First negative review, reappearing stains

[Anthony E]

I got my first negative review over some reappearing stains. But I want to get some advice on them and know what I did wrong. I did a normal cleaning (prespray, agitated the shit out of the carpet with my oreck (need a crb), extracted and laid some fans down to dry.

I know what wicking is and what causes it but how do I avoid it? How do you guys avoid stains reappearing? I saw somewhere that acid rinse helps to prevent wicking and I’m running prochem all fiber rinse through the chem intake, thought I dried the carpet enough before leaving, so what is it?

I don’t wanna re-deal with the dude cause he was annoying enough while I was there, bitching on the phone to other companies, so my wife thinks he’s just one of those people that complains no matter where he goes trying to get a refund. But typically I’d go back in and encap any stains that wicked back up right?

 

[The Great Oz]

Reappearing stains mainly are of three types:
Wicking stains come from deep down residue and usually just need more flushing. They appear as soon as the carpet is dry.
Sticky stains may need solvent to break down what makes them tacky. They appear over weeks as the sticky spot attract soil.
New spills that the homeowner wants cleaned for free. These can appear at any time. Not likely in this case, since he chose to give you a bad review rather than calling you.

If a customer's first contact is through a complaint on-line, just answer the complaint on-line. Use something like "We're sorry to hear about this; would you mind calling us so we can come back and take care of it?

This tells the world that you don't mind a complaint and will gladly reservice, and also tells the world that this guy is such an ass he didn't even talk to you before leaving a bad review. Chances are he won't call.

 

[Anthony E]

Reappearing stains mainly are of three types:
Wicking stains come from deep down residue and usually just need more flushing. They appear as soon as the carpet is dry.
Sticky stains may need solvent to break down what makes them tacky. They appear over weeks as the sticky spot attract soil.
New spills that the homeowner wants cleaned for free. These can appear at any time. Not likely in this case, since he chose to give you a bad review rather than calling you.

If a customer's first contact is through a complaint on-line, just answer the complaint on-line. Use something like "We're sorry to hear about this; would you mind calling us so we can come back and take care of it?

This tells the world that you don't mind a complaint and will gladly reservice, and also tells the world that this guy is such an ass he didn't even talk to you before leaving a bad review. Chances are he won't call.

Hahaha I like that new spills cleaned for free part. Thankfully the dude left the review on the square credit card reader app, idk why but that’s fine with me. People aren’t checking square for reviews.

From my understanding wicking can happen at any given time, and I’m still super new at this so I’m just trying to find ways to avoid it. Not sure if I did something wrong or what. It’s possible I over cleaned but I’ve been pretty careful to not do that.

I did extra dry passes, put down an air mover, turned on ceiling fans and the windows were open. So I’m not exactly sure what happened.

 

[FB7777]

You received a complaint and then immediately assumed you did nothing Wrong and didn’t return?


I don’t know if you did anything wrong during the cleaning , but you should have returned to check it out

that’s most likely why you got the bad review

‘’there are tough people out there and ignoring them usually doesn’t end well

 

[Desk Jockey]

I don't think you can completly avoid wicking calls. What you can do to avoid complaints is call the client back to see how everything came out. Sure you're going to get the occasional reservice now and then. However showing that you care enough check on their satisfaction is a positive that will outweigh any negatives.

You'll also head off the negative reviews and be in position to ask for a good review.

 

[Hack Attack]

heavy soiling or stains should ideally be discussed before you begin

then you and the customer are both prepared for the call back

 

[Shane T]

I am of the opinion that an acid rinse may potentially help reduce the risk of re-soiling problems but it won't do anything to stop wick backs. A crb will do a lot more to lift and open the pile before the cleaning begins. Adequate flushing and multiple slow vacuum passes are your best bet for preventing wick backs, even then it will occasionally happen.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

Anything dripping or leaking from your equipment? Oreck makes me think you are a portable guy?
Would be a good learning experience to go back and see what he is talking about. If it's only spots... I would try a low moisture upholstery tool with just a rinse and see how that goes. Set a blower on it until dry. When it feels dry take your best fabric protector...I like Saiger's - a solvent - and lightly spray and rake into the spotted area.
Turn the blower back on while you re-load your van.
Come back in and take a picture.
Smile and be friendly...ask if they are satisfied with your effort... if yes, ask them to please update their review.
Best of luck.

 

[Anthony E]

You received a complaint and then immediately assumed you did nothing Wrong and didn’t return?


I don’t know if you did anything wrong during the cleaning , but you should have returned to check it out

that’s most likely why you got the bad review

‘’there are tough people out there and ignoring them usually doesn’t end well

First of all, I just saw the review this morning. Second the guy didn’t call me and I don’t check to see if I got a review constantly, so that’s kind of on him. But I completely agree that ignoring him isn’t the best option

 

[Anthony E]

Anything dripping or leaking from your equipment? Oreck makes me think you are a portable guy?
Would be a good learning experience to go back and see what he is talking about. If it's only spots... I would try a low moisture upholstery tool with just a rinse and see how that goes. Set a blower on it until dry. When it feels dry take your best fabric protector...I like Saiger's - a solvent - and lightly spray and rake into the spotted area.
Turn the blower back on while you re-load your van.
Come back in and take a picture.
Smile and be friendly...ask if they are satisfied with your effort... if yes, ask them to please update their review.
Best of luck.

