Some days I'm sure it would be better just to stay in bed.
Work has dried up until next Monday so I'm playing catch-up with my housework and with my admin, quotations, marketing etc.
Anyway, I had a shopfront to clean followed by a journey out of town to do three quotations. No problem. Did the shopfront. Then went home and put some non work clothing on to do the quotations.
The first two were next door neighbours.
Knocked at the first door. Turned out they only wanted upstairs quoted and they also have a padlock on the side gate. I didn't get as far as addressing the padlock issue anyway as doing upstairs only isn't really on for me. I didn't even do it when W/Cing the trad way so I certainly am not going to do it with WFP. Apart from any other issues, the ground floor windows will ber soaked each time without me cleaning them.
No joy there then.
Went to the neighbour.
Great thought I. No padlock on this one and great access. Plus they want all windows cleaned. Started wandering around ready to quote. We got talking before I got to saying a number when she said that I would have to phone every time so that she would not put the dog out. Now I might phone in advance for the occasional very large job but not for a run-of-the-mill semi. Some people on here think I should but I have spent years gradually fine tuning my business so that I don't need tro pre-arrange work and I've no wish to return to that scenario. When I said that I didn't work that way, she really seemed to get the hump about it. Maybe I am too strict about this but if you knew what customers used to put me through when I pre-arranged a visit, you would understand why I steer clear of working that way.
So that's 0/2 so far.
On to the next one - a half mile drive down the road. I pull up outside the front gate. The alsatian starts barking at me. Now I've had two previous attempts on me over the years and I'm wary of such situations. The guy comes out and assures me that the dog is totally OK. Anyway, I took it on trust. The dog ran up to me and jumped with its nose an inch from my face. I fend it off thinking it was attacking me. It then bites the sleeve of my jumper and doesn't let go until the guy orders it off me. I just looked at him and said "I'm not working here" and walked back to my van and drove off. The guy was really OK and was genuinely mortified by his dog's behaviour ("not done that before"). As I said to him though, even if his dog is totally well behaved forevermore, each time that job would be due, I would suffer anxiety in the few days beforehand. I know because I've had that situation before.
On reflection, if the dog was trying to attack me it could have sunk its teeth into me easily. It probably was just trying to play. However, I prefer Scrabble or Uno Extreme to pretend biting games.
So that's 0/3.
On to another job where I cleaned a couple of weeks back. Apparently my quotation for cleaning the whole conservatory (including roof) was misunderstood as meaning cleaning the debris (mostly just leaves) out of the conservatory guttering as well. I must admit that my wording may have been ambiguous so agreed to return to do it F.O.C. Of course, while doing it, I inevitably dropped some dirty water and muck down the conservatory sides. So I re-cleaned those as well.
Oh yes. On top of that I got a cheque and a letter from a customer with a complaint about the cleaning quality. Unfortunately, she says she has gone over the bad windows herself. I wish they wouldn't do that. All they need to do is phone me within 48 hours and I'll go to check it myself. That way I can see what's gone wrong and that will help me to resolve the problem. Also, by doing it themselves, inevitably they use some spray or detergent on the glass which will cause more problems the next time.
Yes Russ Clark.
I'm moaning.
Live with it.
