How can he charge so low$$

[Guest]

I have seen this ad almost everyday in my mail box, and I can't understand how he charges so little. I have people calling me and telling me about this ad, and trying to use it as leverage for me to lower my price. http://www.certifieddfw.com

Some of my current customers even ask me about this ad, as if I am over-charging them. HOW do you explain this ad to people? It's a full-page ad produced by the local newspaper, but not the newspaper just ads.

 

[handdi]

sounds like 35
dollor job turns into 500 dollor job
travel charge?
5o plus cents a sq ft
i bet this guy has a hell of a job average

 

[Larry B]

Any size room - $6.95 / room
Steam cleaned and deodorized - 2 room minimum

Any 5 rooms - $34.75
Steam cleaned and deodorized - No size limit

Heavily soiled fabrics will require preconditioning. We highly recommend 3M Scotchgard™ Protector.

Services Include:

Carpet steam cleaning
FREE - Mild deodorizer
FREE - Optical brightener
FREE - Basic furniture moving
FREE - Demonstration of pre-conditioning method
Most carpets brushed or raked
Stain resistant carpets
Two-man crew available on request
Highly skilled technicians
Travel charge to all areas
Also available:

Pre-conditioning - .25¢ / square foot
3M Scotchgard™ - .25¢ / square foot
Sanitizing - .25¢ / square foot

 

[John Olson]

Explain to your customers that he is getting the carpet WET for 6.95 and if you want it CLEAN it is considerably more.

Also explain that Optical Brighteners are BAD for carpet. Once you explain how Bait and Switch Advertising works it will make sense to them.

I don't see them lisiting themselves as a Certified firm so not sure what if anyting the IICRC can do but Jim Pemberton should have the Board look at how the IICRC's name is being used in this advertising and have their lawyer send them a letter telling them to remove it.

Oh and you cannot sanitize a carpet...

 

[Larry B]

John they are listed on the iicrc website

 

[B&BGaryC]

Call them to clean your carpets. Pay to have them sanitize your carpet.

Sue him for all he has.

Re-letter his vans and carry on.

You can visit him at the mission and/or throw a handful of pennies out the window of his old truck when you see him at the corner begging for change.

He's a huckster and the worst kind. He should be shut down. If you can't do it through convential methods inquire as to a local "Vinny" who can help.

EDIT:

Understand this contains some significant writers embelishment for dramatic emphasis. I don't think you should hire the mob to put him out of business or throw change at him.

 

[B&BGaryC]

And as for optical brightners, they void warranties, cause cancer and make the carpet look like crap.

 

[Eric Valentine]

I have been subcontracting for someone that runs just like this certified idiot. I got into the subcontracting due to running out of funds to market, and having bills due.

The one I have been working for is:
- $9.99 a room
- Demo of the preconditioner (over-scrub with a rotary, then extract both the scrubbed area and an area right by it). He
wants the scrubbed area extracted with 5-6 passes, and the non scrubbed with 1-2 FAST strokes.
- Pre-treat is $.30 a foot (he uses Purple Power degreaser himself)
- "sanitizer" is $.20 a foot (he uses Fabuloso)
- protector is $.25 a foot

A $49.95 job is quoted at close to $350.00, then call for a "discount" (this can take up to 45 minutes with him on the phone with the customer) He usually does NOT tell the customer about the extra charges, and likes to change appointment times without asking the customer first. He usually waits until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning to call with an 8:00 am job that is a 45 minute drive away.

Lately, all the jobs have been canceling that I have been sent to, and the ones that didn't cancel, kicked me out of the door due to the way the company owner is treating them and me. I am going back out on my own (I got an apartment complex already that calls only me now), and have just moved into a house, sharing rent, with someone that will be booking my jobs for me and answering the phone. She is disabled, and has all day free, and needs something to do.