No I’m a TM guy. My wife and I started this business with all of our savings (dropped 40k cash for everything) so a $2000 dollar crb didn’t seem like a priority at the time. That’s why we went with the oreck, just needed something to agitate with. But thank you very much, this is exactly the kind of response I was looking for.

This wasn’t a question about avoiding negative reviews. But any more tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

Do you spot first? If not, why not?....
Get a QUALITY UV light, identify the pet stains, treat them, mark them with a plastic poker chip, extract , Treat, and Mark the other obvious stains, EXTRACT THOSE SPOTS, and go on with regular cleaning.....
This is how I’ve kept my ‘call backs’ to a minimum...
Lucky if I get 1-2 a year, and usually, it’s the dog, or visiting pet has peed again...
But, YMMV....
And when you come across those spots (poker chips), pay special attention to those areas...

 

[Bob Pruitt]

No I’m a TM guy. My wife and I started this business with all of our savings (dropped 40k cash for everything) so a $2000 dollar crb didn’t seem like a priority at the time.

I started in 1979 by making payments on a Rug Doctor Rents portable. Had a oscillating brush on a small drag tool for a wand. Very slow but worked OK. Wrote a script and sat my wife down with a phone book to start calling. Got us started.

 

[hogjowl]

Stop rubbing all the prespray in and you might get the carpet dry faster.

 

[Cleanworks]

No I’m a TM guy. My wife and I started this business with all of our savings (dropped 40k cash for everything) so a $2000 dollar crb didn’t seem like a priority at the time. That’s why we went with the oreck, just needed something to agitate with. But thank you very much, this is exactly the kind of response I was looking for.

This wasn’t a question about avoiding negative reviews. But any more tips would be greatly appreciated!

Both truck mounts and portables drip. Not saying that's the problem but whenever you put the wand down to move furniture or whatever, turn the shut off valve to off. All wands will drip eventually. On a darker carpet, you may not notice.

 

[Jimmy L]

Was it a cheap olefin?

 

[Matt Middleton]

This is your opportunity to shine. I have found that talking about whose fault or why it happen takes longer than going back, apologizing (sorry, Sir. these things happen) giving them your dog and pony show and cheerfully clean those spots.

Part of being a professional.

We have a tagline. "If the spot comes back, we will too."

 

[BIG WOOD]

I got my first negative review over some reappearing stains. But I want to get some advice on them and know what I did wrong. I did a normal cleaning (prespray, agitated the shit out of the carpet with my oreck (need a crb), extracted and laid some fans down to dry.

I know what wicking is and what causes it but how do I avoid it? How do you guys avoid stains reappearing? I saw somewhere that acid rinse helps to prevent wicking and I’m running prochem all fiber rinse through the chem intake, thought I dried the carpet enough before leaving, so what is it?

I don’t wanna re-deal with the dude cause he was annoying enough while I was there, bitching on the phone to other companies, so my wife thinks he’s just one of those people that complains no matter where he goes trying to get a refund. But typically I’d go back in and encap any stains that wicked back up right?

I don't care if he's an annoying prick. Call him and thank him for bringing it to your attention through his review he sent and tell him you'll be glad to reclean those areas that he's concerned with at no cost. Be sure to discuss the review once you finish and ask him to update the results on the review.

 

[hogjowl]

Or, just ignore him.
Eventually it’ll pass

 

[Cleanworks]

Or, just ignore him.
Eventually it’ll pass

Like a kidney stone.

 

[roro]

Had a few problems - took all in-line sprayers off vans and went back to electric and pump-ups for pre-spray - problem resolved.
Believe that the excessive pressure causes many of the wicking type problems due to the moisture having gone right through to backing and possibly the underlay, and that the problem is worse on synthetics than wool.

 

[Cleanworks]

Had a few problems - took all in-line sprayers off vans and went back to electric and pump-ups for pre-spray - problem resolved.
Believe that the excessive pressure causes many of the wicking type problems due to the moisture having gone right through to backing and possibly the underlay, and that the problem is worse on synthetics than wool.

All I use for prespray is inline sprayers. Rarely have a wicking problem.

 

[Anthony E]

Both truck mounts and portables drip. Not saying that's the problem but whenever you put the wand down to move furniture or whatever, turn the shut off valve to off. All wands will drip eventually. On a darker carpet, you may not notice.

Oh no I wasn’t saying it like that, I was just responding to him saying I’m a porty guy haha. It was a darker gray carpet so it’s possible that a leak caused it. But I haven’t noticed anything leaking

 

[Anthony E]

Had a few problems - took all in-line sprayers off vans and went back to electric and pump-ups for pre-spray - problem resolved.
Believe that the excessive pressure causes many of the wicking type problems due to the moisture having gone right through to backing and possibly the underlay, and that the problem is worse on synthetics than wool.

But can’t that issue be solved just by leaving more distance from the carpet to the in-line sprayer? I never get too close for that reason alone

 

[Anthony E]

Was it a cheap olefin?

Ok I really want to know, how do you guys know what type of fiber it is off the bat? Is it just experience and time? Or do people really do a fiber test at every job they go to?

 

[roro]

Rarely have a wicking problem.

Neither do I, but staff with in-lines are a different story hence the removal and the results

 

[BIG WOOD]

Ok I really want to know, how do you guys know what type of fiber it is off the bat? Is it just experience and time? Or do people really do a fiber test at every job they go to?

Testing the carpet gives the experience for later