[homenclean]

I Cleaned a lounge and Hall, Stairs & landing on friday for a customer who was, lets say a pain in the a... White carpets 2 dogs grandaughter under 2 and a teenage daughter still at home. You can imagine the condition it was in!

Prepared the carpets for cleaning in the correct way, worked in the pre spray etc as i am about to finnish she came through looked at the carpet and said she was disapointde with the result. To me it looked great i had removed 99% of the stains the carpet was touch dry, when i asked what she was disapointed in she said well its nearly dry the guy i normally use leaves it wet for 1 and a 1/2 days you havent put  enough cleaner down.

I tried to explain that it was because i had recovered the water into the machine
But she was having none of it.

Reluctantly she paid me and i left, having been in the business for 16 years i have never had a customer complain that the carpet was nearly dry!

john

[Cloverleaf]

There is always one 

[*paul_moss]

If you have done your best, then dont lose any sleep.
Luckily you only come across this type of customer once in a while.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Did the last cleaner charge less?

She may have been wanting a new carpet and thought I'll have a better clean and hopefully he'll make it like a new one, better still if his machine is that powerful I may get stripped and polished floor boards!

Sometimes you are onto a loser, if your customer looks a bit 'shifty' or nervy after each process keep them looking at the carpet so they know what you are doing to it, I usually prespray and then extract a line and then show them the difference as the wet carpet looks darker and then as I've pulled the prespray and dirt off you get a lovely clean wand streak.

Shaun

[Dave Roelants]

Shaun,
You're such a charmer, are you sure you're not Irish?

[ianharper]

hi guys

dirt hides wear, and customers needs telling before you start this so it does not sound like an excuse when you done. the dirtier and the longer it says dirty the more wear. that's why the carpet audit and it "wear age" works so well, it puts responsibility where it should be with the customer.

respect

Ian Harper

[John Kelly]

We had this in a million pound house I have done for years. The carpets aren't dirty as it is done regularly. It was always done with porties in the past with the usual 4-5 hours drying times. However when I did them the first time with the prowler, when she came home a few hours later they were bone dry and she was convinced we hadn't cleaned them.

[ianharper]

john

just goes to show you need to sell the benefits of your new setup, even to customers on your database.

maybe a mail shot with an offer selling the benefits of the new equipment to the client.

If it was me i would shot a dvd like the one for the wand that Steve recommended and send it out

respect

Ian Harper

[Dave_Lee]

Ian,
You dont by any chance promote the "Most thorough clean ever seen - or its FREE2 , do you. If so she was probably trying that on.
Dave.

[Terry_Burrows]

the ones I love just the other day,one books up 2 weeks before you give a call
one day before say hi all ok,o she says I am going to have to cancel,we are having work done,yea right when was she going ton cancel when we get on the door step

[homenclean]

I have spoken with trading standadrds about this and they say unless you are given reasonable notice off cancelation you can charge your out of pocket expenses i.e the time you are hanging around when you should be cleaning their carpet. I have tried it twice and by threatening 1 of them with court they paid the full invoice. They shouldnt be allowed to get away with it, time is money and you could have been working for somebody else. I suppose this is why a lot of dentists now charge for missed appointments when people just dont turn up.

John

[brights cleaning]

take your customer outside and give her a really good kicking
that should take her mind off of her carpets!

[will01]

Guys seriously, is there anything that can be legally done to people who cancel within 24 hrs?

will

[*paul_moss]

No
If you are getting a lot of them it may be a good idea to personally do the audit and take a none refundable deposit 

[Chris R]

I have spoken with trading standadrds about this and they say unless you are given reasonable notice off cancelation you can charge your out of pocket expenses i.e the time you are hanging around when you should be cleaning their carpet. I have tried it twice and by threatening 1 of them with court they paid the full invoice. They shouldnt be allowed to get away with it, time is money and you could have been working for somebody else. I suppose this is why a lot of dentists now charge for missed appointments when people just dont turn up.

John

So if you (the carpet cleaner)  cancels a job at the last minute ( sickness, vehicle or machine problems ?) do you pay the customer compensation ?

They may well have taken a day off from work, moved all of the furniture out of the room the night before etc ?

Its a fact of ( business) life that you just have to learn to live with.

If I get the impression that a custy is a bit dozy when they book I send them a letter of confirmation stating date and time of arrival.

If a customer cancels on me at short notice more than once ( without a VERY good excuse) I refuse to work for them again.

regards

Chris

[colin thomas]

i agree with chris, it's a pain when a customer lets you down but hey ho, is it really worth the hasle of threatening them with court? they will be bad mouthing you to all and sundry, if you are generally busy then i usually like the extra time that i can give myself to do something else.

colin