Achy breakie

[Bob Foster]

I'm writing a documentary for PBS about clumsy carpet cleaners and the stuff they busted in customer's houses.

Don't be embarrassed, I won't reveal your real name on TV and your face and voice will be disguised.

So tell me some stories, and what you did to make it right.

 

[CleanEvo]

I ripped thru someone's lino with my wand, that was before glides. I learned to never clean lino with a wand, no matter how much the lady asks you to. The company I was working for replaced her lino and that was that, thought I'd get in touble, but I never heard anything else about it.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I won't tell you how many gouges I put in bases boards when I was using a drag wand years ago

and I'll never mention the months new metal office desk I put a HUGE dent in when the cotton pad under the rotary hooked the desk leg and LAUNCHED a 110 pound rotary into the side of the desk...
The little bit of time I spent with the metal finishers at the UAW car factory paid off on that one..as I was able to pound out and sand the buckle/dent .
and Krylon satin black happened to be an exact match of the paint ...

I stripped a fair amount of leaves off an indoor ornamental tree once while changing from wand to stair tool .
It was OBVIOUSLY Mrs Phiff's fault though..cause she shouldn't have a tree so close to my vac cuff...


..L.T.A.

 

[Walrus Gumboot]

I found a window curtain in my waste tank(before glides).

 

[Hoody]

I once sucked fluffy the gerbil through the vac line when I wasn't looking and was sucking the dust behind the door.

When I first started restoration, I didnt know about the concepts of vapor pressure, and secondary damage, and proper dehumidification. Yes it is certainly possible to create so much vapor pressure to crack the drywall from floor to ceiling.

 

[GeneMiller]

My helper was carrying a dining rm chair back inside and tripped. He fell into a tray hold ceramic plates. It cost 850 to replace the 3 . The kicker was he blamed the lady. He said she suddenly came running at him and he tried to pivot to avoid a collision and fell. If he had just apologized she wouldn't of gotten so upset.

Gene

 

[Steve Toburen]

If he had just apologized she wouldn't of gotten so upset.
Gene

Exactly. I feel your pain, Gene.

Steve "Island Boy" Toburen
www.StrategiesForsuccess.com

PS My tech and I were cleaning in a recently retired diplomat in the Foreign Service. The homeowner had just finished telling us how their huge beveled plate glass dining table (1" thick) had traveled the world with them for thirty years from Pakistan to Russia to Australia to Mongolia to France, etc without ONE STINKING CRACK IN IT. My tech swung the metal armchair back under the table and ... you know the rest of the story! Ahhh, memories.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

An employee allowed a rotary scrubber to tip over and fall through a sliding glass door.

This smooth operator (in many ways) convinced the customer that the house was haunted, and referred a friend of his to help her rid the house of its demons.

We only learned of this a few years after he moved on.

 

[Charlie Lyman]

This isn't that big of a break story. I always try to be extra careful.
I turned on an airmover and blew a candle holder off a mantle. It broke and the custy came running to see what happened. I apologized and picked up the broken pieces. I kept the pieces and went to wallyworld and matched it to a cheap candle holder and bought her two. I wrapped them in a nice gift bag and hand delivered them with another apology. She was happy and I have cleaned most of her family and friend's houses.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I had a eager WDR technician take a 2400 down a fight of steps only to lose his grip and it tumbled and put a refrigerator size hole in the drywall. :shock:

 

[Shane T]

One of the very first jobs I did on my own the customer asked me to move and clean under a relativley small antique dresser. I didn't realize the mirror on top wasn't attached so it feel to the floor and broke. Now I always check.

 

[Art Kelley]

I turned on my PTO not realizing I had laft the van in reverse in the driveway. I couldn't stop it from crashing into the custys house and bending the fook out of my doors. I was damned lucky nobody got hurt.

 

[bob vawter]

my FIRST job ever...
was a ninty + year old bitty....that had been watering a plant on the floor...for YEARS....
well when I come along and sucked a ROUND HOLE in her carpet....she croaked...
dead...
died......right in front of my eyes!

Now give me the prize!!!!

 

[harryhides]

These pictures make up part of our Tech training program.

Naturally NONE of them were caused by my wonderful and careful staff.

Actually this one was caused by a Rug Doctor Pro and we were unable to do anything about it.

