Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Ryan Smyth on November 14, 2008, 04:16:19 pm
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Im sure this is a topic which has been well discussed before,but it doesnt make it any less annoying.
3 jobs this week i have lost due to some guy who is doing things for low,low prices.Does anyone know any reliable assassins for hire >:(
Ryan
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Yes it is very annoying, but you HAVE to look at this from another angle. They are not your customers.
Concentrate your energy on becoming better at marketing and becoming a better salesman, you can leave the low price brigade in the back of your mind, they will become insignificant :)
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I get undercut many times,
simple either they want me, or I dont want them.
Try selling yourself a little better.
geoff
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these merchants pop up from time to time but they don't usually last, i had one in my area and his prices were a joke, he seemed to get plenty of work at the time but now he seems to have gone, i would think that he would have done such a bad job for the prices he charged that he won't have got any, recommendations or repeats and that is a big part of any good business, bring them on i say, they make me look good!!
colin
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Stick at your price and your be in business for many years to come, and as they say...you wont be a busy fool ;)
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I know its hard to see all the c cleaners that do cheap work undercuting you but believe me the work will probably be the really dirty jobs and filthy carpets.
It does take a while to build up but like myself most of my work comes from regulars and many recomondations and it took me a long time to get established.
cheers clinton
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what about over cutting, would you get an assassin on me if i got one of your jobs and charged more, twice this month ive got jobs where the quote before me was cheaper, did a job this morning on a 3 piece suite, she had someone booked but wanted a second price to see if she was being ripped off, told i don't price over the phone and gave her 10 reasons why, she booked me for a free survey and cancelled the guy that quoted over the phone, did the quote, £35 quid dearer and like i said, did it this morning, came up lovely and was nearly dry before i left just like i promised her, tried to buy her wii fit off her but she wasn't having none of it,(like rockin horse poop them things are)sell your self and your quality, sell your expertise, make friends with the client, give them confidence in you to look after and care for there hard earned furnishings, not saying you'll get everyone, but the ones that buy cheap, end up being disappointed (usually).
hope this helps
derek
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Derek in my house we have 3 wii fits at the moment all going to Santa for presents for family.
hahahahahahahaha
Shaun
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Santa will be picking them up tonight before you start doing your 'manchester walk'
Shaun
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Cheers guys good advice from all,im gonna stick to my guns i might even up the prices!!
Ryan
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Shefield walk ;D
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thats just greedy that is shaun, sell me one,
£90
derek
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Derek
They had some as i got one from argos in wilmslow last week :)
Try and phone them and they will reserve it for you mate.
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clinton ive tried, but everytime they say the same thing, "sorry, mr ashmore bought the last one 2 minutes ago"
derek
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If I buy enough of them I can sell them at a slight profit based on the principles of supply and demand and the really poor guy from Sheffield needs some money.
Shaun
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Don't be afraid of saying to people "I will not be the cheapest", I do, and offer then a look at a local splash and dash merchants's leaflet. The vast majority soon agree that we rarely buy the cheapest of anything!
If we did we'd all be driving a Kia Piacento or whatever that delightfiul go cart is called!
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Hi Ryan
I wasn't going to reply to this but something happened this afternoon which I thought i would chuck into the debate.
I got a job, at my normal rates and after I had finished i was told that I was 50% cheaper than the other quotes she had got.
So was I under-cutting? Was I splash 'n' dash?
As everybody says, stick to your own prices but be confident.
BTW Clinton would confirm that I'm not cheep
(Especially like Maureen (118 200 directory enquiries) "Ooh, she's cheeeeep")
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Are they low low prices or just lower than yours?
Don't necessarily subscribe to the busy fools bit either.
If your busy your earning, if your not busy your sat on your arse all day not earning.
The prices some of the people on here charge makes mine low low prices but I get the work and earn a good living and I don't kill myself.
Why go out to do a free survey when you already know what your going to charge.
John
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Depends on who they call first, CD and Rainbow then me, that's how I like it.
