[Cloverleaf]

Got a call a few days ago from a retired lady. How much for a suite? I said, cannot give you a price till I see it. She says how much ball park. After describing the suite, I says approx £135 but I need to see it first.
She then tells me that she already had a quote of xxx amount......I said, get out a here! or words to that effect. I said that is much more than anyone would charge. (even Chemdry  )
She said, come and give me a quote. Went today and sure enough £ 135 very lightly soiled 2.5 hours job.

Unfortunatly, for certain reasons, I cannot tell you how much the other company was going to charge her yet till later in the month as this may affect her standing with the company that gave her the quote. .But I must say that the quote they gave her was truly herendouse and was a complete rip off and gave the custy great concern.......and me too!

Anyhow, what is the most you would quote for a 2.5  hours suite?

Will keep you informed.
John

[gerrystyles]

Ball park £20 - £25 per seat

[carpetguy]

Lightly soiled suite would take me around one and a half hours at £55  -  £70, really can't see how it takes anyone, other than a novice, more than 90 minutes.

robbie

[dave401uk]

i charge £30 per seat postion, but can be more

dave

[Jason Hedges]

Hi,

Carpetguy I'm with you on this one, 75 quid sounds about right. Two to three hours work max.

Many may disagree that its too cheap but I'm getting lots of regular work and referalls charging at that rate......

Sorry just cant quote 150 quid for a suite, many do and good on them more fool me. I wouldn't sleep.... Not that I do anyway

Kind regards,
Jason.

[gwrightson]

90 mins to clean a 3 pc 

takes me 30 mins to vac and brush all the dry soiling from one, even if the suite is lightly soiled
i find that the amount of dust etc that comes of is remarkable.

I would say around 2 and a half hrs ,and thats with no drying strokes, 
oh before you ask why , i use a drimaster hand tool
Geoff.

ps as for taking a novice longer, I would contradict you and say it would take an eperienced, longer
as they will be cleaning it correctly.

[carpetclean]

£25 a seat is the norm for me and i am happy with that with the time it takes

[calmore]

Why rush? Take things easy!

The longer you take the higher the perceived value of your service and you can charge more

[AquaMagic]

90 Mins for a suite, whats your procedure carpet guy?, i work with my father as a two man team and we take at least 2 hours, we
Pre Vac
Prespray and agitiate with a Mit
Dwell
Extract off with truckmount (north south, then east west on cushions and arms just one direction on rest of siute i,e backs and sides )
Hand dry with a terry towel.

We dont at any stage stop and couldnt work any faster and i cannot see how we can miss any of these stages out so im at a loss as to how one man can do a suite properly in and hour and an half.

Just my opinion.

p.s We charge £20 - £25 per seat.

Dene

[Kev Loomes]

Dont know how anyone can effectively clean a suite in 90 mins - the results simply cannot be fantastic FACT, with no wow factor whatsoever. If there is 2 of you then yes, 90 mins is the norm.

A normal 3pc takes us (and an entire national network when we were involved with one) 3-4hrs if working on own, or 1.5-2hrs with 2 people. Non stop with no breaks.

Amazing results takes time - subsequently we charge approx £160.00-£177.00 for 3pc.  'splash n dash' - er, no. 
 

[Phil Marlor]

Takes me about 3/4 hours for a decent size suite, I just can't do it any quicker, I charge about £120.00, more sometimes and the customer gets a proper job, if I tried to do it in 90 mins I wouldn't be doing a good job.

You cant just wizz over a badly soiled suite, it takes time.

Phil

[Nick Johnston]

It takes me about five hours to clean a suite and that includes setting-up and knocking-down my Ninja. I realise that you van-mounters could save some time on this, but presumably you would charge a higher hourly rate to cover your increased costs.

I do all that NCCA trained me to do - things like testing the fabric, laying down floor protectors, turbo drying the suite etc. I charge about £150 for a three piece. I sleep at night and my customers seem to enjoy the experience, service and results.

Nick

[Geoff Jewkes]

I allow 3 hrs and charge £85 - £110 for a suite depending on size and degree of soiling plus £50 for teflon protector if required 

[the red carpet]

Done my last one in 2 hours, used to take me 2.5-3 but now i have a t/m and a nice table to clean the cushions on it seems to have speeded things up.

[Len Gribble]

£30 per seat and follow all procedures (ncca not a member) it takes as long as takes be it with a porty or tm (about the same methinks Red table sounds good).  Think prices should be a lot higher but the punter won’t pay it! Give me carpets any day, more profit!

Len

[Cleaning Resource]

£30 to £35 per seat got everyjob i`ve quoted who wants to do them cheap there hard work i keep trying to outprice them but everyone just keeps saying yes

[wash and go]

 I can't see why, people price to low.   In taking account the costs of running a business.  The set up costs. The costs of spare parts, servicing, advertising, etc. I want more than £25 an hour to turn my machine on.

I don't mind earning that amount £25 an hour , with window cleaning. Because it is regular. I know i have the customers every month. Running and set up cost are much lower.

But that hourly rate in carpet cleaning is crazy.

[Cloverleaf]

Some good comments on pricing.
I for one don't like doing suites, but they are a nessecary evil to me and have to be done.
Perhaps I'm getting old and would rather clean carpets.
I try to price them on an equivelent to pricing carpet times, £40 to £50 an hour.

I look at this way, if a suite costs between £1000 to £3000 to buy 5years ago, say £150 is not a lot to pay to bring it back into good condition or nearly new again, although ther may be a few exceptions.

I think you you can justify this and not feel as though you are charging too much.

I know of a few companys that charge much more, but not as much as the company that tried rip this lady off!
John

[jacko]

A 3 pce with detachable cushions back and seat moderately soiled takes me 4-5 hours:
*Set Gear up
*Pre-Vac inc crevice nozzle down sides and back
*Prespray
*Agitate with either mf Mitt or tampico brush
*Extract
*Treat with eco spotter any remaining grease and extract
*Towel Dry
*Turbo-Dry
*Pack gear away

Cannot do it any quicker unless i cut corners

[carpetguy]

I knew my 90 minutes comment would open the door ..........

The longest I've ever taken to clean a suite, was just over three hours, but it was choked with nicotine and it was about 15 years ago

I vowed that it would never take anywhere like that time again and it never has, yes I pre vac and prespray and agitate and the suite is usually touch dry within an hour, or so.

How do I know?

I'm still there, but the area I started to clean, was started 90 minutes ago!

If it's taking two people FIVE hours to clean a 3 pce suite they are clearly in the wrong business, they are clearly in the wrong business.

Even at a moderate £40 per hour x two this would cost £400

After nearly 20 years, virtually all of the work I do, comes from repeat clients and referrals and there is no shortage of cleaners around this locality, including the usual franchises.

 robbie

PS
suites are indeed hard work, but I have probably averaged about 3 per week over the past 18 years.
Just because you're slow, doesn't mean your better, or even as good as someone with higher productivity.