[captain lard]

Funny day today, managed to get some work done this morning including an estate where I  have 4 houses all on a crossroads. When I pulled up saw there was a young lad down the street doing a house which I have never canvassed so was interested to see someone else in the area as I have never seen anyone else working this patch before. I had intended to canvass the other houses around the 4 I do but had never done so because over the winter/spring I have just been maintaining my existing customers as at the minute I am deciding whether to expand or pack in the windows. He did some more further down the street so seems to have a nice toe in. I waved over once when I was moving to another house but he either did not see or ignored me. I havent a problem as there are plenty customers about and he had not taken any of mine and fair play to the lad.
Then this afternoon my wife came in and said there were two window cleaners working in two of the local streets I do. Although I am currently working out what to do about my round I dont want to get muscled out of the work I have so I went straight out to talk to them. They were pulling away in their van but I flagged them down. I have to admit I was a bit agitated by this because but kept cool as in nearly 18 months of doing these 3 streets I have never seen another cleaner doing the job.
I asked what they were doing as I had been cleaning these streets since last year, not all of them but a good number. They said they had done jobs in the streets for at least two years but I have never ever seen them about.
I asked them which houses they did and they had a list of about 8 to a dozen houses and after scanning the list was relieved to see none of my customers were on it. I have about 55.
I decided then to laugh it off and explained I had a good number on those streets but my customers were different and explained that I did not want to pinch their customers or them nicking mine so we left on ok terms but it was strange to suddenly bump into other cleaners after never seeing anyone else on me travels.

[captain lard]

Looks like this is a classic 'tumbleweed' post, I must be getting exceptionally boring......I tried to delete it but was not allowed so apologies for wasting your time reading it...the shame....

[Alex Gardiner]

I read it! 

Mrs A

[captain lard]

Bless you!

[Tosh]

Capt,

There's no such thing as 'your patch', but don't worry mate, just be friendly with your fellow local window cleaners and you won't really be in competition with each other.

You've nowt to worry about.

[Neil_A]

lol.....  Competition....its great isnt it.... keeps you on your toes...

Where i live and clean theres are loads of window cleaners... they are all part timers tho who do it for exstra cash in there l reg escort!

They are all older then me...not that this makes any diffrence...

when we see eachother i say "alrite mate"  but some just look at me like im a bit of bird poop they have just scraped of there last customers livingroom window... then theres the odd 1 that will say something back....

I hear alot about all these window cleanings from my new customers... they say you dont know when they are coming from 1 month to the next, they just cloth the windows over and get there £4.80 and leave......

Some do make me larf!

[Chris Cottrell]

I'm friendly with most of the guys around me and also taking on some of the old chaps awkward work for him so he does not have to get up his ladder (he must be in his 60's, hands shake abit too)

[Clear Vision]

Wouldn't worry about it.

I was a way out cleaning in the sticks today. I have cleaned this house for little over a year now and have never seen any window cleaner out that direction before.

This house is detatched and there's a house right next door but thats the only 2 houses within 2-3 miles of the next.

As I walked around the back to start cleaning I saw a local window cleaner (who I know to say hello to) cleaning next door. We stopped for a chat and he was very interested in my wfp kit and how it worked as he was a trad cleaner.

It turns out he has been cleaning next door to my customer for 6 years and we have never seen each other cleaning these houses.

You  might think you are the only one cleaning in your area but sure as anything there are other window cleaners cleaning in the area you work in, it's just that you turn up on different day's and never cross each other.

[captain lard]

Capt,

There's no such thing as 'your patch', but don't worry mate, just be friendly with your fellow local window cleaners and you won't really be in competition with each other.

You've nowt to worry about.

'My patch' was a bad choice of words Tosh and I realise we dont have any right to any street exclusively, what I meant was I was worried they had done my customers, when I realised they had there own customers I was fine, having never seen them about had me a bit confused and worried as well at first.
I havent any problem with any of them trying to get on with it. It is a bit incredible we havent spotted each other before but there you go.