 

[kmdineen]

[

Oh and you cannot sanitize a carpet...[/quote][


The correct phrase is "for only $$$ more I can apply a SANITIZER to your carpets MRS. Jones."
I thought all you distributors were hip to the selling techniques of your products.

 

[John Olson]

You must have me mistaken with someone else. I don't bend the truth nor do I suggest my friends bend the truth just to make a buck...

I know your not attacking just making it pewrfectly clear in case anyone else reads it and misses the humor :wink:

 

[Rex Tyus]

Here I am being a pain in the ass again. But..

Main Entry: san·i·tize
Pronunciation: \?sa-n?-?t?z\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): san·i·tized; san·i·tiz·ing
Etymology: Latin sanitas
Date: 1836
1 : to make sanitary (as by cleaning or sterilizing)
2 : to make more acceptable by removing unpleasant or undesired features <attempts to sanitize historical accounts>

The term sanitize is very misunderstood. It is not the same thing as sterilize. Further more there are atleast a couple of products epa registered to sanitize pourous material.

Milgo GQC, MICROBAN Clean Carpet Santizer and Microban GQC. THos are the ones I have read lables on. I am sure there are others.

It is a touchy area. I just thought I would interject only for the sake of those that would call someone that is marketing it as a liar. Be cautious with your wording. We may all no better but it is a LEGAL and accepted term to...."use a santizer" to clean carpet.

 

[B&BGaryC]

Last time I went through school I was told according to the federal guidelines and the accepted definition for the word sanitary or sanitized as outlined by the federal guidelines there was no product that was certified to make a porous surface sanitary after contamination.

That's just what I was taught.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Last time I went through school I was told according to the federal guidelines and the accepted definition for the word sanitary or sanitized as outlined by the federal guidelines there was no product that was certified to make a porous surface sanitary after contamination.

That's just what I was taught.

It is a common misconception. You will hear many things in classes that are as much for entertainment as education. Like I said check the lables on those products. Sanitize simply means to make better. Not sterile.

 

[Rex Tyus]

I was incorrect about the microban QGC it is only registered for non pourous but the milgo qgc and the microban clean carpet sanitizer are also for pourous.

http://www.interlinksupply.com/index.ht ... ++++++++++

See it that link works for the Milgo?

 

[TimP]

Rex is right you can't sterilize carpet but you can sanitize it. Sanitize don't mean much other than you are getting rid of "some" germs....same idea as disinfect I believe. Doesn't mean all bacteria etc are gone.

 

[Larry B]

No matter what they have Greg C $25. per room smashed all to hell

 

[tracywalker]

just guessing but a trip charge is probrably about $75. So if someone didn't want the preconditioning they could still make money by cleaning 2 rooms at around $90. Add in preconditioning and they really rack up. I think it is a shitty way to market, but it must work he has a lot of employees.

 

[Jim Williams]

Fabuloso?

That's the stuff our cleaning lady uses to mop our floors, and everything else. That's some sticky stuff. Smells good though.

 

[Larry B]

I like the 2 man crew by request thing. Do you think the customer gives a crap if there is 1 stranger or 2 in their home?

 

[hogjowl]

I don't know why you are worried about it. The VAST majority of your customers who ask, will be quickly satisfied if you offer them a clear explanation of what this dude is doing. Most folks quickly recognise bain-n-switch when it is explained to them.

If you find yourself having to go beyond a cursory explanation with a particular customer, then she's not really your customer.

Yesterday afternoon I had to go to a water damage job and pick up my fans. The lady told me over the phone that she didn't want me to clean the carpets ... just pick up the fans. Of course, I bought up the need of cleaning and the problem turned out to be my price. I quickly became aware that it was useless to continue trying to talk to her about it when I was still explaining after a couple of sentences.

It became crystal CLEAR when she said "my daughter is an apartment manager and she said ...?

Anyway, my point is ... just dont worry about this dude so much. He will not successfully steal any customer from you that wouldn't have gone to some other price pointer anyway.

