[markpowell]

Hi Everyone,
My parents had this leaflet delivered today, has anyone ever seen anyting like this? its a joke!!!!!!!
Mark

[Joe H]

Sounds like a very good deal - might book them in to do mine. 
Joe H

[Bertie Boo]

Mark

If you doubt it then why not ring them and check??

Here in Birmingham we get leaflets like that ALL the time (albiet different companies and different pictures, but the format and the prices are the same school of thought), and as i'm not a carpet cleaner myself you're gonna have to tell me whats wrong with it......

Cheers

Stephen

[lands]

Mark

If you doubt it then why not ring them and check??

Here in Birmingham we get leaflets like that ALL the time (albiet different companies and different pictures, but the format and the prices are the same school of thought), and as i'm not a carpet cleaner myself you're gonna have to tell me whats wrong with it......

Cheers

Stephen

Tis called "splash and dash" Stephen

ie, don't sub anything to them. you will regret it

Pete

[markpowell]

I only charge £75.00 - £85.00 for a 3 pc suite and £40.00 - £45.00 average for a lounge carpet, compared to some cleaners i thought my prices were cheap.
I have seen cheap prices on leaflets before but never a full house and suite for £75.00.
Mark

[bennymon]

hi pete i personally wouldnt work for those prices but i do know a carpet cleaner who will do a 3 bed semi for £65  and do a great job

[darren_metcalfe]

Where abouts are you Mark is this Leeds or Wakefield.  I am North Leeds but never seen this before but have seen another company using the same format.

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Mark

If you doubt it then why not ring them and check??

Here in Birmingham we get leaflets like that ALL the time (albiet different companies and different pictures, but the format and the prices are the same school of thought), and as i'm not a carpet cleaner myself you're gonna have to tell me whats wrong with it......

Cheers

Stephen

Tis called "splash and dash" Stephen

ie, don't sub anything to them. you will regret it

Pete

why is it splash and dash ? have you had any work done buy them befour

[markpowell]

I am based in ripponden, halifax.
These leaflets were distributed in Wakefield.
I have been told that these leaflets have bee sent out before on several occasions te same tel numbers but with a different company name.
When they sell stain protector they tell the customer they have added it into the solution tank on the machine and it is applied as they clean.
I was told this this afternoon by one of my suppliers, who has had dealings with this cleaner.
Mark

[Jason_B]

I am in the same area (West Yorkshire,) and my prices are cheaper than that i.e. £15 for a lounge, £15 for HSL, £10 for bedrooms etc. I have leaflets delivered 5000 at a time.

The majority of my area is relatively small terraced houses upon which my prices are based. I have been doing this area for 4 years and everyone is happy with the work I do, in fact I don't ask for any money until they are totally happy.

I very rarely travel further than 2 miles from where I live and if I do travel further I charge extra. On a bad day I will average £20 per hour, which of course is not an amazing wage but it's a lot better than most of the people in my area earn. On a good day I can be over £35 an hour purely from domestic work. However with ramadan just around the corner I'll have at least a dozen mosques to do and the hourly rate is significantly higher on that type of work, in fact I probably make 30% of my yearly takings in the month of ramadan where I work 7 days a week.

You may suggest that I cannot possibly do a good job if my prices are so low - but my customers are more than satisifed with the results and at the end of the day that's all I care about.

The equipment I use is fairly modest - I have a Victor Sprite 400 rotary and a Numatic CTD572 extraction machine which has been a real diamond since I bought it - it's over 3 years old and has been used constantly since new and I have spent less than £150 in parts on it. I use Prochem's Double Clean in the hwe and Prochem's Contract Carpet Foam Shampoo in the rotary.

For the record I currently charge £29 for a 3-piece suite but I don't bother with curtains or leather suites. I am currently looking to upgrade my equipment so that I am not having to put so much effort in (a CTD572 is rather underpowered and I also have to carry it up and down stairs,) every day is like a workout at the gym at the moment. When I get my new machine, possibly a CFR or maybe a Powr-Flite Perfect Heat with Wonder Wand I will have to increase my prices to reflect the extra investment but I cannot ever envisage charging much more than £20 for a standard lounge and £40 for 3-piece suite.

[lands]

Mark

If you doubt it then why not ring them and check??

Here in Birmingham we get leaflets like that ALL the time (albiet different companies and different pictures, but the format and the prices are the same school of thought), and as i'm not a carpet cleaner myself you're gonna have to tell me whats wrong with it......

Cheers

Stephen

Tis called "splash and dash" Stephen

ie, don't sub anything to them. you will regret it

Pete

why is it splash and dash ? have you had any work done buy them befour

Just a guess but while you mention it do you think they agitate, vac, pre-treat, agitate and then rinse/extract for that money? Unlikey me thinks but as Bennymon says there a few that do but I suspect they are in the minority.

Pete  

[lands]

I am in the same area (West Yorkshire,) and my prices are cheaper than that i.e. £15 for a lounge, £15 for HSL, £10 for bedrooms etc. I have leaflets delivered 5000 at a time.

The majority of my area is relatively small terraced houses upon which my prices are based. I have been doing this area for 4 years and everyone is happy with the work I do, in fact I don't ask for any money until they are totally happy.

I very rarely travel further than 2 miles from where I live and if I do travel further I charge extra. On a bad day I will average £20 per hour, which of course is not an amazing wage but it's a lot better than most of the people in my area earn. On a good day I can be over £35 an hour purely from domestic work. However with ramadan just around the corner I'll have at least a dozen mosques to do and the hourly rate is significantly higher on that type of work, in fact I probably make 30% of my yearly takings in the month of ramadan where I work 7 days a week.

