Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: daysdeepclean on August 31, 2009, 06:33:29 pm
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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 :-[
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we all make mistakes
what sets the cowboys from the professionals apart is how we deal with those mistakes.
derek
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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.
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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 ???
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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. :-\
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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
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Mark, millions? ;D
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 ::)
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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
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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
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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
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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 :o
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
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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 .
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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 :) :)
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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....
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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.
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Using the enclosed upholstery tool from Extracta Clinton.....
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When i first started i used to use the clear headed hand tool and took me a while to get used to the non se through as i liked to se how much moisture i was getting off :)
Am sure you will sort it mate lest its not shrunk etc so wouldnt worry :)
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I just have never liked those enclosed tools. To have a jet injecting water into the fabric in the same space as a vacuum trying to remove it, just doesnt seem right to me. Give me externel jets everytime, dry in no time, even with a porty.
The only time I have ever overwet upholstery in 30 years was when I purchased my first twin vac porty, from a leading supplier. I was told that I only needed to use one vac for upholstery, which I did. When I returned the next day to do the carpets the suite was still damp. When I phoned the manufacturers, they told me it was designed to use both vacs on every job and that I had been misinformed. It wasnt a customer complaint, just that I myself wasnt happy about it.
dave.
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Hi Colin
If the carpet or upholstery has been wet for more than 24 hours, then they may start to smell.
In which case it is best to use Cleansan as a bactericidal deodouriser.
If the carpet is still dirty and requires a reclean then add Clensan to your acid rinse.
The carpet cleaner who never made a mistake hasn't been born ye,t so don't be too hard on yourself, you seem to have handled it well.
Cheers
Doug
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I have 2 on the go at the moment Colin.
Similar circumstances to each other but completely different as well.
Similar situation is that both were done on wet days (though different days)
and both times as soon as done the clients shut windows, locked doors and went out.
Differences are that one is 80/20 twist. The owner says the now deceased dog has never been in the room but I get on all fours and my sniff takes me to a particular spot where I think the dog has wet. Am going to treat this by injecting Bio Green deep into the pile to get to underlay.
The other is a kiddies creche, carpet tiles. That smells musty in my opinion. Been today and sprayed Alltec Odour (whatever) and left with the windows open.
Just got to keep the relationships going.
The creche lady, I have cleaned her very nice bungalow a number of times no problem, so she knows its to do with the circumstance.
and the 80/20 lady, similar, did 2 carpets in her house and 3 at hte daughters flat - so 4 carpets no problem, one smells a bit.
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I took Gordon's advice and didn't go in there blasting the carpets with 500 psi. But something needed to be done so I used the LM method to try and at least clean the really bad traffic lane using the minimum moisture then applied a Bio Enzime treatment.... The smell had gone and I'm banking on a good result once all is completely bone dry. It occured to me that they told me they suffer from damp when I first surveyed the job. Also, where they put their "Bare" feet they'd spilt food (They can't remember what though!)
It's any bloody wonder it's a greasy stinking mess....
The sofa's are absolutely fine!
Joe, It was indeed showery on the day I cleaned, but they'd done the complete opposite and had the window wide open. It's odd how we can do the same type of work day in, day out and get a result we really don't want.... Keeps us on our toes I suppose :)
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Hi Colin,
I'd be very worried indeed if a customer came up with that kind of complaint. You've handled it extremely well but you really need to concentrate on making sure it doesn't happen again. To understand that you have to get to the nitty gritty as to why after the best part of five days a suite and carpet are still damp to the point where they are causing a smell.
Clearly you have massively overwet them and that tends to happen when your pre-spray hasn't been as effective as it should have been. If you're using Micro-splitters that may be why, but because it hasn't worked you then make more and more passes to try to affect a result and end up soaking the foam which then takes yonks to dry and causes a smell.
It's not for me to say what has gone wrong but you really must study every step you made that day to find where you went wrong, if you do that then this will have been a worthwhile learning experience from which you will grow as a professional.
Simon
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Can we just get one thing straight, it is now obvious that "I DID NOT" overwet the sofa or carpet..... I only assumed this was what happened initially!
