[Steve Rothwell]

Well said Martin.

I work the lower to middle price bracket, this job would take me about 2 hours, and £130 is a fair price for about that level.

Tomsey - I quote over the phone not estimate.... have been in the industry 19 years.
Some jobs we win as they are smaller than average, and some we loose as they are larger than average, but all in all it works out equal.

Oh yes I work out of a car and not a signwritten van and it does not reduce the quality of my work in the slightest, and (strange this) I get a lot of recommends and repeat business.

[Neil Williams]

2 hours with a porty small enough to be carried in a car..... don't think so unless you have in excess of 50 foot of hose in order to leave it outside the property.

[Dave_Lee]

Got to agree that lower price doesn't necessarily mean poor workmanship. What it does mean imo, is that he's working for peanuts.
Used to do it myself for the first 20 years then got wise, now they PAY for quality, and why not, because they are happy to do so.
Carpet cleaners who charge little, usually do so because they think they can't charge more, and end up with repeat customers who expect to pay little the next time too. They are then in the trap of charging less then others, for fear of losing their repeat customers.
I was there too, but gradually escaped the clutches of customers who wanted a good job doing but didn't want to pay the correct amount.
It takes years to turn it around but it can be done.
Don't waste your time and effort on price shoppers, deal with those that will pay for good service.
Dave.

[Adam Fearnley]

I used to fit a 500 PSI twin vac in my car, took the front seat out Plus, to the people who realise they are not in a highly skilled profession, £115 profit for a few hours work isn't peanuts.

[Steve Rothwell]

2 hours with a porty small enough to be carried in a car..... don't think so unless you have in excess of 50 foot of hose in order to leave it outside the property.

Who mentioned a porty ??

[Shaun_Ashmore]

£115 profit for a few hours work isn't the end of it though, I find that lower price cleaners charge what they charge because that's the level that they can sell at, it's not personal it's just that if you are scared of losing the job then you tend to aim low, lets face it if you rang and asked over the phone for a price and he said between £130 and £200 you would expect the higher price and the cleaner in this instance isn't either a good salesman or is inexperienced.

Shaun

[Chris Hawkes]

2 hours with a porty small enough to be carried in a car..... don't think so unless you have in excess of 50 foot of hose in order to leave it outside the property.

Who mentioned a porty ??

I've got to ask Hector, what car have you got and what machine have you got?

Chris

[Steve Rothwell]

Thanks for asking Chris

a volvo estate and I use a rotary

[Steve Rothwell]

and a crb

[Chris Hawkes]

As my late friend, Justin Kelly, would have said:

'Fair do's to you"

[Carpet Dawg]

Hector, is it not a pain working out of a car? I cant see how you manage, i'd soon loose my temper if i had to fanny about with that! Have you ever used a van for your business?

I found that working out of a transit connect was bad enough with the lack of room and i dont carry half the things folk on here carry in thier vans.

I have a Transit now.

[Steve Rothwell]

Sort of Tony, but I am used to it.

Used to have a C15 van, plenty of room inside but damned uncomfortable to drive for any sort of distance.

I live in the countryside and have 6 miles to the nearest proper town, and 20ish miles to the nearest large urban area, so need a bit of comfort for the drive to work.

[JandS]

Nearer 4 hours with a porty so an afternoons
work for £130.
I'd do it as well.
Can fit a decent job in the morning in as well so
job's a good 'un.

John

[jasonl]

I would do it for that too , helper on the stairs with exctractor, me on the flat bits with rotary.

2 hours max

[Helen]

I would do it for that too , helper on the stairs with exctractor, me on the flat bits with rotary.
2 hours max

But 2 of you on the job equates to 4 man hours work and £32.50 per hour.
Where are the comments from the "I only work for £100/hour merchants" when you want them

[jasonl]

My helper is paid £6.50 an hour .

I have an upcoming job , 850m2 at 97pence/m  I will make 100 an hour gross on this job , my staff wont .   

[Steve Chapman]

Hope they're not reading this or they might want a bit more 

Steve

[Simon Moat]

Hope they're not reading this or they might want a bit more 

Steve
/quote]


Jason's in the clear, it's not written in Polish.

[jasonl]

I had about 20 eastern european applicants , it would be a very desperate day if I actually employed one.

[Colin Day]

I had about 20 eastern european applicants , it would be a very desperate day if I actually employed one.

Tut tut...What about equal rights...?