It was not a total waste

[Old Coastie]

So... This lady calls and is concerned about urine spots, traffic areas and wants to treat momma to a cleaning. My daughter explains price and the fuel charge for 250 mile round trip. Customer asks if we'll honor a five year old Groupon she somehow googled up! Hahaha..

Customer estimated footage, seemed okay with a guessed price of $330, understood the price would depend on actual measurements.

Elves arrive this morning, measure and inspect and even with moving momma's furniture out of the bedroom and treating piddle spots, price it at $220.

Husband barges into room and declares "That's not competitive!" He sells used cars and knows anyone can do carpet cleaning. Has a local company coupon for $120. Asks if they'll do it all for $150. After all, it's work and money and they're there and no sense wasting a trip.

Foreman calls me and I said: "Tell him absolutely NO, say we are clearly not his best choice today and leave. Be polite but don't flinch even if he accepts the original offer. Leave."

Foreman texts me later to say "thanks for saying no, he's a bit of a jerk" which is as close to cussing as I've ever heard out of him, hahaha!

This has only happened twice in five years. But you know what? The elves now know it is perfectly fine to walk from a bad deal and a bad customer. So, it is not a waste.

How do you deal with this sort of thing?

 

[Lee Stockwell]

LOVE it!!

 

[hogjowl]

That 250 mile round trip would have cost him $300 before adding the cost of cleaning.

I'm serious.

 

[rjwood]

That 250 mile round trip would have cost him $300 before adding the cost of cleaning.

I'm serious.

Non-refundable and paid in advance.

 

[jcooper]

My daughter explains price and the fuel charge for 250 mile round trip.

125 miles one way? In a van?

 

[Lee Stockwell]

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[rjwood]

I received a call once from a lady who said she was in a bind: that the carpet cleaner called off with a breakdown and she had all the furniture moved out of the rooms and could I come and do the work. The house was 45 minutes away. I quote her $250.00 based on her description of the rooms (I'm pretty thorough in asking about room sizes and that sort of thing, and I always leave room for increases or decreases in price when I arrive and survey the work).

I get to the house and the rooms are huge, the stair case is long and wide and she wants to add more work.

I'm totally bemused at the situation, so I decide to eat a large chunk of it and raise my price by only $50.00. She's says she got a better price and declines. I say okay and go to leave.

On my way out she says (knowing how far I drove to help her out) "I hope you didn't have to drive too far." To which I responded "Not a problem, my daughter lives five minutes away, and I was planning on a visit anyway."

 

[Old Coastie]

Well, I am about 90-120 miles away from several large cities. We throw a wide net. Local customers are like unicorns...
My elves have worked hard to become good at their various skills. If that fellow thinks anyone can do this and has no qualm about inviting a crew to his home to lowball them, he is welcome to get stuffed. He becomes the third person to be permanently banned.

 

[Mikey P]

What are you paying the elves for the drive time?

 

[Cleanworks]

can you imagine if you had to go back for a redo? I think on that kind of distance I would ask for half in advance on a credit card and make sure you process it before leaving for the job. Lucky it only seems to happen to you rarely.

 

[Kellie Hiler]

I received a call once from a lady who said she was in a bind: that the carpet cleaner called off with a breakdown and she had all the furniture moved out of the rooms and could I come and do the work. The house was 45 minutes away. I quote her $250.00 based on her description of the rooms (I'm pretty thorough in asking about room sizes and that sort of thing, and I always leave room for increases or decreases in price when I arrive and survey the work).

I get to the house and the rooms are huge, the stair case is long and wide and she wants to add more work.

I'm totally bemused at the situation, so I decide to eat a large chunk of it and raise my price by only $50.00. She's says she got a better price and declines. I say okay and go to leave.

On my way out she says (knowing how far I drove to help her out) "I hope you didn't have to drive too far." To which I responded "Not a problem, my daughter lives five minutes away, and I was planning on a visit anyway."

You handled that way better than I would've!

 

[Kellie Hiler]

What are you paying the elves for the drive time?

That's what I was going to ask. That is a lot of driving unless you are able to schedule jobs in a certain area on the same days, but man, that's a lot of gas and wear and tear on your truck/s?!

 

[steve_64]

I had an account in the chicago burbs that was about 75 miles one way. Once there we would do 3 to 7 jobs in several different towns.
I was paying commission and would buy lunch and weed.
I dont like driving more than half an hour now but most jobs are within ten minutes and many less than five minutes away.

 

[rjwood]

You handled that way better than I would've!

What would you have done?

 

[Spurlington]

How about charging a traveling service charge to get there which could be applied to the cleaning. If they decline the cleaning, they still have to pay the service charge for traveling.

 

[Old Coastie]

What are you paying the elves for the drive time?