The smell is confined to one area and if I had overwetted, the whole carpet would smell.... Surely....But it doesn't ??? I've obviously brought something "Back to life!".
I've just had the custy bothering me again, she can still smell the horrible smell.... I only treated the problem area at 10 O'Clock..... I've told her to at least give it a chance for the bio enzime to do it's trick..... It works wonders on cat poop ??? She started to complain about some ink stain on a cushion too.... I informed her I never ever, under any cicumstances, use a pen to clean ::)
Every time I ask what it could be that was spilt she goes all defensive and explains that a house is for living in, I explain that I can only guess what the smell is and treat it accordingly! Her husband has mentioned cat, bare feet and food could be the problem....
Am I to blame here? Where do I go next? And, as I cleaned the living room carpet for "Free" (I always offer custy's this deal when they have a 3 piece suite cleaned) If she asks for a refund, where do I stand?
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You clean a lounge for free if you clean the suite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Id stop this first before you go any further. Theres no need to be so generous.
Sounds like the house was a tip and not the sort of customers you want to attract if possible. Go back and try and sort it if you cant then refund whatever if necessary and walk away. Put it down to experience. You cant win them all.
Mark
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give her the money back and cut your losses. thats what i'd do.
i did a house today, lost suction due to foam up, first time ever. 250 ft of hose, had to rush the job cos the neighbours were giving us sht for crossing there drive, even though i had my worker stood on the drive to break the pipes if need be, anyway, long story short, the carpet was quite wet when i left and a lot of multi pro left in there. the guy left early and gave me a £10 tip for all the hassle. if i get a call from him with even the slightest murmer of a complaint i will refund him totally, i never wanna see that street again. absolute nightmare of a day.
derek
ps... the house we did is 2 house around the corner. never again.
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Colin
I think you have done more than enough to help them, some people are never happy
Neil
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Once it goes wrong, who ever fault, it sometimes gets worse .... and it has for you.
The smell is up her nose now and it will take some to get it out of her.
Hope it goes well with you.
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Hey Neil..... Fancy a job mate ;D ;D ;D
If you fancy coming along if the problems still not resolved I'd appreciate your opinion of the job Neil! My last ditch attempt will be at soonest, next week..... But I'll be just cleaning the traffic lane....
Joe.... I fear you're absolutely right!
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I agree with Joe. Sometimes once customers get into 'complain' mode it's really difficult to satisfy them. If you haven't overwet things then you've awoken something that was dormant in the carpet. If I were you I'd just give her money back and put it down to experience, but before you do that make sure that giving her money back will settle the issue. What could be worse than giving the money back and then she still insists on you fixing the smells!!!
Simon
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Colin if they used the rd on the sofa then it is a safe bet they used it on the carpets. They have probably tried to clean the dirty area's and soaked it trying to get a result. Probably got mould in the backing in which case you would need to use something like 429 to get rid of it. Failing that just refund the money and move on.
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wise words from simon col
ask the question
"what would it take to shut you up bee hatch?" but in a nice way ;D
derek
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Hi Colin
Sorry to hear you're still having problems with this issue.
The complaint I had a couple of months ago was such that the customer would not take my word for an answer (even after I refunded the payment) so I asked another carpet cleaner (NCCA registered and not someone I already knew) to go and do an independent assessment.
The assessment came out in my favour, as I expected, but the key thing is that it has stopped the customer complaining any further..... as far as I know! :)
Maybe keep this in the back of your mind, in case you want someone to go in and give the customer an independent opinion.
Good Luck and I hope this is soon off your mind, so you can get on with other things.
Ben
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Colin if they used the rd on the sofa then it is a safe bet they used it on the carpets. They have probably tried to clean the dirty area's and soaked it trying to get a result. Probably got mould in the backing in which case you would need to use something like 429 to get rid of it. Failing that just refund the money and move on.
