I believe most people are intrinsically good and honest, even carpet cleaners! But look out, though, because there are some folks out there who prey on the ignorance of their 'customers'. In doing this, they cast a shadow on our entire industry.
I was barely in this business for a week before I started hearing 'horror' stories from homeowners. I also believe that one of the advantages to living in a (relatively) small community like Santa Rosa, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, etc. is that there are much less of the type of people I describe on this page. I think that this is a great part of the country to live and work in.
Berber "Complications"
I've found that some homeowners have been misled about their Berber carpets by cleaners who have misrepresented themselves as experts. These "experts" haven't the foggiest idea of how to effectively clean Berber carpets. Why? Because they haven't done research into the proper cleaning equipment, methods and chemicals to use. So to avoid seeming unprofessional, they gave the homeowners complicated explanations as to why it will cost more for Berber cleaning. Or why they won't clean it at all. I guess if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, then baffle 'em with #*%#*!
Bait and Switch (Read about NBC's "DATELINE" episode):
Another thing that surprised me was how some of the big, established cleaning companies mislead people. There's a good chance that you have been victim of tempting coupons hawking "3 rooms cleaned for XX$$" or "1 room for XX$$" or whatever (the prices being suspiciously low). But after the cleaners were standing in your home with equipment in hand, you learned that the coupon price didn't include squat. This is known as the "Bait and Switch". In its worst form it is illegal and at best it is unethical.
Not every carpet cleaning company that uses coupons is to be distrusted. But if you happened to see the episode of NBC's "Dateline" that focused on the coupon bait and switch practices that many carpet cleaning companies apparently use, you might. A friend recorded the show and gave me the tape. I don't know the date it was filmed, but it looks recent, and has Lea Thomson as host....
The situation went like this:
The show's crew put hidden cameras in several rooms of a nice house in a suburban subdivision (location was not disclosed). Five different carpet cleaning companies that had enticing, well-done coupon offers were called out to the house one-by-one, in order to see if they were legit. The tape is not only an eye-opener but also entertaining as each of the five companies sent cleaning technicians who:
1. Provided vastly different recommendations on how to clean the room that had Berber carpet---with one refusing to clean it altogether.
2. Gave price estimates ranging from $75 to $325 for the same service .
3. Would not clean at the coupon rate. When pressed, one even admitted that there was "no way anyone could stay in business at that rate." Another admitted that the coupons were "just a way of getting you to call them out to your house" so that they could hawk their real program.
Hmmm...Five randomly chosen carpet cleaning companies serving a nice neighborhood and advertising with professionally printed coupons, and yet none could be trusted.
I May have Figured it Out...
I think I've figured out why this industry may have a tendency to attract so many folks who "don't have their customers' best interests in mind", to put it nicely. Boils down to:
1. This is an unregulated industry. Other than a local city ordnance or state law here and there regulating the disposal of the waste water (and, for California, "low VOC" chemical requirements) there aren't any restrictive or expensive rules; other than a business license, there are no licensing requirements or special permits---no mandatory training or certification necessary.
2. It is relatively inexpensive to get started in the carpet & upholstery cleaning business.
3. This is mostly unskilled labor, can be learned fairly quickly (although, to be effective, a cleaner truly needs formal training and experience--not to mention intelligence).
4. Since most homeowners (except you!) are unaware of what to look out for, it is easy for carpet cleaners to confidently avail themselves as experts without being questioned. It doesn't take many 'incidents' or bad experiences by innocent homeowners, however, to cast a shadow on our entire, hard-working industry.