I cover their gas if they have to use their vehicle for any distance. I've also purchased tires and other repairs.
They work on a percentage basis, not per hour. Efficiency and quality are rewarded better that way. One job might break down to $7/hr, another $40/hr. Each dollar goes in a budgeted fashion and we split profits quarterly.

 

[Kellie Hiler]

What would you have done?

To be honest I'm not sure! But she would've known that I was not happy. I am sure I would've told her that she just cost me not only gas money but valuable time for something she should've been straightforward about over the phone, and if $50 was more valuable to her than honoring the fact that she had me drive 45 minutes just to get there she is not the kind of customer we want anyway, so good luck with the cheap guy!

I have only had a few times (can count them on one hand) where I have had to "nicely tell a customer or potential customer off" but I am not afraid to do it.
This is with the hopes that they will learn from it and the next guy won't get screwed.

 

[Cleanworks]

I recently had a customer call me about cleaning her carpets in her summer cottage, about 70 miles from where I am. She had a neighbor who also wanted her carpets cleaned at the same time. I informed them that I would have charge a minimum of $500.00 to go out there and back. They are still thinking about it. We are normally trying to make a minimum of $150.00 per hour. It's at least a 1 and 1/2 hour drive one way. So that's $300.00 just for the drive time. Although these are summer cottages, they both have aprox 900 sqft of carpet. Just doing traffic areas, we would normally charge about $200.00ea. So at $500.00, I'm still losing $200.00 compared to if it was in the city. Still, $500.00 isn't bad for half a days work. If they call, I will do it. Really have to make sure, I don't miss anything the first time as I would not drive back for a stain wicking up or anything like that. On our normal runs, we occasionally have customers cancel at the last minute. It's frustrating but at the same time, I have my truck break down on the way to the job. That's pretty frustrating to the customer who has moved all their furniture, etc. So we don't charge for cancellations normally but for a long trip like that, I think I would. If these customers call back, I will ask for a deposit so at least my expenses are covered. Of course, if I don't make it, it will have to be refunded.

 

[rjwood]

To be honest I'm not sure! But she would've known that I was not happy. I am sure I would've told her that she just cost me not only gas money but valuable time for something she should've been straightforward about over the phone, and if $50 was more valuable to her than honoring the fact that she had me drive 45 minutes just to get there she is not the kind of customer we want anyway, so good luck with the cheap guy!

I have only had a few times (can count them on one hand) where I have had to "nicely tell a customer or potential customer off" but I am not afraid to do it.
This is with the hopes that they will learn from it and the next guy won't get screwed.

My thinking is to not let on that I've been inconvenienced, though she knew she did, that was her intention. It's a no win situation. The problem is, of course, that I have to be mindful of reviews, so as much as I'd like to give a piece of mind, in the long run it's just not worth it. A poor review can cost thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars.

Over at Trash Mouth, I'd probably hear a chorus of the faithful dittohead cleaners saying to get it from the next customer, but I don't work that way.

A friend said that now I know why the last guy "canceled".

 

[Ron K]

Last minute, new customer, cancelations get put in our ASAP Program for rescheduling. "This is our very busy season ma'am the next available is 3 months out." " I'm so sorry you had to cancel last minute"
"Maybe Spit and Suck Carpet Cleaners have an opening"
I'm getting old.

 

[Spurlington]

Its not like were a hair salon .. cant fill our opening as fast as a cancellation.

How about bringing up a less than 24 hr notice cancellation fee for the ones who turn you away !!

 

[Old Coastie]

Cancellations are part of the landscape. I always let them off easy with encouragement to call when things settle down.

This guy was different in that he tried to mousetrap the elves. I paid something for their time anyhow. We all stand or fall together.

 

[Spurlington]

Im thinking the charge for the ones you know wont call back

 

[Ron K]

Im thinking the charge for the ones you know wont call back

I think thats just asking for bad press. Yes cancellations happen and clients get a lot of slack. Newbs that cancel get the ASAP. You take away anything that they can say badly about you. They canceled...you're busy.... if you charge them they'll just write a bad review or throw you under the bus. Why would they pay you anyway. What can they say "he was too busy!"
Usually people that don't respect you from the start don't respect you in the end. And they have no loyalty anyway. JME.

 

[steve_64]

Ive had a rocky start with a couple customers who have turned out to be great regulars and referral sources.

We all have bad days and I would hate to be judged on those alone.

 

[Barry-QDCC]

I had an account in the chicago burbs that was about 75 miles one way. Once there we would do 3 to 7 jobs in several different towns.
I was paying commission and would buy lunch and weed.
I dont like driving more than half an hour now but most jobs are within ten minutes and many less than five minutes away.

Maybe I'm old and out of the loop but does this mean what I think it means?

 

[Old Coastie]

It may be Steve64 has his own special bonus program, hahahaha!