[David_Briggs]

Hi all, new to the forum.

Looking to hire a carpet cleaner. RugDoctor seems to be everywhere but are the machines any good or is it just a successful franchise? I want to clean my carpets but some people have told me RugDoctors are rubbish...

Thoughts?

[Dennis]

Don't mess about with it as an untrained amateur, you may ruin your expensive carpet investment.
Try this local company, they cover Warrington: http://www.gerrardscarpetcleaners.co.uk/

[David_Briggs]

Thanks for the advice but the quotes I've had seem a little too much and as I'm on the 3rd floor of a block of flats I'm not sure the pipe-to-van method is for me - so left looking at tool hire shops to hire a machine myself and give it a whirl. Somerfield seem to have a RugDoctor I can hire but, as I said, some people have said they are rubbish.

I see some of the hire sheds have Karcher models - are they any good?

[davep]

I cover Warrington and have a portable machine so access no problem, I get loads of jobs every year after customers hiring a rug doctor... I think there great for that reason!

[David_Briggs]

How much do you charge? It's only 2 rooms - both around 5 x 8m

[Mark Lawrence]

Please dont presume that ALL 'Carpet Cleaning' is the same!

If your going to persist in hiring a Rug Doctor then good luck with that. The most common complaint with them is:

They dont clean anywhere near like a professional machine
They dont make much difference
They attract soil, so your carpets will get dirty quite quickly
The carpet remains wet for days (because the machine is so weak)
Dont believe the sales hype

This is why professional cleaning is more expensive. A Rug Doctor only costs about £700. Pro's spend anything between £2,000 - £25,000 on just ONE machine (many more items are bought also). If a Rug Doctor cleaned brilliantly then dont you think the Pro's would buy them - instead of wasting so many thousands of pounds more on other machinary?

Think about it - you get what you pay for...it aint rocket science.

Mark

p.s. I would listen to what you have heard about them and take it on board.

[davep]

Give me a call in the morning, it's on website 

[jasonl]

How much do you charge? It's only 2 rooms - both around 5 x 8m

That is a big flat !

80 m2 would be anywhere from £80-250 for a pro cleaner , I think your measurements are wrong .

[garry22]

Ye gods,

Have you seen the flannel on their website...

http://www.   rugdoctor.co.uk/faq-carpet-cleaners     (close the gaps to visit)

[Paul H]

Jason thats what i was thinking .. some size rooms them kidda for a flat!

anyways i'll come down and do it for £10 per room.. could do with a change of scenery..

with travelling expenses of around £250.. ... payable up front to avoid a wasted trip

Let me know how you get on

[Mark Lawrence]

Ye gods,

Have you seen the flannel on their website...

http://www.   rugdoctor.co.uk/faq-carpet-cleaners     (close the gaps to visit)

Yeh, I particularly like the 2-4hr drying times....ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha pmsl

Mark

[Start Afresh Cleaning Ltd]

Hi,
I have a rug doctor pro we bought it to add to the list of services we offer we have found it works well but they are different to the ones you hire. I think it personnel choice our clients have been happy with there carpet cleans

[Ian Gourlay]

My Sister in Law committed Suicide in Canada . we flew out and the House would not sell due to stale smell Cigarette smoke etc

Hired rug doctor went through place top to bottom, able to hold open day   House Sold ,ecame back to UK and started in Carpet Cleaning

[Helen]

There is a place for any carpet cleaning machine (rug doctors is dustbin shed).
At the end of the day if your customer is happy then so be it...they don't know any different
If they are not happy and get a professional in then you have trouble

[Mark Lawrence]

Hi,
I have a rug doctor pro we bought it to add to the list of services we offer we have found it works well but they are different to the ones you hire. I think it personnel choice our clients have been happy with there carpet cleans

Very minor difference to the public red Rug Doctor. Still crap machine, no power, no heat - so therefore how can you say you are a professional carpet cleaner if someone can hire something almost identicle to it themselves??

Thats the problem with this industry. Too many odd jobbers, domestic cleaning companies, splash n dashers etc etc etc buying cheap rubbish machines saying that they are pro's when they are clearly not. Who suffers? Joe public thats who.

Rant over.

Mark

[Simon Gerrard]

David,
We can get to the third floor with a Truck Mounted system, but have a powerful portable machine too.
whatever you do stay well away from Rug Doctor, I had a customer this week who had ruined her carpets with one.

Simon

[peter maybury]

I reguarly clean appartments and Simon does ships 15 odd decks high do you think that a 3 storey flat is going to be any probem for a truckmount. 1 floor = 10' of extra hose, with 500 ft of hose how high do you think we can go?
I have portable but unless there are real access issues ( only a few blocks in the whole of my area) I would still use the truckmount as I can still set it up as quickly as lugging a portable up.

As for a "professional" being happy with the results of a rug dfoctor, you have obviously no idea of the equipment available and the results that are achievable. Any one with this knowledge would be far too embarassed to turn up to one of his customers with such a feeble machine. I know many do but, I can accept a certain amount of ignorance on the part of the customer but somebody acting as a proffessional, I cant.

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Helen]

Hi,
I have a rug doctor pro we bought it to add to the list of services we offer we have found it works well but they are different to the ones you hire. I think it personnel choice our clients have been happy with there carpet cleans

Very minor difference to the public red Rug Doctor. Still crap machine, no power, no heat - so therefore how can you say you are a professional carpet cleaner if someone can hire something almost identicle to it themselves??

Thats the problem with this industry. Too many odd jobbers, domestic cleaning companies, splash n dashers etc etc etc buying cheap rubbish machines saying that they are pro's when they are clearly not. Who suffers? Joe public thats who.

Rant over.

Mark

Slowly, very slowly Joe Public are getting educated...

Custie calls says needs rug cleaned (used us a while ago)
Apologises for getting a quote from someone else.....aaaah thanks

Custie ONLY had quote from this "other" (extremely cheap),
"Other"turns up on doorstep next morning (7.30a.m) and says I'm here to clean.
Custie says "didn't book you, so no thanks go away"
"Other" knocks £10 off the already very cheap price, opens his vehicle (not signed) and says shall I start.
Custie looks in his vehicle (RD hire type) says to "Other" I could go and hire that, but I want it done properly!
"other" starts to walk into custies house, with dirty boots
Custie stops him and says he's going to call the Police if he doesn't leave now.
He left.......
Next day other called in person again (have to admire his cheek in some ways)
Custie reached for his phone and has not seen the guy since.
Maybe, just maybe the world is coming to it's senses about rogue traders

[peter maybury]

My customers are educated, it will however take a long time to educate everyone. I have worked for and seen some real cowboys operarating in this trade and there are some really thick skinned people who will just con people without any remorse.
Anybody with the slightest bit of sense could read a few posts on here just to realise  the massive difference in the equipment available.
With the economy the way it is expect more with their rug doctors and vax rapides convincing themselves they are proffessionals. These people cannot grasp the fact that you need to spend a hell of a lot more than they spend on these inferior machines just just to get some basic training.

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com