[huntercontractors]

what confuses me with posts like this is .... if you are confident you are doing a good job why would you worry about your customers leave why would they.
i clean on estates where we bump into the paranoid cleaners when they see you on "their patch" they frantically look at their numbers!!
but i do not worry as i know i do a top notch job!

it is funny to meet those shiners that do not want to talk to the opposition like we are iraq or something ha ha

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I've cleaned in some roads for 10 years and every now and then a resident comes out to ask do you clean windows round here? 

Yes I reply for the pat ten years.

Never seen you before, but we need a window cleaner.

What I'm saying is, that if some one who lives in the area doesn't see me even though I've been in a road well over 100 times before and have half the road stitched up then we who are only around once a month might not see another window cleaner that's only around once a month.

Simon.   

I might be talking nonsense though.

[KarlJones]

In the village I live in there must be a dozen window cleaners, none of them from this village and I don't do this village (there is just too much competition).  The weirdest thing is, new ones seem to appear every so often and then disappear.

I swear I am not eating the competition!

[captain lard]

what confuses me with posts like this is .... if you are confident you are doing a good job why would you worry about your customers leave why would they.
i clean on estates where we bump into the paranoid cleaners when they see you on "their patch" they frantically look at their numbers!!
but i do not worry as i know i do a top notch job!

it is funny to meet those shiners that do not want to talk to the opposition like we are iraq or something ha ha

A lot of my customers are elderly people and in the past one or two have had a one off clean done by an unknown cleaner and disrupted my operation. The customers didnt realise it wasnt me even when they paid or they were told I had jacked in. I wanted therefore to check there was no skullduggery going on, and there wasnt and there is not a problem. One of the streets is a week late because I was on holiday for a fortnight so that worried me a bit as well because I dont presume customers wont leave me and I  was not sure what was going on, some of my customers have told me they havent seen any other cleaners in three years yet these lads turned up today. just goes to show. My post was not a moan just a post of surprise, I dont feel threatened now but at the time was a bit concerned and I think that is understandable given the way things happened today. I do believe I do a good job but dont presume that is going to protect me from certain things.

[Paul Coleman]

Looks like this is a classic 'tumbleweed' post, I must be getting exceptionally boring......I tried to delete it but was not allowed so apologies for wasting your time reading it...the shame....

Well get a water pistol and squirt the windows they've cleaned after they've gone.  A few days later canvass the jobs   

[captain lard]

Thats an idea!!

[Ian Lancaster]

I'm friendly with most of the guys around me and also taking on some of the old chaps awkward work for him so he does not have to get up his ladder (he must be in his 60's, hands shake abit too)

Oi!!  watch who you're insulting

Us 60 Plus have got loads of expertise, gained long before you were born, my lad.

Those shaky hands are just one aspect of it - we only have to hold the scrim against the glass, and the shaking does the cleaning!!

Cheers,

Ian

[Chris Cottrell]

I'm friendly with most of the guys around me and also taking on some of the old chaps awkward work for him so he does not have to get up his ladder (he must be in his 60's, hands shake abit too)

Oi!!  watch who you're insulting

Us 60 Plus have got loads of expertise, gained long before you were born, my lad.

Those shaky hands are just one aspect of it - we only have to hold the scrim against the glass, and the shaking does the cleaning!!

Cheers,

Ian

I laughed when I read your reply Ian but then I realized that you may be serious, it was not meant as an insult I'm sure theres plenty of life in the old dog yet, its just that i'm not the only one thats noticed that he shakes, maybe its a medical condition but some of his custys worry about him too but dont like to say anything

Chris

[mark f]

never had a problem with window cleaners for 20 yrs till last week. I had two cancel in the same close by text!! Found out another window cleaner has canvassed there. So we shall see!! Picked up loads recently though so not to worry.