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I had a customer call me this afternoon who said they had a spot come back and they wanted me to take care of it. I was at a job so I went to my van and got his information from him. I asked him when we performed his job and he said on December 29th. Keep in mind that this is June 2nd. I asked him when he first noticed the spots come back and he said around the end of April. I explained to him that we usually only gurantee our work for 2-4 weeks, I then asked him where the spot was located and if he had any pets or children in the house. He said that the spots were on the carpet right by the front door entrance and that he had three kids but no pets. He said that the carpet cleaning job I had done for him was great and he had some new spots around the house but he was just concerned with this spot by the door. I asked him if it was possible that maybe someone had tracked some dirt or oil in or possibly spilled something and he said no that he was positive it was the same spot that had returned. I had done four rooms and a hall for him for $99 dollars in Dec. and I explained that after six months I could not come and clean his carpet at no cost, but in an effort to remain in his good graces I offered to honor the same special and that I would give him an additional 20% off. He said that he would rather hire a “REAL” carpet cleaner who could take care of the problem. He proceeded to say that by being named Heaven’s Best and putting ourselves out as Christians that we should do the Christian thing and clean his carpet. He said that our ad said if a spot comes back so would we and therefore he was entitled to a free carpet cleaning. I apologized for his dissatisfaction and kindly told him that I didn’t think I would be able to meet his expectations and that he should find a different carpet cleaner.
This is only the second person that has been unhappy with my service in three years and I feel that I am totally in the right. I do understand though that when you are in your own business you can sometimes take a complaint as a personal assault and that is why I wanted the opinion of other operators who make their living doing the same thing as I. Should I refund this guy his money, offer to clean up his spot or stick to my guns and leave it as it is.
Thank you
David Schlegel
Lexington KY
After 6 months, are you kidding? I actually recommend to my clients to have their carpets cleaned every 6 months. This guy is just looking to get something for free. If he wants to go….be on your way sir!
I had a “customer” like this once, I told her, and it was true, “I have 600 satisfied, happy customers and you! Lets figure this out.”
You need to go look and see. You will know right away whether it is a scam. If he challenges any beliefs you may have or your integrity, give him a solid, Christian punch in the head!
On second thoughts, don’t punch him in the head.
Just hope he steps in some dog poo instead.
HA, you run into all kinds of stuff eventually. I just had a similar encounter, but this guy understood the situation after I explained it to him. I told him that when I come back to clean again, to just point out any areas that seems to be the problem areas and I can give “special attention” to them prior to the normal cleaning. He was cool with that….
I take stuff like that personally too, it’s hard to separate it when you are self employed. This guy is an idiot, and as soon as he brought up being Christian I would have told him the conversation was over and to have a nice day- call another cleaner. It’s been too long, and you gave him a great price on the original cleaning.
Neil,
You did your part here. There are some customers that we don’t want or need.@bferris wrote:
Neil,
You did your part here. There are some customers that we don’t want or need.I’m not sure what you meant by the first part, but I agree with the latter of your post.
If this guy wants a lifetime guarantee against spots, he needs to try a sealed-concrete floor! ha I guess the best comparison to give him would be this: If you take your suit to the dry cleaners, and then wear it for six months – do you expect the dry cleaner to clean it again for free because it got dirty again?? That’s the amazing thing about dirt…… it’s like hair, it keeps growing…..just like things will always get dirty! Calls like this are from totally irrational people. It’s best to be patient, explain your side as nicely as possible, and then tell him you will be glad to schedule an appointment to clean for the regular price. Like Ron says, every six months most homes are ready to be cleaned again!!
What I meant was . . . you did your part by your explanation and the 20% off your current special. I thought you handled it well.
Hey guys,
Thank you very much for your opinions. I spend alot of time, effort and money to get customers that I do everything I can to satisfy them and keep them forever. I felt like this guy was taking advantage of me and it felt wierd to tell a customer they should find someone else. I really aprreciate everybody’s input and I feel much better about my decision.I really liked Mr Miller’s analogy of the suit being dry cleaned.
@bferris wrote:
What I meant was . . . you did your part by your explanation and the 20% off your current special. I thought you handled it well.
Gotcha, I think you were addressing me as the original poster, but that would be HBlexington^^^^
I was just a bit confused 😀
Jeff,
I like your example of the dirt and hair. The dirt thing works for everyone, However the hair growing thing doesn’t always work for everyone. An example is the way I part my hair. See attached picture on the left of post. With a shine like that, my dad’s not the only one that calls me son (sun).
I personally would handle this situation differently than most of the posts here. First of all, you will never, ever, win a debate with a customer over the telephone. When I run into a disgruntled customer, no matter how long it’s been since their last cleaning, I politely tell them that I will be glad to look at their problem the very next time I am in their area, which hopefully will be in a few days. I go look, have a discussion with them in person, try to fix the problem, and file their name in the back of my mind for future reference. They will never receive the $99 special again, ever. I will charge them more so I can afford to take care of their warranty problems. Even though you get angry and take it personally, these people are the ones that tell everybody what a bad job we did.
I have been in other businesses and tried to argue with the customer and it did not work!
Just my thoughts.
Situations like this always feel like a no win to me. Customer is obviously not rational, and hence not one you want. That said, you never want a customer speaking poorly of you. I try to do as Jay said and go back out to the house to view the problem preferrably at my convenience (i.e. when I’m in the neighborhood like he said). Most customer’s are ok with this if you word it correctly. Often times you need to stress that they should have called you immediately after the spot(s) reappeared as you would have been able to better identify the problem at that time. Put some of the responsibility back on them. Another option is to try and get them to tackle the problem on their own. We give every customer a small spotter bottle. If a customer calls and says a spot (re)appeared shortly after we cleaned, I’ll tell them to get the small spotter out and apply a little and blot it. If that doesn’t remove it, call me back and I’ll come out and address it.
The fact that your guy said he was entitled to a “free carpet cleaning” (if those were his exact words) makes him sound like a scammer. You shouldn’t clean the whole room for free, but rather just address his problem spot(s) at most if you go that route. Then, when he has 6 glaring clean spots right at his front door surrounded by the 6 months of tracked in dirt, you can offer to clean the rest of the room for your regular rate. Or, since he sounds like such a good Christian, you can offer to make a donation to his church in his name for half the amount of the original cleaning, and when he stumbles to name his Church since he probably isn’t Christian…..give him a Christian punch to the head compliments of the Dirtbag.
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