 

[B&BGaryC]

"I can tell you any price you want to hear, but that doesn't stop me from charging whatever I want when I get there. If you want cheap there are plenty of outfits that do that, and some people need that because they can't afford to get it done right. I'm not the highest price but I don't concern myself with being the lowest either, because there will always be a lower price. I haven't seen the place and I can't give you an accurate price over the phone. If you would like to book an inspection I would be happy to come out and evaluate the condition of your carpets, give you my recommendations and answer any questions you might have. You will also get an exact written price sheet up front, and that price will not change after you book your cleaning. I have can squeeze you in tomorrow first thing after lunch or friday 1st thing in morning."

You get either A: "uh, well, can you just kinda give me a guess."

Or B: "Tomorrow after lunch works, thanks."

When you get A you can give any smart answer you want, or you can recommend the most egregious vile offender you can think of, king of the low price 7 day soak followed by musty smell and headache cleaner.

"I hear POS services is cheap, so is Un-American and Dave and Nancy's." (Try not to snicker.)

Or you can use the Steve Toburen Script. I should dust those off and start working on it again. The true price shopper move-out isn't worth the S.T. script, but it's hard to tell which is which when they first call.

 

[Guest]

I never tried to market sanitizer, and wouldn't know how. Maybe he says it will kill the bacteria or germs; for those that are germ phobic. It seems like the regular pre-spray and steam cleaning would sanitize the carpet, especially with really hot water?

Anyways, I didn't even notice the whole sanitizer issue. It seems like useful information however, just for informing the customer. I'm not going to try selling sanitizer though, even though it might be lucrative. I just kinda see it as deceptive.

My thing was the ultra-low prices. People jump right on it, like metal to a magnet. I understand everybody's trying to make a buck, it just makes carpet cleaners look bad in general. When the customer goes to try another carpet cleaner again, they might not trust them.

I wish there was a way to stop this kind of false advertising. There should be some kind of basic pricing like with mechanics or something. Anyone agree?

 

[Larry B]

No matter what is posted here they must be cleaning alot of carpet. If you noticed the picture of all the employees you cant pay that many people not doing anything.

 

[Warren Wallace]

These companys work in every city under different names but they are all the
same (THEY SUCK)In the chicago area they change there name every so
often and they are really busy with seven different phone # however they
are not competion and if you need to explain this to your customers then
they aren't very good customers and deserve a cleaning company like
them.

 

[Mr.V]

tell them it costs you $6.95 to drive there and that you started a business to make $$$ not for the glamour of being a carpet cleaner lol

 

[Jack May]

His complaint average is close to 1 a week... don't know about you guys, but that's WAY too high for me, especially considering most can't be bothered to go as far as laying a complaint, all they do is never return again and so their shoes must always be filled with new customers (Hence the full page advertisements.

On that very subject, ever wonder how companies can take out full page adverts in YP and other year after year for 10-20-30 years and still be small businesses dependant on the owner? Maybe they aren't RETAINING their customers, nor encouraging REFERRALS etc.

John

 

[Heathrow]

I can't believe they're advertising optical brightener - OMG :shock:




John - weren't you banned??

 

[B&BGaryC]

I can't believe they're advertising optical brightener - OMG :shock:




John - weren't you banned??

Quiet You!

 

[ACE]

I posted something similar a few weeks ago. I think the IICRC should be holding the bait and switch companies accountable. This give us all a bad name.

 

[hogjowl]

And just how would they possibly go about that? Imagine the logistical nightmare that policy would create. It's easy to say you think they should do something about it, and in your world that may be possible (and the government should just ship all those illegal aliens back to where they came from while we're at it, too, huh?), but in the real world, that would be an almost impossible task given it's current staffing levels and mission statement.

I can just imagine trying to keep up with all the complaints and then trying to investigate them in a fair and unbiased way. And then I can just hear the outcry from those who felt they were unjustly accused and unfairly dealt with.

Not to mention the cleaners who would create trouble for their competitors just for fun.