The deal, in plain words.

1. Who you are dealing with

“Flow”, “I” and “me” mean Harry Wright trading as Flow Window Cleaning, a sole trader based in Cam, Gloucestershire GL11, reachable at [email protected]. “You” means the householder who asked for the service.

2. What the service is

Exterior cleaning of the windows of your home using a water-fed pole and purified water. Every visit includes the glass, the frames and the sills of every pane in your count, plus glazed doors. Visits are every four weeks, or another interval if we have agreed one.

Not included unless agreed separately: inside glass, conservatory roofs, gutters, fascias, solar panels, and anything I cannot reach safely from the ground. Where I offer these, they are quoted on the day.

A clean means a standard window clean, including washing and rinsing the glass, frames and sills of the panes included in your service. The time required to complete a clean will vary between properties and is determined by the condition and number of panes. I work to the agreed result rather than to a fixed amount of time.

A standard clean does not include the removal of paint, cement, render or plaster, silicone, adhesive labels or tape residue, tree sap, limescale caused by sprinklers or leaking gutters, or builders’ dust or other residues resulting from building or renovation work. It also does not include scraping or the use of blades, abrasive materials or chemicals on glass.

Where a window requires additional work beyond a standard clean, I will explain what is required and, where appropriate, provide a separate quote. Some marks or residues may not be safely removable without specialist restoration methods, in which case I may recommend that the work is carried out by a specialist.

3. The price

• Your price is agreed with you before the first clean, at the door or by message, and confirmed in writing (text or email) before I start. It is based on the number of panes at your home, how they are reached, and how often you want them cleaned.
• Your price will not change without a month’s written notice. If something about your home changes — an extension, a new porch, a conservatory — I will tell you the new price before the next visit, never after.
• Prices may go up from time to time to keep pace with costs. When that happens you will get at least a month’s notice by text or email, with the reason, before it applies to a visit. You can stop at any time, with no notice and nothing further to pay.
• If you got your price online, it was worked out from the answers you gave me. It is a real price, not an estimate — but until I am stood in front of your windows I can only go on what you have told me. I check your home before I start the first clean.
• If your home matches your answers, that is your price and it stands.
• If it does not, one of two things happens. If it is a bigger job than you described — more glass, access I cannot use, windows in a far worse state — I will not clean that day. You will get the new price and the reason for it, and there is nothing to pay. Say yes and I will book you in; say no and that is the end of it. If it is a smaller job than you described, I will clean it and charge you the lower price, and that lower price is your price from then on.
• The first clean is a restoration clean and may be priced differently from your regular clean, because build-up takes longer to shift. Whatever it is, it is agreed with you up front. Every clean after that is at your regular price.
• One sealed unit of glass is one pane. Georgian bars do not multiply the count. Each glazed door leaf is one pane. Conservatory roofs are quoted separately.
• Discounts you have earned (sections 4 and 5) are applied automatically to the visits they cover and shown on your receipt.
• Prices include VAT if and when I am registered for it; I will tell you if that changes.

4. The neighbourhood rate

When 10 or more homes within about 150 metres of each other are active customers, everyone in that group moves to a lower rate. It applies automatically from the next visit and I will let you know.

It is a discount for a dense round, so it depends on the round staying dense. One or two neighbours moving away changes nothing. If enough of them go that the group drops well below 10 homes, I may have to put the price back to what it was — that is my decision rather than something automatic, and you will get at least a month’s notice and the reason before it happens.

5. Referrals and codes

• Every customer is given their own referral code when they join. It is written on the leaflets left with you, shown in your online account, and it can be used any number of times; it does not expire while you are a customer.
• A new customer who quotes your code when they sign up gets 50% off their first clean. It is applied at sign-up, every time, wherever they live.
• You receive 5% off every regular clean for each neighbour who signs up with your code and has a first paid clean, up to 50% in total. Each 5% lasts 12 months from that neighbour’s first paid clean. If that neighbour stops being a customer, your 5% runs for one more month from their last paid clean and then ends — or until the 12 months are up, whichever comes first. If they leave without ever paying for a clean, no 5% applies.
• Your own 5% depends on where they live. The point of the scheme is a tighter round — neighbours near one another, cleaned on the same day — so it applies when the home that joined is close to yours, or close to a group of my existing customers. If it is further out than that, their half-price first clean still stands, your 5% does not apply, and I will tell you why.
• Discounts are applied in this order: neighbourhood rate first, then referral percentage. A half-price first clean is not combined with a referral percentage on the same visit, and a code cannot be used on your own address.
• Printed voucher codes issued before the change to personal codes are still honoured on the same terms, but each of those works only once.
• I can change or end the referral scheme for future sign-ups with notice, but discounts already earned run their course. I may withhold discounts obtained through misuse, such as codes traded online.

6. Your part

• Let me reach the windows: unlock side gates on the day (or tell me the code), and keep dogs in.
• Keep windows closed on the day. Purified water is harmless but nobody wants it on a windowsill inside.
• Tell me about anything fragile or unusual: loose glazing, cracked glass, hanging baskets, alarm sensors, or work being done on the house.
• If I cannot reach part of the house on the day — a locked gate, a car on the drive, a dog out — I will clean what I can and charge only for the panes I actually cleaned. Your receipt will say how many, and why.

