Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: garry22 on October 20, 2011, 02:04:41 pm
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This just came through from Google. It's a review from someone who had a Living Social (similar to Groupon) job done. they are obviously not too chuffed.
We bought this deal off of LIving Social and thankfully were able to get our money back from them.
This carpet cleaning company was the worst!
They were two hours late, without even a courtesy call.
Their website states a five step process including a pre-vacuum and stain treatment ... neither of which were done. It was like they took the existing debris on the carpet and just ground it in with their machine, disgusting!
I wouldn't sign their guarantee and called to ask for the job to be re-done, at which point the gentleman on the other end hung up on me. They must have caller id because I've continually tried to call back and it just goes to a machine. Very frustrating since it was a big effort to move all of the furniture as well as have our 3 year old out of the house for that length of time in order to stay off the wet carpet.
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That's great news
chuffen music in fact
PMSL
The cheap skates eh :)
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Part of me wants to say "What do you expect?" But really, if they're going through the trouble of putting the deal on Living social, you'd assume that part of their plan was to increase their customer database - going and doing a crap job and upsetting a customer is basically doing all the bad stuff without getting any of the good stuff (more jobs down the line, referals etc).
What do you mean "this just came through from Google"?
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Ash,
It was included in a Google Alert about carpet cleaning.
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Just what did these people expect ;D
It looks like they played both sides of things, they wanted it dirt cheap through one of these schemes but also researched what the job normally entails. Of course 'normally' means what you get if you pay the proper price.
I'm not going to defend these deals but some customers really think they are going to get a Porche for the price of a Skoda >:(
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Yes Neil, more than a touch of irony there.
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To be fair, regardless how much the customer is paying is irrelevant - If I take my car for a cheap service instead of the main dealer, and the mechanic forgets to tighten my sump plug and my engine goes pop from no oil, I wouldn't say "Oh well, I only paid X amount I can't complain".
I can't envisage myself ever offering one of these deals, but if you do it - you can't offer a great deal of 50% off your price, and then only give 50% of the service - you're only spiting the customers and in turn yourself.
If you're serious about building a customer base through satisfaction, you have to see it from their side too. Frankly, they don't care if youer only getting paid 30% of your normal rate - YOU DID THE OFFER, no-one twisted your arm.
I'm sure there will be differences of opinion, but this is how it seems to me.
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Hi Guys
Ash you are right, just because you may offer a discount it doesn't mean the customer is entitled to an inferior job.
Cheers
Doug
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But surely only a fool would expect the same result they would get at a much higher price.
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If you buy apples from tesco on a buy one get one free, do you expect one to be rotten?
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If you buy reduced priced fruit from a supermarket you can be sure that they will not be perfect assuming a similar mark down to Groupon.
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So if you buy something half price, you expect it to be half as good?
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Why don't you just check around retail stores with 65% to 70% reductions, be sure to look at cuffs and stitching and check that arms are the same length. Somw will carry a " slightly imperfect " label but other may not .
Maybe you don't have the pleasure of shopping in supermarkets otherwise you'd know about over / under ripe fruit, damaged bakery goods, etc, etc.
Anyone offering half price carpet cleaning MUST reduce the usual time spent or product used or number of tasks they carry out to make it worth while. Otherwise they will end up losing money. :o :o
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To be fair, regardless how much the customer is paying is irrelevant - If I take my car for a cheap service instead of the main dealer, and the mechanic forgets to tighten my sump plug and my engine goes pop from no oil, I wouldn't say "Oh well, I only paid X amount I can't complain".
I can't envisage myself ever offering one of these deals, but if you do it - you can't offer a great deal of 50% off your price, and then only give 50% of the service - you're only spiting the customers and in turn yourself.
If you're serious about building a customer base through satisfaction, you have to see it from their side too. Frankly, they don't care if youer only getting paid 30% of your normal rate - YOU DID THE OFFER, no-one twisted your arm.
