Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Mike Halliday on January 26, 2013, 08:51:52 am
-
Do you agree with me that bedrooms should cost more?
Did a make up stain yesturday, massive manor house it took all the hoses we had to reach the bedroom 160ft(ish) it was carpeted all he way so we dust sheeted as much as we could but still had the hoses running across clean carpets.
We worked at this house in sept when the alarm engineer made a mess in the lobby. Then it was on the ground floor next to the front door took us about 40 minutes from pulling up to driving away... We charged her £60
Yesturday the cleaner let us in and said 'mrs monrybucket is out, she has left the money on the mantle' she had left £60
To be honest I don't know if to just accept it or ring her and explain it should be twice as much as it took more than twice as long
-
Mike... when cleaners come on here and say how can they justify charging £X for 30 mins work... the answer is always you charge for your knowledge and not how long it takes....
Same works in reverse I think.. If you did not agree a price before hand, and you want to keep this customer on your client base... I would just accept the money. Once you were set up, how long did the clean take?
-
Hi Mike Take it on the chin. Why rock the boat you might get the whole house next time. ( hopefully more than 60 quid )
-
Buy a Portable.. ;D
-
You take the hard jobs with the easy jobs 60 quid is fine. And its cash :)
-
Gotta agree with the others. Take it on the chin.
Good example of why we should always agree a price beforehand though. EVEN WITH EXISTING CLIENTS!!
-
Swings and rounds abouts..
For the sake of an extra tenner.
-
I agree with Mike have had similiar myself on Coast . stockbroker from London mess up with Radiators etc etc.
Also I think smaller bedrooms are harder as there is not a lot of room to move bed draws wardrobes etc etc
-
I think we need to start thinking how lucky we are in this business, you made the equivalent of £50.00 per hour on this job and your not totally happy. The amount of customers i've met who have applied for hundreds of jobs over a long period of time that are intelligent and well qualified that can't even get a packing or shelf stacking job is unreal. Yet i see constant belittlement of other operators on here that only make £30/£40 per hour instead of their £70/£80 per hour!!!
-
I made £20 an hour this was the only job we did in the afternoon this is for a 2 man team, so £10/hr each before we start deducting all biz expenses.
i did explain to the cleaner, the discrepancy and she said that the lady would be 'horrified' that she has not paid the correct amount, so I will leave it and see if she calls.
the problem is if i don't get the balance from her she might not call again as she will be embarrassed about the incident
-
I always look at every job so if the bedroom is a long way from the van then I charge more, having said that if you had a min charge £99 in my case then I either charge that or encourage them to have more cleaned at the same time
-
I would take on the chin, you say this was your only job that afternoon. It's better than no job that afternoon.
Call customer and ask if she was happy with the service and remember to call again if she needs carpets done or try to sell her a maintenance plan.
-
£99 minimum charge........... :o
Small jobs are out then.
-
I see .... not suprised your not happy.
It's happend to me loads of times where they have left cash for the wrong amount. Maybe you could give her a bell and tell her it took twice as long as last time and you did not make anything on it this time, so you will have to charge more next time for similar work. If she has any decency, she will offer to pay you more, or you could just ring her to say it's not enough and risk losing her future business.
If you knew she left the money in the first place you could of assessed the job and rang her mobile to let her know it was more than she left.
-
Don't want the small jobs, by the time I've paid for ad, quote, products, running the truck , anything less for me is not worth it, in the last 12 years very rarely does any job ever come below my min spend so is Not an issue
-
Im sorry mike but i think your wrong .You should have gone in there with a small spotting machine and it was a one man job and of course blue shoe,s and then you would have being on £60 per hour .But thats just my opinion Des
-
6 hours to clean a bedroom ??? ???
I know you're very experienced Mike so this for me just doesn't add up!!
-
I think he means it took 3 hours, for a team of 2. Still sounds a bit extreme though?
-
6 hours to clean a bedroom ??? ???
I know you're very experienced Mike so this for me just doesn't add up!!
Mike said it was £20 an hour , cant believe that it would take 3 hours , or that he would think that this one customer was liable for his full afternoons revenue.
