[terrymaloy]

Any advice from fellow carpet cleaners on how to handle this one ?
Just cleaned carpets at a landlords empty property and quoted him £60. He left me the key and off he went and told me to ring him when I was finished.
2 hours later and lovely clean carpets, I rang him, told him I was finished and he told me he was busy and he would drop my money off at my home address. I locked up and left.

Just received a phone call (6pm) from landlord...he's not happy...doesn't think they look clean. Get the distinct impression he's trying to get out of paying ! Believe me, those carpets were spotless when I left.

Meeting him tommorow...I still have his key remember. Any ideas on how to handle this one ?
Cheers.

[des]

Easy, you go with dirt in your pockets and when he does not pay you slowly drop the dirt on the carpet and walk it back in and then phone every carpet cleaner in the area and tell them his name ,works for me

[Buster Ingram]

terry if you still have the Key and the address is local I'd take a witness along tonight with me and have a look at the carpets before I meet with the landlord.
You never know what you'll find, my motto is be pepared.

Rgd Dave

[Liahona]

If he doesnt pay then the dirty water is still his, just give it back to him. I have threatened to do this many times and have actually done it twice. Best, Dave.

[craigp]

lol

sounds a good idea, dont give him the satisfaction of getting a freebie!!!

sprickle some mud on it.

its not the money would worry me, its that he got away with it. make sure he dont!

[Dave_Lee]

Terry,
Its always a good idea, to take before and after photo's, especially when the owner is not there, as some guenuinely have short memories regarding just how bad they were before.
Dave.

[Jason Hedges]

Hi Terry,

Your problem may well be wicking. When you left they looked clean but after a while any dirt left at the bottom of the pile may have transfered back to the surface!

I've done quite a few end of tenancy cleans and landlords properties and the carpets are always trashed! On a couple of occasions I've told the customer the results wil be "the best I can do" as they are so worn and dirty through to the backing giving them the choice to have me clean them or replace.

Every time they've had them cleaned because its so much cheaper than replacing................

Meet up and see what he has to say, offer to re-clean them if you think he has a point (better to get paid than not).

The good thing with private landlords is because tennents come and go once you're in you've got the job every time so they can be worth looking after. They are also a good form of referrals!

Kind regards and good luck!
Jason.

[stains-away]

I would try to get to the meeting a bit early so you have chance to have a look before the landlord arrives,pre warned is pre armed as they say,if there is a problem then offer to reclean (with him present if possible), if at that stage hes still unhappy without reason you do have the option of emptying your tank over the carpet, if hes happy then he can see that you are willing to put any errors right and theres no reason for him not to use you in the future, a few photos before you started work would go a long way if he is trying it on and you prequalified expectations with him, Andy

[craigp]

i think the last couple of posts are the right approuch,

assure him you did your best, tell him how bad they was and that there are very worn etc.

offer a re-clean.

it may just be he had unrealistic expectations and thinks your trying it on, when he sees your concerned hes not happy with your work, your polite, appoligetic, offering a reclean etc. im sure your find hes reasonable, and will pay you.

[andrew chrysler]

For what it's worth, it sounds like wicking to me too.

The carpet will have looked wonderful when wet, when you left, but over the next few hours, as it dried out, residual soil was drawn up the pile, and that is how the landlord saw it later.

If it was a typical rental property, you might well have used plenty of water to get the dirt out; unfortunately that is the usual cause of resoiling from wicking.

The solution is to go over the carpet once more, but only lightly wetting the carpet. That way you remove the soil from the top of the carpet, but you don't draw up more from below.

Certainly you should go back.... it's only a few minutes work to re-clean and it is your reputation that you are enhancing.

In general, if you have a really dirty carpet, it can be worth telling the customer that it will need 2 cleans to get it right. The first clean is a deep clean; the second just a light "dab - and - dash"

You can reduce the risk of wicking by a good pre-spray and agitation, and waiting 15 minutes before HWE... that way the soil comes out easier and you need less HWE... but with a really dirty carpet wicking is still going to be an issue.

The landlord has no doubt had other CCs before you, and they probably had the same problem but dealt with it badly; if you deal with it well you have got yourself a customer for life.

[keen2clean]

15 minutes sounds a far too long! im no expert but i find if i leave the prespray to drie it makes the stains even more stuborn to get out!
regard ray

[conallon]

Hi, as anybody else been to  the property after you left and before the landlord arrived ? plumber, builders ect,
I would go with Dave and go and have a look

Conrad

[gort]

Some of the advice sounds good others ridiculous. Lets face it give the landlord the benifit of the dout until you see other wise go to your meeting positive and as suggested offer to reclean. But remember although you have done the job and yes he maybe a bit of a crook its only £60,00 not a full replace or a claim on your insurance so sometimes in life you learn lessons and in your case its quite a cheap one after all its only your time and a little chemicals. It not the end of the world you still have your health and family its just a crooked world we live in so at time its to be expected.

[andrew chrysler]

If the landlord wanted to stitch you up, surely he would not have phoned you, and waited for you to phone him to ask why he had not dropped off the money.

Then he could make excuses like "car broke down", "lost cashpoint card" etc etc.

Sounds like he is genuinely disappointed with the job, and if it is wicking then that's understandable, it only shows after drying time, so a call back and quick re-clean should make him happy and you £60 better off.

Lets face it, £60 to a landlord isn't much, but losing a prospective tenant because the carpets are grubby is more of an issue.

Not his fault, and not your fault, wicking is a fact of life. Treat the customer how you would like to be treated in a similar situation, and you will be surprised how happy the customer will be.

And if you make him happy, he will stick with you for the future.

[Fintan_Coll]

Terry,, what type of machine do you use and what chemicals are you using. If we knew this it might help us to give you more accurate advice.

[tomh]

hi terry
so how have you got on with this 1 ? i take it you've been round there with him to have a look.
this would really upset me if they was ok & he was just trying it on, especialy exra time it takes to go round. what carpet's did you clean take it there were several room's ? £60 seem's cheap

[Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care]

Been there, done that. Remove the locks. A locksmith call out is going to be more than 60 quid.

Only done this once and it was an absolute last resort that rendered immediate payment. The landlady was handed they locks and screws immediately

Occasionally professionalism isn't the answer
Alan

[scott.]

I agree....water pistol full of ink...through the letterbox

[homenclean]

Go on the net find your local county court print and complete the form take it with you, if you have any trouble hand a copy to him and tell him you are droping this in thge post when you leave explain its going to cost him more money and it would be far easier for both of you if he paid up, also photograph the carpets to prove they are in good condition.

John