[daysdeepclean]

I was called back to a custy's who's sofa's and carpets I cleaned on Friday. At first he was unhappy that the sofa was damp and stinking I must say it was the first time I'd used the Alltec TV on a sofa and tried to compensate the extra airflow with higher PSI (120 psi) than I'd normally use (80 psi). Probably a mistake I won't be making again... However at the time, I was happy that the sofa was as dry as normal ensuring plenty of dry passing was used and I was using the snail to aid the drying process...

I returned with the snail and a deoderiser and showed him what to do and left. I noted that the sofa wasn't wet, just slighty damp (as I expected) in certain areas....

Had a call tonight to say the sofas still stinking, immediately got myself up there and did the old sniff test and the sofa was fine..... It's the carpet that stinks which I'd cleaned but admittedly wasn't happy because the M/S wasn't touching the area in front of the sofa's even after giving it large with the Sebo Duo . It's quite a new carpet 80/20 but really greasy and grimy in the traffic lanes. I'm thinking that I'll use Power Burst tomorrow, agitate with a brush on the Orbiter, dwell and acid rinse.

It's the first problem I've had and it's knocked me sideways to be honest..... I'm sure that they'll be happy with the results tomorrow, but from someone who insists things should be done right, first time, I'm more than a little embarassed

[derek west]

we all make mistakes
what sets the cowboys from the professionals apart is how we deal with those mistakes.
derek

[Mike Osbourne]

Derek's right, don't beat yourself up just make sure the customer is ultimately happy.

When the weather is a bit close I make an extra effort to dry things as much as pos. 

[daysdeepclean]

Very kind words Derek and I never thought of it like that. Thank you!

I'm always the first to blow my own trumpet when I get things spot on, but I feel it's important to share where we've gone wrong, so we can all learn from other peoples mistakes. A problem shared and all that...........

Mike, Could them having their window wide open have an adverse effect? We had a real misty day yesterday.... All day long

[Mike Osbourne]

No there would be more moisture in the room but sounds like it was a still day.

You have the moisture from the suite and the carpet. A powerful air mover, not the half horse power ones is a must with a portable.

It may be there was allsorts in that carpet, who knows, just learn from it and do your best.

Not long ago there was a guy on here who had been going ages and said he had never had a comeback and to me I thought either he doesn't do many jobs, never take responsibility for his actions or he was telling porky pies.Or maybe he was exceptionally lucky.

[markpowell]

Dont like to say it but its a fact, sure it has happened to me millions of times already.
For every customer that complains, 20 will not use you again.
Mark

[Mike Osbourne]

Mark, millions?

It's possible to make these people you best customers by going over the top and stnding by your guarantees etc

I double booked once and when I got the call 'where are you?# I was mortified. The woman got a free clean and a Hunter vac. Since then I have cleaned for her duaghter and she has had me back for more carpet cleaning.

Beware the ones out for a free ride though  :

[Paul Heath]

Its just one of those things, the more jobs you do, the more you stand the chance of getting complaints..law of averages.
I had a complaint the other day...the settee still smells musty...not told this was the problem at the begining...so went back and only the chair smelt by this time..so did it again. While there her brother asked if i did car interiors as he had just brought a pick up and dogs had been in there,give him a cash price done the jib while i was there.....so it was worth going back...Chin up don't take it personly just smile you never know where it leads to. And its what sets us apart from the RD cowboys

[derek west]

i shrank a belgium wilton, got a bit ahead of myself, it was a minger, checked it was well grippered down and went for it, my one mistake was not checking the door gripper, it was a slide in one where the carpet just slides in rather than battened down. yes it came away from the door, carpet fitter went out to try and stretch it back, no luck, he went back again with a mate and tried again, kicked the sht out of it, success, put a double plate on to hold in place, didn't charge for the clean, (and the carpets looked fantastic) and it cost me £60 for the restretch from the fitters, every body happy. a letter of apology and thats all i could do. will they have me back? probably not. but my concience is clear, i made a mistake but i put it right at my cost.
lesson learned. move on.

to date thats my only comeback where i was at fault.

you've held your hands up col. nuff said.

derek

[Ben Lugg]

Hello Colin
Sorry to hear about your complaint.
Having had a complaint last month which lots of you guys helped me with, your situation struck a chord and I thought I'd post a reply to send some moral support.
Sounds as though you're doing all you can to resolve the situation and help make the customer happy.  
Good luck with it and hope it is all resolved very soon.
Ben

[daysdeepclean]

Mark... She stills wants me to do her oven next week, but I am aware that bad news travels better than good news.... Thing is, I did the HSL and she was delighted, the problem is just where they have had their feet on the carpet. Must say though, I've never had any problems before so it seems strange.