Its swings and roundabouts , we do not complain at the £100/hour plus jobs.
I think too many cc forget that we are in a SERVICE industry , where sometimes our time /price ratio alters, so long as when annualised we are happy with the figure earned , we get lots of repeat and referral business , then all is good in the world.
-
First job for the customer took - 40 minutes, you say this job too twice as long so 80 minutes,
that's 1hr 20 mins.
The £60 you received shared by 1hr 20 mins is £50ph minus what you pay your helper, so you still received at least £40ph on this job!!!
-
I think he means it took 3 hours, for a team of 2. Still sounds a bit extreme though?
3 hours + 2 men = 6 man hours.
I just didn't type that as I thought it wouldv'e been understood ???
-
just to explain the price and time issue.
we were at the property for 2hrs it was 30mins away so we had an hours traveling.... so 3 hrs of our time was allocated to this job really it was 4hrs as they chose the time so it could not be fitted into our work schedule, we had to have an extended lunch before we left.
if this job had been in our normal area we could have fitted another job into the afternoon and made an extra £65 so the time we traveled to the job cost us money so should be figured into the total cost.
Des we cleaned half the carpet to taper-in the cleaned area, a spotting machine couldn't have done it
-
Ok. So 4 man hours for half a carpet.
Still far too slow in my opinion!!
-
fran, that bit at the front and near the double doors what do you think I should have done with it? and the middle apex.... do you think it was a bit complicated? or should i have done the same as the top landing?
problem is your opinion is worth tupence-a'penny unless you saw the job, normally we could do this in 40mins but like I said in my first post this was no an ordinary house
-
2 hours, 2 men to clean a bedroom carpet? :-X
-
what can i say.... I'm slow :D :D must be old age
-
I think you take the rough with the smooth, sometimes things take a little longer than planned, but hey ho, they chose you and not someone else.
Simon
-
Ok. So 4 man hours for half a carpet.
Still far too slow in my opinion!!
Surely its 8 man hours.
travel - 1 hour x 2 = 2
job - 2 hours x 2 = 4
lost time - 1 hour x 2 = 2
8 hours. so a whole day to clean one bedroom carpet.
-
and the enforced extended lunch x 2 say another 3 so that's 11 hours to clean a bedroom carpet.
Go work in Tescos Mike you'll earn more. ;D ;)
-
i spent an hour thinking about how I was going to do the job the night before, so there's another £100 I should have charged...... I'm well out of pocket. :'( :'(
-
on a serious note :D :D
we had 3 sets of big stairs and hallways we had to wrap like this.....
(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1359207246_head shots 004 - Copy.JPG)
this job should have been more than double what she left. if I had quoted it before doing it & it was a new customer I would have said £160.... she would have got a cheaper price as she was a existing client
its easy to say 2hour for a bedroom is too long but this job was an exception
-
indoor pipes, thats what you need mike. 50 foot of pipe that never see's the outside. all you need then is corner guards. me personally would of gone through a window all though like you said, ive not seen the job but i regularly go through windows, (even running pipes round the back of the house and up though a bedroom window) when cleaning bedroom carpets.
-
Hi Guys
I bet you wouldn't have taken it on had it not been a snowy quieter time, you will just have to add on the extraa next time you are there.
Cheers
Doug
-
I dont believe this much can be said about a bedroom carpet ;D
-
Hose through window. Job done 12 mins :P
-
The only time I would put sheets down is if I thought my quick connects might soften a synthetic pile. I have hoses that never touch the outside and are always spotless. A towel/cornerguard and a bootlace to hold all in place upstairs with no chance of rubbing.
I would have left her a polite note with the balance to be paid. She will respect you more for not being a wuss.
-
Bet your real glad you posted this one Mike !!!!
-
Dare I say its one of those times a portable would have been handy.
As said above sometimes we just have to swallow and go with the flow. If would look bad saying we have to charge you more cause your house is too big!!
But where you really went wrong is in the 30mins drive time. You broke your 4 mile rule.
