Jim Pemberton
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- Oct 7, 2006
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- Jim Pemberton
A friend of mine needed her carpet, upholstery, and a few area rugs cleaned. I recommended a few cleaners I knew, and had the opportunity to look at the job that was done later. Some things that she shared with me were very interesting, and I thought I'd share them here.
(This is long, so if you have a short attention span, go to another thread)
The first cleaner that she called gave her nearly no time to talk. He went on and on about his training, certifications, and especially how his truck mount was better than anyone else's truck mount in town. Every time she tried to ask a question, he went back to more things about his equipment, his unique methods, etc.
She got so tired of this she hung up on him. She never did find out what he charged.
Of the two cleaners she talked to, one offered to do the work involved for 400.00, the other for 300.00. Both handled her questions professionally, claimed certification and training, and seemed equally qualified, so based on "all things being equal", she hired the "300.00 guy".
The cleaner she chose called the morning of the job to confirm the arrival time of his crew, and one of the crew called again from the prior job to let her know they were on the way. That was a big plus to her.
Upon arrival, they set up right away and began to prespray. She asked if they were going to vacuum the carpet (the boss told her that they would), but they told her the machine was so powerful that they didn't need to vacuum.
She felt the job looked good when it was done, and told me that she was happy with their work. The job took them 2 hours to complete. The synthetic upholstery and wall to wall carpets dried within a couple of hours; the area rugs by late that evening.
I had a chance to see the work a few days later:
1. The upholstery (synthetic) looked "showroom" clean.
2. The wool area rugs looked good, felt very soft to the touch, but had some spots.
3. The wall to wall carpet (nylon) also looked good, but their were some urine stains (she owns three dogs) present.
4. She had the carpet treated for general animal odor. The home had no animal odor when I visited.
I was able to remove the spots from her area rugs, as well as her carpet, with household products and a total of 10 minutes of time. I asked her how she felt about that, as well as how she felt about the vacuum cleaning issue. I also asked her if she would have paid the 400.00 guy if he would have vacuumed her carpet, and had gotten the stains out.
Her response interested me:
1. She was ok with the lack of vacuuming. She just said she had wished he had asked her to vacuum it herself (she offered on the phone), rather than say the men would do it and then have them not do it. NOTE TO OWNERS WHO DO NOT DO THE WORK: Your men sometimes have their own cleaning method that differs from your own.
2. She was ok with the stains that remained at first. She didn't have high expectations for the old stains, especially the urine. She was a bit annoyed when she saw how quickly I removed them with stuff she had in her house. She also had the insight to say that there was no guarantee the guy who was going to charge 400.00 would have gotten them out. But she said she did see the value in paying more for the stains to be removed if she was confident that they would come out.
3. Animal odor was a big issue to her, and the fact that they got it out was more important than the stains.
4. The courtesy issue was a big thing to her. Its why "Mr Best Truck Mount" didn't even get a chance to give her a price.
5. Bottom line: She'll probably give them another chance, but will talk to the boss about the vacuuming and stains before she books other work.
It was an interesting experience in understanding consumer attitudes and how we relate to our customer.
Oh, and one of the three cleaners is a Mikeysboard member. I won't tell you which one is, because even he doesn't know.
(This is long, so if you have a short attention span, go to another thread)
The first cleaner that she called gave her nearly no time to talk. He went on and on about his training, certifications, and especially how his truck mount was better than anyone else's truck mount in town. Every time she tried to ask a question, he went back to more things about his equipment, his unique methods, etc.
She got so tired of this she hung up on him. She never did find out what he charged.
Of the two cleaners she talked to, one offered to do the work involved for 400.00, the other for 300.00. Both handled her questions professionally, claimed certification and training, and seemed equally qualified, so based on "all things being equal", she hired the "300.00 guy".
The cleaner she chose called the morning of the job to confirm the arrival time of his crew, and one of the crew called again from the prior job to let her know they were on the way. That was a big plus to her.
Upon arrival, they set up right away and began to prespray. She asked if they were going to vacuum the carpet (the boss told her that they would), but they told her the machine was so powerful that they didn't need to vacuum.
She felt the job looked good when it was done, and told me that she was happy with their work. The job took them 2 hours to complete. The synthetic upholstery and wall to wall carpets dried within a couple of hours; the area rugs by late that evening.
I had a chance to see the work a few days later:
1. The upholstery (synthetic) looked "showroom" clean.
2. The wool area rugs looked good, felt very soft to the touch, but had some spots.
3. The wall to wall carpet (nylon) also looked good, but their were some urine stains (she owns three dogs) present.
4. She had the carpet treated for general animal odor. The home had no animal odor when I visited.
I was able to remove the spots from her area rugs, as well as her carpet, with household products and a total of 10 minutes of time. I asked her how she felt about that, as well as how she felt about the vacuum cleaning issue. I also asked her if she would have paid the 400.00 guy if he would have vacuumed her carpet, and had gotten the stains out.
Her response interested me:
1. She was ok with the lack of vacuuming. She just said she had wished he had asked her to vacuum it herself (she offered on the phone), rather than say the men would do it and then have them not do it. NOTE TO OWNERS WHO DO NOT DO THE WORK: Your men sometimes have their own cleaning method that differs from your own.
2. She was ok with the stains that remained at first. She didn't have high expectations for the old stains, especially the urine. She was a bit annoyed when she saw how quickly I removed them with stuff she had in her house. She also had the insight to say that there was no guarantee the guy who was going to charge 400.00 would have gotten them out. But she said she did see the value in paying more for the stains to be removed if she was confident that they would come out.
3. Animal odor was a big issue to her, and the fact that they got it out was more important than the stains.
4. The courtesy issue was a big thing to her. Its why "Mr Best Truck Mount" didn't even get a chance to give her a price.
5. Bottom line: She'll probably give them another chance, but will talk to the boss about the vacuuming and stains before she books other work.
It was an interesting experience in understanding consumer attitudes and how we relate to our customer.
Oh, and one of the three cleaners is a Mikeysboard member. I won't tell you which one is, because even he doesn't know.
