[stevegunn]

When will these guys learn local one to me has just gone bust.Charging £10 a carpet, £20 suite & £25 carpet/suite.I spoke to him a few months ago ref his pricing but he was happy making £50 a day.

I only know he has packed in because he uses an 0800 number and have had a number of his customers on asking for their half price carpet clean,apparently he cleaned their carpets in September for £10 and told them he would do it for half price in January. :   

[scott.]

Did he escape from somewhere?

[Mike Halliday]

that's not a bad idea if your charging a decent price, half price 3 months later especially to create work in January.

my Y/P ad says free re-clean in 6 months (ask for details) they pay for the clean & protect and I'll clean the traffic areas for free 6 months later.

but if you're only charging a tenner, then maybe not : : :

Mike

[stevegunn]

Fiver for the re-clean

[Adrian Makel]

had a leaflet put through my door the other week 2 carpets for £15.phoned the number to check it out as phone number was local to me,and was told i could have my whole house done for £45.was tempted to get it booked in. for that price i reckon he must be cleaning carpets with fairy liquid.not to worry doubt he will last long

[AquaMagic]

We tried the half price within 6 months reclean offer but didnt get anywhere with it, by far the best responce we have had is Free Lounge Carpet Clean with every suite (with limitations) and a little put on the price of the suite 

Dene

[Helen]

It's not so much Spash and Dash as Bait and Switch. I scanned a piece of paper that arrived the other day £9 for 12x12 living room etc.
If I knew how to put it on here I would.
Was tempted to call them in to see what happens for £9 but didn't want to spend another 3 hours putting it right myself (well hubby) 

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

had a leaflet put through my door the other week 2 carpets for £15.phoned the number to check it out as phone number was local to me,and was told i could have my whole house done for £45.was tempted to get it booked in. for that price i reckon he must be cleaning carpets with fairy liquid.not to worry doubt he will last long

thats all we charge mate and were still here over 20 years later 

[gwrightson]

so 1st clean, your still here 20 yrs later    
so you started when you were 13 , you keep cleaning full houses for £45 and you wont be here in another 20yrs   you will have knackered yourself up

Geoff

[paul wright]

same here

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

so 1st clean, your still here 20 yrs later    
so you started when you were 13 , you keep cleaning full houses for £45 and you wont be here in another 20yrs   you will have knackered yourself up

Geoff

i took over the buiss when my dad past on a few years ago ,  is it a man thing saying i earn this, i earn that ! some people are more then happy to make 70-90 pounds day i dont see why we get knocked all the time !

maybe we should all post up pics of our houses next ? along with copys of the deeds as well then we will see whos the daddy ! and why people have to charge what they do 

im lucky have no debt what so ever after buying 7 houses to rent out years ago then selling them at the top to the market makeing me a few quid  so i dont have to charge what the rest do ! not that i would have a change to charge that here where i am

does this mean im a bad cleaner ? cos im not working to pay for debt ? maybe people should just try and be more frindly to each other and stop trying to rip people cause there not makeing as much as them !

ive been in too  a good few houses after the so called top men have been there and chager top dollor  , and have done a far better job and charged a lot less !

[Neil Grainger]

Horses for course for me, Place in the market for all.

1st how long does it take to clean a house for £45?

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Horses for course for me, Place in the market for all.

1st how long does it take to clean a house for £45?

it take as long as it takes mate 4 hours  or  ten hours it doent matter as long as the jobs right

[Barry Livingstone]

1st clean.

if you are happy working for LESS than £10.00 per hour then fine but you are just dragging a good business down to the gutters.

you are not a business man, i bet you claim alsorts.....................

[carpetguy]

Ist Clean

are you taking the proverbial, or are you really working for well below the minimum wage. I can't believe anyone with a shred of relf respect or intelligence would value themselves so lowly.

IF YOU ARE REALLY WORKING FOR THESE RATES IN A BUSINESS THAT'S BEEN AROUND FOR 20 YEARS
SOMETHING IS WRONG.

All of the people I've ever met with this mentality have ended up crippled with arthritis and physically wrecked by the time they were in their early forties.

By your manner, I suspect you are taking the p**s...........I certainly hope so.

when I was in my 20's an older man man asked me a very pointed question. What he said to me, was  " Do you understand the meaning of being a busy fool "

He was correct in his observation of me, as I was working long hours for too little, when I could have worked less hours for a little more and had a far better quality of life.

People who buy services from the cheapest supplier, have no respect for the individual, who they probably regard as a fool, to be taken advantage off.............

[Ian Gourlay]

Ist Clean,

First of all congratulations looks like you and your family have invested wisely and used the income generated to enable you to do so. It must have taken a lot of hard work.

What has always puzzled me about low prices is how you get a return on your advertising.

Leaflet distribution is not cheap. etc

[jasonl]

I ran Chem dry franchises for 13 years in Teesside, where 1st clean is based, 12 years ago i bought 4 terraced houses for 3 grand each, they were wrecks, everything is cheap there, and at £45 he is not the cheapest.
He could easy do £200 a day at his prices, there are 70% rented houses in Middlesbrough, still 30% unemployment on many of the huge estates, and vast amounts of poverty. Many of the people have very low expectatons and achievement of life generally and could not care less except to think they have had thier carpets cleaned well.
In this context, i think most people will see that 1st clean has a viable and sustainable business plan.

In the outlying villages of Teesside there are also plenty of people willing and sensible enough to pay good money for a good service( and a few people with no concept of quality, who want cheap all the time).
Good luck to first, he has a niche and is happy there.

[nevil]

Ist clean has a right to charge that if he wants to. I believe there is plenty of work for everyone. I find it odd that people on here will slag off what he is doing just because it doesn't conform to their way of thinking. Get the blinkers off. Or  maybe people are charging so much that this really is a threat to you.

His approach differs from mine but I have the greatest respect for him as he will only do well through working bloody hard.

[paul wright]

 well some good and bad replys,  some very shallow replys, if the guy wants to clean for a tenner an hour and he is happy so what, talk about stereo typing, dosnt mean he is a bum or on the dole, and must say a lot who charge 100 hour only do few hours aday and must get bored watching daytime tel , perhaps he likes being out most of the day  working and meeti ng people

[AquaMagic]

I think 1st clean must be in the privilaged position to NOT have to advetise if they can afford to work for less than a tenner an hour NET, after fuel chemicals, tax, consumables, spares & repairs etc there cannot be a lot left, however if 1st clean has been running for 20 years maybee they have a large enough client base and very little wasted money spent on new chemicals, systems and advertising methods.

Ive nothing against people charing whatever they are comfortable, but i also believe that you should charge what YOU think you are worth, as a 20 year old business 1sy clean sureley you think you are worth more than that?