Whats going on Mike :o
Back to bedrooms. I now try and price bedrooms a few ££ more than lounges. As said above they usually take a bit longer than bigger rooms, usually have cream carpets, usually the stains take longer to remove being makeup etc.
Colin Bright - what type of market are you in. Id love to charge £99 min but seem to have too many customers with only two carpets in the house.
Mark
-
£99 minimum charge (and he's sticking to it) sounds like your not wanting working..
You do a full house and charge say £250. Your happy and customer thinks thats good value. A few months down the line the customer calls again and says they only need the lounge doing. Do you say "sure, that'll be £100" :)
The first thing I'd say if I was that customer would be oh right, i'll discuss it with my partner and get back to you ;D
I'd then ring around and get someone that charges a "fair" price for the work that i'll start using them in the future and you've just made your business that little bit smaller by sticking to your price.
But hey ho, atleast you can puff out your chest and feel good about sticking to your principles!
-
£160 for a bedroom. For another £40 they could get a new carpet fitted :-\
I'd just leave it as it is Mike, I personaly dont think you should call her or leave her a note asking for more. Like I said before swings and roundabouts. Think of all the times when a job has taken less than you thought.
Edit: an after thought. Charge her a bit extra the next time you go to clean for her.
And yes, high powered portables are king! ;D
-
Cleaning bedroom only jobs, can be tricky with regards to hoses
I keep one set 'sterile', that's 50 ft for indoors only, when finished I use large dust sheet outside property to bungy up after job.
Or as suggested, if long run, drop through windows down to van.
Mr B
-
Definitely got to go with the rub of the green but when they call for the rest of the house to be done then you'll be quids in, big picture.
Tony I've just done an end of tenancy clean on a 3 bed terrace ok 2 lots of stairs for £240 it's my normal charge just got to believe in pricing structure that are in other people's heads not yours.
Shaun
-
I also do a lot of 2 room jobs- I don't see your point- 2 rooms ALWAYS cost more than £99 - just had the best year I've ever had last year and have done more so far this jan than any other jan since starting- so I must be doing something right - all my jobs next week are rep custys kicking off with a £680 job on Monday
Happy days
-
There seams to be 2 areas of disagreement on this post.
1) should travel & wasted time be charged to the customer
2) should the customer only pay for what they get cleaned or pay more because the job is awkward
Now I think about I often get customer to tell me to arrive after 9.20 as they take the kids to school but I normally start at 8.30 so they I'm giving them 50minutes of my time before I even get there... Should they pay for that time? I slightly think they should.....but I would never charge them, it just how the job goes
Travel time...... If the amount travel time stops you doing another job then it should be charged for
Awkward jobs.... Again it's about time, if the job takes longer and it stops you doing another job then it should be charged for even if it mean charging £90 for a small room, the size is irrelevant.
You might thinks its January, I have no work today, does it matter if I'm at the house 1hr or 3hrs it's still £60 more than I had at the start of the day, which is personal choice..... you can choose to do the job or not its up to you
We all work to our own beliefs, Colin won't go to a house for less than £90. I calculate my charge by The amount of time 2 of us are on the job, some think they are lucky to earn £20 an hour. We only answer to ourselves not names on an Internet forum.
-
You're quite right Mike :)
I agree with the school run point. Yes it wastes part of our working day as we can't squeeze one in before. Would never dream of charging them more though!!
Travel time... We set our travel time by the area that we choose. If I feel a job is too far or would take too long to get to then I can choose not to do said job. Again would never dream of actually charging more.
Awkward jobs... I am a great believer in rough with smooth. You win some, you lose some and all that.
These are my opinions on the subjects and only mine. Like you said Mike the only people who we really answer to are ourselves. That's why we all work for ourselves and nobody else.
-
On the school run point, I don't leave my house until 9.am at the earliest to avoid the run, is rather be sat in the office doing something creative than sat in traffic... I don't know if its just round here but many if my custys don't want me there before half 9 so I nearly always start 9-30-10am
Also try to avoid travelling at rush hour
-
When i speak to a customer, i find out if they are on a school run. If so, then it's 9.15/9.30am start, if not then i ask them what time they are comfortable with. I've had customers ask me to come at 7am before :o , don't mind, just means an early finnish or another small job booked in.