I'm sure there will be differences of opinion, but this is how it seems to me.
like :)
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But then to me what ever price you do it for you have to have job satisfaction, or why get up in the morning. :D ;)
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Let's not compare goods with services.
If you buy a brand new cooker from curries for 70% off it still has to perform as it is meant to, and 70% off doesn't mean curries are losing 70%
If you buy a manual labour service at 70% off one thing is for sure, the person doing it can't work at that percentage below normal price unless (a) extra selling occurs on the job or (b) you'll get 70% less of a job compared to full price.
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Then perhaps the cleaners should advertise 50% off price, 80% of service provided. If your advertising something, you have a duty to deliver it - regardless of how much you resent it.
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Like most of these deals your selling yourself short, I mean let's face it he thought he could get away with not doing the 5 pointes and getting out of there as quick as he could and on to the next one. If he looked at it from the start and was honest he knew he was selling a crap service I mean goods ;D ;D
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If he looked at it from the start and was honest he knew he was selling a crap service I mean goods ;D ;D
Of course he was but let's go back to basics.
On average I and many others work between £40-£50/hr
If I got involved in these schemes I/others would be getting about £10/hr
There's only going to be one outcome ;D
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Agreed. Why go to work and earn nothing when you can stay in bed and earn the same! Muppets ;D
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Anyone watching Watchdog?
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Well I reckon if you take a job on at whatever price you should do a professional job, it's not the customers fault you've chosen to work for nothing.
Simon
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If he looked at it from the start and was honest he knew he was selling a crap service I mean goods ;D ;D
Of course he was but let's go back to basics.
On average I and many others work between £40-£50/hr
If I got involved in these schemes I/others would be getting about £10/hr
There's only going to be one outcome ;D
I have had a decent "muppet" day today , just got in , have cleaned 6 Groupon customers , all delighted , all nice homes intelligent consumers , all but one paid for extras , total takings for the day £375 , plus £126 to come from Groupon , my total ad costs £0 .
I am happy with that , I am sure most would be.
Not all Groupon customers are good , they are in the minority , and I can quite happily clean to the same standard for them.
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That's the only outlook to take Jason, anything else is a shortcut to a ruined reputation and an appearance on Watchdog.
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Jason,
So you're getting an average of £62.50 in extras per customer, is that because your are only doing three rooms at 12 sqm each? £126 from groupon for six jobs, that's £21 each, your deal is £28 less groupons cut?
Simon
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My Groupon is £34 less their cut , most people will have 3 carpets cleaned which may be a lounge , which will be in excess of 12m , hallway of 5 or 6 m 2 stairs which are £2 each and a study or downstairs toilet.
I have cleaned 6 Ikea type rugs today which we all know are easy to clean and probably my most profitable line item.
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But then to me what ever price you do it for you have to have job satisfaction, or why get up in the morning. :D ;)
What a "Wet" and "Cringe-worthy" comment... And yet, one I completely agree with... :)
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Jason,
So in total people are paying on average £100 including the £39 groupon deal plus the extras?
Simon
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Yes , some more some less .
I was always taught at Chem dry , customers want a deal , they feel valued when we put in an effort to meet their needs in price and quality , most of the Groupons I have done have bought through convenience , using it as an easy/lazy way to find a carpet cleaner that they were not really actively looking for but saw the offer .
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Think you've hit it on the head Jason...............most Groupons are spontanious buyers who see " a bargain " and go for it rather than the other users who decide they need cleaning done for a reason and seek out their local c/c or usual business.
You are an exception to the rule in the sense that you've made it work for you rather than become a slave to it.
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Jason the lady who was having her carpets cleaned when I saw you the other day was she groupon or a regular? she looked as though she could talk :o
Shaun
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Jason,
As you are only doing rooms up to 12sqm each, do you get the room measurements from the customer at the time of booking and agree the extra charges in advance, or do you sort that out when you get there? Also, if they think they are getting three rooms done are they not peed off when they find they have to pay extra as most rooms are bigger than your size limit?
Simon
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Every customer has been fine with the terms , it is clearly laid out in the offer , they understand that a tradesman cannot call out and work for £34, they expect to pay more , almost every customer has asked for a card , and the normal price .
