Re-Appearing Spots- Green Chems- And more...

[bensurdi]

Ok so today I get a call from a guy that i cleaned the carpets for over the last weekend. He had not cleaned for 4 years and had 2 big dogs. The place had a ton of dog hair and smelled very strong of dog...

So, I whipped up my Judson and pre sprayed like usual. I cleaned and the carpets looked good. Client was very happy.

THAN today... i get a call from the guy and he says that his landlord was not happy with the results and said that green cleaning is crap!

She called in her guy and apparently the guy was able to pull a bunch more soil out and the dog smell was gone.

Now, obviously there are a few issues here but here is the question:

If you walked into this house, that had not been cleaned in 4 years with 2 big dogs and heavy dog smell. What CHEMICAL and cleaning process would you have used to get the best results for the client?

I am thinking of using the agressive cleaners for situations like this, possibly Ultrapac and Dry Slurry combo, Any suggestions for future jobs like this?

 

[CleanEvo]

That's probably what I would do... Ultrpac/Dryslurry combo, add a deodorizer to it. Lot's of dwell time, agitation, flush and extract the pet stains really well. I'd probably spray a little Proxi as a last step on the dog stains.

 

[Mikey P]

Doesn't matter what chem you used.


The urine was in the backing and pad. Thrashed carpets need to be cleaned several times before you get half of it out Ben



You should know this by now.



Did you pre vacuum real well with a Bissell?

 

[Walt]

Judson products are greener than some but are in no way under powered to deal with pet issues. If you pre vac'd and scrubbed, allowed some dwell time and rinsed well - then you probably did as good job as possible.

 

[gary mackay]

4 years is a big red flag for some serious trauma, even if I was desperate I 'd still refer to Larry the Homeless Carpet Cleaner.

 

[joey895]

4 years is a big red flag for some serious trauma, even if I was desperate I 'd still refer to Larry the Homeless Carpet Cleaner.

You wouldn't clean a carpet that hadn't been cleaned in 4 years? Hell, I'd never work if I turned all of those down.

If it was not a urine issue, a good vacuuming to get rid of the dog hair and the judson with dd-12 scrubbed in and rinsed should have took care of it.

 

[bensurdi]

Well here is the crappy thing. He paid me 375 for the job, than the landlord come in and said it looked and smelled like crap so she had her guy come out.

I have a 100% guarantee on my work, which states that I will come back out and re-clean at no expense to the customer if they are not happy with the cleaning.

BUT, the landlord did not want to have me come back out, she said she would rather use someone who used real chemicals to clean the carpet and do it right....

SO, the renter wants me to refund him $150 now....

What would you do in this situation?

 

[Mikey P]

Bend over Ben, you've labeled you biz under the green flag, once in a while a cigarette eating, diet coke drinking, lawn over watering earth destroyer is gonna get the best of you.



Similar story to the guy who was all bent when I showed up with a slide in and he wanted the Mighty V.

only the slide in did a fine job..




and if you would have pre qualified better and perhaps done a more thorough job we wouldn't be talking about this right now.

I'm guessing you didn't pre vacuum enough, did not use a 175 to agitate, went too fast with a under jetted wand, did not dry stoke enough and didn't have not enough peroxide in your pre spray and or rinse.



Am I right?

 

[Walt]

I'd give him the money and take your loss. It's kind of a hit to the ego, but better to put your energy toward the next job then to worry about 150.

Being green does have it's draw backs. I've had people ask me before a job if it would turn out better if I used "real" chemicals. It's can be frustrating. The good news is, you wont get as many calls from the worst carpets. Let's face it, you and I probably do way less red removal than most.

 

[Padden McFadden]

I will never work for a renter again, ONLY the land lord.

The problem working for a renters is, you can pre qualify the job to them, but the land lord comes in and sees the carpet is in less than perfect shape and Think you didn't do a good job. The other problem is when you do something different (green cleaning) and it doesn't come out 100% perfect, In thier mind it's because you didn't use the "standard chemicals" , or "standard system".

A real dirty carpet will come out a little better when cleaned the 2nd time, no matter what.
I've been on both sides, been the hero and the zero.

Once I had a land lord think I was a jerk because there was a slight shadow left on a supper worn traffic lane and brought in "her guy" to fix it.

On the other hand, The son of a customer of mine bought a house and had the carpets cleaned by one of the best cleaners in town, but noticed a little dog hair along the base boards and a slight dog smell. So his mom called me, I looked at the carpet and the 1st guy did a real good job, it didn't look any better after I cleaned it but I got to be the hero because I got a little more dirt and dog hair out, and used a little odorcide in my pre spray.

 

[BUSY BEE]

Well here is the crappy thing. He paid me 375 for the job, than the landlord come in and said it looked and smelled like crap so she had her guy come out.

I have a 100% guarantee on my work, which states that I will come back out and re-clean at no expense to the customer if they are not happy with the cleaning.

