Larry Cobb- question with pictures

[Zee]

PM is good stuff. I don't clean very much carpet but I wouldn't use anything else at this point.

I agree with powermax being good stuff...I think that is why we get "all up in arms" about it when its seems messed up. Because we love it so much we don't want to have to go to another prespray.

And DocRich you are right- it is absolutely not a personal issue. It is a qc issue that keeps coming up with powermax over the past 4-5 years at least.

 

[KevinD]

Small yellow and white clumps are normal from incomplete blending...
But I would not use that batch. I would wait for a replacement.

 

[Jim Martin]

I just got and opened batch #1213 today.........not the fluffy stuff I am used to seeing...it has gone back to the sandy type texture.......put it to work tomorrow and see how it does.....

the mix is good but it is still off as far as the cleaning power it use to have.....usually when it is sandy looking it seems to lose its punch.....when you open the bucket and you get the fluffy look to it and the citric smell......it will clean anything........

the last 3 buckets I have gotten have been the sandy texture.......the stuff is workable......but you have to do more spotting.....

so what will it take to go back to the way it use to be and leave well enough alone once and for all............

I have acutally spoken to larry personally and told him to stay away from these boards. For the very very small percentage of business he receives from them, he receives and very high percentage of grief from people about his products

this board is valuable to distributors and people like Cobb...........if we don't speak up and say where the problem is then how will they ever know to look into it....look at the ones who refused to listen......you here more and more bad things about them and......there days are numbered....

 

[Zee]

Agree Jim..

The whole notion of us being a small percentage of a business like Cobb's is just ridiculous... Why would someone advise Larry not to come on here? Because we point out the shortcomings of HIS business?

Also if we are such a small part of his business, by not listening to us would equal us not listening to one of our minimum charge jobs when they have a problem.

Idreadnought: do you not care if one of you "livingroomonly" customers has got an issue with your product? Do you tell them their business is too small for you to be concerned about?

 

[Ken Snow]

I would hope that my customers tell us about it and not go online telling their community.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[ruff]

Valuable feedback and Larry always handles the complaints with grace.

Now, all he needs to do is...............do something about it

 

[Jim Martin]

I would hope that my customers tell us about it and not go online telling their community.

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I am sure they will tell you..they only go on line pending how you take care of there problem.......

do something good and no one notices......screw up...and you will get all the notability you can handle.............

 

[Goomer]

......... and Larry always handles the complaints with grace.

Sometimes so much "Grace" I wanna scream.

Once, just once, like this instance for example, I would love to hear a simple, honest, no BS, non-salesman answer......maybe something like this......................"Wow Zee, that batch looks like shiet.....my bad..... maybe one of my guys dropped a Snickers Bar into the mixer or something. Dammit, I'm going to kick everyones ass if they keep fooking up my batches of PM. Don't use that stuff because I am not sure what the black stuff could be, and I'd rather be safe than sorry with YOUR customers. I'm sending you out a fresh fluffy orangy bucket o' goodness asap".

Now that would be refreshing.

 

[tman7]

I've been using PM for at least a couple years now. Although it sometimes has a slightly different appearance as some have mentioned. I can recall only one time where I found a significant amount of "clumps" in the mixture. Maybe a liquid version of PM is in order. Could a citrus solvent (delimolene?) and say, hydrogen peroxide (to replace the sodium percarbonate) work together without causing the peroxide to degrade before use? I would be agreeable to a two part solution if the end product worked well. Have no idea as to the type of enzymes used in PM and how much it adds to the effectiveness of PM. Or what if any other ingredients are in it. I imagine Larry wouldn't like to give the recipe for PM and couldn't blame him.

Personally, Id rather have a ready to mix product than be a bathtub chemist but doesn't Cobb sell both a citrus solvent and a liquid brightner (HP)? Hmmm....

 

[Jim Martin]

Personally, Id rather have a ready to mix product than be a bathtub chemist but doesn't Cobb sell both a citrus solvent and a liquid brightner (HP)? Hmmm....

He has a DC powder brightener.....which I got with my last pail of PM......I was told I could mix it with the PM and use it to clean tile....I am going to try it out tomorrow on a tile job.......he also has citric that I am waiting to come in that I am going to see if it is better then the stuff that I have been using........

 

[Zee]

I would hope that my customers tell us about it and not go online telling their community.