Once I get to site I walk the job and set out the costs on my invoice pad in writing , and leave it in their hand, asking them to tick the payment method , they then normally have payment ready the second I finish.
I think people buy people , they like a friendly laid back attitude , no hassle at a fair price , and that is part of what I offer.
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It's always been a " feature " of this forum to knock those who charge low, even moderate prices, but with trading in general taking a hammering and people becoming a lot more savvy, the world of commerce is changing rapidly and those who imagine " only a fool would work for, or even get out of bed for less than £100 an hour are in for a shock.
Sure the ideal of working from 9am till 2pm sounds great, but can only work for the high charging rip off merchants who try to kid everyone of their " platinum " service standards and superior " 20 times more powerful machines.
Jason has clearly worked out.... What the customer's expectations are... and not only meeting their expectations but winning them over by .............as he says, and others have said before,
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Robert, the only person on here I've heard talk about £100 an hour was Mike Halliday and I don't think he was saying he earns that every hour. Who are you talking about, or was that an exaggeration?
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Jason the lady who was having her carpets cleaned when I saw you the other day was she groupon or a regular? she looked as though she could talk :o
Shaun
She was a groupon , cleaned her sister today , got to go back to clean her suite. Yes she could talk.
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Jason,
Have you never had someone who was expecting to get all three rooms done not having read the t&c and being upset at having to pay more? If so, what do you do in those circumstances? What troubles me is that your deal is for three rooms yet most rooms are bigger than 12sqm's so they could feel conned if try to charge more.
Simon
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Wynne
There were a lot of posts about £100 and more per hour over the past 3-4 years and a lot of criticism of anyone who disagreed and it was domestic work that was being discussed.
At the time ( 3-4 years ago ) I averaged around £35 - £40 per hour occasionally rising to between £75 and £90 and that was was regarded as some to be no better than shelf stacking earnings.
Over the past couple of years a reality has set in with fewer claims of excessively high charges and the forum became a bit more tolerant and helpful as a result.
Think the posts you refer to were about jet washing but I could be wrong anyway Mike H is one of the totally grounded people on here and runs a very efficient business and actually runs a FULL TIME business unlike a few who think charging a lot to make up for their lazyness is acceptable.
Anyway this thread is really about how to get the best from modern marketing which Jason has apparently succeeded in doing. He could have kept quiet about his methods but has been generous in his openness and honesty. However not everyone will be able to emulate his success as much of it is down to savvy, past training and personality.
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2 or 3 jobs a week I hit the £100/hr mark this is a 2 man team. most are a T/L and one other area...... usually the H/S/l I'm not saying this to brag or make out I'm some super-duper carpet cleaner its just we are a very effective team .
pressure washing its 8 out of 10 jobs go over a £100/hr. its the pressure washing that has opened my eyes to high prices and what people are willing to pay.
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What are we talking here, £100 per hour from when you leave home in a morning to getting back at night, or just on the individual job?
Simon
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from pulling onto the drive to having the kit put away ready to leave.
but when i say a T/L & H/S/L this would take longer than an hour but would cost more than a £100
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Thought you'd be around Mike...........................
As you're probably well aware I'm well past my " sell by " but a while ago I worked as a two man team and got through a ton of work in a day.
Incidentally.......A past customer of mine was making an absolute fortune in his " Clean Bricks " business. His business was based entirely on washing down exterior walls with jet washers, of brick faced buildings to remove the white streaks from the cement / mortar / lime or whatever.
He used a product from a builders yard the name escapes me, but you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Don't know if the market is still there but if it is it's potentially a big earner.
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Jason,
Have you never had someone who was expecting to get all three rooms done not having read the t&c and being upset at having to pay more? If so, what do you do in those circumstances? What troubles me is that your deal is for three rooms yet most rooms are bigger than 12sqm's so they could feel conned if try to charge more.
Simon
I have had one who did not read the terms , I explained , she paid , smiles all round .