This fire was caused by ( I think ) a Tech tossing a lit cigarette out the van window while driving. The Butt ( no not the Tech ) flew back into the van and settled on a pile of cotton Pads. After they had been cleaning for 30 mins they got wind of a smell of burning. The damage to the house would have been much worse if the Tech had not released the hand brake allowing the van to roll into the street.

 

[Art Kelley]

Bane pays $50 for photos like this.

 

[Ron Werner]

first one was breaking a Norman Rockwell plate. Back in 94, lady had a corner tiered shelf with Rockwell plates on it. It only took a small tap from the wand and the one plate teetered and fell, broke! I take the pieces to the client right away, said I'd replace it. Got home, made some calls, phoned her up within an hour telling her a replacement was on the way. $55 for the job, $50 for the plate. She, and her family, became clients for years after. She told me a couple years back that she never really expected to have it replaced, ie she wasn't worried about it. She past away last year.

4 yrs ago, caught the corner of the wand, before glides, on the bottom corner of a glass mirror on folding closet doors, the ones where the whole door is mirrored. Just a small chip in the bottom outside corner, wanted it replaced. So I take the door off, take it to the local glass place, $90 to replace it. Take it back over, get the door on, swing it closed and it caught on the screw holding the pin base, cracked it again. Take it off again, over for another sheet of mirror. Can't even keep the mirror as it was glued onto the door. Get it replaced for them, another $90, can't remember whether I delivered it or had them pick it up, but I know I let them install it.

Last year realtor calls, wants a condo on the 4th floor cleaned, wall to wall, EVERYTHING moved. The owner, a senior lady, was in hospital. Get there, lots of stuff, furniture etc, start piling everything into the kitchen. I pick up a collector plate, just a plate with a fancy design on it, have it in one hand, pick up a lamp with a glass shade in the other, start to move away and the cord snags. The shade falls, hits the plate, both shatter. Nothing I can do at this point but pick up the pieces, put them in the kitchen. Did a great job, moved everything but a corner unit with glass ornaments. Wasn't going near it!!!
Call the realtor, tell him what happened. $500 bill for the cleaning, offered to pay for what was broken. Was at an antique shop, told plates are rarely over a $100, usually a lot less. I figured about $150 for the shade. Kept calling, never did talk to the owner but a lawyer handling her affairs, never saw a dime. Never pursued it any further.

 

[Askal]

Set an 8' tall cut leaf Philodendron out the sliding glass door for "just a minute" to clean under it. Remembered 2 hours later in the sun 110 degrees. Fried it. It was given to them by their daughter who had just passed away a month before. Can't replace that. That was about 25 years ago and I still remember it.
Al

 

[CleanEvo]

Looks like glides do more than just make it easier to clean...they're saving us some cash!

 

[Tony Neville]

I moved a Grandfather Clock out to clean behind it. It fell and slid down a flight of stairs.

Parked the van on a hill it popped out of gear and went down through the trees about 100 yards had to get a dump truck to pull the van out.

Cleaned a sofa asked my helper to set up an air mover, he brought in a hp turned it up all the way and blew everything off the walls.

Those are the ones that stand out.

Tony

 

[Hoody]

About 4 years ago I cleaned a slate floor with a bonnet cleaning shampoo.

I attempted to post pad a set of stairs with a 13" Hild rotary.

I was trying to clean the edge of a carpet before it transitioned into white porcelain tile in the bathroom. No glide, I ended up putting a nice black scratch in the tile.

I cleaning a condo up a few flights of stairs. I let the solution line go when I unhooked it from the wand. Of course I didn't go with the stairs, but between them - gravity took its effect. When the QC landed at the bottom it chipped the heck of out the tile floor.

 

[bob vawter]

About 4 years ago I cleaned a slate floor with a bonnet cleaning shampoo.

I attempted to post pad a set of stairs with a 13" Hild rotary.

I was trying to clean the edge of a carpet before it transitioned into white porcelain tile in the bathroom. No glide, I ended up putting a nice black scratch in the tile.

I cleaning a condo up a few flights of stairs. I let the solution line go when I unhooked it from the wand. Of course I didn't go with the stairs, but between them - gravity took its effect. When the QC landed at the bottom it chipped the heck of out the tile floor.

4 years ago....what....were you TWELVE at the time.................

