Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: benny d on June 09, 2005, 12:21:48 pm
-
I got a call from a man who had seen my advert in the local paper.
He said he was ill with Emphaseema ( spelling?), and his wife has been so ill that she is in hospital. It was in a nice street with bungalows, and I thought this wouln't be as bad as I thought from the phone call. WRONG!!
BUT when I got inside, the man was on his bed with some sort of medical equipment all about him. His breathing was terrible, and he looked awful :(
There was carpet of some sort in the kitchen that was totally covered in stains and muck. I said to him straight away that it really needed to be binned and start again.
The hallway had some sort of huge food stains that had been there for a few months. The bedrooms had some sort of ill stains left by his wife. Another room had some sort of big stains left by another dog, no longer with us :(
All in all, a terrible state.
After a couple of minutes I thought to myself that this was too nasty to do, and I wouldn't be sure of the results. I told the man that my equipment wouldnt be able to clean the carpets as I would like.
It was a sad situation, and I do know that I did the right thing for me, but I am upset about the state that the man is in :'(
Do you think that you would have done the same thing as me in this situation? ???
Tnx for reading.
Ben
-
Benny D
Yes you did the right thing if it was as bad as you say.
If you had tried to clean the premises and it did not clean as you expected that would have put you between a rock and a hard place.
This could have been interpreted as trying to rip off someone who is obviously in a very bad state of health. It makes you wonder what state this country is in when a situation like this is allowed to happen as this chaps condition seems to very bad where are his relatives or does a health visitor call to assist him with his medical condition. It is a hard call to make in a situation like this. Just remember that you have given this person the correct advice and that is what being a professional is all about.
-
Well done Benny, any True Professional would walk away from such a situation.
Please carry on as you did on this occasion and DO NOT take on jobs for the sake of the money, you will find it much easier to live with yourself dooing what you did.
Maybe some folk on here will slate me for saying what I have, but, I do have a consionce.
-
without a doubt you did the right thing.it is a sad fact that people end up in some awful situations,but you would think that if the man had medical equipment all around him that someone must be going in to see to him.Perhaps i am alone in thinking this but shouldn`t the people that go in and see to him realise what a state the house is in and let social services know so they can possibly help him in some way.
sad but unfortunately a fact of life,out of sight out of mind.
-
You are feeling guilty because you could not help the man. If you had turn dirty carpets into clean carpets you would be feeling a lot better, but there was little you could have done, and I think you did the right thing. A hard and uncomfortable decision, but the right one.
-
I had one like that a couple of years ago,the guy was blind and he said his home help hadn't even turned up for about a week........not suprising really his dog had about half a dozen pups roaming around leaving messages everywhere! not to mention the cats!!!! he wanted me to help get rid of the ammonia smell!!!!!as the home help had been complaining that it was taking her breath away!had to advise him to replace rather than clean.Felt guilty at the time, but then why hit the chap with a bill for cleaning when you know it's not going to make any difference to the situation!
john
-
Hi again
Many thanks for your responese. They are much appreciated.
I did feel awful at the time and also ped off that what I thought might be a decent job was a complete waste of time. But it is far worse for the poor bloke, wife and dog :(
Enjoy the sunshine ... :D
Ben
-
I have a lot of empathy but it stops there! (I take the stance of banks and the Tax man cant decide which ones which)
John
Re conscience did not know you were marred etc?
Len
-
I THINK YOU SHOULD OF DONE THE JOB REGARD LESS maybe it was not going to be a picasso . but that man would not expect one either. he would of had help from a stinking pit . now he has had a rebuttal i hope others would of done it to there best of abillity. we are nothere to give moral judjement anything that would of improved his missery would be bettter than it is now. shame on some of you. any you did not earn a penny . perhaps you are rich enough
-
Rich enough? I think Benny was saying the carpets were beyond cleaning, not a case of lets earn some dosh even though we know the job would not be good enough.
-
I did one for an old chap last week.
He did not want to live in such a state.
Although not 100% revived he was over the moon when I finished.
However he was not on machinary so I think if that had been the case I would want advise from someone who cares for him.
-
I would have done it too. Well done Ron.
I do one like this ( not quite as bad though by the sounds of it) regularly. I don't charge much either, sometimes not at all. I have picked up a bit of work from his family, who are grateful.
Benny, sorry to hear you are p'd off at the lose of a job. A very sad statement.
Of course you should have done it, the least you could have done is anti-bac'ed & deodorised the place.
-
benny, i think you did the right thing here, always go with your feelings, yes i agree its a sad state of affairs, when people are left to live like this,but you as a professional, have a reputation to maintain,
you should be able to do a days work, go home and be happy with what you have done,
Dave
-
But if the professionals won't do it, who will.
