Yeah, Rob, I can see your point. That's always one of the things that I contemplate. I don't know your area, but I'm in a very rural area, most of my custy's are 20-30 miles away, sometimes more. So I can't do a walk through of each custy, even though I agree it would give both yourself and them a better idea of the final cost.
I resolve it by asking as many questions as possible, to avoid any confusion. Each customers idea of a "stain" is different from my own, and I always tell them that stain removal does run extra. I've had custy's tell me that it just needs a little deodorizer to remove the odor. You get there, and the place is like wild kingdom, just like the place Tim P. posted pictures of last week. Dog crap here, cat piss there, dirty clothes laying on the floor, kids toys everywhere.
I had one last month that told me over the phone to do "X" amount of area, fine. The call was on Monday, the job was for Thursday, so she had plenty of time to be ready. I get there and she has me do the upstairs and the main floor first. Great, all I have left is the rec room and kids room in the basement. She says, WAIT! You can't do that today, my son didn't clean his room, and I have clothes all over the floor down there. Oh really? She wanted me to come back again next time I'm in the neighborhood. Ok, Fine. Here's the kicker....she expected me to come back for FREE!!!
I told her I'd be glad to come back, but there will be an extra charge for not only the fuel, but the time involved with my equipment. She just gave me that blank stare, and couldn't believe I would charge her. So she tried to bargain on the price, to see if I would budge. NO WAY! Her square footage was way higher than she originally told me, so I told her the check she gave me would cover the costs for what I already did, the rest was extra.
Heck, I would've been glad to wait for her to quickly pick up the junk, or even do it myself for a small charge
She didn't want to, said she was too busy. Busy? yeah, busy watching soaps.