 

[Hoody]

KMA Old man!! You can't even remember 4 years ago.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I learned the hardway never back into a garage. I normally stop at the frame, but it was raining that day and I had to back up a steep driveway. I was going to stop but the customer says keep coming you got it. Once I started I knew once I stopped I couldn't come back any more. I asked him would I clear and he said yes and then BAM the garage door buckled and dented pretty good. This dumbass goes in and grabs a camera and starts snapping photos of my truck and the damage. I said I thought you said I was clear. Somehow I got him to agree to let me clean his whole house for no charge. I told him 5 rooms and a hallway costs 350 and should cover it. I blew through it after he signed a waiver. An hour later I got a call from his insurance company and explained that I had a signed statement to do the job for no charge in exchange for damages. I called the guy back and told him what a douche he was for going back on his word. I dodged a bullet that day because my insurance deductable is 500 dollars and I felt I got off easy.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Ok I got a good one which is true by the way. There are certain jobs that you may go above and beyond your normal service making sure every detail is taken care of and everything is done to perfection. I had to clean for a lady and I was really trying to impress her. I got through eight rooms and was on my last area and started moving things I normally wouldn't. I moved a table and a lamp cord was wrapped around one of the legs and it fell and broke. A broken lamp isn't that big a deal but lying about it is imo. I put the broken peice in a box of foil tabs and planned on hauling it out but left the box. I called her latter when she was out to dinner and wanted to explain what happened but the words didn't come out right. I told her to throw the box of foil tabs away since it was almost empty. I knew she would look in the box and I would be busted and never hear from her again. Lucky for me she never picked the box up and a few days later her house burned to the ground because her car caught on fire in the garage below the house. This was a million dollar home by the way. She called me back a year later to do some more work.

 

[sweendogg]

Cleaning wise: only killed a picture frame in a bathroom at a Commercial account

While installing: put a stretcher pipe through the wall even with an 8 ft 4x4 behind it to span the weight, ended up not being proper studs in the wall! :shock: Have already cleaned for these folks.

My 6'5" brother knocked a bunch of glass panes off of an interior light while carrying pad in.

I've killed many pergo transition strips when they were the awfully cheap ones.

I've was fixed carpet back at several transitions after our tile and stone team finished up an install. Ended up glancing my stair tool at the bottom of a step off a hidden nail and chipped the corner of the tile.. Tile setters had left some of the grout.. so vola few minutes later.. no chip!

My first Wool wilton I was helping install and I was trimming in a weird angled inset for a tv center. Ended up cutting the angle wrong.. almost 3 inches short of the corner.. fortunaly the main mechanic was able to reset the stretch and fix my mistake. I about crapped my pants!!! This was 120 dollar a sqft material!!

 

[Ron Werner]

Ever so slightly bumped an armoire in a bedroom and a 34" tube tv came flying out bending my wand in half and putting a small scratch on the screen.

reminded me that those flat screens are very unstable as well. Those small bases don't give much stability. They were listed as a danger to children as small kids would touch the screen and it would fall on them.

 

[BRSUMMERVILLE]

According too Von Schrader's archives, when I attended their class in 1995. An operators caught a curtain with the machine. The curtain stayed in place. The machine went up the wall.

Bob Rock

 

[Chris A]

Cleaning a sofa and backed into a glass endtable/lamp, then slipped and more or less sat on it, shattering it into a million pieces...

 

[RIP IT]

my FIRST job ever...
was a ninty + year old bitty....that had been watering a plant on the floor...for YEARS....
well when I come along and sucked a ROUND HOLE in her carpet....she croaked...
dead...
died......right in front of my eyes!

Now give me the prize!!!!

you're amongst friends, so you can tell the truth without fear of ridicule....









did you take her false teeth out before commencing CPR?

 

[bob vawter]

[quote="bob vawter":2zbkvddt]my FIRST job ever...
was a ninty + year old bitty....that had been watering a plant on the floor...for YEARS....
well when I come along and sucked a ROUND HOLE in her carpet....she croaked...
dead...
died......right in front of my eyes!

Now give me the prize!!!!

you're amongst friends, so you can tell the truth without fear of ridicule....









did you take her false teeth out before commencing CPR?[/quote:2zbkvddt]
NO...the ol' bitty had the gall to call her daughter before she died...and screamed into the phone..
HE'S KILLING ME!!!!!

So needless to say i DID sit in the back of the cop car...for a while!

worse.......i DIDN't get paid!!!!