[*Hector*]

Oh dear Craig..... this thread didn't quite go as you expected it to, did it??




never mind You will be back with a different name before long..

 

[*Hector*]

I agree John..., treatment risk is something that you have to ask for, and search out.. I would estimate that quite a lot of carpet cleaners only have the insurance for damage to things they don't work on. 

The insurance company would have a job getting my training certificate, I got it over 25 years ago, and lost it about 23 years ago..... However as I have had my insurance with the same company for all that time, they do know that I have some experience 

[JandS]

Same here haven't a clue where my certificate is...got it in 1997.

[Simon Gerrard]

I can't see what the problem is, the people your competitor is serving probably aren't your target customer. We've had zillions of customers over the years that have had it done by other, less professional companies and they thought it was as good as carpet cleaning gets - until they got it done properly and once these people have found you they tend to stick with you. All that guy is doing is lining up your future customers, so let him get on with it IMO.

Simon

[Simon Gerrard]

 It is also a bad idea to become too involved in what your competitors are doing. You should concentrate on what you are doing and keep finding ways to make what you do today, better still tomorrow. Competition is not about price, it is about quality!!!

[*Hector*]

Competition is not about price, it is about quality!!!

Don't believe I'm saying this but.......................

Simon is right.. 

You should NEVER compete on price unless you are the cheapest, and can maintain that.......

then again why would you want to compete on price??

I was low priced for a very long time, as I thought that poor people needed their carpets cleaned too..... however the people taking advantage of the low prices were all the doctors, solicitors, famous singers etc... ie all people who had more money than most....

So I upped my price... by a lot... and make more money each year, and do less work..

win win 

[Simon Gerrard]

Correction.....

I was low priced for a very long time, as I thought that poor people needed the dirt in their carpets rearranged 

[*Hector*]

Yes true Simon....

I was HWE cleaning at the time 

 

[Carpet Dawg]

Why did Craig leave? come back Craig!

Why are people on here so sensitive? One argument or what ever and they leave!! Its happened a few times on here. I've had my fair share of running's and I'm still here 

But on another note, its funny how a lot of people are defending johnny foreigner rug doctor man. What happened to oh you need a truckmount!!! you need at least 130psi porty with two vacs!, you need to be part of an organization, you NEED TRAINING!! YOU NEED TO BE INSURED!! etc etc . This guy clearly has none of that! defiantly not good equipment, probably using crap chems (i.e. rug doctor/vax chems i.e. high foaming, high PH hell!). I doubt he has expensive insurance with those cheap prices and name a training course that teaches the use of vax and rug Drs?

Sorry but people like this need to stop trading!

I agree with Craig.

[John Kelly]

Unfortunately these guys have allways been and allways will be around. A lot of them last a short time and pack up and move on to something else, a few survive and eek out a living.
But as has been said annoying as they are its best just to get on running your own enterprise and work hard to make it as succesfull as possible. This is a good business if done correctly and there are plenty out there who prove that.

I had a local women phone me recently asking the price of a Prochem machine as her husband was about to be made redundant and was going to start a carpet cleaning business. He had been quoted a rediculously low price from a janitorial supplier down South miles away from where he is. I explained that I couldn't match that price but that we didn't sell on price but on customer service and to buy off us he would be also receiving advice on the correct setup and products but also ongoing advice and support which is very important when starting as its possible to waste thousands on the wrong kit and advertising. Anyway after trying to explain all this and still offering a start up package at a very competitiive price she turned round and said "but you can't match that price" NO.

[Richard Meads]

Dead right Carpet Dawg! I started with a little portable, but got training and insurance before starting, you need to make some investment before starting any business. We want the public to be informed, but by using a RugDr they think they can rent a machine and do just as good a job.

Like I said before, Craig may need to put his prices up if this guy is affecting his income and like you say John focus on running his own enterprise and getting a better customer. Just quoted a job where they used a Rug Dr and are not happy with the results  

[*Hector*]

Why did Craig leave? come back Craig!

Why are people on here so sensitive? One argument or what ever and they leave!! Its happened a few times on here. I've had my fair share of running's and I'm still here 

That is because you are a stubborn git 

[wynne jones]

Unfortunately these guys have allways been and allways will be around. A lot of them last a short time and pack up and move on to something else, a few survive and eek out a living.
But as has been said annoying as they are its best just to get on running your own enterprise and work hard to make it as succesfull as possible. This is a good business if done correctly and there are plenty out there who prove that.

I had a local women phone me recently asking the price of a Prochem machine as her husband was about to be made redundant and was going to start a carpet cleaning business. He had been quoted a rediculously low price from a janitorial supplier down South miles away from where he is. I explained that I couldn't match that price but that we didn't sell on price but on customer service and to buy off us he would be also receiving advice on the correct setup and products but also ongoing advice and support which is very important when starting as its possible to waste thousands on the wrong kit and advertising. Anyway after trying to explain all this and still offering a start up package at a very competitiive price she turned round and said "but you can't match that price" NO.

He will be on the phone when he has problems though.

[John Kelly]

Exactly, do you think the company that sold him the machine for nearly cost price are going to help him, not on your nelly.

[Buckland]

I can see where craig is coming from but it is generally not a good policy to criticize your competitors in any business - I have made side swipes at other 'types' of operators but not individuals and criticized the people who later 'starred' on Watchdog and ... you see what happens, where do you stop - it uses up too much nervous energy and you'd be better off using that energy to build your own company - one thing is for sure if a competitor started bad-mouthing me with customers the gloves would be off so craig better hope he is not the vindictive type because this brave new world or totally connected means you dont necessarily have to do a good job you just have to say you do on fb and twit - who knows it could backfire badly if he uses sm better than u do

When I visited a long-standing customer who had one of the 'two rooms for 12 pounds' offers or something like that thru her door and a visiting son (total prick) picked it up and said why was she paying me so much she asked me and I said "Hey that sounds good get them in" - she insisted they did the cheap job when they tried B&S and it was crap - I knew she was a demanding customer and her son never heard the end of it and then she saw the watchdog programme... in some cases its not the competitors that are the problem it is the customers! I wonder if you asked all those fb friends of that other cc in 6 months if they still thought they had a good deal many will probably say no due to re-soiling, soap residue etc

[Max Campbell]

We had a customer who'd used us 3 or 4 times, and referred other business to us, who did a Groupon deal with a well known local general cleaning company that do a bit of CC'ing. We'd previously charged about £140 - groupon guy charged £29 - we're back there in a couple of weeks' time. 

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

he charges more then we do !!! oh dear guess iam dodgy cleaner !!!!!

[Jason Hedges]

Don't worry about what anyone else is charging. If they're charging less than you then more fool them.

Kind regards,
Jason.

[Steve tracey]

Rug Doctor  I found to be a great little machine used properly cleans well also sold a number to  hotels and start  ups. They have their limitations for instance  big areas, small areas and household jobs great.
The start up I did and do for guys is not right for all carpets, tell them the limitations and that as theg get more experienced then time to  move up.
Havng said all that lets  be honest guys the improvements in technology have been tremendous over the last years, is anyone still going in with a big case full of spotters  no they might be in the van but most jobs nowadays a couple of basics do.