Been thinking about this post on and off all day. And yep, its a tough one to cope with, but as professionals I do think its our job to say yes. Maybe with a good anti-bac and deodorise the care workers might visit longer!
At the very least I would have contacted a family member if possible and offered the use of some professional chemicals in a hire machine.
Could not have just walked away though, the older I get the softer I must be getting ::)
-
gary and others,
I've also done a few like this, sometimes charging a lot at others not at all.I like to think I made a difference.yes maybe it should be someone else's responsibilty but we don't live in a perfect world, Guys sometimes it's not just about the money regardless of what Joe Polish will tell you, it's not even about being professional it's just about being human
Best Regards
Dave
-
Agreed, it shouldn't be an issue of conscience, but it is. After walkng into someones house and seeing this, how can it possibly not be? We all bang on about how professional we are and in most cases how fantastic our cleaning is, this job was a challenge. We can all get half decent results cleaning the average home carpet, why walk away from the difficult ones. All the stains might not have come out, but I would have had a damn good go, and no one is going to knock you if you try your best. Could have really made a difference to someones quality of life here, I should think friends and family can't stomach going around there.
And as for the disapointment at the lose of a job, and the impresssion of pound signs as he drove up the road, AND the waste of his valuable time actually makes me angry.
-
there was no mention of lazyness drunkeness or couldn't care less in Benny's post just a request for help from the client to someone who he best thought could help.Neither was there any suggestion that the the job should be done for free or at a reduced rate
-
Therapist, wasn't aimed at you, no need to shout.
Dave, I never wrote any of those words. But nice street and bungalow conjure up someone rubbing there hands together, why mention these points otherwise. Neither did I suggest that he should do it for free or half price.
-
I've done many jobs like this one,
you know it's not going to be perfect when you've finished
but provided the customer is properly informed before cleaning
and given the chance to cancel the clean then there is no problem.
By all means sell a bactericide or deoderizer on top, the decision
not to clean should be the customers, there will always be occasions when you must cancel , but any good cleaner can word their qualification so as to put the customer off.
If its a no hoper and they still want it cleaned, have them sign an indemnity form and make sure they pay well for the priviledge.
P S DHSS payments to some of these less well off people,
DWARF anything i earn .
-
>>But nice street and bungalow conjure up someone rubbing there hands together<<
Garj.
Dont you like to work in the "better" houses in your area, or filthy,dirty,delapadated properties?
I would rather clean in the former.
I said about the nice road as "I" like to work in a nice an enviroment as is possible.
I was just taken aback when walking into the house of the sad state it was in.
Im quite new to the industry and im sure that I will see alot of things that I am not happy about. I'm on a steep learning curve atm, so pardon my ignorance in cleaning filth, poo, s*it and worse unmentionables I couldn't even begin to think what it was!
If you want the gentlemans address. PM me and you can have a go yourself. I wont even ask for a few bob for the referral ;)
-
Of course I do, don't we all. But that doesn't mean I'd walk away from a job like this. Being new to the industry isn't an excuse either. If you put yourself out there as a professional then you can either do the job or you can't.
As a carpet cleaner isn't your job to clean carpets, whatever they may have on them to the best of your ability? Do other professions such as nurses and firemen take their pick as to what jobs they fancy doing?? ( perhaps an unfair comparison, but you get the idea).
Thanks for offering me the work. If I was closer I would do it. But surely there is a professional carpet cleaner in the area who is actually capable of doing it.
-
i must say gary i totally agree with you. if you want to pick and choose this is not the job for you. i work on a lot of filthy carpets and suites. i cringe when i see them. but that is sometimes the way people live and i dont make a judgement. as far as picking and being new benny , if you are trained get used to it they are like that sometimes. it might as well be your first job as your 50th take care ron
-
Not allowed to pick & choose your jobs
If I was an employee paid to do a job fair enough. The whole point of being in business is that you are your own boss, working for youself. Which means that you make your own choices, which means (surprise surprise) yes you can pick & choose whatever jobs you want to do.
Nurses & Firemen are paid employees. Accident claim solicitors pick & choose which clients they want based on the rate of success they will achieve.
Benny made a choice based on his experience so far, which he is allowed to do.
Under the circumstances he may have been right. The visual aspect of the finished clean would be meaningless compared to the health & safety issues involved in not killing all the bacteria. Spraying a bit of deodoriser & antibac does not constitute a thorough clean. What about the backing? what about the underlay? what about the floor underneath that? what about the clients well being? what about the risk assessment? what about all the people who have gone in before seeing the situation get worse & worse and not doing anything about it until it's maybe too late.
But I suppose he could have taken the money after all and there is always the added benefit of selling the antibac & deodoriser.