Customer Won't Take No For an Answer

I have a customer who called me and wants her windows cleaned. She’s in her late seventies now and I have done her windows a few times over the last decade. I tell her sorry Mrs. X, we no longer clean storm windows. I offered to give her the number of another cleaner who does them but she tells me that she just wants the storm windows taken off and thrown away then. I tried to get out of it telling her that her heating bill might up in Winter etc. and she just won’t take no for an answer. She says she’d rather have clean windows than the storms and wants me to do it. Arrrrhhhggg…

We don’t have much in the way of storm windows here in AZ, but why no storms?
Money is money to me and if I am charging right I’ll clean any window.

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It seems like all money is the same but doing storm window jobs is so unpredictable that to me it’s not worth the risk. Many storms are so old that the frames are just falling apart when you take the pane out. Between breaking them and fighting with them to get them back in, I just decided to stop doing them. This is my second year not doing them and revenue is up the last two years so I don’t miss them.

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Every window I’ve ever broken has been some type of storm window. They are old, finicky and fragile.

I’ll do them if I have to, but I add substantially.

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Steve,

Happy to read you’ve stuck with the no storm policy and hopefully no more gutter guards.

Only you now your next few years but sounds like if you make her happy you won’t hear from her again till 2021.

Is it a headache job?

Peace of mind over money man. Trust your gut

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I’m with him ^

No means no #metoo

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lol

Your’re just too good man!

storms are a pain. something always go wrong. when I first stated I did storms but they are not worth it ya know

What about 2.5x your price… mad profit if she says yes no worries if she says no

I spoke with her daughter last night and the daughter was concerned that the mom was making a mistake by taking off the storm windows and throwing them away, to which I agreed. I explained that many of the interior windows of this house are painted shut and that means removal of the entire storm window set, frame and all, from the exterior to clean in between them. I told her we don’t offer that, especially when it requires carrying that window set up and down a ladder. So, we agreed that we would clean the exteriors of the storms and the interior windows and any windows that we felt would be reasonable to access. Best compromise I could come up with.

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I fired myself from a job with storm windows last week (first time I did that in 20 years) half the job was skylights and sliding doors, I got to the first window with the storms I wrestled with it for about 5 minutes then said to myself why am I still doing these fucking things. told the homeowner these things are too old and fragile and I don’t want to break them so I will not clean them(man were they pissed) I said all the other windows are on the house happy Fourth of July (yes I did them on the 4th of July) that was one of the best feelings I’ve had in a long time. Just thought I’d share that with you guys

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Yea i bid a house with storm windows and thank god they never called me. i have one customer who got me to do the outside of his house and later in the fall he wants me to do the entire house. every window has a storm. but the storms come out easily. I just doubled the price of the 45 panes. he did tell me i charged lower than my competition. to which i told him i might have to reajust my prices. but his storms werent painted in or anything they come out real easy so its good money for me. but yes, ive messed with some crappy storms and i wont do a job i know will cause a headache. just wont do it.