Mikey P
Administrator
Frank Smith needed his carpet cleaned.
His wife asked the ladies at her bridge group if any of them knew of a reputable cleaner.
One lady spoke up and said "My neighbor down the street cleans carpet and he has a very good reputation".
She had never used us.
Frank stopped by a local carpet retailer and asked for a referral and they handed him my card.
That was good enough for him.
Franks lives WAY out in the sticks in a home he built by hand. When I saw his address I made sure he knew that the price Full Circle quoted him was just an estimate and that we would be measuring and providing a firm price once we arrived. $20 in gas for an estimate only was something I was trying to avoid, seeing how he was a first timer. On the phone he said "Just come on out, I'm sure we can work something out. I use to own a cleaning business so I know what's up.."
That left me scratching my noggin wondering if he meant janitorial, windows, pools or carpet..
40 minutes from my prior job, I was greeted at the door by Frank, who sounds a lot like John Wayne. I was happy to see that Frank had moved all but his sectional sofa frames off the carpet because my Prep letter kicks ass.
He never asked the price, he just gave me the tour of his LR, DR and MBR, pointing out spots and stains.
I then start the figurin and he immediately starts telling me about his history in the carpet cleaning industry...
Frank owned a cleaning company and "Professional Chemicals" (Prochem) distributorship in the early 70's. He says he played a big part in helping Jim and Mike Roden design their first truckmount.
We got to chatting and name dropping and it turns out Frank, who lives in the sticks of Bonny Doon, also knows or knew Lee Pemberton, Ed York, Judson Jones, Mike West, Steve Kaufman and a host of other old timers who helped shape this racket.
He laughed pretty hard when I told him I slept in Ed York's bed and that his ghost spoke to me in my dreams.
Talking to Frank was a lot like talking to Judson Jones. Loads of "All we had were Rotaries to clean with" stories.. "When extractors came out we used boxes of defoamer to deal with the residues"..
I was in my little Dodge/ C4 solo'ing it so I had plenty of time to chat and show him all the latest and greatest toys.
He was really impressed with my Shark vacuum. His Kirby was leaving lots behind on his 24 year old white nylon. The Devastator filter caught his eye, he asked if it was a booster of some sort. lol!
He fully approved of my 2.5 hose and laughed at my 2 inch whip. "We used 1.5 and struggled with it."
The HydroForce, SS Red remover, 40 vol, Chempsec Enzall blew him away as well... "We only put traffic lane down in the real bad spots but I see what you're doing there..."
He didn't know what to think of the RV360i but when I let him try my GGlided 5 jet wand he was all smiles and joked that he may need to come out of retirement..
Frank retired in 1990 and now spends his time volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, helping build homes for those in need.
What a great time we had. Three hours later I waved good bye with a promise to tell Mike Roden he was still kicking at 87 years old...
His manual was still 80% or more relevant today..
His wife asked the ladies at her bridge group if any of them knew of a reputable cleaner.
One lady spoke up and said "My neighbor down the street cleans carpet and he has a very good reputation".
She had never used us.
Frank stopped by a local carpet retailer and asked for a referral and they handed him my card.
That was good enough for him.
Franks lives WAY out in the sticks in a home he built by hand. When I saw his address I made sure he knew that the price Full Circle quoted him was just an estimate and that we would be measuring and providing a firm price once we arrived. $20 in gas for an estimate only was something I was trying to avoid, seeing how he was a first timer. On the phone he said "Just come on out, I'm sure we can work something out. I use to own a cleaning business so I know what's up.."
That left me scratching my noggin wondering if he meant janitorial, windows, pools or carpet..
40 minutes from my prior job, I was greeted at the door by Frank, who sounds a lot like John Wayne. I was happy to see that Frank had moved all but his sectional sofa frames off the carpet because my Prep letter kicks ass.
He never asked the price, he just gave me the tour of his LR, DR and MBR, pointing out spots and stains.
I then start the figurin and he immediately starts telling me about his history in the carpet cleaning industry...
Frank owned a cleaning company and "Professional Chemicals" (Prochem) distributorship in the early 70's. He says he played a big part in helping Jim and Mike Roden design their first truckmount.
We got to chatting and name dropping and it turns out Frank, who lives in the sticks of Bonny Doon, also knows or knew Lee Pemberton, Ed York, Judson Jones, Mike West, Steve Kaufman and a host of other old timers who helped shape this racket.
He laughed pretty hard when I told him I slept in Ed York's bed and that his ghost spoke to me in my dreams.
Talking to Frank was a lot like talking to Judson Jones. Loads of "All we had were Rotaries to clean with" stories.. "When extractors came out we used boxes of defoamer to deal with the residues"..
I was in my little Dodge/ C4 solo'ing it so I had plenty of time to chat and show him all the latest and greatest toys.
He was really impressed with my Shark vacuum. His Kirby was leaving lots behind on his 24 year old white nylon. The Devastator filter caught his eye, he asked if it was a booster of some sort. lol!
He fully approved of my 2.5 hose and laughed at my 2 inch whip. "We used 1.5 and struggled with it."
The HydroForce, SS Red remover, 40 vol, Chempsec Enzall blew him away as well... "We only put traffic lane down in the real bad spots but I see what you're doing there..."
He didn't know what to think of the RV360i but when I let him try my GGlided 5 jet wand he was all smiles and joked that he may need to come out of retirement..
Frank retired in 1990 and now spends his time volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, helping build homes for those in need.
What a great time we had. Three hours later I waved good bye with a promise to tell Mike Roden he was still kicking at 87 years old...
His manual was still 80% or more relevant today..
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