-
Never start a domestic before 9.30 and try
to be never travelling between 3.00 and 3.30.
The school run round here is a nightmare.
-
There seams to be 2 areas of disagreement on this post.
1) should travel & wasted time be charged to the customer
2) should the customer only pay for what they get cleaned or pay more because the job is awkward
Now I think about I often get customer to tell me to arrive after 9.20 as they take the kids to school but I normally start at 8.30 so they I'm giving them 50minutes of my time before I even get there... Should they pay for that time? I slightly think they should.....but I would never charge them, it just how the job goes
Travel time...... If the amount travel time stops you doing another job then it should be charged for
Awkward jobs.... Again it's about time, if the job takes longer and it stops you doing another job then it should be charged for even if it mean charging £90 for a small room, the size is irrelevant.
You might thinks its January, I have no work today, does it matter if I'm at the house 1hr or 3hrs it's still £60 more than I had at the start of the day, which is personal choice..... you can choose to do the job or not its up to you
We all work to our own beliefs, Colin won't go to a house for less than £90. I calculate my charge by The amount of time 2 of us are on the job, some think they are lucky to earn £20 an hour. We only answer to ourselves not names on an Internet forum.
You can charge for all of those things, but your customer retention rate will take a hit. We are in a service business and there is a fine line between charging people for everything and everything and risk loosing them as a loyal customer, or just taking the rough with the smooth, provide the service when and where people want it, take any problems on the chin and be grateful they chose you and not someone else.
Simon
-
You can view a carpet cleaners success by his prices.
As a general rule those charging the most are the most successful whilst those charging the least are the least successful.
eek, I'm off now. ;D
-
a bit like restaurants..... I can get into the local cheap eatery anytime, the Michelin starred restaurant up the road charges 4 times the price and is booked up 2 months in advance.
and the cheap places bends over backwards to make you happy the Michelin place sneers down their nose at you if you order wine by the glass. and people consider themselves lucky to get a table
-
We are in a service industry, therefore if a job is deemed £60 by a customer then we should accept it.
This does not compute with me. Whats so special about being in a service based industry.
If he had agreed £60 up front and it turned out a pig then fine, but she told him what the price was. It's no different to when a customer tells you how to clean it and how easy it is to get a particular stain out.
-
Mike your analogy is slightly flawed as people like to be seen in the 'right place' where as with carpet cleaners we are like children, seen and not heard.
How many times have you parked right outside someone's property and gone straight in with the pipes not batted an eye lid after lifting £100 for 30 mins work?
Over the year it's usually in your favour or you'd really change your pricing structures.
Shaun
-
Whats so special about being in a service based industry.
Because we provide a personal service rather than a product :o
If Mike feels aggreived at only being left £60 to clean a bedroom carpet then he should take it up with the customer. But is he aggrieved because he only got £60 for it, or because it turned out to be a bit of a pig? If the latter then surely you take those kind of things on the basis of 'the rub of the green?'
Simon
-
You can view a carpet cleaners success by his prices.
As a general rule those charging the most are the most successful whilst those charging the least are the least successful.
eek, I'm off now. ;D
Craig,
Depends on how you define the word 'Successful.' ;D
-
I would politely explain to the customer that the payment she left of £60 was not enough. I'm sure she thought it wasnt enough when she left payment.
The reality is, you'll make about £14.90 in your pocket from that job.
-
I would politely explain to the customer that the payment she left of £60 was not enough. I'm sure she thought it wasnt enough when she left payment.
The reality is, you'll make about £14.90 in your pocket from that job.
Care to explain the maths on that one, I'm assuming you know Mike's running costs?
-
I would politely explain to the customer that the payment she left of £60 was not enough. I'm sure she thought it wasnt enough when she left payment.