BUT, the landlord did not want to have me come back out, she said she would rather use someone who used real chemicals to clean the carpet and do it right....

SO, the renter wants me to refund him $150 now....

What would you do in this situation?

stop using "green chemicals" on shitholes. it's well known that they aren't very effective cleaning chemicals.

 

[John Olson]

I'm confused....When did Judson get the Green Seal or meet EPA Reg for being green? Just because your name says GREEN doesn't make what your using Green. I would tell them the truth that you don't use Green Chemicals so their arguement is incorrect.

 

[sweendogg]

Well here is the crappy thing. He paid me 375 for the job, than the landlord come in and said it looked and smelled like crap so she had her guy come out.

I have a 100% guarantee on my work, which states that I will come back out and re-clean at no expense to the customer if they are not happy with the cleaning.

BUT, the landlord did not want to have me come back out, she said she would rather use someone who used real chemicals to clean the carpet and do it right....

SO, the renter wants me to refund him $150 now....

What would you do in this situation?

Forget the rest of the comments for a minute and look at your own wording and guarentee. You quoted a price and provided a warranty. Your warranty states you will come back out and re-clean it at no expense if there was any question. THAT is what they agreed to with your price.

They voided your warranty when they refused to have you come out and re-clean. Tell them they voided your warranty sothere will be no refund and put them behind you. If they bad mouth your biz and people ask about it, you can point out the four year old carpet and they refused to accept the conditions of your warranty. Just like if you have a computer that has a warranty that requires the computer be sent back to them and you void it by trying to fix it with the local repair guy.

They can't say you ruined the carpet and any inspector is going to point out the dog issues and that it should have been cleaned alot sooner.

 

[TimP]

I'd let them know that just because a cleaning detergent is green doesn't mean that the chemicals aren't real. It means the chemicals are less harmfull to the environment. Further more you would of cleaned the carpet a second time as a part of your guarantee and that hiring a different company isn't apart of your guarantee.

In my situation I don't advertise that I use greenish chemicals, I do it for my own personal health. Of course I'll whip out the strong stuff for nasty carpet.

For the situation you are describing I would probably of used the O2 from judson. But I would of added the quat a lot and some dd-12 and some extra peroxide or percarbonate. I did one this morning where I added some peroxide and most of the dirt was fading away in addition to the urine spots, by the time I started to extract. Anyways you should give at least 15 min dwell time for the odor and put down plenty of the chemical. The job I did this morning I put down about 80% of a 4-1 hydroforce in a 350 sq ft area. Then if you have heavily soiled areas you should mechanically scrub your preconditioner in.

Also if your customer complains of urine smells and they can tell you where the smell is coming from you should flood that area and let sit with deodorizer like the quat and dd-12 and then water claw and flush it out. Or you could use a moisture meter/black light or pull back the carpet to inspect the padding and find areas. Also unless the animal is no longer with them and in a situation where they are the home owner and 20% or more of the carpet is damaged then replacement should be recommended however you can still try to improve the odor like I said above. But of course don't do it for free.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Ok so today I get a call from a guy that i cleaned the carpets for over the last weekend. He had not cleaned for 4 years and had 2 big dogs. The place had a ton of dog hair and smelled very strong of dog...

So, I whipped up my Judson and pre sprayed like usual. I cleaned and the carpets looked good. Client was very happy.

THAN today... i get a call from the guy and he says that his landlord was not happy with the results and said that green cleaning is crap!

She called in her guy and apparently the guy was able to pull a bunch more soil out and the dog smell was gone.

Now, obviously there are a few issues here but here is the question:

If you walked into this house, that had not been cleaned in 4 years with 2 big dogs and heavy dog smell. What CHEMICAL and cleaning process would you have used to get the best results for the client?

I am thinking of using the agressive cleaners for situations like this, possibly Ultrapac and Dry Slurry combo, Any suggestions for future jobs like this?

Had the same exact job last week

6 areas of wall to wall plush white nylon carpet she claimed to be 20 years old. 2 big dogs, urine, 3 kids and lives in a dusty rural area that has a ton of soil tracked in. It stunk and looked like crap, traffic areas were black almost. Was not professionally cleaned in almost 3 years and she never vacuumed. She did rent a rug doctor last year. I talked to her prior to cleaning and gave her realistic expectations and did my best to exceed them.

I thought one of the most important steps was dry soil and dog hair removal prior to the cleaning. For the 6 areas it took me 1 1/2 hours to vacuum the carpets. I have the Bissel powerforce. I had 6 canisters of hair, dirt and whatever else was in the carpet. I vacuumed the high traffic areas 2 different directions and removed more soil. I proceeded with the usual cleaning and the customer was shocked on how well it came out. So was I. I called her yesterday and she was still raving on how good of a job I did. Even got a referral off her.