"BINGO!" The penny's dropped now.... Why on Earth would you hire a RD and just clean the arms of the sofa? (This is what the lady of the house had told me!) I'm giving in and refunding I think. I'll ask her to be absolutely straight with me about whether or not they used the RD on the carpet, but I'm not heaving my machine up 8 slippery steps and moss covered steep path again.... I'm done :'(
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If thats what they done ie over wet with the RD and cause a problem, then I would not be quick at giving the money back.
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Had a custy contact me recently who had used a RD by his own admission on his bedroom smelt like a mortuary.......
Charged him 80 quid extracted on both sides and injected some bio green. recommended me to his sister who booked in for full 3 bed house. At the time her friend was around when giving quote and nailed her as well and both have re booked for xmas.
Happy days
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I'd would just want out at this stage. You won't reason with this one. As far as she's concerened there wasn't a smell when you came and there was a smell when you left. Are you sure it wasn't the army you were in Colin. ;D
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Has this women ever had pets or has there ever been pets in that room.I cleaned a carpet where a dog had ped all over the place years previous.As soon as I started cleaning it the smell of urine etc wicked back up from the backing.I cleaned it twice but the smell remained and any pet accidents are not covered by insurance companies.So if she tries to claim of you shes buggered.your machine and methods are superb you know that,so dont let her try and tell you that they are not.There is nothing more you can do.
Steve Hinnis.
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I'd would just want out at this stage. You won't reason with this one. As far as she's concerened there wasn't a smell when you came and there was a smell when you left. Are you sure it wasn't the army you were in Colin. ;D
"Wherever a Pongo goes, a Pong Goes!" ;D ;D ;D
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Stevie, Yes, they have a cat and in their other room there is a few pet stains! It' doesn't smell urine/ammonia like though... In fact when someone suggested mould, that's probably what the smell is more like, mixed with sweaty feet..... Even stink would say it stinks! I'm gonna heave in a minute!!!!
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The cat was probably in the room you cleaned,but because the stink got so bad it moved to the other room.
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Colin
Id be more than happy to give you as second opinion may help to appease the custy .
i,ll give you a ring later
Neil
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neil
tell her your from "tacca" the approved carpet cleaners association, of which colin is a member ;D ;D ;D
derek
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Derek/Colin
I THINK i MAY HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM !!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!
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its a flatulent cat, simples, give it some refreshers ;D
derek
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"My wifes eyes are stinging cos the carpets smell so bad!" My wife relays the disgruntled gentleman's message to me as I come through the door. I make an about turn and get myself up to the house pronto.
I went in and said "Well the smell's still there, but it's not anywhere as bad as yesterday, is it?"
"Er, no!"
"It will improve I can assure you, I see what you mean about the stinging eyes though, have you been painting?"
"Well you know I have, I've just gloss painted the skirting and door frames in whole house!"
"Mmmm, I can't think why your wife's eyes are stinging!"
"Chemical reaction" he jumps in and says "Your chemicals (M/S and Prochem Odour Fresh) must have reacted with the ones I used withthe DIY machine!"
"But you said you'd never used one" I say
"No, you asked if I'd ever used the Rug Doctor, and I used a different type of DIY machine!" Comes the smart arse reply!
"Well it's obvious you've overwetted the traffic lanes when you've cleaned and it's came back to haunt us!"
"But that was ages ago!" ::) He said.... Unbelievable!!!!!
They don't want their money back, I will endevour to bite my lip and do my best by them! Customer's always right ;D ;D ;D What a nightmare!
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Well done Colin, this sounds like on of those 'learning experineces' and you're managing to smile about it which is just as well cos they would drive me nuts.
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Mike.. I really don't know where I'm getting the patients from to be honest.... The guy was really quite aggresive on the phone to my wife and I really wanted to give hom a dry slap. But when I got there I just seemed to calm down, I was entering someone elses house and felt that I needed be professional and in control.... In the end the lady was quite reasonable... She said I am not to blame, but she was relying on me to come up with the solution....
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Colin
Cleansan will solve the problem -
spray down,
dwell,
rinse with more cleansan in tank with your rinse agent -
Blast with whole room dryer
- sit in van having doing paperwork/ having some grub for about an hour - just to make sure it's all dry
- happy customers
- priceless
8) ;D