Should I walk away or go the extra mile?

Papa John

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I have a client that is being difficult. We cleaned the urine-soaked carpet in a rental for her.
We only did a regular cleaning. Stains and odor came back because the urine was severe.
I have offered to do a recleaning, using more water and Odorkiller. We will use Drymaster's HVE, a stand-on sub-surface extractor.
She claims the carpet is a pet stain-proof carpet and has had a guy from Santa Cruz clean her carpets with great success. I think she said his business is called Citra-Clean.

Here's the Kicker: We cleaned for her in 2014 and had to refund the money because she complained that my Brother-in-law was rude to her. He can be an ass at times, especially with difficult people.
 

jeffexe

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First question. If the cleaner from Santa Cruz did such an amazing job, why is she calling you 9 years later?
Also, The other method, I believe is dry like bonnet or crb. My belief is they did not wet the carpet enough to allow for wicking vs HWE. You have opened the box. There is no band aid anymore.
 

Papa John

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First question. If the cleaner from Santa Cruz did such an amazing job, why is she calling you 9 years later?
Also, The other method, I believe is dry like bonnet or crb. My belief is they did not wet the carpet enough to allow for wicking vs HWE. You have opened the box. There is no band aid anymore.
Because he charges an arm and a leg to travel from SC.
And I sold her on our dedication to doing quality work-- but this was before I discovered she may be difficult.
 

FredC

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I have a client that is being difficult. We cleaned the urine-soaked carpet in a rental for her.
We only did a regular cleaning. Stains and odor came back because the urine was severe.
I have offered to do a recleaning, using more water and Odorkiller. We will use Drymaster's HVE, a stand-on sub-surface extractor.
She claims the carpet is a pet stain-proof carpet and has had a guy from Santa Cruz clean her carpets with great success. I think she said his business is called Citra-Clean.

Here's the Kicker: We cleaned for her in 2014 and had to refund the money because she complained that my Brother-in-law was rude to her. He can be an ass at times, especially with difficult people.

You took the gamble instead of saying "as a professional, my opinion is that this urine-soaked carpet is not a good candidate for cleaning" and then you gave it a regular old cleaning knowing the likely outcome whether you told her it might happen or not


walk? No. I'd either fix it which probably can't be done or give her a refund
 
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Mike J

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Dang, thats going the extra marathon. I guess there is more to the bigger picture for you. way to go.
 
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Papa John

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You took the gamble instead of saying "as a professional, my opinion is that this urine-soaked carpet is not a good candidate for cleaning" and then you gave it a regular old cleaning knowing the likely outcome whether you told her it might happen or not


walk? No. I'd either fix it which probably can't be done or give her a refund
Yeah-- I wasn't there-- It was my son who did the work--
On the Plus Side-- This difficult lady is providing us with many training opportunities. :dejection::hopeless::errf:
 

Jimmy L

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Well dummy you asked for it by going back to do more work for her.
On those rentals that have odor issues I use a carpet sanitizer added to my prespray. And with a black light I see the more affected areas and with a trigger sprayer...spritz some "Skunk odor deo" on them.
Then get on down the road and get a check and call er done.

The skunk odor deo lasts a long.............time
 

Cleanworks

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I have a client that is being difficult. We cleaned the urine-soaked carpet in a rental for her.
We only did a regular cleaning. Stains and odor came back because the urine was severe.
I have offered to do a recleaning, using more water and Odorkiller. We will use Drymaster's HVE, a stand-on sub-surface extractor.
She claims the carpet is a pet stain-proof carpet and has had a guy from Santa Cruz clean her carpets with great success. I think she said his business is called Citra-Clean.

Here's the Kicker: We cleaned for her in 2014 and had to refund the money because she complained that my Brother-in-law was rude to her. He can be an ass at times, especially with difficult people.
Refund her and flag her. Will cost more to fix it. There is no such thing as pet proof carpet. Maybe, somewhat pet resistant.
 
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BIG WOOD

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Its not pet proof carpet. the installer ripped her off and installed normal plain carpet and charged her for the good stuff. Tell your son to pull up a corner to see how the backing looks and what the pad is made of. I've seen it dozens of times over here. Installers are liars
 

Papa John

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Thanks everyone, for your input. @Jim Pemberton I found the warranty info and sent her a copy.
This is what I said to her in the email:

I've attached both our updated invoice and the carpet warranty from Stainmaster.

