The trouble with these Super Low Price, 'We're in your area for two weeks' people is that they do a tremendous amount of damage to the reputation of our industry.
Every customer that uses them and ends up disappointed will tell their story again and again to their family, friends and work colleagues. All of those people then have a negative impression, not just of the company concerned, but of carpet cleaning in general and so we all get tarred by the same brush.
Don't forget the vast majority of the public don't know the first thing about carpet cleaning, carpet cleaning machines or professional standards and specifications for a proper job, they just see the price.
The problem with carpet cleaning is that we are in the first instance selling an intangible, they don't actually have what we are selling until the job is done. The public though buy carpet cleaning as if they were buying a new hoover. With a hoover you can look at it, feel it and try it before you buy it and regardless of where you buy it or how much you buy it for, you get exactly the same product. Not so with carpet cleaning, but if you quote £75 for a job and someone else quotes £50, the customer thinks they are getting exactly the same product and has saved £25 by ringing around. How many times have you heard that, 'Oh I'm just ringing around for prices.'
It's all very well saying 'sod these peasants' but they aren't peasants, they are just your average person who knows no better and end up having a negative experience of carpet cleaning and never have it done again.
To combat this our adverts say: IF YOU'RE RINGING AROUND LOOKING FOR THE CHEAPEST POSSIBLE PRICE....PLEASE DON'T CALL US!
WE CLEAN TO A STANDARD, NOT A PRICE!
Simon