The 4 Popular Carpet Cleaning Scams 

Like any other industry, there are those who would like to take advantage of the homeowner rather then perform a proper service. After communicating with many respected carpet cleaners in the country, I’ve found there are some common carpet cleaning scams.
 
Most all of us are attracted to a low price because we all have to live within a budget. Some carpet cleaners use price as a bait for their false and misleading advertising.
 
1. “Unbelievable LOW PRICE or Bait and Switch”
This seems to be the most prevalent tactic or carpet cleaning scam being employed today by many in the carpet cleaning industry.
 
You get a mailer or see an advertisement in the local paper. It shows a special price of $5.99 to $9.99 per room for professional cleaning of your carpets.
 
When the operator arrives, the “Games” begin. You learn that he will clean your carpet with a plain water rinse and will not move any furniture for the published sale. But then he explains how silly that would be when for just $29.99 per room (or a similar price) he will use his high powered truck mount system with the latest chemicals to deeply clean and sanitize your entire home. After completion, he’ll even add a ScotchGard® type protector for only 25 cents per square foot.
 
Now as you read this, it all seems so simple to simply say no thanks and throw him out of your home. But the reality is that most people go along. The cleaning company knows you adjusted your schedule already so they would come. They know you anticipated having a clean carpet at the end of the day. They are already inside your home. Most homeowners simply resign to the fact they might have gotten a better deal elsewhere but they go along with the con. Reason on this, if it didn’t work, do you think so many carpet cleaning companies would still resort to this tactic?
 
Note:  There is nothing wrong with offering additional services to the customer. Honestly speaking, how would the real professional know exactly what is needed to give you the best service until he actually inspects your carpet? No reputable carpet cleaning company is going to give you an estimate over the phone. Some might offer a average charge but without seeing the specific carpet, he or she would not know exactly what is needed.
 
Fight Back:  The homeowner can fight against this pressure to give into the carpet cleaner’s trap. Look outside at the truck. Most who advertise like this have truck mount equipment. Those trucks cost anywhere from $50 to $75 thousand dollars. Factor in the additional cost of hauling around a few hundred gallons of water at today’s fuel prices. The owner of the company has scheduled his truck to be at your home for an hour or two and the crew is being paid by the hour. Get the idea? Make a counter offer to them. Instead of his $29.99 per room, tell him you are unhappy with their tactics but will pay $19.99 per room. Many times this will work.
 
Warning: If you are dealing with commissioned employees, they might just decide to do an inferior job or just might soak your carpets more then is necessary. *This is one reason to simply ‘bit the bullet’ and throw them out. But of course that is a personal decision.

2. LOW PRICE – But Additional Services are Recommended
Another angle of the old Bait and Switch Scam routine goes something like this:
 
The alternative to the Bait and Switch technique is when the cleaner upon arrival tells you he uses a “dual process” for thorough cleaning. The low cost rinse is simply step two and the shampoo step will cost you the total of $30 - $60 per room. He only guarantees his work with the high priced service of course. Interestingly enough, they will normally switch to a cost per square foot when offering an upgrade like this to soften the effect of the bottom line. For example, the advertised rinse only costs $9.99 per room. The shampoo system will cost you ONLY an additional 25 cents per square foot. Now considering an average size room is 150 square feet, this would mean an additional $37.50 per room. So the bottom line for a 5 room house would go from the expected $49.95 to $237.45

3. BEWARE of the FREE DEMO
Many times the homeowner will honestly ask if the serviceman really thinks that is all necessary. Will the results be that much different? Seems like an innocent question.
 
The experienced serviceman will then offer to do a demo for you. Nice isn’t he?
 
This is where he really hooks you. He’ll demo an area of carpet right in the middle of your living room or in the middle of you entrance way so it will stand out like a sore thumb if you do not agree to clean the entire carpet with the same system.
 
Now in full fairness, I must say this technique is very common when cleaners are attempting to get a commercial contract. The cleaners must use tricks like this to combat unscrupulous building managers that would take advantage of one cleaner after another for free work. But this is not acceptable in residential business.
 
The proper way of giving a free demo would to be to clean an entire room or an out of site area like behind some furniture so the owner could evaluate the work before making a decision.

4. Coupons with an Exceptional Low Cost Per Room
You have saved you latest coupon and present it to the operator as he arrives at your door. It is only at this time that you read the very small print that says the $14.99 per room is for rooms up to 100 square feet. When using this coupon method, you could find your large living or family room might actually count as 4 rooms. No longer such a deal, is it?
 
Again, in fairness, it certainly wouldn’t be reasonable to expect the cleaner to charge the same for a 450 square foot family room as he would for a 100 square foot entrance way.

Bottom line, you get what you pay for.  Instead of shopping for the best price, search for a privately owned company that guarantees good results.  You'll pay more, but you will receive much better value.  Just beware, there are always going to be new carpet cleaning scams as long as people shop for the lowest cost service.

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