Duckies Contract Cleaning

NRMA BusinessWise helps cleaners give downtime the brush off

Duckies Contract Cleaning is a family owned and run business that has kept much of Sydney's West spic and span for the last 50 years. Proprietor Irving Douglas took over the business from his father-in-law around 8 years ago and has built its service profile to cover everything from common area strata cleaning to yard maintenance and tree lopping to private domestic cleaning.

Their 'no-job-is-too-small' philosophy requires Duckies to keep a range of job-appropriate vehicles which includes a four-tonne diesel tipper, two tonne Hiace, a trailer plus a Toyota ute, Lite Ace and Tarago. Recently, Duckies' four-tonner came to a halt due to a fuel blockage. Their NRMA BusinessWise 'LCV Absolute' Membership would have entitled them to free towing, but that wasn't necessary.

Once the BusinessWise Patrol Specialist arrived, 30 minutes earlier than scheduled, he was able to locate the blockage, re-prime the diesel motor and get the truck back on the road within half an hour.

Apart from appreciating the on-the-spot repair and minimal downtime, Mr. Douglas said, "what really impressed me was that he took the time to show me how to prime a diesel engine myself. Truth is I might need another run through, but it was good to be told how."

"?what really impressed me was that he took the time to show me how to prime a diesel engine myself."

During their year-long association with BusinessWise, Duckies only other reason to call for assistance was a flat battery. As with the fuel blockage, the BusinessWise Patrol Specialist arrived well ahead of time and got the truck moving quickly. Simple as the service was, Mr. Douglas thinks this was the best evidence that joining BusinessWise had been the right move.

"Once before we'd had a simple problem with a flat tyre and just called some mob out of the phone book. Next thing I knew, my truck was towed off to some garage and was off the road for a couple of days. It cost us a fortune", he said.

"It's a very small cost for what you get and I reckon we've already covered the joining fee in the savings we made with just two services."

Lost money aside, however, Mr. Douglas's primary reason for wanting to minimise downtime is to maintain Duckies long standing reputation for reliability. "Your customers don't mind if you're half an hour late, but when it gets up to half a day they're bound to get annoyed. With BusinessWise we can always be certain we'll turn up on time", he said. Summing it all up, Mr. Douglas put it this way. "You're mad if you don't join. If you've got trucks, breakdowns are inevitable. It's a very small cost for what you get and I reckon we've already covered the joining fee in the savings we made with just two services."

NRMA BusinessWise is built to keep businesses just like yours moving. It could give you the edge you've been after.