I arrived at a house on a new-build estate last week, and as I got there, some ladder boys pulled up at the house next door, which was identical to mine.
3 of them got out, and I said hello politely, they said hello back.
I was trying to watch as I was interested to see how 3 people would clean a medium sized 3-bed detached house. In particular I was interested to see how one of the group, who got out the car carrying only a 6-inch squeegee, would get on. Another was carrying only a mop.
LOL! Oh man I wish I’d filmed it.
First, one of them took 5 minutes to untie a set of ladders off the roof rack. (It was tied on with blue rope). Nobody helped, the others just stood around.
Then the ladder untier set them up at the window while mop man got the bucket out of the boot. Mop man then climbed the ladder while ladder man went back to the car and started untying another set of ladders!
I lost track a bit at this point because I finished the fronts and went to the back, but from what I can gather, mop man came down the ladder after mopping, and squeegee man went up! All the while, ladder man was untying ladders.
When I finished my house (approx 15 mins) I started packing up, and all 3 were scrimming the ground floor windows at the front.
They were just moving both sets of ladders to the back as I drove off.
Possibly the least efficient window cleaning operation I’ve ever seen. 3 people managed to do half of a house in the same time it took me to do the whole thing.
These lads were not scruffy looking, not uniforms or branded clothes, but they looked smart enough. I actually felt a bit sorry for them. It was obvious that only squeegee man knew how to squeegee so they just tried to work around him.
How these types make any money is a mystery.