Customer not happy. How should i deal with this?

[gimmeagig]

Hi,
I cleaned someones carpet today. medium pile nylon. Some dog urine spots but nothing completely unusual.. I always do lots of dry passes and my machine was working properly.
I got a call from the customer and he told me the carpets were soaking wet and that he tried a shop vac on it to get it drier and then he rubbed some towels over the carpets and they came up "filthy" . So he's completely unhappy.
I have never gotten this type of complaint. And I also never had anyone rubbing a towel over a fresh job.
So I have no idea if that's normal that there is dirt on the towel.
How should I deal with this?

 

[Bjorn]

go back and re-clean heck no one is perfect all the time. Don't give any excuses get it done and over with as soon as possible

If then he is still un happy refund and go on to the next you cant win them all.

good luck

 

[Blue Monarch]

Agreed

 

[gimmeagig]

I'm on my way there now. I'll do just that. re-clean and also i will leave him three of my dryers. I'll pick them up tomorrow evening.
Hopefully that will do it.
I'm just puzzled by the dirty towel thing.

 

[Hoody]

I'm on my way there now. I'll do just that. re-clean and also i will leave him three of my dryers. I'll pick them up tomorrow evening.
Hopefully that will do it.
I'm just puzzled by the dirty towel thing.

Some customers will do that, and you'll fail just about if not every time they do the ol' towel test. Stanley Steemer use to have the white glove or white towel guarantee and it was extremely short lived.

 

[Able 1]

Yes, dirt on the towel is normal.. You just can't get everything. I do think high flow wands do help though.

Just go back and clean it again... Some people you will never make happy.

 

[Mikey P]

"Well sir, this is rare to have left over soil transferring to a towle like that. The only time I can recall this every happening was on a few homes over the years where the owner didn't clean as often as they should. They found that if they had us out every 4 to 6 months we could keep that from happening. If that does not fit into your budget perhaps you should think about our multi method option where we dry clean the carpet after hot water extraction."

 

[JS41035]

I tell customers thank you when I get a complaint. I always say "the only problem I can't fix is one I don't know about. "
Under promise over perform. Customers are really receptive to realistic predictions BEFORE you start.
The dirt on the towel is common. I would say "cleaning carpet is a balancing act between getting the carpet as clean as possible while at the same time making sure it will dry in a reasonable time.
Your carpets were extremely dirty. Your slower dry time reflects that. ". Then touch it up leave some fans. If they are happy,great. If not full refund. Mail out a gift card for Starbucks. And move on.


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[GeeeAus]

Pad dry it in front of the customer at the end. Best way.

Grant

 

[gimmeagig]

So I just got back from redoing the job. The customer called me only 3 1/2 hour after the initial cleaning. The living room and hallway carpets were damp but not soaking wet like the customer had indicated. He actually had his shop vac out in the living room and he had wiped down large areas with towels. First time for me I have never seen anyone do that.
I explained to him that when I'm done rinsing and extracting, the fibers are clean but to completely rinse out the pad is beyond the scope of normal carpet cleaning. So when someone takes a towel and grinds it into the carpet, it is only natural that there will be wicking and soil transfer from the pad to the fiber to the towel. Which is the basically same thing as walking on a freshly cleaned damp carpet only a lot worse. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it)
I also told him that I'm glad he gave me the opportunity to make thinks right and that I'm happy to re-clean the carpets.Some of the shorter pile carpets in the other rooms were already dry so he didn't have any issues there.Just the living room and the hallway. So I pre-sprayed,rinsed, extracted with lots of extra drying passes and groomed the carpets out. Then I placed two dryers in the living room and hallway.
The customer was sort of an engineer type so I made sure I explained every step and why I was doing it. Let him feel the vacuum of my machine etc.
I had the feeling he appreciated that.So we parted on really friendly terms. No bad attitude from him or his wife and I was my regular cheerful and affable self too.
Tomorrow I'll be talking to him again when I pick up the dryers and I hope that everything will be fine.
I live in a very small town so I went above and beyond on this one. I have a good reputation at this point and I want it to stay that way.
I'll keep you guys posted, thanks for your input

 

[Goomer]

Good save.