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I appreciate that comment Ken..but..you and us (mostly) sell a service that is much more of a person to person need as far as communication goes! Now if we are selling a product, I'm sure we would be dealing with online complaints in different forms and forums. I believe it is a good thing for all of us: a manufacturer can be notified about a mistake on their end and also all of us customers (and potential future customers that see how well the manufacturer responds to a problem) can give feedback and productive criticism while we are discussing the issue at hand.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I would hope that my customers tell us about it and not go online telling their community.

umm..Cole might agree with you
and anyway...isn't that what google reviews , yelp, etc are all about??



..L.T.A.

 

[Ken Snow]

I hear you all and held back until now. Sorry to sidetrack your thread.

 

[idreadnought]

I would hope that my customers tell us about it and not go online telling their community.

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Exactly what I am saying. That is one bucket of product that must be an isolated incident. But responses are like if he can't improve consistency then I will never buy again. And he should throw a brake rotor in the cement mixer to improve mixing. Would it have been that big of deal to make a phone call and ask larry himself? I realize the op was just asking a question but the responses were very harsh.

If I was being blasted on a public forum after I did my best to help the industry as a whole I would leave. In my opinion Larry gets more than his share of Criticism.

 

[jmo]

Jim Martin, What time are you home tomorrow i will bring what i got bye to compare.

 

[Mikey P]

Larry has asked to pull down his banners and to tell you all to GFY's.

and to watch this video.


http://youtu.be/xQlBxzw77fw

 

[Jim Martin]

Sometime around 3.....I will give you a call.....

 

[Goomer]

If I was being blasted on a publlc forum after I did my best to help the industry as a whole I would leave. In my opinion Larry gets more than his share of Criticism.

Larry's no wussy. He's a Big Boy with tough skin, and has been playing the BB game for a long enough time to know how it all works. It's not the first, or last time he is going to catch shiet over consistency issues with PowerMax,

I think he understands its "tough love" within the family.

Hell...I will be ordering more PM this week.

 

[Zee]

Larry's no wussy. He's a Big Boy with tough skin, and has been playing the BB game for a long enough time to know how it all works. It's not the first, or last time he is going to catch shiet over consistency issues with PowerMax,

I think he understands its "tough love" within the family.

Hell...I will be ordering more PM this week.

I'm going to place an order too...just hoping for the good stuff to arrive.

As far as this thread....my main question remains: should we use the stuff or not? Is it safe or not? Do we just toss away?

 

[dealtimeman]

Zee, does it mix or does it just stay clump together?

 

[FredC]

why would he even try?

love PM btw

 

[dealtimeman]

Just to see if it would mix and what the color would be after mixing, just to try it.

 

[CrazyRay]

Hey ZZZZZZyder ZZZZZZZZZee. Dude, sorry about that. I hate hearing how troubled you are with that funky bucket of PowerMax. I'm no chemist. I've spent my whole life running my carpet cleaning biz. Then I made a big change last fall when I joined the good people at Cobb Carpet Supply. Went from a long time customer and friend of CCS to an emplyee there. Since I've been there I have been able to observe up close and personal just how difficult it is manufacture, package, ship, and sell so many cleaning chemicals. Then there's the consulting and customer support both before and after the sale. And that's nationwide btw. Ain't easy.

Like I said, I'm no chemist. However, I have been a volume chemical buyer and user, as well as, technician trainer for more than 35 years. Here's my 2 cents fwiw. Of all the products we manufacture, Powermax, hands down, gets more rave reviews than any other. At the same time, Powermax also gets the most complaints. The way I see it is this. The very special blend of raw materials is what makes PM one of the best cleaners on the market. But then that same blend is what causes the headaches too. Raw materials do vary somewhat from time to time. Other factors like temperature, humidity, etc. could also have an effect. The result?... a damn good product that occasionally may appear to be a little different or inconsistent. That's life. If consistently pretty means adding fillers, blending agents, inactive ingredients to end up with a more expensive, less effective product, no thanks. We will leave that to our competitors.

More importantly, we want a happy customer. Zee, please call me Friday and I will take care of you personally. You will need to call me at the shop though. I am old school and handle problems one on one. Internet extortion is for pussies.

Ray W.
800-634-2622

 

[FredC]

I am old school and handle problems one on one. Internet extortion is for pussies.

Or people that recognize patterns and feel the need to inform other cleaners of their similar experience .............there is a long history here questioning the consistency of PM .........Jim is the leader (most observant/vocal) of course but there are quite a few others...and since the board makes up such a small percentage of the Cobb "empire" I have to believe that "few" is really a far larger number........