Shaun
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Hi roger ;D ;D
Wonder who it was ???
Maybe nu life or a franchise ?
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what about over cutting, would you get an assassin on me if i got one of your jobs and charged more, twice this month ive got jobs where the quote before me was cheaper, did a job this morning on a 3 piece suite, she had someone booked but wanted a second price to see if she was being ripped off, told i don't price over the phone and gave her 10 reasons why, she booked me for a free survey and cancelled the guy that quoted over the phone, did the quote, £35 quid dearer and like i said, did it this morning, came up lovely and was nearly dry before i left just like i promised her, tried to buy her wii fit off her but she wasn't having none of it,(like rockin horse poop them things are)sell your self and your quality, sell your expertise, make friends with the client, give them confidence in you to look after and care for there hard earned furnishings, not saying you'll get everyone, but the ones that buy cheap, end up being disappointed (usually).
hope this helps
derek
Derek,
Just got a wii off www.amazon.co.uk they have loads available different bundles etc
Mark
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Why go out to do a free survey when you already know what your going to charge.
John
john
don't your prices differ for each room.
if a room has bad draft marks i charge more, if theres more furniture than normal i charge more, its not all about metres squared, not with me anyway.if i have to do a quote over the phone which is very rare, i take all these into account and charge maximum price. its the customers loss if it ends up being a freshen up with the custy moving all the furniture before i get there, great for me but unfair on the custy, basically what i'm saying is i have no idea what i'm gonna charge till i get there. so thats why i go out to quote.
just giving the onsite quoters point of view.
derek
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I was under cut on a job by £15, but I planted the seed of doubt in the custys mind by asking whether he uses an air mover to speed up the drying process.... As she had used his services before she said he didn't, and the carpets were wet for 2 days last time, then she asked me when I would be available to carry out the work! My price remains the same as I refuse to match other quotes and certainly wouldn't under cut my fellow C/C's.
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Did a quote yesterday,2 bed terrace,all carpets ,stank of dog ! quoted the £114 for all except lounge,or £140 inc lounge,said if i didn`t get the lounge to a nice looking condition again i would not charge for it ;D.It`s a rental ,bloke who was living there got quoted wait for it............... £65 for entire house ! was asked if i could match it, i said no there is a reason why i am more expensive blah blah blah and said call me once he has been and i will come and do it properly ;D
Just been given £200 in cash for an empty 3 bed this morning carpets were clean apart from some draught marks,customer was overjoyed ,and didn`t flinch at my price ;D
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did a quote for an elderley couple yesterday. they said it had been cleaned (lounge) 8 weeks ago for £45, when i got there i was shocked, it was filthy and i mean mingin filthy, told them £60 and theyve booked me, its a polyprop, theres no excuse for what the other guy did, the women is partially blind and the old guy is in a wheel chair, some cc's make my blood boil. and thats putting it nicely. told the guy if he's not happy, then he doesn't have to pay me,
derek
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Same here derek
Am man after my own heart id have given him a little slap as well if i i found out who it was ;)
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I was under cut on a job by £15, but I planted the seed of doubt in the custys mind by asking whether he uses an air mover to speed up the drying process.... As she had used his services before she said he didn't, and the carpets were wet for 2 days last time, then she asked me when I would be available to carry out the work! My price remains the same as I refuse to match other quotes and certainly wouldn't under cut my fellow C/C's.
I really wish I let this job go to the other guy, did it today and there was so many pesonal belongings still in situ that I nearly packed up and walked away. I don't mind moving odd bits of furniture but this was a 2 hour job (Maximum) taking nearly 5 hours. I did explain in the survey/quotation that the price was subject to "Chattels" being removed, but this was not written down in my terms and conditions... I have a survey form in place now which includes terms and conditions (including the removal of all chattels and valuables which may hinder the cleaning process)
Anyway, she was happy with the work but if I get the repeat business, I might pay the other bloke myself to do it for me!!
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Had the same thing a couple of weeks ago,quoted for a job,which i booked in 2 weeks later,said that i would need things moving ! oh yes no prob will get the 3 kids to tidy their rooms up no prob.
