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Consumer's Guide - part 2 |
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Carpet Cleaning Rip-offs
As
in many other trades and markets there are some unethical individuals
who are trying to take advantage of home owners instead of performing
proper services. One common tactic is the bait and switch. The carpet
cleaning industry is not exempt from the bait and switch tactics.
Most of us are attracted to a low price because we all have to live
within a budget. Some cleaners use very low price as a bait for their
false and misleading promises.
Once the operator arrives you learn that he/she will clean your
carpets with just plain water, and that there are dual process
cleaning which costs more, or spot treatment and the list of add-on’s
is growing rapidly and the cost is not even near to what they
previously offered. (Now after we learn about the cleaning methods and
what should be included we can just say No
Thanks)
Another way is a Coupon with an exceptionally low cost per room. Make
sure you read the small print which will read something like room size
up to 100 square feet. When using this coupon you may find that your
large living room may actually count as three or more rooms. And again
the unbelievably low price may be a warning for a bait and switch
tactic.
In general the carpet cleaning should be priced per square feet,
however there are some good cleaners who have switched already to per
room charges, because of the competition in their areas. Reasonable
square feet per room in advertisings should be between 200-300 sq/ft.
Beware of the Free Demo. Some technicians may offer to do a free demo
for you. It’s so nice isn’t it?
Here is the catch, he/she will demo the area of your carpet right in
the middle of your room or entrance way.
Now you have no choice but to pay for the entire carpet cleaning using
the same method or to agree with the disturbing stain-like difference
on your carpet. It may be offered to you as a free sofa or chair demo,
so be careful with that you don’t want just a half cleaning.
Fortunately there are not so many unethical carpet cleaners.
In all fairness, there are some honest business owners which are
offering some good deals from time to time in order to expand their
services. There are few companies only that offer a free carpet
protector for real and there is no catch.
Carpet protector should be applied after every cleaning in order to
achieve highest customer satisfaction and to extend the carpet better
appearance and its useful life span. Some manufacturers of brand name
carpet protectors provide even a warranty of six months to a year and
it can be transferred to the customer.
Again, in fairness, it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect that very
expensive product would be applied for no charge at all. Consider also
not only the cost of the protector but the time needed to be applied,
as it is extra procedure and if done properly it will take some time.
However there are really some other high quality products that are not
brand name and not so expensive and they can be a great addition to
every cleaning for those who wish to give a little gift and show
appreciation to their customers.
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