[Paul Coleman]

right here goes

monday -- day off, had a nice day

tuesday -- go off to clean on a new estate near me ( my MP3 broke, not a problem, 10 quid online, but no music allways puts me in a bad mood ) , goes well in the morning, then i get some idiot complain because im 2 weeks late, i know im 2 weeks late, i didnt work much in july ( because of the rain ) i explain this, she says " im not interested in excuses " fair enough, i then say next time i will pop and do them in the rain, she says " i dont want them done in the rain ", i just carry on with the clean and get paid

DUMPED

next house, i picked up last time, it hasnt been done for 3 years, its a MOD house, i expained last time i come around 6 weeks ( depending on the weather ) she was happy with that, i knock on the door to get paid, i clean the tops TWICE on first cleans, they were filthy, she pays me, and then says " i dont want them done next time, i will have them done the week B4 Christmas " i explain i dont mind every other clean, but thats it, she says " knock on the door before you do them, if im in i will either say Yes or No  this really pee'd me off as we had agree'd every 6 weeks

DUMPED

Today --  i clean a few houses, i get to a house that owes me 2 cleans , they say " oh i didnt realise you had done them " i explain they would have had a ticket each time AND then on thursday i ticket to say i had missed them for collection " ( i dont normally collect, except this local estate, i sometimes walk my dog around whilsst collecting ), they then say " well we dont really care if they are clean or not , its not important " ( i will return to this point in a bit )

i then do a few more houses, get to this house and clean the first window upstairs, clean the cill with what look like a pile of bird mess, i clean the next window and get a really bad smearing effect, i bring my brush down and  it turns out to be something that the lads of the house had squirted out of the window, i thought it was hair gel ( not a issue its water based ) it turns out to be some kind of grease i try and clean the brush on the wall, try it on a dowstairs window, it drys with loads of greasy/ oily spots, i get the ladder off my car and try and clean them, no joy, they look crap ( i only put them on to fix a Downpipe for some1 ) i go home and clean the brush with fairy and hot water, seems ok, return to the house, stil drys all oily i would have called it a day now BUT i had asked 3 to unlock side gates, so i wanted to get them done, i return home, take off old brush and fit all the fittings to a new brush i had, off i go again, i left the house it happened on as i couldnt see how i would fix the problem, i hope 6 weeks of sun / weather will help and i had spent 2 and 1/2 hours messing around on that house, off i go to the next house, i do a few more and the wife of the house comes home , i explain to her what happened, my husband will be home in a bit speak to him, i speak to his and he says " its that little poo of a boy" and he laughs and says " been a bad day for you then " i explain, yes to the tune of 2 and 1/2 hours wasted and brush ( worth 20 quid ) wasted " the guy just laughed

DUMPED

i pack up my kit and decide to phone around a few of my contacts in the building game

now, sure 1 bad day ( today ) and 1 allmost bad day ( yesterday ) isnt the end of the world

<SNIP>

another thing, lack of challenge, now as people will know, ive been doing this for 4 and 1/2 years now ( so only a beginner ) the first challenge was to be able to use the sqeegee right, i picked up that, then i moved to WFP and that was a challenge, now i have nothing left to test me, i know i can use both methods to do a good job, so i have nothing left to challenge me in anyway

i have a nice round, very compact, enough work for 4 days a week with a 6 week turnaround, so why am i not happy ?? ??

You've supplied your own answer Matt.
The bit that stood out for me was the  "another thing, lack of challenge,"  .
The hassles you describe are quite common in W/Cing.  I get far less of them in recent years because I just dump the awkward ones.  Life can have enough hassles without troublesome customers.  For me, the best bit about being self-employed is having some control over my work environment.  A customer that tries to take too much of that away becomes an ex-customer.

[mark dew]

right here goes
ive been thinking for a while now, do customers really care about the clean windows, as im getting more and more of a impression they dont really care, as long as they are clean-ish, they are happy, now i have allways done jobs the best i can, if it takes a extra few mins, then so be it, but im really struggling with the feeling that they just dont care

Matt are you going through a midlife crisis and need to feel wanted??

It doesn't really matter what the customers think or whether they care. The vindication that they do care is when that cash or cheque gets put in your hand.
If that doesn't happen or they grind you down than follow shiners great advice.
Try earning your money doing the same hours elsewhere.

