Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Gary Humphreys on February 20, 2011, 12:27:55 pm
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Quoted a jon yesterday morning - a 4 bedroom detatched with lounge and dining room. Good size but not massive. Half way round they asked if I would be doing on site or taking the carpets away and bringing them back when clean. Er no said I.
Totaled up and said my sums make it £240 but if we shake hands now we'll call £200. They said that I was the most expensive so wouldnt be going with me. Their first quote was from a company 20 miles away who wpuld do it all for £100 but hte company they will use quoted £180 which includes taking away their fitted carpets and returning them clean.!!
Eh? It not me is it?
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They must of misunderstood simples
gary bristowclean
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I dont think they misunderstood. I dont know wether to ring them and ask if they know what they're doing though
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Maybe give the job a miss mate,for a starter were is all the furniture going to go if the carpets are being taken up..
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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
It takes allsorts I suppose.
Expro
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Well that's a first did this other company quote on site or do they think they are cleaning rugs . Think someone has there wires crossed somewhere
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Would definently call back be concerned and tell them you have heard of people
having there carpets stolen in this way and ask if the company quoted by phone
or in person as no carpet cleaning professional would need to lift the carpets for
cleaning as they would more than likely shrink.
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I ought to give em a ring didnt I. All companys quoted on site they reckoned. Never heard anything like it. You would need an empty warehouse to clean them even if it wasnt some sort of scam eh?
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Joe,
Although it is a bit intriuging here, all that you are doing is giving your time up for free. It could be a load of hassle.
Unless they are some vulnerable pensioners who are about to be ripped off, would it not be best to just walk away?
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I agree fully with Gary22, inc the bit about vulnerable pensioners.
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Both Drs they are .......... its a walker ennit? Dont look back
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I disagree. I would be fascinated to find out more about this.
Lift/remove/clean/return IS a viable option (in theory) as long as the money is right of course. I agree it is a major operation lugging all the furniture around, obviously the client would have to empty out all their sideboards and display cabinets etc so you could move them around, but it is possible.
Think of how much more thoroughly you can clean rugs by taking them off site and back-dusting them, then all the processes you can do which are not possible in a customer's lounge.
If you could put carpet up to 4m wide through an automatic dusting machine like in rug plants, you would have a hell of a lot of the work done before it even sees any wet cleaning.
If this was me, I would kindly ask who the company is and find out a bit more about them.
A) you will have your eyes opened wide if it is true
B) You will quickly find out if it's a load of bullocks :)
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Without wanting to sound like a bore, you could just ask the DR's to check that this company have insurance in place to do this. Its ok if its a few rugs that are being taken away, but there arent many insurers who would be happy with the entire carpets being removed for cleaning. The potential for a claim is much higher if the carpets won't go back in place.
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I guess you don't clean many Oriental rugs Mark!!
If I took away all the carpet and all the rugs from a lot of my customers' houses, the rugs would far out-value the carpets!!!!
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Jim,
you wouldnt even consider lifting the carpets in "a 4 bedroom detatched with lounge and dining room" - with or without hall/stairs/landing, for £180 would you?????????
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Jim,
We have covered many carpet cleaners who clean expensive rugs on site but there is always a limit under a public liability policy for goods taken away from premises and this can be £5,000 on some policies. If you took all the carpets out of a 4 bedroom house that was owned by two doctors you would be talking more than £5k.
Plus, I am sure there would be a greater risk of shrinkage of a full carpet than of a single rug. And who is re-fitting the carpets? Are they covered for that?
Thats what I was getting at.
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This is silly. To uplift all carpets and transport them off site, insurance required for goods in transit, clean then re-fit you would be looking at somewhere in the region of £1500-2000.
