Window Woes, Worries and Other Odd Encounters

I stumbled upon this article wherein a guy, a window cleaner has been in the service of window cleaner for several years. He is a self employed cleaner and he carries out domestic and commercial work. He has a regular customer base. Typically, he collects payment from domestic customers by visiting their houses after completing the work with the use of his window cleaning van. 

He has many experiences in the past that is both good and bad. He says he has experienced few incidents of violence in his 19-year career. He has run a successful business and maintained his livelihood for this time. Having a positive and sensible attitude does not cost anything. Accepting the loss of payment for the odd job can be ultimately cost-effective if it prevents an assault which leads to injury and time off work. Experience shows that many customers who complain and refuse to pay, sometimes relent when offered a free cleaning.  

He has also encountered aggressive customers. He has worked in bad weather and also sometimes be chased by a wild rabid dog. He encountered foul mouthed customers, and sometimes, these customers even refuse to pay what they owed to the window cleaner. And also, he encountered an abusive customer that even resort to smashing his window cleaning van.

When he is on duty, he has a cell phone for emergency use and this is to let them know where they are. If he works in premises where mobile phones are not allowed, he will call his wife before he starts and call again after he finishes. And it is his practice to give his wife the telephone number of the premises where he is working.

Plus, having a mobile is necessary if two people are working on the same job in a large office building. They will eventually work at the opposite ends of the building so it is important they communicate through out the day. There is also a radio in the window cleaning van.

He also discloses that, window cleaners should be generally fit and active people. This helps if they need to get away quickly from potential trouble.

Because of their sensitivity to trouble, sometimes it is not easy to avoid violent incidents. For example, if a window cleaner witnesses an abusive incident in a neighbouring house, they may feel it is their duty to help or to defuse the situation, even if they are putting themselves at risk.

With all the years he has been into because of his work as a window cleaner, he advised would be window cleaners to be polite and helpful to the customers. Apologize if something goes wrong, this helps to defuse a situation and is probably the most successful measure. In a heated conversation, walk away. Always leave an aggressive or violent situation. And most specially, ask for payment by check to reduce the need to carry cash.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.