It is amazing though how a bad week can lead to thoughts of packing in. It just goes to show how good this life really has been to you.
Another day another feeling.
Enjoy

[matt]

It is amazing though how a bad week can lead to thoughts of packing in. It just goes to show how good this life really has been to you.
Another day another feeling.
Enjoy

Im the first to admit, my life has been good, ive been lucky with choices and the dice have fallen my way but i want it to stay that way, not fall into a slump and end up resenting window cleanng

ive got a cold ............ or it could be " man flu " right now and fell like crap, i guess that dont help matter

[dai]

It never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate some customers are. Some will sit there and let you climb over a gate before they would get off their arses to open it.
Some will keep you waiting at the door for 5 mins before finding the money to pay.
Others will refuse to open the door to you when you know they are in, cause the windows you just pushed shut are open again.
You leave tickets to say you have cleaned the windows, come back next day and they haven't got any money. "I didn't know you were coming", when you've been going there every month for 10 years.
We are expected not to mind mine fields of dog poo, piles of garden furniture and kids toys stacked behind the gate, Barbies being placed next to patio doors with grease spots all over them.
The majority of customers never give us a thought, until we knock for the money. They wouldn't even notice we had been unless we left a slip, and half the slips seem have gone unseen. I have cleaned for some customers for years, and they still leave the cheque blank where my name should be.
Some see us as monthly muggers, they open the door, see us, and their body language tells us to f--- off.
Matt, we all have them mate, they are just a means to an end. Their pennies pay for the really important things, our families.
When my son left home to do a two year Y.T.S fishing course he was just 16. I shed a tear at the time, I was choked for days, I was losing my best mate and fishing partner. It was time to let go, time for him to take the next step in life.
It's the same for your daughter mate, time to take the next step.
NOW GET OUT THERE NEXT WEEK, AND TAKE NO CRAP. Dai

[xxmattyxx]

Excellent Ben, very good and too true !! 

Now, Matt, when I came across this forum I suddenly realised I wasn't alone when it came to PITA customers. After Bens excellent post can you not pull yourself up, expand your chest, breathe in deep, stretch your arms out wide and take it on the chin. THIS HAPPENS TO US ALL, but now we can deal with these twots together, dont let 'em get you down, dump 'em and move forward.

[Pole2pole]

Ben, you deserve a beer for that one  We aint alone are we? I think the waiting for the cheque book to be found AFTER we knock for collection has to be the mother of all groans in this job. Good posting fella.

[matt]

so its not just me then

i was only saying last week how i had a round that i had got rid of my PITA customers, then a few come at once ( 2 new customers to be honest ) and it somwhat got to me

Oh and i still have this tropical flu 

[matt]

i went to town today, mainly to pay in some cheque and tax the car

i bumped into a customer " why are you not cleaning today " now ive cleaned these for over 4 years, thry know i only work 3 days, they said Hello to my daughter and said how pretty she looked in her pink top and shorts

they said " your daddy cleans our windows, he does a great job, here is some money for some sweeties " my daughter said " thank you , lets go and buy some "

somewhat put me in a better mood

[geefree]

so are you staying or leaving lol  :

[TCs window cleaners]

KEEP YOUR CHIN UP MATT

[Pole2pole]

Yo matt...Sorry to hear you've still got your tropical flu bud. That's bad. Have the doctors told ya how long you've got??? 

[john tomkins]

Yo matt...Sorry to hear you've still got your tropical flu bud. That's bad. Have the doctors told ya how long you've got??? 

Na it's only a runny nose

[matt]

Yo matt...Sorry to hear you've still got your tropical flu bud. That's bad. Have the doctors told ya how long you've got??? 

to be honest i didnt want to go to the docs and spread this highly contagious tropical flu 

[Pole2pole]

Takes a real man on his last legs to take such an immense, ethical stance. When his health is failing fast and the chips are down and the last breath is being drawn........to think of others is quite something Matt. I'll bring a wreath to the chapel fella. Hats off to ya 

[matt]

Takes a real man on his last legs to take such an immense, ethical stance. When his health is failing fast and the chips are down and the last breath is being drawn........to think of others is quite something Matt. I'll bring a wreath to the chapel fella. Hats off to ya 

can i get a amen

[xxmattyxx]

AMEN !

[matt]