I said to the lady that I wish I'd walked when I was getting copious ammounts of foam from the setee and she quickly defended the fact that she'd never ever had the sofa cleaned in 20 years.... Her husband dropped her in it my mentioning the "RD" they'd previously used on the sofa.... There was an awkward moment

I'm not assuming or suggesing that even if they'd used the RD on the carpet, it could be part of the problem.... Either way, I don't want to make excuses, I just want their ultimate satisfaction!

The area where I have to reclean is greasy to the touch and smells like wet dog, so I'll be well armed tomorrow! I use a Sahara for upholstery and an F6 whole room dryer, so I'm happy with the drying equipment...

Thank you Ben!!!!!!

Colin

[Ricky M]

hang your head in shame and lose sleep thats just so unpro , like a cow boy
NOT
poope happens but as you said you went back like a pro an sorted it , it really bothered you as it should cause you really want to do your best and your best was done on the 2nd try job done move on you wont make the same mistake twice.

I had a problematic suite not long ago and went back twice , initial visit was a few days after me mum died so I put the lack of consentration down to that but still kicked myself and did my head on over it , 2nd visit opened the door to her sisters ome .

[Simon@arenaclean]

You've got the right attitude Colin, the problem I had was trying to do everything with one or two products and if it didn't work it was impossible;D I realised I needed to get much more flexible, when no amount of scrubbing was going to do the job. If I can see that my regular chems arn't doing it I change tactic and try to solve it. Sometimes traffic area are so bad or worn you just can't do anything, but you can normally spot these during a survey. Keep it up it's how you react as a professional that keeps your back straight and your head high. 

[robert meldrum]

Colin

Anything cleaned on Friday should'nt be even damp today I'd guess you're overwetting and probably due to the new set up as you managed OK with the Extracta.

Check the volume of fluid extracted, against what you put down, in case its poor connections something you could miss on a new machine.

Driers won't compensate for serious overwetting and your too experienced to deliberately saturate, so I'd start by checking what's being returned.

With the vacuumation on your machine it should easily recover what 120 psi puts down.

[wmidsgw]

Colin

For what it's worth, I would personally allow both carpet and upholstery to dry out completly before attempting a second clean. I would put a dehumidifier in the room with the blower, afterall the blower is ONLY evaporating the moisture from the carpet etc. into the air, the dehumidifier will dry out the damp air allowing further drying of the cleaned articles. Once 100% dry, this may well solve the smell problems also. It's at this stage I would reconsider recleaning, making sure the carpet & suite dry quickly after this second clean.
Hope this helps.

Gordon

[daysdeepclean]

Nothing's damp today!The sofa's actually fine and although it was the dirtiest sofa I've ever cleaned, I don't believe I over wetted it! It was initially "assumed" that the bad smell was the sofa, turned out it is where the grease and grime are in the carpet that stinks.

But the carpets were all but dry when I left... I can only assume that I've inadvertantly activated the smell which is dog like, but it was a bugger to clean.

[robert meldrum]

80 / 20 means a high percentage of dead sheep which can pong even after touch dry.

Main thing is you dealt with it and won the confidence of the customer. I'd still do a couple of trials un upholstery to make sure the tools are pulling as much out as they should.

Meantime ............a good result

[daysdeepclean]

Robert.... I'll certainly take your helpful advice and have a tweak here and there.... Dead sheep would be a breath of fresh air, I'm sure it's sweaty feet that's the cause.... We have such a nice job at times!

Thanks again Robert!

Colin....

[clinton]

Colin

What hand tool are you using mate

Prob find its pile reversal in front of the suite and when you look at it in different directions it will be sometimes worse.

Least you have a choice to go back an do the oven next week.As you say its our pride and it happens to us all..Sometimes even the turbo dryer wont get it fully dry as sometimes the water will spray through further into the upholstery when its on a higher psi so you only will be drying the top.

[daysdeepclean]

Using the enclosed upholstery tool from Extracta Clinton.....