasing a round. i decided to canvass the surrounding area.
I was told in no uncertain terms by another window cleaner that only he was allowed to work "his roads" and that i had better not canvass on his work.
I know that he has lost customers and they now want me to do their windows, can anyone offer advice, is there etiquette that backs him up or can i pick up his lost customers?

[JM123]

he has no right to tell you that whatsoever - there is an unwritten guide that says too not canvass other peoples work but its not a law, its down to the customer who they want, not him.  Personally I'd have told him to go and skip, I don't try and take work off anyone but at the same time NO ONE tells me where I'm allowed to canvass.

[paul mather]

of course you can pick up his lost customers. My moto is if a wcer does a good job & does'nt cost the earth then all the canvasing in the world will not take work off him.
I cleaned windows for years in my home town of Peterborough but when my wife decided she wanted to go back home to Warrington it meant I had to start from scratch.
No matter where I went I was going to step on someone elses patch. Even had my ladder kicked from underneath me by a right scally, but 6 years on have taken most of his work in that area off him cos he was a rubbish wcer.
So my advice is go for it. If the guy around there is good at what he does he has nothing to fear, if he isn't then he deserves all he gets.

[Moderator David@stives]

I certainly would stay away from other peoples patches where i used to live in manchester , the window cleaners were very terrotorial in certain areas.
Now i live in Cornwall its a free for  all, so no worries at all

I think inner city areas are worse than rural for so called patches

Dave

[paul mather]

Dave
I think it must be a northern thing. I knew & acknowledged most of the window cleaners in Peterborough but up here in Warrington I never cease to be amazed at the attitude of some wcers.
They are extremely territorial. I reported the incident where my ladders were kicked from underneath me to the cheshire police but apparently the offence was classed as common assault & each police force has the right to choose wether or not to prosecute such an offence. Needless to say Cheshire do not prosecute unless the offence is committed against a spouse.
So what that means is it's alright to kick a ladder from underneath a wcer but it's not alright to hit your wife.

[Paul Coleman]

Dave
I think it must be a northern thing. I knew & acknowledged most of the window cleaners in Peterborough but up here in Warrington I never cease to be amazed at the attitude of some wcers.
They are extremely territorial. I reported the incident where my ladders were kicked from underneath me to the cheshire police but apparently the offence was classed as common assault & each police force has the right to choose wether or not to prosecute such an offence. Needless to say Cheshire do not prosecute unless the offence is committed against a spouse.
So what that means is it's alright to kick a ladder from underneath a wcer but it's not alright to hit your wife.

Common assault?  Kicking a ladder from under someone while they are on it has the potential to be classified as attempted murder - though proving intent would be the drawback.

[Sir Squeaky]

So what that means is it's alright to kick a ladder from underneath a wcer but it's not alright to hit your wife.

Wonder if I can get the missus up a ladder then?

[Trevor Knight]

Having recently started my own business by purchasing a round. i decided to canvass the surrounding area.
I was told in no uncertain terms by another window cleaner that only he was allowed to work "his roads" and that i had better not canvass on his work.
I know that he has lost customers and they now want me to do their windows, can anyone offer advice, is there etiquette that backs him up or can i pick up his lost customers?

In this situation just carry on as normal. As long as you are not undercutting his work and deliberately poaching his work he has no Issues. If he gets heavy with you report him to the police as what he is trying to initiate is illegal!!

Trev

[ronaldo]

NO !!

[Moderator David@stives]

Fishman

USe your own judgement weather to tango with these guy, Just be careful, if i thought it would be too much hassle i would just move on.

Its alright saying confront these guys or call the police, you need to feel safe whilst you work.

The estate i grew up on as a kid was one of the roughest in the UK and i know how ruthless some people can be and with all the will in the world i would not clean on that estate.
Try telling the guys who clean that estate they dont have sole rights, believe me you wouldnt want to

I am not a coward ,just sensible

Dave

[Londoner]

I tend to agree with Dave on that. Although you have the right to do so is it really worth going head to head with this guy?
After all the world is full of windows?