7. When a visit moves

Your cleans are scheduled on a regular cycle — every four weeks unless we have agreed otherwise. The exact day of your clean may vary as I organise the round, but I will always text or email you the evening before your scheduled visit. That message will confirm when I am coming.

I will normally clean in light rain, as purified water dries without leaving spots and the weather does not affect the finished result. In heavy rain, high winds, freezing conditions or other unsuitable weather, I may postpone the clean and will contact you with a revised date.

Occasionally, a clean may also need to be rescheduled because of illness, vehicle or equipment failure, or circumstances outside my reasonable control. If this happens, I will let you know and rearrange the clean as soon as reasonably practicable.

Where a clean is rescheduled, I aim to keep your service running on its usual cycle. The interval between individual cleans may therefore be adjusted slightly where necessary to account for an unexpected postponement or other disruption. This is intended to keep the round running fairly and consistently, rather than to reduce the service you receive. You will never be charged for a clean that has not taken place.

8. Payment

Direct Debit through GoCardless is the usual payment method for regular cleans. You can set this up once using the link in your welcome message. Payment is collected after each completed clean, for the amount shown on your receipt. You are not charged in advance, and no payment is taken for a clean that has not taken place.

GoCardless will notify you of the amount and collection date at least three working days before the payment is due to leave your account. Payment will normally be collected within seven days of the clean.

The Direct Debit Guarantee applies to payments collected by Direct Debit and provides the protections set out under the Guarantee.

Card and cash payments are also accepted for regular cleans and one-off services. You can make card payments, including payments for outstanding amounts, through your online account. Card payments are processed securely by Square, and a payment is considered complete once Square confirms it.

If a payment fails, I will normally attempt to collect it again once and will let you know. If the second attempt also fails, I may pause further cleans until the outstanding amount has been settled. No late payment fee will be charged.

You can manage your payment method through your online account, including setting up a Direct Debit or paying an outstanding balance by card.

I do not see or store your bank account or card details. These are securely handled by GoCardless or Square, as applicable.

9. Pausing and leaving

• If I arrive and am turned away on the day without notice, I may make a small charge for the wasted trip; I will usually let it go the first time.
• Pause: ask any time and your place on the round is kept for up to three months. A pause can be taken once in any six months — beyond that it stops being a holiday and becomes a round I cannot plan.
• Leave: whenever you like, with a message. There is no notice period and nothing more to pay after your last completed clean. I will cancel the Direct Debit.
• I can also end the service, with at least one visit’s notice, for example if I stop covering your area or cannot safely reach the windows. I cover from Gloucester down to Thornbury and Yate, east to Tetbury, and across the Severn into the Forest of Dean, Chepstow and Caldicot; outside it I do not take on new customers. Anything already paid for a clean not done is refunded.

10. If you are not happy

If you are unhappy with a clean, please let me know within two days of the visit and explain what needs attention. I will review the issue and, where it relates to the cleaning service provided, return to put it right at no additional charge. I will arrange this as soon as reasonably practicable, with the aim of resolving the issue promptly.

On a first clean, some marks or defects cannot be removed through normal window cleaning. This may include paint, cement, scratches, failed or damaged glass seals and other permanent marks. Where I identify something of this kind, I will point it out rather than treat it as something that can be resolved through a standard clean.

The cleaning service relates to the condition of the windows when the clean is completed. As windows are exposed to the elements and activity around the property, new marks or contamination can occur afterwards. This includes, for example, road spray, birds, pollen, tree sap, cobwebs, contact with pets or children, smoke or soot, building work or other activity at or near the property. Marks or contamination arising after the clean are not considered a defect in the cleaning service and may be dealt with as a separate visit.

The same applies where windows are opened or otherwise handled before the glass has dried, or where subsequent work at the property affects the windows after they have been cleaned.

11. Damage and insurance

I carry public liability insurance. If I damage something, tell me within two days with a photo and I will make it good. I am not responsible for pre-existing faults, including failed double-glazing seals, flaking paint, loose putty, cracked glass, or scratches from previous cleaning methods, though I will tell you if I spot them.

12. Photos

I may photograph the outside of your windows before and after a clean for my own records and to resolve any query. I will not publish photos that identify your home without asking you first.

13. Your details and your online account

How I handle your personal data is set out in the privacy notice, which forms part of these terms.

Your online account is for the account holder only. Setting it up needs the one-time code in your welcome message, and sign-in links go to the e-mail address on your record — so keep that inbox secure and do not forward a link to anyone else. Anything agreed through your account is treated as coming from you. If you think someone else has used it, tell me and I will reset it.

I will reach you by whichever of email or text suits you, and you can set that in your account. The messages I send about your service — the text the day before, your receipt, a change of date — are part of the service rather than marketing, so they are not something to opt out of. If you would rather not hear from me at all, you can stop being a customer at any time; section 9 says how.

14. The legal bit

Nothing in these terms limits your statutory rights as a consumer. My liability to you is limited to the price of the cleans concerned, except for death, personal injury or property damage caused by my negligence, where it is not limited. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

15. Changes

If I change these terms I will update this page and tell existing customers before the change applies. Continuing with the service after that means the new terms apply. The date at the top shows the current version.