what would you've said or done?

[Captain Morgan]

Monday I got a call from a painter who called and said, " hey, I need to know what to do here.. I've got a paint spill I need your help with.. what should I do? Should I go rent a Rug doctor or what?" I immediately pegged him for a cheap-skate, Do-it-yourselfer. I told him if that's what he wants to do he could go to Home Depot and rent a rug doctor and spend the time and money to do it himself. I asked him how much and what kind of paint, how long ago did it happen and on what type of carpet, had it seeped into the backing or pad?

He told me it was a half gallon of latex on commercial carpet, he didn't say how long ago it happened. He was on the road calling on his cell phone, said he was juggling a couple things and then was informed of this. I answered a couple other general questions and explained I had the cleaning products to clean the paint spill.

He danced around hiring me but sort of asked if I was could do the job.. but got the feeling he wanted me to drop what I was doing and do it right then. I told him I was heading out the door for a cleaning but that I could schedule him in later... he said he'd call back.. he never did.

I'm just a lowly O/O and didn't want to rearrange my day for his paint spill and lose my regular cleanings like Brent did a couple months ago on his wild goose chase.

About 45 minutes later, I realized I was a bit of a dickhead to the guy but I didn't want to be the one to spoon feed they guy how and what to do, afterall I am in the business of cleaning carpets. I don't call painters and pick their brains.... "Gee, I'm thinking about painting my house.. what do you think I should?"

How would you guys have handled this type of call?

 

[hogjowl]

I can understand how you felt and probably would have assumed the same thing about the dude; however, I have learned over the years to just deal with calls all the same. I would have told him I had a minimum charge starting at $--- and then the cost of removing the spill would go up accordingly. I then would have told him when my next available time was and let him decide if he wanted me, or not. If he said for me to come at that time, the next thing I would say is " our policy is payment at the time of service ... how will you arrange for us to be paid?"

 

[The Great Oz]

I would first ask how long ago it had happened. Once a volume of paint seeps into a carpet and starts to dry the better course of action is to replace that section.

If very recent, I would have let him know that if I had an opening I'd come right out and take of it for him, as that would be the best possible option. The next option would be to keep calling carpet cleaning companies until you found someone that could come out right away. The last option would be if he couldn't get someone right away he should definitely rent some kind of machine that would allow him to flush the paint before it dried, and that whatever they sold as detergent would be fine. Wish him luck and tell him to remember you next time.

 

[ACE]

If it was still fresh I would have asked him to cover it with a soaking wet towel till I could get there. If it was another mud jacker saying that they had hit a crack in the wall and there was “A tiny bit of mud on the carpet” I would tell him to F off or better yet call Brumett.

 

[joey895]

I had one of those a while back. An almost full gallon of paint knocked off a ladder on commercial glue down carpet. The called immediately when it happened so it was fresh. I treated it as an emergency service call and explained the charges $250 total they were happy to pay it. They even helped me with the clean up once I told them what to do.

Of course in my case it was a referral from another carpet cleaner, I'm sure that helped.

 

[Fred Homan]

It could have been cut out and do a bonded insert....Kool Glide Just an option.....

 

[ACE]

It could have been cut out and do a bonded insert....Kool Glide Just an option.....

Not a good option for commercial carpet. If it was dry paint, I would get a waiver and payment up front. Then attempt to remove with POG and hope it doesn’t ruin the backing.

 

[joey895]

It could have been cut out and do a bonded insert....Kool Glide Just an option.....

Not a good option for commercial carpet. If it was dry paint, I would get a waiver and payment up front. Then attempt to remove with POG and hope it doesn’t ruin the backing.

Especially if it was like the one I did. It wasn't just one puddle or spot. It fell off the ladder from about 4 feet high and splashed out, it was quite a mess.

 

[Fred Homan]

Walk away......

 

[davegillfishing]

we always do everything we can to help everyone out..we spend time on the phones giving advise all the time..
you never know who is on the other end of the phone and we have picked up more work than we have lost
easily..we have even gotten calls saying that we helped out a friend of theirs and were referred by them. we stick
to our 100% customer support to a tee all the time just because the one time you dont is the one time you will
miss out on something.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks guys, I thought I could have handled that better but my knee-jerk reaction got the best of me and I know that a shitty cop-out excuse for having poor phone skills with that call. I started getting guilty feelings because I thought he could have been a good contact for potential work.

Win some, lose some... hopefully lose less in the future.

 

[woodsey]

What Dave said. You never know where it will go. Woodsey

 

[Jeremy N]

I would have told him how to fix the problem himself. I wouldn't want to screw with it myself. Why leave the guy with the problem if I don't care to mess with it?

That's just me though.

Sowing and reaping is what it's about.

 

[CleanEvo]

You want to position yourself as the expert in carpet care for your area. If people phone and ask advice, give it to them, the $$$ will come. What goes around comes around.

 

[Wayne Miller]

If someone calls and we can't help I'll give them the best advice I can try to point them in the right direction. It's true, what goes around, comes around.

When we were moving the kids to Florida we stopped in one of the Carolinas for gas. As soon as I hit the key to leave, everything died. The girl at the register suggested talking to so-and-so at the garage behind the carwash across the street. It was a Saturday, he was about ready to go home, but he came over anyway and diagnosed a dead battery. There wasn't much he could do other than give us a jump.......and point us to the nearest autoparts store. He probably spent twenty minutes with us and then didn't even want my money. If there's anything I can EVER do to make his life more better, I will. He has a cheerleader for life. And, you never know where it'll go. The wife walked over to me the other day pointing to the picture of some guy in the paper. It was this guy's brother. He's our Mayor. It's a small world.

 

[The Great Oz]

Thanks guys, I thought I could have handled that better but my knee-jerk reaction got the best of me and I know that a shitty cop-out excuse for having poor phone skills with that call. I started getting guilty feelings because I thought he could have been a good contact for potential work.

Win some, lose some... hopefully lose less in the future.

Good analysis, good for you that you asked. You're going to do OK.