Getting My Gutters Cleaned

[RSteve]

I spent almost all morning calling around to get an appointment to get my gutters cleaned; no success. Then I spoke with the father of one guy who cleans gutters. He's my age, answers the phone for his son, and said he wishes he had the body to climb ladders. He'd be cleaning gutters himself. He said his son, in season, does 10 to 12 houses a day, almost all in my immediate neighborhood, 7 days a week. Figure $200 to 250 per house, that ain't chump change.
Finally, what I should have done in the first place, asked my daughter who is cleaning her gutters. She called him, herself, and made an appointment for me for this Thursday.

 

[Zeno Marx]

don't get me started on this subject...

 

[RSteve]

don't get me started on this subject...

I have the extension ladders to do the job myself, but my daughters refuse to spot me or support the ladders. I really wish I could get an honest bid from Gutter Helmet or Leaf Guard, etc. The guy from Gutter Helmet refused to give me addresses where he'd installed them and wouldn't give me a fixed price per lineal foot. I asked to see his driver's license and proof of bonding and insurance and he left.
The fine print on the warranties is such where your course of action is only against the specific installer.

 

[Zeno Marx]

It all depends on what kinds of trees you have. A relative has a Black Locust (?) that has spines, little buds, tiny leaves. They've tried a few different kinds of gutter guards, but it's either the small buds or spines or leaves. The guard will stop one, but not all. Taking them off. Putting them back on. Fighting them. If they had big maple leaves, every type would probably work. They had one with little circles, and the tree with little propeller seeds (can't remember what that is right now), and the seed end of those things would stick right into the holes. You couldn't leaf blow them out. You couldn't scrub them out with a broom. You either wait for them to rot and fall through, or you pick them out one by one.

I love the idea of leaf guards, but if you don't have the right kind of trees for them, they're useless.

 

[ftrplt]

Had my gutters covered in a fine mesh screen years ago. Glad I did!!!!! FTRPLT

 

[Blackhorse]

I usually clean the gunk out surrounding the downspout exit then use a high volume nozzle on my hose to backwash the rest to the far reaches of the gutter, filling up the gutter with water. Then I turn off the water and let all that stuff roar back and right down the downspout…picking out big stuff as it floats by. I usually do that three times then stick the hose, without the nozzle, into the downspout and let it run full blast for 10 minutes. We have really high water pressure here and the above works to keep the underground run down to the bottom of the driveway clear. I only have to climb a ladder twice that way. It works.

 

[Brewdude]

When I replaced my gutters in WA state I opted for one of the gutter guard systems recommended by the installer. This quickly proved to be a huge negative since my house was surrounded by tall fir trees. The needles did nothing but clog up the strainers on the gutters making them totally useless. That was a costly mistake.


No Cheers,

RR

 

[Carlos]

I had the gutter guys install guards (I bought) in the top of the downspouts to keep starlings from nesting inside them. With no trees directly overhead, I get a little windblown stuff. But not enough to worry about.

 

[Blackhorse]

Lucky man.

 

[RSteve]

I'm very happy with the guys who cleaned and flushed my gutters. I hope they stay in business for as long as I'm in my house.

For several years, I had another company, Dixon Home Services, do the job. Last year, that company solicited my job, but didn't show at the appointed time. When I asked what was going on, their receptionist apologised and said they had several people quit and simply didn't have the personnel to service all their prior accounts.

I called this year and asked what their schedule was and could I get on the schedule for cleaning. The guy fielding calls said the schedule hadn't been set. I asked when the schedule would be set and he said he didn't know. I asked if I could speak with the person who sets the schedule.

"I set the schedule."
"So, when will you set the schedule?"
"When I decide to put one together."
"When will that be?"
"When I decide to do it."
"Your company, Dixon Home Services, has cleaned my gutters for many years, until last year when you didn't show up. I've always paid on billing, and I just want to get a confirmed appointment for gutter cleaning."
"I can't do that until I set a schedule."
"And that will be when?
"Whenever I get around to doing it."
"You're telling me to hire another company."
"I'm not telling you anything."
"Who am I talking to?"
----CLICK----

 

[Blackhorse]

Pretty plain he has no interest in you as a client. Neither would he have an interest in doing a great job for you.

 

[RSteve]

Pretty plain he has no interest in you as a client. Neither would he have an interest in doing a great job for you.

What puzzles me is that I only have gutters on two sides of my house, 100 linear feet total. It's a 45 minute job for two people and I paid $250, always immediately. I would have understood completely if he'd just said, "We no longer take jobs in your neighborhood."

 

[Zeno Marx]

I rarely experience good customer service, and by that, I rarely feel like they care about my business. As I mentioned in another thread, I did get great customer service from India with my pain in the butt router. It's not a place thing. It's an attitude thing. "The customer is always right" and "every customer counts" no longer applies to our world. Everything is a matter of volume and planned obsolescence. Not that "more is better" is a new concept to us, but that coupled with anger as a core value (by way of irritation, rudeness, frustration, flippant attitudes) makes consuming things an adversarial relationship. Not cool.

 

[RSteve]

ZM commented:..."that coupled with anger as a core value (by way of irritation, rudeness, frustration, flippant attitudes) makes consuming things an adversarial relationship. Not cool."

I try very hard not to have anger as a core value, but it is becoming extremely difficult as more and more of my interactions with others tend to be adversarial, when there's no reason for it to be. It really offers an explanation why people buy more of their consumer goods on-line where there is no person to person interaction.