I'm sure you will say "but we have X number that don't complain"...probably the people stupid enough to mix PM at the label ratios....or stupid enough to use it as a rinse...or from Mississippi...or Delaware

OR people who sign in as "hidden"

 

[Zee]

Hey ZZZZZZyder ZZZZZZZZZee. Dude, sorry about that. I hate hearing how troubled you are with that funky bucket of PowerMax. I'm no chemist. I've spent my whole life running my carpet cleaning biz. Then I made a big change last fall when I joined the good people at Cobb Carpet Supply. Went from a long time customer and friend of CCS to an emplyee there. Since I've been there I have been able to observe up close and personal just how difficult it is manufacture, package, ship, and sell so many cleaning chemicals. Then there's the consulting and customer support both before and after the sale. And that's nationwide btw. Ain't easy.

Like I said, I'm no chemist. However, I have been a volume chemical buyer and user, as well as, technician trainer for more than 35 years. Here's my 2 cents fwiw. Of all the products we manufacture, Powermax, hands down, gets more rave reviews than any other. At the same time, Powermax also gets the most complaints. The way I see it is this. The very special blend of raw materials is what makes PM one of the best cleaners on the market. But then that same blend is what causes the headaches too. Raw materials do vary somewhat from time to time. Other factors like temperature, humidity, etc. could also have an effect. The result?... a damn good product that occasionally may appear to be a little different or inconsistent. That's life. If consistently pretty means adding fillers, blending agents, inactive ingredients to end up with a more expensive, less effective product, no thanks. We will leave that to our competitors.

More importantly, we want a happy customer. Zee, please call me Friday and I will take care of you personally. You will need to call me at the shop though. I am old school and handle problems one on one. Internet extortion is for pussies.

Ray W.
800-634-2622

Listen Ray I appreciate your helpfulness but you gotta realize that after rereading all my comments (and go back in time over the years) that I am absolutely not doing "an internet extorition"...I didnt even mention or demand replacement...so to say things like that makes me feel a little less eager to call you..and to call me a pussy isn't fair either.
You tend to jump on problems and handle it the wrong way..Larry should not let you represent HIS company.

After I posted a fair question saying should we use it is it safe, a simple answer would have done it.
,
"Yeah Zee and others, it looks weird but its safe to use it, no problem. We got a fragrance component that was a little different but it will work as always thanks for using our product"

Would have looked better..

 

[Mikey P]

I'm sticking with the chicken and waffles seasoning, didn't you know that the Waffle House is one of Cobb's biggest franchise customers?

Have cement mixer, will travel!

 

[Goomer]

I am old school and handle problems one on one. Internet extortion is for pussies.

Great response, but you blew it in the end.

It might be in your (and Larry's) best interest to explain that last comment a little better, and avoid making anyone thinking it was directed at them. Maybe explain that it was only a general comment that was somewhat misplaced.......of course, if that actually was the case.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Since I've been there I have been able to observe up close and personal just how difficult it is manufacture, package, ship, and sell so many cleaning chemicals. Then there's the consulting and customer support both before and after the sale. And that's nationwide btw. Ain't easy.

I disagree, that was a terrible response. I'd let Larry speak for himself he does a much better job of it, even when it's no response.

"Ain't easy." That's an answer? Shit, I'd say you better get better at it or leave it to someone who will.

I wish all my competitors had that attitude, we'd crush them!

 

[Willy P]

Zee;

I wasn't ignoring your post.

I did want to look at our retained samples from that batch code.

I cannot do that until tomorrow.

The discoloration is due to some unique fragrance components we are using,

but I admit, I do not like that degree of discoloration.

The discoloration does not affect the cleaning performance, but it does look nonuniform.

Our Stainless Steel mixing equipment is the best available for powder blending.

Larry Cap.- Other major manufacturers are not immune:

http://mikeysboard.com/forum/showth...-You-Buy-From-Prochem&highlight=willy+prochem

Larry

The difference , as I see it, is Cobb's would replace or refund. Prochem told me in so many words too bad Sonny- now run along. That response cost them a lot more money than if they had simply replaced or refunded. And not just the pittance I spend.

 

[billyeadon]

I have know Ray for many years as a fellow instructor. But I have not seen him post on boards very often. As everyone here knows BB's are definitely a different communication tool opposed to face to face. I am thinking Ray thought that was a funny remark but the humor without the facial signs don't always work. After he gets through with the trashing on here he will rethink his next post.

There is a reason that only Steve and I are allowed as Jon-Don and they sometimes wonder about us.