[Fran84]

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

[Mike Halliday]

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

[Fran84]

Ok. So 4 man hours for half a carpet.

Still far too slow in my opinion!!

[Mike Halliday]

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

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

2 hours, 2 men  to clean a bedroom carpet? 

[Mike Halliday]

what can i say.... I'm slow   must be old age

[Simon Gerrard]

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

[Jamie Pearson]

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.

[Dennis]

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. 

[Mike Halliday]

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.

[Mike Halliday]

on a serious note

we had 3 sets of big stairs and hallways we had to wrap like this.....



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 

[derek west]

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.

[Doug Holloway]

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

[Paul Moss]

I dont believe this much can be said about a bedroom carpet

[davep]

Hose through window. Job done 12 mins 

[wynne jones]

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.  

[dek]

Bet your real glad you posted this one Mike !!!!

[mark_roberts]

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 

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

[Carpet Dawg]

£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

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!

[Carpet Dawg]

£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!