You may suggest that I cannot possibly do a good job if my prices are so low - but my customers are more than satisifed with the results and at the end of the day that's all I care about.

The equipment I use is fairly modest - I have a Victor Sprite 400 rotary and a Numatic CTD572 extraction machine which has been a real diamond since I bought it - it's over 3 years old and has been used constantly since new and I have spent less than £150 in parts on it. I use Prochem's Double Clean in the hwe and Prochem's Contract Carpet Foam Shampoo in the rotary.

For the record I currently charge £29 for a 3-piece suite but I don't bother with curtains or leather suites. I am currently looking to upgrade my equipment so that I am not having to put so much effort in (a CTD572 is rather underpowered and I also have to carry it up and down stairs,) every day is like a workout at the gym at the moment. When I get my new machine, possibly a CFR or maybe a Powr-Flite Perfect Heat with Wonder Wand I will have to increase my prices to reflect the extra investment but I cannot ever envisage charging much more than £20 for a standard lounge and £40 for 3-piece suite.

Jason, respect to you as you clearly do it properly but you are letting yourself down on those prices (even in that area)

Pete

[markpowell]

Hi Jason,
£29.00 for a 3 pc suite, how many a week do you manage to book at that?
Wouldnt you be better charging a little more and cleaning a few less for the money at the end of the working week. Do you have any other advertising running or do you find that leaflets work alone.
Do you use Double clean on all carpets you clean?
sorry if i seem nosey im just interested to see how other carpet cleaners work!
Kind regards Mark.

[Jason_B]

Hi Jason,
£29.00 for a 3 pc suite, how many a week do you manage to book at that?
Wouldnt you be better charging a little more and cleaning a few less for the money at the end of the working week. Do you have any other advertising running or do you find that leaflets work alone.
Do you use Double clean on all carpets you clean?
sorry if i seem nosey im just interested to see how other carpet cleaners work!
Kind regards Mark.

I won't beat about the bush - the majority of my customers (over 90%) are muslims and we all know how "careful" they are with their money. It wouldn't be a case of me putting my prices up and getting less work it would be a case of me putting my prices up and getting no work at all. I think they'd rather I slaughtered their first born child than charge them an extra tenner. And also as a community they're like the Borg off Star Trek - if they think I've done a bad job/ overcharged or undercharged one of them the rest of them know within hours! I learned this early on and now use it to my advantage, I get a lot of recommendations. I wasn't the best carpet cleaner around when I first started (having been trained by a cowboy from Doncaster,) and I used to get a few recalls but now I can't remember the last time I had someone complain about anything.

With regards to advertising I ran an ad in the local paper for about 12 weeks and it got me about two jobs so I sacked that. I place ads in the local Urdu magazine which has a circulation of around 7,000 which is a lot less than the local paper but I get a much better response. I think that within 12 months I will be totally without advertising, I have worked hard at getting contracts doing mosques and they are the best referals you can get.

As for Double Clean, yes I use it on the majority of carpets I clean. I do have some other chemicals, one from Chemspec and another from somewhere else I can't recall, but Double Clean seems to do ok for me.

My main problem is going to come when I get my new equipment as I simply will not be able to clean a carpet for £15 using £3K of machine and I can pretty much bet any amount of money that my customers will rather pay £15 for the clean with the old £600 machine than pay £20 for a clean with a £3K machine..... 

[markpowell]

Hi,
Its just a word of advice, but using double clean on all carpets, with a ph of about 10, you will end up with a disaster on your hands at some point in the future. I suggest if you use prochem chemials you get some crystal green and fabric & Fibre rinse on board.
Please tell me you dont use double clean on upholstery! 
Kind regards Mark

[lands]

Hi,
Its just a word of advice, but using double clean on all carpets, with a ph of about 10, you will end up with a disaster on your hands at some point in the future. I suggest if you use prochem chemials you get some crystal green and fabric & Fibre rinse on board.
Please tell me you dont use double clean on upholstery! 
Kind regards Mark

Jason,

Mark is right. Using such a high PH on domestic carpets is an inevitable claim at some point. I also know that the Muslim community usually own alot of rugs. Whatever you do don't use it on them as they are generally imported rugs that are often made using very PH (even water) sensitive dyes. It's main purpose is for sythetic, highly durable commercial carpet. I sometimes use traffic clean (ph 11.5) on very dirty domestic carpets but not without testing and making sure I use a good concentration of Fibre and fabric rinse (ph 3.5).

Pete

As you say, this community is important to you so don't go

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

He is right about the Muslims! £29 to clean their 3-piece sweets? With all due respect id tell them to stick it in their black hole of calcutta! You must be barking mad mate!

I did a muslims today. He tried to knock me down but i never do now. I set my prices and never lower them for anyone. His mate a few doors along wanted me to give a quote on h/s/l and I told him £45. He said 'too expensive' I said no problem get someone else to do it! He then said do it for £40 and i said NO! He chased me down the road until i got in the van and p****d off down the road (after shouting SEE YA out of the window)!

A great majority of these people are tight arses and my advice is to walk away

What you can do is over quote so for instance if you think a job is say £100 say to them it will be £130. If they say no ill give you £100 then great! They are happy after they think they got you down and you are happy getting what you want!

[prodry]

I said no problem get someone else to do it! He then said do it for £40 and i said NO! He chased me down the road until i got in the van and p****d off down the road (after shouting SEE YA out of the window)!

Cowboys and Indians

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

LOL thats good ill have to remember that one!

[David_Annable]

HI

Looks like good marketing to me!

Professional outfit marketing at a specific need, will do well.

Dave

PS A custurd said to me 10 years ago, we had a ring around & you were the cheapest.

I decided i didn't want to be he cheapest anymore.