The reality is, you'll make about £14.90 in your pocket from that job.
the reality is he could possibly make about £50 on that job. ;)
-
How much to come clean my kids bedroom? :)
-
Fill me in here, this is a big problem with TM user's. You have expensive gear, it SOMETIMES takes a long time to
set up (as Mike describes), connecting hoses, safeguarding other areas etc, this is time consuming and you expect
to be paid for your time. Mike took 2-3 hrs on one bedroom (setting up and cleaning) and he realistically wanted
£120 to do that, because of his time.
I, on the other hand, pick up my Sabrina Maxi (in one hand) shoot up the stairs, take 5 mins to set up, and take
15 - 20 mins cleaning the same bedroom depending on the variables. If it's a one off I would charge £60 min
charge, but with other work involved only £20, a BIG difference.
Just because TM user's have invested so much money in their gear it doesn't give them the right to charge / rip off
the customer! I mean, how can you possibly charge £120 to clean a bedroom carpet. Someone quite rightly said for
a few quid more they can have a new carpet fitted.
I believe just like the very cheap carpet cleaner's those who are charging extortionate prices are also 'harming' this
industry.
-
Andrew,
Whenever prices and money are mentioned on a forum you can be fairly sure there's a fair bit of bragging going on too. ;)
Simon
-
To answer the original question, I would let it go for a regular customer, your make more on the next one for her.
I had simular a while ago, but I never said anything as she is a great customer.
I was in the same quandary though.
-
You can view a carpet cleaners success by his prices.
As a general rule those charging the most are the most successful whilst those charging the least are the least successful.
eek, I'm off now. ;D
Sounds easy. I could start charging £100 a room tomorrow when customers start calling me. Would that automaticly make me succesful?
I see success as end of year profit.
-
Too right!
But to get to the profit you have to have volume of paying customers or good job tickets preferably both, it's a real conundrum to get the scale right but you can only do what is right for you as we'll as being a bit brave, the most expensive cleaners aren't always the big money earners anyway, a cleaner from Bradford used to charge £1 a sq ft but soon ran out of work because he couldn't find enough paying customers.
Shaun
-
I would politely explain to the customer that the payment she left of £60 was not enough. I'm sure she thought it wasnt enough when she left payment.
The reality is, you'll make about £14.90 in your pocket from that job.
Care to explain the maths on that one, I'm assuming you know Mike's running costs?
Bet he's running a 35% margin if he employs a worker and had to fuel a truck mount. The 35% he takes is then subject to tax and NI.
-
I take slightly different view on this. In this scenario the job was a bit wooly and the price was assumed to be enough at £60. I would put that down to a pricing mistake on the job. How many of us have made an error in calculating the job in either the time it takes or the stains that have to be removed etc etc. If the mistake is on my side I may be cross inside but I do it at the price that I have agreed...no if's no buts.
-
If I call out a washing machine engineer he charges x amount for first 20 minutes and then x amount for each 15 minutes. Locksmiths do the same
We do not liked to be watched or timed by customers so we come up with simple fomulas of how much its going to cost up front. I suspect because some guy in The US puts in in his sales letters we will tell you what it costs and will not charge you a penny more etc etc
Perhaps we should move to the fomula used by other trades.
Customer does not know if they have speedy gongsarlees or a snail at time of calling them out
I believe domestic cleaners charge by the hour
-
I think we are going round in circles on this one.
Mike made a mistake ...... simples, i've done it and i'm sure a lot more have on here.
Learn from it and move on.
-
Yes how many times have we pulled up and
thought yes, I'll be done 30 minutes sooner
than I thought.
-
Had one today in Jesmond one of the students had vomited on Saturday at the top of the stairs explained my minimum charge was £45 fine booked it today.Took 20 minutes stain gone went to get paid and this young know it all started we are paying by the hour aren't we so you can do our bedrooms,needless to say I got my £45 and departed after explaining it took me 30 minutes to get there another 30 minutes to get home 20 minutes to clean carpet was he going to pay more because we were in the 2nd hour. But they had rang someone else who charge by the hour and they thought it was me ::)
-
the problem is if i don't get the balance from her she might not call again as she will be embarrassed about the incident
If it were me, I'd phone, say £60 was fine, because that is what I charged before, but explain that next time it will probably be more. (having said that, £60 doesn't sound like enough for a minimum job)