[macc]

Dave
I think it must be a northern thing. I knew & acknowledged most of the window cleaners in Peterborough but up here in Warrington I never cease to be amazed at the attitude of some wcers.
They are extremely territorial. I reported the incident where my ladders were kicked from underneath me to the cheshire police but apparently the offence was classed as common assault & each police force has the right to choose wether or not to prosecute such an offence. Needless to say Cheshire do not prosecute unless the offence is committed against a spouse.
So what that means is it's alright to kick a ladder from underneath a wcer but it's not alright to hit your wife.

Common assault?  Kicking a ladder from under someone while they are on it has the potential to be classified as attempted murder - though proving intent would be the drawback.

[paul mather]

Vince
Yes you are right the world is full of windows but you try finding an area where there isn't a window cleaner. Not always easy, as I found out.
I think the key is to use your common sense, if there is a whole gang of them & just one of you then discretion may be the better part of valor, even though you have the law on your side. Even then it wouldn't stop me from going there I would just find out what days they are normally around & then avoid them like the plague.

[jeff1]

these guy's don't sound to good.

In cases like your's, its always best to be a live chicken, rather than a dead hero.

If they find out you have gone on there patch it could mean more trouble than its worth, you can't say what day they will be there, I don't think any wc sticks to the same day?

[Clear Vision]

I don't care if a window cleaner comes into my so called "patch". Thats up to them. I am polite & will allways pass the time of day with them. I have confidence in my own work so i'm not affraid of other window cleaners coming in about my work.

I don't care where I look for work I will go anywhere but one thing I do not do is diliberatley steel other window cleaners work.

[julianbiggs]

I have just had an interesting situation. One of my customers recommended me to her friend who lives in a leafy little village near me. New estate big houses, some 3 storey. I went and did a quote, she said her current window cleaner spent about 15 minutes there traditional, well i'm a traditional window cleaner and if he could do it in 15 minutes he must be superman !!! she was happy with the quote, i went back 3 days later...did the windows.... she was really pleased with the standard of the clean...i now have 11 new  customers in that one road... i don't care about "owning" the road or "his right"... I'm sorry, he did a rubbish job, charged the same as me... and im not cheap £16-£22 per house..so they were not happy with him,  and now theyve got a good window cleaner.

IF YOU DO A GOOD JOB YOU WON'T LOSE CUSTOMERS, I'VE NEVER LOST ONE, HE'S JUST LOST 11!!! SIMPLE.

[thewindowcleaner1]

I've Had phone calls warning me not to canvass "Thier" customers, I replied that if they marked "thier" customers doors with a red cross then I would pass by them.

I've had e-mails warning me to leave "thier" husbands customers alone and calling me a cowboy.

I,ve even had a vehicle petrol bombed (no proof related to windowcleaning)

But I still canvass by area, selecting the propertys that I want to clean, I do not go out to take work of other Wc's but if I am asked for a price I will give one (the price that I want to charge to make my targeted income) most times it is higher than  they have paid but I still get the work, if in this prosses I take work from someone else then I'm sorry but thats life...I've also passed  work that I don't want onto other window cleaners, I was recently offered 70 customers which because of parking problems (WFP) I turned down then a new fella came on the block and I put him in contact with the offer

I've said it before on this forum If you opened a new pub you would go all out to take trade off other pubs with all the tools at your disposal, special offers, cheaper drinks, more services, Tv screens ect ..have the other licencees got the right to say leave our customers alone..
 we live in a free market place and you are only as good as the last clean you did

But before you take on the world be sure you can take the stress of having a nudge from time to time..

[fishman]

Thanks for the replies lads, proceed with caution i think is the order of the day! would anyone be able to let me have a copy of a quote form as i dont know how to put one together, cheers!