Called the day before to make sure all was well,oh yes all ok.Got there to find their 3 rooms a complete mess,teenage girls rooms especally bad (Girls stuff everywhere pants etc ! :( ) just chucked everything on their beds,and charged an extra £20 for my trouble !
They called and asked why it was an extra £20 too the cheek ! their son could have moved stuff instead of standing outside smoking weed,did smell nice though ;D
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if i am honest.......i dont even know what other cc charge in my area......
dont care either.........my price is exactly that....MY price
people like me so i get most jobs..... :-*
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Am going to stick my neck out here and say there is so much bull on this forum sometimes.
You lot all saying you have never undercut ANOTHER carpet cleaner.......take a look in the mirror how can you sleep at nites?
1. you telling me you havent went to a big job say Commercial and they tell the other quote price and you under cut it cos your thinking i will make the money back over the lifetime of the customer!
2. just tell the truth for a change alot of CCs i talk to are quiet for the time of the year
3. you get a call to quote over the phone from a reg custy there rich uncle has a 15 bed house been quoted by another cc and you have the price..........you saying you wouldnt unercut?
Wipe your chins cos your talking poope.....yes you would to all....... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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i only do carpet cleaning part time, so no i wouldnt undercut, in fact i always try to get the price up above my rivals, normally end up getting the job, its not about price, as with any service, the more you pay, the better the job, most customers know this, if they dont, then i re-educate them
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I'll match a price i it is'nt a long way from what i've quoted. but I can usually sell myself to get a little bit more out of a customer.
if they have a price of £100 and mines £200 I might as well leave ::)
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SAme as Mike H
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I haven't ever actually asked a customer for the quotes of other C/Cs. I just look at the job, think how much I would be comfortable at doing the job for and give them that price.... Sometimes my price is the cheapest and sometimes it isn't... I really couldn't care less what other C/C's charge...
Now I'm off to wipe my chin.... I've spilt red wine down it :D
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if i am honest.......i dont even know what other cc charge in my area......
dont care either.........my price is exactly that....MY price
people like me so i get most jobs..... :-*
My lips never moved ..... but if they had it would be the same
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i would never undercut, not because of being unethical, but because my prices are genuine prices. why would i do it cheaper just cos some numpty wants to bust his balls and go out of busines in a years time
james
if i had to quote over the phone from a referal from a regular then i'd get the job, thats why people refer you cos, your good and your affordable, unless your poop and cheap.
not everyone thinks like you.
take a look in the mirror and ask yourself why u have to undercut other cc's.
if you've got something to sell then sell it, if you haven't then undercut.
derek
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Never come up against me on commercial, would hate for some too cry. 8)
Len
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chill out James 8)
Ryan
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We're getting all them coming out of the woodwork at this time of the year, never see them for 10 months of the year and then suddenly they stick an advert in the paper, any two carpets cleaned £25, suite and lounge £30.
That, along with price shoppers wanting their stairs done for a tenner!!
"Am I bovvered?!?!?!?!"
Ho! Ho!! Ho!!!
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Went to do friend of wife's lounge last week.
Said she had it done in Jan £20.
It was wet through when they left and took 2 days to dry, and was streaky when dry.
That's quality.
Didn't shrink though.
John
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yesterday had a scrap of paper .......which had been posted thru my door.........8 ads on an a4 sheet which had been cut out ........looked really cheap!!!
if i can find it i will post it.....
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Well i did right in not undercutting,got the call today to book in the job that i quoted for ! double the price of somone else ;D
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well done mark, need to keep the prices up in cambs ;)
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I did a job last week for £225, she said she had quotes at £100 and £150 - she said they didnt sound right.
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i often get jobs where i have quoted twice as much as anyone else, normally get the job, i think most people are aware that you get what you pay for nowadays
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my 1st job ive been under cut on yesterday after she booked with me 1st and agreed a price BUT its one of those thats been done for years by the biz ive inherited .
