[simon knight]

I find my customers don't like their windows being cleaned in the rain mainly due to the fact that lots of their houses are mid terrace (usually with no back access) which means me having to take my muddy self and ladders through their house dripping water everywhere. Also the ladders get slippery/dangerous. Also I don't like getting wet.

If I've started a job and it starts to rain it'd have to be of monsoon proportions for me to stop.

Just love those customers who when I show up say: I think it's gonna rain later can we leave it till next time round?

These people make me laugh (not)...do they think I do this job for a bloody hobby?

[Trevor Knight]

Just love those customers who when I show up say: I think it's gonna rain later can we leave it till next time round?

These people make me laugh (not)...do they think I do this job for a bloody hobby?

These are exactly the type of customers we don't entertain. When we take a customer on we explain we offer a full 12 monthly REGULAR service that means occassionally we may clean in inclement weather including rain. We explain this ensures that your windows stay clean and we dont have a build up of dirt and grime and also that we know who we are cleaning and when and if a customer insists that they don't want them cleaned then they MUST pay 1/2 the fee as compensation.

I know it is a hard nosed approach and some people will say they just cant demand such payments/terms etc.. but I have always maintained and always will, this is a business. When you allow customers to mess you about longer down the road they will be the pain in your a**e that you really dont want or need. Start as you mean to go on!

[simon knight]

Absolutely! 

I just walk away never to return. I'm looking forward to the day one of them phones me to say I've not been round for a while....I've got my reply ready...

" I can't come because it's going to rain some time after I've done them."

[craig jwc]

All my new customers and present ones all know that i give a Guarantee with all work i do.

I've told them if there's a problem with any of the windows after i have cleaned in the rain then to give me a call and i will come back and re-do the window in question.

Not had a problem so far.

Also told them that if i come back and find the problem is nothing to do with me, ie it's the insides after i have only cleaned the outside, then there will be a call out charge.

[twt]

some times i when im behind i work in the rain this week i couldn't cos i was busy with the retained firebrigade however i doubt i would have tried cos i think me wfp trolley would have got washed away in the water and maybe even my van suppose i could have gone back to trad with some weights on the bottom of the ladders.

[Russell Macdonald]

I had 2 customers come over to pay me for yesterday, it was lashing it down when i done them.

I asked if they were fine & was told the windows was perfect & was thanked as the cills needed doing, what can i say 

[Paul Coleman]

I find my customers don't like their windows being cleaned in the rain mainly due to the fact that lots of their houses are mid terrace (usually with no back access) which means me having to take my muddy self and ladders through their house dripping water everywhere. Also the ladders get slippery/dangerous. Also I don't like getting wet.

If I've started a job and it starts to rain it'd have to be of monsoon proportions for me to stop.

Just love those customers who when I show up say: I think it's gonna rain later can we leave it till next time round?

These people make me laugh (not)...do they think I do this job for a bloody hobby?

I don't do work with bad access myself but there is a way to resolve the slippery rung problem.  Just get footwear that is slip resistant (there is a BS kitemark number).  If it's the ladder that's slippery, there are some good devices to put underneath it though certain types of cloth or towel seem to work just fine.

[Ian Rochester]

We don't work if it starts raining too heavily, why, mainly because we don't like getting wet!

[Ian_Giles]

All my new customers and present ones all know that i give a Guarantee with all work i do.

I've told them if there's a problem with any of the windows after i have cleaned in the rain then to give me a call and i will come back and re-do the window in question.

Not had a problem so far.

Also told them that if i come back and find the problem is nothing to do with me, ie it's the insides after i have only cleaned the outside, then there will be a call out charge.

I like that....

I sort of do a similar thing, where domestics are concerned I tell my customers that if there is a problem I'll happily come back and rectify it, providing I'm called within 24 hours.
But I haven't thought of telling them there would be a call out charge if I am not responsible...I will from now on though

Commercial work? I'll do it in a monsoon, domestic, if it's peeing down I won't even get in the van..well, ok, I'll go get the papers and come home again!