Having the right attitude, and remaining proffesional when presented with such a situation will always offer the best chance at salvation, as opposed to getting offended and acting defensive.

Having quick closure, and the ability to put it behind you with satisfaction and peace of mind is worth its weight in gold.

 

[Chris A]

So I just got back from redoing the job. The customer called me only 3 1/2 hour after the initial cleaning. The living room and hallway carpets were damp but not soaking wet like the customer had indicated. He actually had his shop vac out in the living room and he had wiped down large areas with towels. First time for me I have never seen anyone do that.
I explained to him that when I'm done rinsing and extracting, the fibers are clean but to completely rinse out the pad is beyond the scope of normal carpet cleaning. So when someone takes a towel and grinds it into the carpet, it is only natural that there will be wicking and soil transfer from the pad to the fiber to the towel. Which is the basically same thing as walking on a freshly cleaned damp carpet only a lot worse. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it)
I also told him that I'm glad he gave me the opportunity to make thinks right and that I'm happy to re-clean the carpets.Some of the shorter pile carpets in the other rooms were already dry so he didn't have any issues there.Just the living room and the hallway. So I pre-sprayed,rinsed, extracted with lots of extra drying passes and groomed the carpets out. Then I placed two dryers in the living room and hallway.
The customer was sort of an engineer type so I made sure I explained every step and why I was doing it. Let him feel the vacuum of my machine etc.
I had the feeling he appreciated that.So we parted on really friendly terms. No bad attitude from him or his wife and I was my regular cheerful and affable self too.
Tomorrow I'll be talking to him again when I pick up the dryers and I hope that everything will be fine.
I live in a very small town so I went above and beyond on this one. I have a good reputation at this point and I want it to stay that way.
I'll keep you guys posted, thanks for your input

You did exactly what you should have! Nice save!

 

[shadygrady]

When you say lots of passes, do you mean 30-40 per minute with a wand, or several hundred a minute with a rotary extractor. Sounds like you need to up your game a little/lot. This is the 21st century.

 

[ruff]

Airflow, is air flow.
As far as water recovery is concerned, doing passes with the wand will achieve the exact same result as a rotary.
The laws of physics haven't yet changed from the 20th century.

 

[gimmeagig]

Yes, I might be a little behind the times. In fact I just got my first smart phone last week. I was dragging my feet on that for a long time and now I already wonder how I could have ever lived without one.
The rotary extractor is something I know could be useful but I know very little about it. Only that they are really expensive and heavy. I do a lot of smaller homes,often they are furnished, apartments in retirement facilites with nooks and crannies and furniture and stuff that could break, so wielding a heavy machine around that kind of scares me. I do some commercial jobs but so far most of what I do is residential. Is there a model that might be somewhat smaller/less heavy duty and more affordable?
What rotary extractor do you recommend?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I personally don't believe an RE is a "have to have". They are certainly "nice to have" and if you clean a lot of trashed carpet it might move close to "should have".

Can you clean as well with out one? Yes, but its going to require more work to do so. The RE will allow you to flush better with less effort. You can also go over an area and watch your pick up tube to ensure you've extracted all the moisture you can with your unit.

I'd be less worried about this incident, it sounds isolated. If it happen regularly then I might be more concerned. It could be a machine issue or technique that needs looked at. For now I wouldn't sweat it.

If you have a 175 and pad, you could always finish up with that on heavily soiled jobs and that would knock out two birds with one stone. Dries faster and no white towel issues.