Check this for a stupid price: Suite 1x3 1x1 dralon Kitchen Lounge small hall in a bunglow = £55 :o :o
Yes I know .............so I explained that the cleaning is being done very differently now ie pre vac pre spray air mover groom etc so the the new price would be £115 very small bunglow .(stil 2 cheap !)
However when she phoned she said she has found some one that will do the the work for £55 :o :o a proper price like she has been paying for 8 years , and I should be ASHAMED trying to rip old ppl off. I was glad this happened as the same lady starts the day with a few double Vodkas (every day) and babbles on about GOD all the time and the amount of stuff you need to move is a joke . On the other side of things Ive pushed the price up (25% ish) close to an acceptable level with out losing any of the other regulars .
Ricky
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That's how I did it, offerig a better clean for more money most but not all go for it, some are fixed on price or don't believe that you do a better clean just trying to get more money, I bought a 2nd hand TM to show that I was offering more visually.
Shaun
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Shaun , to be honest fella im trying to get rid of a few of the regulars ( fixed on price & minging carpets)
Nearly all have no prob paying out more for IMO a better service and book up for next year.
most be doing some thing right
Ricky
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Remember you have to replace them though ;D
I did a big YP ad and leaflets, the phone rang off the hook and I felt confident about selling at higher prices as if one customer said no another call later was a Yes.
My record for calls in 1 day was 86.
Shaun
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Ricky
I agree. When I bought my business I put prices up by 15-20% within the first year. Yes, I lost some custom but replaced them with more customers and they are all now paying at a higher rate. So at worse I was achieving the same level of income for the same amount of effort.
That is surely what we all aim to achieve.
Or as "After Eight" mints put it,"our idea of a sales drive is to put our prices up; people aspire to exclusivity".
Can we as carpet cleaners walk as well as we can talk?
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Not after 12 pints of wife-beater :)
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Shaun 86 :o :o :o Thought my 19 was good (booked 16 , 2 wer regulars)
Can we as carpet cleaners walk as well as we can talk?
Yes i would like to think we can !!
but I recon from porty to TM then it would be classed as flying .
getting closer to 1 of my goals I set , cash for TM no chucky aint going debt for nothing but getting the urge for scorpy , will have to see what Santa has to offer !!
Ricky
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Jim 12 pints eh back in the day maybe but its 5/6 an am wobbly now er daze !!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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86 calls in 1 day????
5 and a half an hour for 16 hours ah well!!!!
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86 ???
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I take it if you took 86 Calls then you have an office and admin etc ?
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I take it he didn't get 86 calls.
John
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I dont no shaun, but he he says he got 86 calls he wouldnt be telling fibs.
John flynn used to tell me about him a few years ago and that he knew how to work as a cc and his marketing was the balls....
Most folk dont get 86 calls a mth bnet you need to spend to get it back...
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my records 87. ;D
derek
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Cans of Viking larger ;D ;D
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no clinton, thats my average for viking.
newcastle brown tonight washed down with some garlic chicken in a creamy pasta sauce with cheesy garlic bread, had another good week.
derek
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MM Were on our way derek :)
You will be on that french stuff next mate ;D
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Nice one Derek.
Love a Friday night after a good week.
Watch these Nookie Broons, powerful stuff.
But verrrrry nice, remember, half pint glass and top up as you go, AHHHHH
I`m heading of to the shops,
Laters
Rab.
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your more than welcome to pop round with the misses clinton. it only costs a £crate to get in. and then the beers free if your quick enough. ;D
we'll have to sort something out one night, get a few of us out. word of warning though, my misses talks for england and she's captain. put it another way, every donkey within a 10 mile radius has no hind legs.
can't do tonight though, i'm washing my hair.
rab
half pint glass and top up as you go?
i want to relax not do a 100 metres relay all night. ;D ;D ;D
it is good stuff though, i'll be flat out by 8 o'clock.
derek
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Hi
Personally i believe Shaun recieved 86 call in one day, but then i am a bit gullable.
