[Mike Halliday]

what do you think of this advert offering 3hrs for £95

http://www.gumtree.com/p/business-services/carpet-cleaning-carpets-professionally-cleaned-ready-for-christmas--95-this-week-only-book-now/1005199209

i might not agree with the price but i actually think its a good idea if customers will go for it, no need to rush you can take your time and do a really good job on a small number of rooms or if the client wants you can rush, cut down the quality and do more rooms

[Paul Moss]

Mike when did you start using the puzzi

[JandS]

Not a bad idea.
Two of them a day 9.30 - 12.30 and 13.00 - 16.00.
£190..suit me fine.

John

[davep]

Not here, if actually cleaning 6 hrs straight £300 min

Would be a right pain with all the aunts and neighbours rugs appearing!

[Mike Halliday]

this advert is on the 1st page of google....... might be a cheap way of getting on the 1st page.

i bet they would vac and move all the furniture before you arrive..... but the cups of tea would be in short supply.

considering I could clean a 4 bed house in 3hrs then the price is quite low

[Kev Loomes]

....We use top of the range (Karcher Puzzi 400E rrp £2900 each) machines that are industrial strength and designed for fast use and larger areas.

Who on earth would spend 3k on a Puzzi I think the answer is no-one surely. Oh and 'industrial strength' 

[Adrian Marsh]

"In the busy run-up to xmas"? So, at their busiest time of their year they will discount the price? Wonder how much they pay the customer to clean their carpets for them in the quiet times. Is that good business practice?

[Garyj]

Working for £32 an hour, yep what a mug. Would have to work 32 hours a
week to make a grand, couldn't possibly make any money. I expect they rely
on tax credits to make up the short fall in living standards.

The general public will see straight through this con and fall about
laughing at his 'industrial strength' machine.

The ones that do fall for it, well doesn't matter, they were never the
sort of customer you wanted in the first place and no doubt live on filthy
council estates with threadbare carpets only fit for the tip and expect you
to bring them up like new.

And.... don't forget...... when these 'cowboys' have trashed their carpets
with that crappy joke of a machine they will call you and you will charge
a hundred pound an hour to put the mistakes right.

Also I bet you those carpets are full of Vanish that foams up all over the place
nearly ruining your machine.  

No doubt they will be running a Groupon campaign in the New Year
and will go bust anyway.

I bet they are a criminal Eastern European gang using cash in hand workers
for three quid an hour using Bait and Switch methods.

[gaz1984mcc]

Working for £32 an hour, yep what a mug. Would have to work 32 hours a
week to make a grand, couldn't possibly make any money. I expect they rely
on tax credits to make up the short fall in living standards.

The general public will see straight through this con and fall about
laughing at his 'industrial strength' machine.

The ones that do fall for it, well doesn't matter, they were never the
sort of customer you wanted in the first place and no doubt live on filthy
council estates with threadbare carpets only fit for the tip and expect you
to bring them up like new.

And.... don't forget...... when these 'cowboys' have trashed their carpets
with that crappy joke of a machine they will call you and you will charge
a hundred pound an hour to put the mistakes right.

Also I bet you those carpets are full of Vanish that foams up all over the place
nearly ruining your machine.  

No doubt they will be running a Groupon campaign in the New Year
and will go bust anyway.

I bet they are a criminal Eastern European gang using cash in hand workers
for three quid an hour using Bait and Switch methods.

Wtf Gary that must be a drunken rant. lol

[Neil Jones]

Impossible to survive on over a grand a week? May be for some with high over heads but considering they are advertising on gum tree and running a puzzi I think they might be ok on that turnover.

[Garyj]

Working for £32 an hour, yep what a mug. Would have to work 32 hours a
week to make a grand, couldn't possibly make any money. I expect they rely
on tax credits to make up the short fall in living standards.

The general public will see straight through this con and fall about
laughing at his 'industrial strength' machine.

The ones that do fall for it, well doesn't matter, they were never the
sort of customer you wanted in the first place and no doubt live on filthy
council estates with threadbare carpets only fit for the tip and expect you
to bring them up like new.

And.... don't forget...... when these 'cowboys' have trashed their carpets
with that crappy joke of a machine they will call you and you will charge
a hundred pound an hour to put the mistakes right.

Also I bet you those carpets are full of Vanish that foams up all over the place
nearly ruining your machine.  

No doubt they will be running a Groupon campaign in the New Year
and will go bust anyway.

I bet they are a criminal Eastern European gang using cash in hand workers
for three quid an hour using Bait and Switch methods.

Wtf Gary that must be a drunken rant. lol

Lemsip induced 

[Simon Gerrard]

It's actually not a bad idea, the price may need looking at, but it is a lot better than Groupon. For a start-up business that is looking to increase its customer base it could be a good thing. Better still if the initial deal was sold as an introductory offer at 50% off the normal rate, that way the customer knows next time it will be more but have at least had the opportunity to check out your work to see if you're worth more, if so, they'll probably ring you back.

Simon

[AshWhite]

Impossible to survive on over a grand a week? May be for some with high over heads but considering they are advertising on gum tree and running a puzzi I think they might be ok on that turnover.

I think there was some extraction of urine taking place..

[Hilton]

Its the first time I have seen someone advertise to the customer what the equipment cost them , as if this was some kind of benefit to them....

Very strange....I doubt anyone has ever had a customer say to them, 'I chose you because your equipment cost xxx amount of pounds'...

[Chris Straker]

That is something that I have seen truckmounted operators advertise ........" invested in £30,000 worth of vehicle & machine" etc ........ would be worth mentioning if it was not a Puzzi, that is effectively the same thing you copuld hire at a cleaners or DIY store !!

[Mike Halliday]

actually the cost of van & equipment is something i regularly use in my sales pitch, I find it works well with men and working class people.

" to be honest i would love to clean with a £400 machine like kwickcleen it would have saved me 20 grand on the equipment i use...... but you can't get the drying times or quality clean with those £400 machine..... i spent 20 grand because thats what it takes to do the job right"

people tend to understand the logic of the argument that companies wouldn't spend loads of money on equipment unless they really had to

[JandS]

Machine apart I think it's a very good idea.
The price is just about right to exclude the ones we
don't want yet get in the the door with the "normal"
people.
I'd be quite happy with two of those a day.
Would not suit those of you that have helpers though
unless they could be sent out on there own as well.
Has to be one mans working hours.

John

[COLIN BRIGHT]

These days when I look at the job I consider how easy or hard it will be for me to do, always price for fully furnished room and discount from there. It's easier to do a large lounge at street level than the same size room 4 floors up so I price accordingly, I used to get hung up on a square foot price but now that's only my starting point, also depends on time of year and cost of products, so really it's how much I want the job and how much within the profit margin I am willing to take

[dan paton]

i think you need some hypnosis garyj

[AshWhite]

If you go on CT, there's a guy on the "Smelly carpet after clean" thread which has just posted that he has realised that his Puzzi 400 is underpowered, but had been impressed by it's £2800 price tag when new. He has now put it on eBay.

Guess where he is?