i got a call from a really nice woman who was a referral from her next door neighbor who is a customer of mine. she only had a small window of opportunity to get her windows cleaned before she has company coming in for christmas. turned out she got back to me too late after the estimate to give me the go ahead so we could only find time to do the first floor in/out only.
she ok’d it and we did it this afternoon… this house is BRAND new, less than 2 years old and EVERY window was scratched to hell… and when i say scratched i mean gauged… gauged to the point where i am actually writing a thread about it instead of packing to go away for the weekend.
i called the woman when we got done bc she wasnt home to give her a heads up… she told me she had used 2 companies since they had the house built, she told me who they were and it was exactly who i thought it would be… we only did the first floor i would hate to see how the other 60 windows in the house look… i guess ill find out when we finish the house after christmas…
how do you tell a homeowner their windows are trashed bc of whoever cleaned their windows in the past? what would you say to make the the homeowner feel better?
First off, you should have stopped after the first window. If she wasn’t home you should have left a note and been on your way. Since you did complete the job, just hope that she doesn’t say that the scratches weren’t there before you cleaned the windows and hope to hell that the second floor is scratched up too just so you have a case that it wasn’t you.
tell her the problem and hope for her sake that the windows are still under warranty and have her try to get the window manufacturer out there to look at the windows and hopefully replace them. If the windows are out of warranty than she either replaces all the scratched windows, hires someone with a scratch removal machine to try to get the scratches out (Bill will not do it!!) or live with scratched glass on her windows. Most importantly though is to educate her and all your customers about fabricating debris and how windows actually can become scratched. - good luck!
Don’t bad mouth anyone. Only answer questions she has. Sounds like its a big brick house that had mortar on the glass. This could be the builders fault as the window cleaners she has hired in the past. The builder could be a close friend or family member, so careful there. Just be supportive, the damage was not your fault and keep her windows clean.
DW
Gouges don’t typically reflect fabricating debris-related scratches.
Were both heat-treated and annealed glass involved?
Perhaps it’s too early to blame your competition, no matter how tempting.
we couldnt tell how bad it was until we went outside bc of how dirty the windows were and the sea spray on the glass.
i called and told her everything we found… its probably one of those things that we all would notice with only some homeowners included. if she didnt see it before she wouldnt see it now… just wanted to be upfront with her bc of how terrible i thought it was.
i guarantee the windows on the 2nd and 3rd floor are the same…
you educate every homeowner on fabricating debris before doing any window cleaning for them? do you have them sign a waiver even if youre not planning on scrapping anything because its not ccu? you stop cleaning after you see glass which is already scratched?
with all the terrible “professional window cleaners” where i am i would never finish a job if i stopped after seeing scratched glass…
i didnt say a word about the builder or the other companies… i did just that and tried to be supportive. it is a beautiful nantucket style house in a little cove on the ocean… 6 over 1’s no storms brand new windows… with gauges like you only read about
i didnt blame or point the finger at anyone… only asked if she had her windows cleaned before.
i know quite a few of the builders in the area and they are all too “spending conscious” to hire someone for ccu. they usually have someone on their crew do the cleanup… it could have been a painter for all i know…
all the scratches were vertical like someone was scraping in an up and down motion…
Yes I do educate every “NEW” customer about fabricating debris before we do any work for them.
We have not used a waiver, but will start using a waive in the spring for all new customers.
We scrape every window regardless if it’s ccu or not. (Unless the windows have FD)
Yes, my employess stop cleaning after they see glass that is scratched, to A: Identify if its FD or not and B: to let the customer know the glass is scratched. (We always finish the job, however sometimes we must finish without using razors and always without being accused of scratching the homeowners glass)
The painters in my area are very careful and always seem too know what to do. Its them construction guys that are the worst. Sounds like the other post are just saying you should have stopped working. I have mixed feelings about that, you was there not them. You did fine, wait til after the holidays and see what you can do too help this customer. Good luck DW
i need to be more educated on fab debris before feeling comfortable educating other people about it. like ive told you before i havent continued my glass education for quite some time bc of some bad experiences with people who are heavily affiliated with the iwca… im still trying to catch up
i think the waiver is a good idea
i only use a scraper if necessary
i need to learn how to identify fd
in hindsight we probably should have stopped but it was literally the last 4-5 windows which were the worst and probably stood out the most bc of the sun being on them
thanks dw i appreciate it
+1, except I have used a waiver for all customers – CCU and maintenance – for ~4 years.
Don’t let someone affiliated with IWCA divert you from the education you need to conduct business successfully:
Check out Customer Talking Points among other things –> IWCA - International Window Cleaning Association - Tempered Glass - Home
Chris has posted a video with audio regarding the sound a scraper makes on glass with fabricating debris. It sounds and feels like sandpaper in many cases. Remember, this only occurs on heat-treated (tempered or heat-strengthened) glass – not annealed.
im going to start with the waiver asap
after talking to linda and bill and having them tell me about this forum i have started to continue my glass education… im actually embarrassed that i havent sooner but when the (now former) president of the iwca threatens you and tries to sabotage your new window cleaning business after letting you go you lose a little respect for the industry and the iwca. ive missed out and am trying to catch up.
i saw the video and it was super helpful
thanks for the info larry
The only loss of respect in this instance should be for the person.
i agree, which is why im here
I’m here awaiting Jerry Only to join.
You definitely need to have and implement a waiver for all clients.
The biggest thing I can say about this thread is no one should try or claim to be able to identify FD! It’s only possible if you have a laptop and microscope on the glass because it’s microscopic.
Nice job doin’ what you had time to. Folks always appreciate it, and nearly always understand when it’s explained reasonably “why.”
I run into scratches that are that bad I’m straight up with the customer and tell them it most likely happened during construction or remodel. Also explained is that those windows went through a lot just to get where they are now. Manufacturing, shipping, installation, and then dozens of subs, with many of them working around the windows.
“It’s hard to say, without being there to see it happen,” I tell them.
If it’s a stucco, brick, or stone home I tell them it’s not uncommon for there to be scratches with those types of building materials involved. They usually feel a little better with a little understanding that they’re not the only ones.
I believe that I would have called her after seeing the first or second scratched window. If she said that she has had previous window cleaners in the past then she cant really pin it on you. Too many suspects involved to blame just one person is how I see it.
I used to scrape every window until I started getting accused of other peoples scratches-then I stopped. I only scrape a window now if it has to be done to get great results (Artillary fungus -paint overspray). We will use steel wool and spot scrape most of the time.
Some of you guys That scrape every window every time just blows my mind. Its not needed (excluding CCU’s) and it GREATLY INCREASES YOUR LIABILITY! Ive been there and done that! Not going back!
I totally agree, we only scrape when absolutely necessary to get great results. With the Micro-tiger and steel wool, we hardly scrape at all anymore.