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Undoubtedly a scam in one way or another. They'll either turn up and clean in situ, badly if they;'ve already been lying, or they'll take the carpets and they'll be in someone elses house before you can say 'Rug Doctor'
The worrying aspect for me is just how gullable these two Doctors are if it is truly what they have told you and not something you have misheard. These are the people we trust with our lives :o
Actually, are you sure they told you they were Doctor's and not 'Rug-Doctors' ;)
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Ian, we have cleaned for many Dr's own houses over the years and still do. It never ceases to amaze us when they say"oh it's not that bad" and then you find out the carpets have never been cleaned or at least for many years. Once in their houses, you can't but help to notice that it could be cleaner in all aspects. I guess they go by the a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone. (trouble is it's never just a little bit of dirt ;D)
Maybe these are Dr's in some other aspect rather than GP's or sugeons
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Ian, we have cleaned for many Dr's own houses over the years and still do. It never ceases to amaze us when they say"oh it's not that bad" and then you find out the carpets have never been cleaned or at least for many years. Once in their houses, you can't but help to notice that it could be cleaner in all aspects. I guess they go by the a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone. (trouble is it's never just a little bit of dirt ;D)
Maybe these are Dr's in some other aspect rather than GP's or sugeons
Hi Helen, tell me about it!!
We had a very large one off job job at a University specialising in Medical Training, Doctors of the future.
99% of the rooms were filthy and the students themselves varied in appearance between Worzel Gummage and Kevin and Perry. The other thing was that we were having to knock them up late into the afternoon and then they'd just wander off in in a daze wearing slippers and pyjamas ::)
Also, what about medical centres??!!! Carpets have to be borderline blacktops before they'll even consider having them cleaned. Budget this and budget that :o
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There is always a flip side,I cleaned a house for 2 Dr's the other week,the house was spotless,they had just moved in,didn't think their carpets needed cleaning personally,but they insisted they were done,and have said they will get me back yearly from now on ;D
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I've got to agree with Ian and Helen.
I've even had a Doctor really slagging off the guy who had cleaned the carpets previously. She said how I did a far better job, the carpets were much cleaner than when the last guy did them.
I had to laugh... or maybe I was just a better cleaner this time than I was the last time I cleaned her carpets? !!! ;D
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Alot of people will tell you there carpets are not really that dirty ::)
Then you get there and there is drink spillages etc all over the carpet ..
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In the past we have uplifted carpets when a house is being re-decorated or had some kind of damage and the builders are in. It can be a real earner you charge for uplift, transportation, off site cleaning, storage (if its a long time) then refitting and replacing underlay if required.
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In the past we have uplifted carpets when a house is being re-decorated or had some kind of damage and the builders are in. It can be a real earner you charge for uplift, transportation, off site cleaning, storage (if its a long time) then refitting and replacing underlay if required.
Yep, but the original post states all in for £180...................
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Yep.. I know that ;)
But others have ruled it out completely when there is no need, often leads to other work as well.
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I wasn't really concerned with the price, just the concept of off-site cleaning of fitted carpets. I agree £180 sounds ludicrous!
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In my experience the medical profession are the dirtiest people on the planet. Especially the trainee Gynaecologist who's dralon suite was black shiny with grease and his cream carpet was like a patchwork quilt. I was shocked and walked.
Worst one though was a district nurses leased car. Never seen anything like it. Vauxhall Cavalier and she used to take her Alsatian round with her. Inch thick dog hair on the seats, bowls of food and water in the footwells sloshing around. Battered sausage, greem mouldy down one of the seats.
Worst though was she had dressings lying in the footwells amongst all the crisps, apple gouks, orange peel and general gunge. To think she was visiting old people and putting those dressings onto ulcers etc. She should have been strung up and I told her so in no uncertain words.
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Why is this getting discussed?? I mean really? Taking whole carpets off site? ::)
You'd have to charge atleast a couple G's to make it worth your while and for a bit more you could carpet the whole house with brand new carpet. Far too much hassle if you ask me....
I think i'll stick to the normal way of cleaning thank you very much.
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I have never heard of anyone having whole carpets lifted and taken away (not saying it doesnt happen), and it sounds crazy to me.
Would the carpets be that much cleaner anyway, I think not much cleaner to justify the massive costs.
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Its not about the cleaning, in many instances it's about saving them getting trashed when work is being done,
'Why is this being discussed' ? Because someone raised the point and now you know others out there do it. It can cost quite a bit but if the carpet warrants the cost then it can be the cheaper alternative and it ain't that difficult.