I think if you vacuumed more, did more pre qualifying and wrote on the invoice in detail what was done you would have less problems.

What did you say to the landlord?

The dog smell was the hair you left behind.

Refund the $150 and chalk it up as a lesson learned.

 

[Chris A]

Forget the rest of the comments for a minute and look at your own wording and guarentee. You quoted a price and provided a warranty. Your warranty states you will come back out and re-clean it at no expense if there was any question. THAT is what they agreed to with your price.

They voided your warranty when they refused to have you come out and re-clean. Tell them they voided your warranty sothere will be no refund and put them behind you. If they bad mouth your biz and people ask about it, you can point out the four year old carpet and they refused to accept the conditions of your warranty. Just like if you have a computer that has a warranty that requires the computer be sent back to them and you void it by trying to fix it with the local repair guy.

They can't say you ruined the carpet and any inspector is going to point out the dog issues and that it should have been cleaned alot sooner.

Unfortunately Ben's not gonna hear anyone bad mouth his biz, but others will, and that carries a much bigger potential loss than 150 bucks. Give the refund Ben, right or wrong, its in YOUR best interest...

 

[bensurdi]

yeah i will be giving the refund, i told him i would during the first conversation, i did make sure he understood that i am being very generous by doing so though and he was very appreciative but has not called me on it yet... so we will see.

 

[dealtimeman]

i would of offered to get the smell out by doing a pet treament and flooding the areas that were causing the problem and turn out the hero instead of the guy that has to refund the money becuase he couldnt get the job done. but then again it is only 150 dollars.

 

[CleanEvo]

If you want to stay green, try Prochem Axiom pre-spray with the Axiom detergent rinse. I used it today on a fairly bad job where they had 3 cats, some puke/piss and lots of coffee stains. I was impressed with the results, not as good as Ultrpac/Dryslurry, but pretty close... and it's a green line.

 

[duckster]

I would follow the laws regarding warranties and guarantees. You offered to come out and make it right. That was your obligation. She refused. Case closed. Document it and be done with it. Works for me.

The first time you refuse to come out and make good on a warranty, you lose in court.

If this is a tenant who didn't clean her carpets for four years you gain nothing by giving her back any money. How much business are you likely to lose from her in the next 4 years? I think the number is ZERO dollars, the same you made off her in the 4 previous years.

That's my take, not a lawyer, just a layman.

 

[Torn]

Pre Vac like a mad Man then, Ultra Pac, Dry Slurry and for the smell Odorcide. Period your done. I do about 3 per month in my area and it took me a while to find the right deodorizer.

 

[XTREME1]

The urine was in the backing and pad. Thrashed carpets need to be cleaned several times before you get half of it out Ben

I went to a condo today and the guy never told me how serious the pet issues were and when I got there the minute the door opend I said "whoa you got some stink" I told him cleaning isn't going to take care of the smell, may lessen but you need to replace the pad. I cleaned it and it came out beautiful and then went to the truck and pulled out the unsmoke fogger and some 55 and went over the whole thing and told the guy the pad needed replacing. He asked if I fogged the backroom and I said I didn't clean the backroom , "well I am getting the smell there too" went in fogged the whole place and lifted the carpet and fogged underneath rewrote his bill for $50 more and when he questioned me I said I did what you told me to do write another check.

This isn't charity know what you can and can not get out. Place will probably stink by monday or atleast next friday but that isn't my problem and I don't know why it should be . If it looked like shit refund the money. why were you doing a job $450 below your average?

 

[Able 1]

I thought this was just a wet dog smell? Was this a urine issue? I didn't get that from the first post.. :?

 

[Guest]

1. First post Mikey hit it; Pee is in the pad; Pull carpet clean in plant atmosphere; replace all padding; reinstall.

2. Or you can throw away your chems and use real chems. Green Real Chem for Pee ECOLAB Proforce 4 to 1 ratio or more; Mix in your favorite Oxi Booster. Shampoo in let dwell 20 minutes shoot in your Deodorizer and Citrus Solv mixture from a Hydroforce Revolution Injection Sprayer. Fresh clean water only rinse.

I do this everyday; We clean 2000 Trashed pee Apartments a year or more; may wanna try #2 first!!

 

[XTREME1]

I thought this was just a wet dog smell? Was this a urine issue? I didn't get that from the first post..

Since he can not figure it out, the most basic dog smell that would be left after cleaning is urine. You are right it just turned out he did a hack job

 

[ACE]

I would refund that money fast, all of it. After all, the important thing is your reputation. If you give the customer a full refund in a timely matter they are not likely to go around telling everyone you suck. Here is how I would have cleaned:
Vacuum. Use an encapsulated protein digesting enzyme pre-spray to break down body oils. I like interlinks Bio-Break for this because it’s safe for stain resistant carpet. Pre-Scrub with CRB. Extract and collect money from happy customer.