We will try our best to remove more of the decontamination. However, please understand that removal of stains, spot and odors is never guaranteed, and we will still expect payment regardless of the outcome. If you do not agree with this, then please cancel the recleaning appointment and we will charge you nothing.

The carpet in question does not have a valid warranty because its use violated the warranty in several areas. One it was used in a rental and the abuse was severe. and the other cleaning may have not been the approved HWE method and with the frequency required to maintain the warranty.

Perhaps you should just keep this between you and the former tenant and leave Healthy Choice out of it, as I fear the results might not be to your satisfaction.

Best regards,
John Stewart
 
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Well a rental has tenants coming and going.. I'm sure the urine wasn't that bad when Citra-clean cleaned it years ago.. And fwiw, any flooring warranty isn't worth the paper it's printed on.. It's very rare that flooring gets replaced for warranty purposes.. My pops was a flooring inspector for 30+ years.. Not my cup of tea..
 

sassyotto

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when will people start realizing that cleaning and odor removal are two different chemistries?

but to answer your question. Walk
 
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Willy P

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Thanks everyone, for your input. @Jim Pemberton I found the warranty info and sent her a copy.
This is what I said to her in the email:

I've attached both our updated invoice and the carpet warranty from Stainmaster.

We will try our best to remove more of the decontamination. However, please understand that removal of stains, spot and odors is never guaranteed, and we will still expect payment regardless of the outcome. If you do not agree with this, then please cancel the recleaning appointment and we will charge you nothing.

The carpet in question does not have a valid warranty because its use violated the warranty in several areas. One it was used in a rental and the abuse was severe. and the other cleaning may have not been the approved HWE method and with the frequency required to maintain the warranty.

Perhaps you should just keep this between you and the former tenant and leave Healthy Choice out of it, as I fear the results might not be to your satisfaction.

Best regards,
John Stewart
Why not just say......piss off you old bag.

Problem solved and very cleansing!
 

Hack Attack

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People are exactly how they choose to be, if someone is acting like an unreasonable asshat it's not an act*

*admittedly one of my biggest cheerleaders was a previous customer of chemcrime, she moaned bitterly about my 1st invoice.
But then has appreciated the clear difference, now refers around $2k a year of work my way.
 
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Jim Pemberton

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I apologize for my tardniness John, but I'm glad you got the warranty information.

I like how you handled your reply by using it too.

Here are is a point that sticks with me regarding the warranty (italics and bold face are mine):

"Damage caused by pets such as lingering odors, color change caused by pet vomit or feces, carpet loop or tuft snags and pulls or damage from extreme moisture are excluded"

Somehow people think that these carpets won't stink from pet damage....of course that is what they are lead to believe by marketing.
 

Papa John

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Maybe somewhere in the middle of Hack Attacks last post and the one your thinking about.
I've turned a handful of "complainers" into cheerleaders in the past, and it's very rewarding.
However, this lady seems to be "playing games" and be shady.
She couldn't meet us to let us at as 8am was too early for her and at 9am she wouldn't be available because she would be in a Zoom meeting. She lives nextdoor to the apartment we cleaned, yet gave us the wrong number to knock on to get payment from her. And This time I think she gave me the wrong email address to send her the info as it seemed to have a misspelling.
As Of now I don't think my son will show up unless he get confirmation to the agreement that we get paid regardless of the outcome and he gets payment first.
 
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Mike J

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I've turned a handful of "complainers" into cheerleaders in the past, and it's very rewarding.
However, this lady seems to be "playing games" and be shady.
She couldn't meet us to let us at as 8am was too early for her and at 9am she wouldn't be available because she would be in a Zoom meeting. She lives nextdoor to the apartment we cleaned, yet gave us the wrong number to knock on to get payment from her. And This time I think she gave me the wrong email address to send her the info as it seemed to have a misspelling.
As Of now I don't think my son will show up unless he get confirmation to the agreement that we get paid regardless of the outcome and he gets payment first.
That would be a tough one for me too. That would be a fine line on me falling off the wagon and losing my temper. I guess the pro to it is the education in training techs on this scenario. Good luck man.
 

