Home Forums Heavens Best Forum Misc being called surface cleaners!

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  • #143360
    paulbrr7
    Participant

    how do i reply to this after a steam cleaner found out im moving in on his turf on a apartment complex and said our system is like chem drys how so if they use hot water extraction i think this sounds like fear to me after all he has been in my area 24yrs and already i feel bigger than him 👿

    #147398
    hbottumwa
    Participant

    When I used to use the laundry mat for cleaning the towels and pads, I would get this once or twice a year, usually from an employee of a competitor. And I would say “that’s what I was taught when I did steam cleaning”. They are are taken back and not sure how to take it. When they realize I’m telling them I used to be a steamer. They are supprised and I explain there are always two (2) sides of a coin, only being trained in one side will never make you an expert on the other side. If we are only surface cleaners then you must also admit to being a flood cleaner that soaks the carpet many, many times in order to “flood out all the dirt”. “Yes, yes, I know you have such great suction power, Tell me how can you get out all the dirt and leave so much of the water?” Some times I’m nice and I don’t zing them. It depends in how they react to how I act. Some times it’s flat out fun. There is always two sides. “There is a reason I chose the low moisture side”.

    #147399
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @Gordon Kohler wrote:

    “Yes, yes, I know you have such great suction power, Tell me how can you get out all the dirt and leave so much the water?”

    WOW! Powerful….guess I’ll be adding that to my repertoire.

    #147400
    hbottumwa
    Participant

    This is some what along this line.

    A local carpet cleaner is claiming to be able to remove “dust mites” and shows a pitchure of the ugly thing. My understanding is the worst thing they can do is feed off a persons dead skin. (If so, I would be more concerned about my bed than my carpet). They are microscopic, and if you have alergies to them you will know it.

    Why do some carpet cleaners think they need to scare people into using their service?

    Here’s one… Why do steamers leave the door open because of the hose, exposing the hot outside air in, as well as bee’s, fly’s, spiders, and mosquito’s that could just be the one to carry the west nile virus, causing near death like problems, and have the nerve to call it “indoor air quality” cleaning?

    Why do some steamers use the “filter” (clear box showing everyone the dirt being removed) outside the place being cleaned? Why would anyone pay to have the whole block comment on how much dirt was removed from your place?

    Oh, why is an orange orange, and a plum purple?

    #147401
    Bret Wooton
    Participant

    Wow Gordon. Good stuff!

    Lets be sure to record this date. Gordon with TWO great ideas. JK

    Thanks for the info. Keep it coming.

    #147402
    hbottumwa
    Participant

    I talked with an operater today about this subject. I think it is one that deserves more comments.

    #147403
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    So comment!

    #147404
    FL18
    Participant

    We are surface cleaners, as well as deep down grind out dirt cleaners. Steamers will say anything to put us down and out. Truth is, they don’t know the facts as we do. The facts are that steamers soak the carpet, it takes too long to dry, turns carpet into a sespool of filth, and stinks. Yes, you could say we talk trash about them, but we speak the truth, they commit slander.

    Mike

    #147405
    Don Dietz
    Participant

    i get asked all the time how we are better than steamers and i simply tell them the facts i hear from other customers. steam cleaners leave there carpets soaked, stains always come back, and sometimes they leave funny smells. and i stand behind my work 100% it’s kind of sad when people tell me they have never had a carpet cleaner actually want to be called back on mistakes.

    #147406
    NJ05
    Participant

    Carpet cleaning is like any other work being performed…it is only as good as the person doing it..if you owned a HWE franchise you would be slamming the LMCC guys they both have their place in the market..heavily soiled ==HWE Lightly soiled ==LMCC I refer the Heavily soiled jobs to the HWE guys (2 Last wk). The pads are to pricey to ruin on the ugly jobs in my opinion..

    #147407
    tx45
    Participant

    Its a good idea to be-friend a truck mount cleaner so you can refer the really bad jobs and floods to him . Make sure he’s not the best truck-mount cleaner in town. I think its better to refer someone who’s quality is good but not better than your own. That only makes you look better. Also make sure his prices are fair. I use the same guy and we have an agreement that any job he does for me will be billed through my company. In other words he’s a sub for me. I keep the customer. His quality is good but his carpets are sometimes wet for a day. I explain to customers that unfortunatly their carpets will have to be cleaned that way because of the amount of soil, but that we will put them on a maintainance program that will keep their carpets in good condition and so they won’t have to go through the soaking wet process again. It’s been working out really well.

    #147408
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I likey. Can you give an example, maybe walk me through a sample?

    #147409
    hbottumwa
    Participant

    It’s been a while but when asked “when would you recommend a streamer over low misture cleaner?” When instead of a vacuum, you need a shovel. In most cases I would rather recommend replacement to using a steamer. No chance of mold and/or mildew to the backing. No bad vibes from an added bill to the cost of replacement. Now if they are just looking for the cheap, take the dust off the top cleaner, I respectfully request them to call another. If they want a quality cleaning at a fair price they called the right guy!

    #147410
    tx45
    Participant

    Ron,
    Rental properties. Lets say an average three bedroom house w/ 800sqft. of carpet. The property owner calls me in to do a turn over clean and when I get there -it’s like Gordon said, a shovel wouldn’t cut it but there is no way the owner is going to drop $1500 on replacing the rentals carpets. I explain to the owner that it’s going to be a full restoration and could be somewhat expensive(as a rule if its going to cost more than a third of the replacement cost I recommend replacement) I call in my truck mount guy, he sucks out the big chunks(for about $100-120), I go in and do any specialty work-stains, repairs, etc. which also allows me to inspect the work he did. The truck mount guy bills me. I mark up his bill plus add on any work I did and submit that to the owner. Then I recommend to the owner to set his new tenants up on a biannual or at the very least an annual maintainance program so it will keep the carpets in good condition and it allow me to report to the him on how well the tenants are taking care of the carpet. Not only did I get the job, I now have a repeat customer and I earned alot of money without using a lot of product. Most of the time property owners would rather spend $300-400 on a restoration than pull $1500 out of there pockets. You can pretty much do the same thing with residential customers as well.

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