A drizzly or showery day? Kinda depends, but I'll try and soldier on.

If it's very windy too then I won't bother, I know full well I'm wasting my time, the windows will be dirty again by the time I'm knocking on the door to collect the money.
It isn't the rain that is a problem, it's the wind, combine the two and as far as I'm concerned you have a stay at home day.

Bricklayers don't lay bricks in the rain, farmers don't hay-make in the rain, painters don't paint in the rain...and so on.
When you are at the mercy of the elements you have to take a common sense approach, there are conditions when window cleaning doesn't make any sense at all...you just have to be sensible, also the customer cannot expect perfect conditions all the time, they have to realise that...

Ian

[Trevor Knight]

Bricklayers don't lay bricks in the rain, farmers don't hay-make in the rain, painters don't paint in the rain...and so on.
When you are at the mercy of the elements you have to take a common sense approach, there are conditions when window cleaning doesn't make any sense at all...you just have to be sensible, also the customer cannot expect perfect conditions all the time, they have to realise that...

Ian

Hi Ian,

To be fair your comparisons above, personally, I don't think are similar to window cleaning? Bricklayers don't work because the cement will not set, Hay makers because the machines will clog up and the hay will rot, painters because the paint will not set properly?

Yes common sense has to prevail and agreed if it is a torrential downpour then w/c is not an option, but in reality, rain is rain, next time it is raining give one of your windows at home a clean and see for yourself the results. I was like most and an avid "NO CLEAN" in the rain business. Then I decided to try my own windows and was amazed,

We then used to knock in the rain, if out we would clean, if in we would ask.  Gradually over time, less and less said no and the ones who were out very rarely complained.

Now we work in the rain and crack on. Our customers are ok with this but most importantly I pay the wages every month, pay the bills every month and don't worry about a few days rain.

I used to hate it when a customer who was due at the end of the month used to complain I was late when I was trying to catch up with customers who hadn't been cleaned yet due to the rain. I would always say, well I can always come and clean your windows next time it rains, crazy, but true, sometimes people would say, yeah thats fine???

I guess in the end its our own mindset which either lets us work or makes us stay at home with the rain.

Question is, if we had 2 weeks solid rainy days, how long would it be before financially you had to say to yourself, sod it, I am going out to earn some money?

Maybe then you will be surprised just how many customers "are" ok about it?

Best wishes,

Trev

[xxmattyxx]

Bricklayers don't lay bricks in the rain, farmers don't hay-make in the rain, painters don't paint in the rain...and so on.
When you are at the mercy of the elements you have to take a common sense approach, there are conditions when window cleaning doesn't make any sense at all...you just have to be sensible, also the customer cannot expect perfect conditions all the time, they have to realise that...

Ian

Hi Ian,

To be fair your comparisons above, personally, I don't think are similar to window cleaning? Bricklayers don't work because the cement will not set, Hay makers because the machines will clog up and the hay will rot, painters because the paint will not set properly?

Yes common sense has to prevail and agreed if it is a torrential downpour then w/c is not an option, but in reality, rain is rain, next time it is raining give one of your windows at home a clean and see for yourself the results. I was like most and an avid "NO CLEAN" in the rain business. Then I decided to try my own windows and was amazed,

We then used to knock in the rain, if out we would clean, if in we would ask.  Gradually over time, less and less said no and the ones who were out very rarely complained.

Now we work in the rain and crack on. Our customers are ok with this but most importantly I pay the wages every month, pay the bills every month and don't worry about a few days rain.

I used to hate it when a customer who was due at the end of the month used to complain I was late when I was trying to catch up with customers who hadn't been cleaned yet due to the rain. I would always say, well I can always come and clean your windows next time it rains, crazy, but true, sometimes people would say, yeah thats fine???

I guess in the end its our own mindset which either lets us work or makes us stay at home with the rain.