 

[John Olson]

Buy raffle tickets for the L&L raffle and you might win the $400 off a Rotovac. Buy $400 worth of tickets and the person pulling the tickets might almost accidently pull it for sure

 

[Anthony Hernandez]

That's why I use the trinity. All the dirt goes on my towel. And and extremely wiped clean lol


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[Desk Jockey]

That's why I use the trinity. All the dirt goes on my towel. And and extremely wiped clean lol


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[Steamin McFadden]

Don't feel bad, You didn't do anything wrong. No body get 100 percent soil removal.

trying to catch up on all the missed cleanings they should of had in one shot is not going to happen.

You would have to flush so much water through the carpet that it would be way over wet to get it 100 percent soil in one cleaning.

Now go back and egg this mans house.


I had a lady call and complain a week after I cleaned, she said she vacuumed her whole house (about 1500 sf worth of carpet) and got a whole tea spoon of soil in her dust cup!!.

I told her , I told her perfection doesn't exist in carpet cleaning, but if she wants , I will come back and snort that tea spoon of dirt up my nose, at no charge.

 

[GeeeAus]

WoW

This is getting to be a habit, for the second time in 24 hours I am again going to make a ridiculously irresponsible bold statement - present it as fact - and have it so recorded here on the record......

No matter WHAT you have.... No matter how much you process, no matter what chems you use..... You will NEVER and I MEAN not EVER get ALL the soil out of ANY type of carpet of ANY construction, with ANY fibre and ANY price point.

It has BILLIONS of filaments....... You just can't.... Thermodynamics says as much.

The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system never decreases, because isolated systems always evolve toward thermodynamic equilibrium, a state with maximum entropy.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics

Grant

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Right on the money Grant!

 

[roto-kleen]

AGREED!

Airflow, is air flow.
As far as water recovery is concerned, doing passes with the wand will achieve the exact same result as a rotary.
The laws of physics haven't yet changed from the 20th century.

 

[gimmeagig]

So I just talked to the customer and I'm going to pick up my dryers. He told me the carpets were completely dry and they looked good. He is very happy and will actually leave me a good review on my website. I said to him kind of jokingly "So do you think I have earned my money? because i have not cashed your check yet." He laughed and said that I more than earned the money and he will call me again when the time comes.(hopefully ONLY then )
Thanks again you guys for your help and support!

 

[ruff]

WoW

..I am again going to make a ridiculously irresponsible bold statement - ......

No matter WHAT you have.... No matter how much you process, no matter what chems you use..... You will NEVER and I MEAN not EVER get ALL the soil out of ANY type of carpet of ANY construction, with ANY fibre and ANY price point.

Sorry mate, that is totally bunk, Grant!

I have one and only one word for you: Werner!

 

[PrimaDonna]

Very well done. You did the customer right and it will pay you back tenfold in the future. This kind of thing is what separates the men from the boys and is the mark of a true professional. You give creditability to our industry, which is always an uphill battle. I'd buy you a beer if we were near each other!

 

[Chris A]

Roxy I have top admit I am somewhat of a hypocrite. My wife called me today on our way top our last stop and told me that the job we had done an hour or so before had called and complained. I was supposed to call him after I got back today, which was at 6, but he sounds like a jerk and I know the job went fine so I'll deal with it in the morning. Lol, thanks for being better than me!

 

[gimmeagig]

Very well done. You did the customer right and it will pay you back tenfold in the future. This kind of thing is what separates the men from the boys and is the mark of a true professional. You give creditability to our industry, which is always an uphill battle. I'd buy you a beer if we were near each other!

I'd take you up on that, but Pennsylvania is a long way to go for a beer.

 

[PrimaDonna]

I'd take you up on that, but Pennsylvania is a long way to go for a beer.

Perhaps we will be lucky enough to cross paths at some industry event or expo/conference. My offer never expires!

 

[GeeeAus]

Sorry mate, that is totally bunk, Grant!

I have one and only one word for you: Werner!

LOL

I was thinking of Ron when I was writing that......

But seriously Ofer..... Have you seen me vacuum....... I am er - uh - concerned about dry soil extraction like Ron.....

Grant.au

#notocd #imokwithit #dontjudgeme