I would imagine he went a bit mad with the marketing & probably in the run up to christmas.
Dave
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Yes deff arange something derek :)
Only a crate to get in ;D
Well am not too far away when it comes to chating mate.
Dont drink much nowadays ::)
Love a pint or ten with a curry mind you ;D
Used to go and get steamed in rockworld in town center :o
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Believe it or not it's true I can remember cleaning a set of stairs and I took a call on every stair on the way down, obviously diverted to my mobile, at the beginning of the day a single carpet was £35 then at teh end of the day it was £60 ::)
Shaun
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There are a fair number of " jackanorys " on here, but Shaun ain't one, he doesn't need to make it up, having "walked the walk " for a longer time than his photo suggests.
It can be a pain when the phone rings almost constantly, but most businesses would love to be in that position. Very few are !
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We are talking some time ago when I was younger and handsomer, today I have had more calls than I got for the most of last week (27) I do programme my marketing well albeit 86 was desperation it was done with a combination of 40k leaflets, database and YP and 2 adverts in local paper at the Xmas period, the present Mrs,Ashmore was pregnant at the time and like a good caring soon to be father I thought that I had to earn for 3 lots of shoes as normally I had to earn for 2, hers and hers.
Shaun
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i haven't read this topic but just tell them.
"if you want a cheap 20 pound job i can give you 1, if you want a proper job come to me.
Yous know what am talking about lol ;D
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Result cleaned the minging 2 bedder today ! said £114 if i couldn`t get lounge clean ,or £140 if i got it nice.Turned out really good apart from a small section where the sofa had been ;D..Very happy customer and i drummed it into her why i was over twice the price of her other quote,said buy cheap buy twice ! she has said she is going to tell all her friends what a good job i did too ;D
She also called the boss of the letting agy i work for,who had said it`s a replacement job ! He was also impressed,more browny points to me ! There is something really satisfying about getting a really minging carpet clean,well on my way to having a grands worth of work booked this week now ! Bring it on
Also had an amusing sales call from first search re getting first page on google and a load of other search engines one off £295 + then £49 p/c/m let him give me the pitch for the second time in 2 weeks.Was an amusing lunch break,i have no intention of putting any more money into internet as yet,and seo is something i will be doing myself ,for free ;D
Oh and i have never seen a carpet bleed so much dye ! red ish carpet water was coming out a murky pink colour,nasty cheap carpet !
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Result cleaned the minging 2 bedder today ! said £114 if i couldn`t get lounge clean ,or £140 if i got it nice.Turned out really good apart from a small section where the sofa had been ;D..Very happy customer and i drummed it into her why i was over twice the price of her other quote,said buy cheap buy twice ! she has said she is going to tell all her friends what a good job i did too ;D
She also called the boss of the letting agy i work for,who had said it`s a replacement job ! He was also impressed,more browny points to me ! There is something really satisfying about getting a really minging carpet clean,well on my way to having a grands worth of work booked this week now ! Bring it on
Also had an amusing sales call from first search re getting first page on google and a load of other search engines one off £295 + then £49 p/c/m let him give me the pitch for the second time in 2 weeks.Was an amusing lunch break,i have no intention of putting any more money into internet as yet,and seo is something i will be doing myself ,for free ;D
Oh and i have never seen a carpet bleed so much dye ! red ish carpet water was coming out a murky pink colour,nasty cheap carpet !
Bet you used a high PH pre-spray or rinse or both, thats why all the colour bleed.Well done on the result though ;)
Mark
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trust me i am the queen at under cutting
however does it work ???? does it hell stop away as much as you can from it !
take it from me trying to put the prices up with custys that have been with you for years is hard very hard stop away from cutting if you can
wish i did :(
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Used pre spray gold,a weak soloution though,have overdone the pre spray recently and had foam issues,using liquid defoamer now top stuff !
Oh and on the really bad bits ultra pac renovate worked a treat ! sometimes i find p/s/g can bleed colour real bad ,either that or the whole carpet should come out that colour ;D