Question is, if we had 2 weeks solid rainy days, how long would it be before financially you had to say to yourself, sod it, I am going out to earn some money?

Maybe then you will be surprised just how many customers "are" ok about it?

Best wishes,

Trev

Fair dues.


Still dont like getting wet here either though 

[Ian_Giles]

I agree, rain by itself isn't a problem, it's the combination of wind AND rain.
Cleaning in rain where there little wind, even quite heavy rain I don't mind, but it is the wind that for me is the problem, it picks up muck off the roads, and contaminants off tree's, hedgerows, shrubbery and so on, and if the wind is blowing hard enough to wet the walls above the windows you've just cleaned then muck off the walls will also get onto the glass.

The grey area of what is the cutoff point is where we all struggle to agree, it's judging that point at which you believe it is unrealistic to continue.

Ian

[Trevor Knight]

Agreed Ian,

The wind is not our best friend at times like this and your points are very valid indeed.

Like you said, its the cutoff point that seems to be the issue and I guess only us as individuals can decide when its best to call it a day.

 

[brett walker]

I have a customer that i do every 2 months a 40 quid house, it was due to be cleaned yesterday so i gave him a ring to say that i would be round as you cant do it when hes not in because of his alarm going off.  After 2 attempts to try and catch him and then twice phoning him yesterday he asked me if i could leave it another month because its forcast rain this week and he said last time i did them it started raining.  Dropped him there and then his excuses was not good enough i dont work in rain but id it starts while im doing a job i do finish it or i will work between the showers.

Annoying customers, i had a lady last week who said i didnt think you'd be round this week because of the rain, she jokingly said if it rains by 5 o'clock i want my money back its a 50 quid job so i can see where shes coming from.  She was overdue so i did it as i drove off it rained!

Brett

[TVCS]

The forecast said that we were due rain today so I moved a patio clean forward.
When I arrived she came out and asked if i would carry on even if it rained?  Slightly confused I replied yes. 
Well, wont the slabs get all wet. ( I had to bite my lip at this point)
 I was intending to get the slabs wet anyway, by way of all this pressure washing equipment was the only answer I could come out with.
Anyway, i finished the job, and was packing the bits and bobs away when she came out and said
They look lovely, i hope it dosent rain on them and mark them all.   
This woman was worried about her concrete slabs in the rain, I pitty her window cleaner.

[Luke Johnson]

just made me and my mum laugh!!! hahahahahah

[Dave Turley]

ha ha that's a good one..... i think she's one of my custy's   

[xxmattyxx]

when she came out and said
They look lovely, i hope it dosent rain on them and mark them all.   
This woman was worried about her concrete slabs in the rain, I pitty her window cleaner.

OMG, it just goes to show what we are up against sometimes.


I have one customer who asks me when I do her place how I got into their back garden to do the rear windows, as the gate is always locked. When I tell her I climb over the gate with my ladder she looks at me strange like Ive just burgaled her.

What does she want me to do, leave them? Shes the one that asked me to do her windows, I never asked her!! I just dont know what people expect sometimes. I thought she might be grateful or at least happy for showing willing.

Matt

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I have one customer who asks me when I do her place how I got into their back garden to do the rear windows, as the gate is always locked. When I tell her I climb over the gate with my ladder she looks at me strange like Ive just burgaled her.


Matt

I'd be tempted to say,"I've got anti gravity boots and just hovered over."

Had someone moan at me once for jumping over his gate, I apologized but he moaned again and again, at which point I said, "I do have plenty of work that I'm trying to get around, if you'd rather I can drop you." His face was a picture.

His wife came out 3 months after asking me to take them back on but I refused unless he would apologize. 

The old boy eventually died of a horrid painful stomach cancer and the wife then asked me again so I took her back on but at a nice new price in my favor.

The moral of the story, don't be grumpy and moan all the time as it will have an impact on your health and you may end up dieing a horrid death with no friends.

Simon.

Yes I do work in the rain providing it's not a monsoon.