[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

...From a customer whose carpets ive done a few times. I cleaned her 80/20 on Friday and it was absolutely fine. She has just called and complained there are marks showing (one of which is possibly spilt chocolate milkshake). The marks werent there when I left and they can only apparently be seen in the night time! I thought possibly wickback but why would they just show at night?

Has anyone ever come across this before? Seems a little bizarre to me!

I know she once used chemdry a few years ago and had them back as well to reclean so looks like theres a pattern emerging here.

John

[julianb]

Quite often if the sun is shining through the window the brightness on the carpet does not show up the stains I often draw the curtains on bright days and the stains become more visible. Having said that I cleaned some rugs the other day the woman grabbed the fringes and said that they were wet but I did not clean the fringes..before I cleaned them she told me that the previous company that cleaned the rugs took them back wet there is no logic sometimes.

[elliott cleaning]

Shows up at night!!!!  Probably with the lights out!!!!!
Must be the flourescent content in the chocolate milkshake.

There's nothing like customers

[Neil Williams]

Shows up at night!!!!  Probably with the lights out!!!!! And particulary after a few glasses of wine!!!!

I'm more inclined to think that it could be shadowing from the lighting if you can't see it in 100% natural daylight. Tell her you'll call around on Monday evening after your office carpet cleans, which will be about 11-30

[will01]

John:

Stains are always more pronounced with artificial light (ie at night with a 40w bulb!)

I prefer to clean carpets on dull days. I then turn the lights of and on during the clean to make sure all is well.

[Ian Rochester]

We have had this problem before, you will often get stains that only really stand out and show up when they are under artificial light.  It's unlikely that you would see them when you left as the carpet would still have been damp and hidden shadow stains.

If it's a regular customer then you'll just have to deal with it, go back and treat it.  Even though Chemdry have cleaned it in the past you say you have cleaned it for the last few times.

Unless you quantified with the client what the expectations of the clean were, ie: this mark is such and such and may not come out, then she will be expecting the carpets to be "cleaned" to her satifaction.

Neil,

Most customers are genuine and will only complain if they feel it is justified, treat them like that and you'll have no repeat business in a couple of years.

John, my thought exactly.

[Jim_77]

My gut feeling is that the customer is NOT yanking your chain.  It can happen that you just don't see residual stains straight after extraction.  Did you leave the carpets dry?  Sure, wick-back can be an issue but also the moisture in a carpet after you've cleaned it can make things "disappear".  How many times have you pre-sprayed a carpet and stains seemingly vanish?

It is possible that, as said above, some left over stains can barely be seen with natural light on them but at night with artificial light they can be quite prominent.  Admittedly, I've witnessed this problem the most on polyprop carpets but it is still perfectly possible on an 80/20.

My advice would be to be polite and sympathetic with the customer when they call you back with this issue.  Maintain a professional attitude but don't outright admit liability.  Say that you're morte than willing to come back to inspect the carpet and discuss the issue in full.

Arrange a time for a re-visit, preferably at the end of the day so you can shut the curtains and turn the lights on to replicate what she's seeing.  It should then simply be a case of hands and knees with spotter and hand tool to rectify the issue.

I find the above "this customer is stupid" comments a bit shocking, to be honest!  As Ian says, the vast majority of customers are genuine and only call if something is really bothering them.

[Neil Williams]

Neil,
Most customers are genuine and will only complain if they feel it is justified, treat them like that and you'll have no repeat business in a couple of years.

I have enough repeat business thankyou, infact more repeat business than new so I must be doing something right in customer relations. I've even given some of my repeat customers away to others on here because I don't want to do the 25 mile drives anymore.
I treat every customer as important. I do an inspection/survey first. I ask where they have issues with. I explain limitations. etc etc. Number of call backs in the last 5 years since going alone - two I can think of and one of those was an old guy who didn't understand pile distortion.

[Ian Rochester]

Neil,

I'm sure you have a very good business and don't actually treat customers like that, all I'm saying it be aware that "customers" read these forums as well as cleaners, I know of two of my customers who got my number from reading threads on this forum.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Spot on Jim, it's probably something that shows up in artificial light I would go back offer apologies explain that it is something that you couldn't see in natural light and that a 2nd clean on that area will probably solve the problem as it was most likely a spill of 'something like food or drink' (putting the emphasis back to them) and that you will do this free.

Great customer service and apologise on the way out although in all honesty it's not your fault.

Shaun

[Ken Wainwright]

Your customer has shown that she will change her prefered trademen if she is not happy with the service or explanations provided. If you want to retain her, get out there and deal with it ASAP. This is normal best business practice anyway.

Even without wickback, it's possible for a stain to be less apparent wet than dry, and vice versa.

Lightly spray your preferred cleaning product on the stain and see if there's any wicking into your white cloth. This will indicate very quickly if you're dealing with a stain or just a soiled spot.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken