The Best Window Cleaning Price?

As you know there is no magic in business.  The best price for window cleaning may not be the lowest one; one can only reduce prices for window washing service so far before they have to start cutting corners somewhere.  The first cuts are often in insurance coverage and taxes, then come cuts in other important business practices such as training, employee screening and safety.  Ask your insurance company what coverage you have if someone you hire to work on your property is injured, or they injure someone else and they are not properly insured?

What if your property is damaged, what if it’s the property of one of your guests or others?

Will they be able to make things right quickly and with little grief to you?  Or do you bear the risk of their negligence? 

We know of a case where a window cleaner fell off the bottom rung of a 6 foot ladder and the medical bills and lost wages ran well over $100,000.00.  Fortunately that technician worked for a company that was properly insured.  But in such a case without proper insurance the employee may be forced to sue by his bill collectors or the hospitals, etc.  Who do you think they will be forced to go after?  How will that affect your lifestyle? are you putting your very home or business at risk of loss?

It’s A Consideration of Trust!

We recently found a window cleaner with a nice looking web site and online advertizing that they had very low prices for window cleaning; we checked a little further and found that the address they had listed as their place of business did not exist!   — In fact they had used two or three other addresses in the previous few months that we became aware of.

Is this someone you want in your business? or even more so.. In your home?  Now more than ever; be careful!

Generally you can trust companies that have established ties to the community; Do they have a “real” place of business, one you can actually find?  How long have they been in business?  How long have their technicians worked for them.  and…

Will you get the service you expect?
We’ve actually found window cleaning companies skipping the entire north side of buildings!  They feel since the sun does not shine directly on the north side perhaps no one will notice.  We’ve seen others skipping all the windows with the blinds closed!  All to often a company that prices to low find they have to skip wherever they feel they can get away with it.

Check References!
Find out who they service in your neighborhood, and how long have they been providing service there.  Beware of printed “testimonials” on brochures or web pages or even online reviews; incredibly we’ve found companies advertising low prices that have simply made up their glowing reviews and names!… and we’ve found that fake online reviews and ratings can be purchased at a very low cost! Be Careful!

What about their Employees?

If they work cheap, then their employees must also.  Are they forced to simply hire anyone who is willing to work cheap? or are they able to pay a wage that can help support a family.  Do they provide the benefits required by trustworthy employees?  Can they afford to screen their applicants for illegal drug use or criminal histories?  Are the people willing to work for what they pay, people you want in your home or business?

Another all too common scenario with low price companies is to take unfair advantage of their employees by shifting most of the costs & risks of business to them by miss-classifying them as “Sub-contractors” instead of properly as Employees.  We have even heard of national and regional franchise window cleaning companies doing this!  Often in such cases the employees are not fully aware of all the costs & responsibilities they can incur, and the risks they may unwittingly assume.  On top of all that; in many instances the employees are underpaid to begin with!  It’s our opinion that this practice may at best be unethical and in many cases illegal.

This is even more disturbing when such a company uses implicit references to religious terms, symbols or icons in it’s name in order to build trust with unsuspecting believers; Unfortunately–we’ve seen it done time and again.