Jim Pemberton

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I've turned a handful of "complainers" into cheerleaders in the past, and it's very rewarding.
However, this lady seems to be "playing games" and be shady.
She couldn't meet us to let us at as 8am was too early for her and at 9am she wouldn't be available because she would be in a Zoom meeting. She lives nextdoor to the apartment we cleaned, yet gave us the wrong number to knock on to get payment from her. And This time I think she gave me the wrong email address to send her the info as it seemed to have a misspelling.
As Of now I don't think my son will show up unless he get confirmation to the agreement that we get paid regardless of the outcome and he gets payment first.

The red flags from this woman are countless.....

red flags.jpg
 

Mikey P

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I enjoyed reading your website just now.


the Papaisms are different than the usualy we don't cut coorners we clean them with our state of the art equipment hogwash.


Would you mind sharing what your "trade secret" is?

“Hello, my name is John Stewart....


... the owner of Healthy Choice Carpet Cleaners. In 1989 I started cleaning carpets and upholstery using the standard methods, however in those early years I began to notice that the cleaning chemicals used in the industry were making me sick. After further research I also discovered that the chemicals used in the industry caused cancer. After extensive research through medical documents and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) I found a better way to clean carpets that would be safer for the environment and healthier for my clients. I changed the methods I used and the name of the company to Healthy Choice Carpet Cleaners in 1995.

When I first changed my business model to one that was healthy and safe I was ridiculed by the competition and my suppliers. Now over 32 years later the competition is still trying to copy the Healthy Choice Method. The competition is failing however since they have not learned the one trade secret that I learned in the beginning. Sorry, that trade secret will never be disclosed.”





Im going to guess it is a combination of passion, using TACT followed by two or more dry strokes :winky:
 

SamIam

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sam miller
I have a client that is being difficult. We cleaned the urine-soaked carpet in a rental for her.
We only did a regular cleaning. Stains and odor came back because the urine was severe.
I have offered to do a recleaning, using more water and Odorkiller. We will use Drymaster's HVE, a stand-on sub-surface extractor.
She claims the carpet is a pet stain-proof carpet and has had a guy from Santa Cruz clean her carpets with great success. I think she said his business is called Citra-Clean.

Here's the Kicker: We cleaned for her in 2014 and had to refund the money because she complained that my Brother-in-law was rude to her. He can be an ass at times, especially with difficult people.
Pet proof is only a plastic barrier on top of the padding.

Urine still goes into the carpet and backing.

It also might mean because it's solution dyed, it won't stain from animal accidents.

Lastly pulling up a corner and looking at the backing will give a more precise look of the severity.
 

Papa John

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I enjoyed reading your website just now.


the Papaisms are different than the usualy we don't cut coorners we clean them with our state of the art equipment hogwash.


Would you mind sharing what your "trade secret" is?
Im going to guess it is a combination of passion, using TACT followed by two or more dry strokes :winky:

Wow! I haven't read that in decades. It's been so long that I can't remember exactly what it was.
I remember when "green" products" first came out, they didn't work as well as they do now. Your guess may be correct.- Or maybe it was the Vortex that was the secret?
Pet proof is only a plastic barrier on top of the padding.

Urine still goes into the carpet and backing.

It also might mean because it's solution dyed, it won't stain from animal accidents.

Lastly pulling up a corner and looking at the backing will give a more precise look of the severity.
Yeah, THAT"S what I tried to tell her.
But she said-- "The other guy was able to get it clean."
I said, "Maybe the problem wasn't as severe?" to which she agreed.

So my son ended up not showing up, since we didn't get confirmation.
I'm thinking of warning Ofer and another competitor about her.
 
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Wow! I haven't read that in decades. It's been so long that I can't remember exactly what it was.
I remember when "green" products" first came out, they didn't work as well as they do now. Your guess may be correct.- Or maybe it was the Vortex that was the secret?

Yeah, THAT"S what I tried to tell her.
But she said-- "The other guy was able to get it clean."
I said, "Maybe the problem wasn't as severe?" to which she agreed.

So my son ended up not showing up, since we didn't get confirmation.
I'm thinking of warning Ofer and another competitor about her.

I thought Ofer retired in the hills?
 

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