Watch Out For Carpet Cleaning Price Changing Scams
Why do people continuously
opt to be lured in by bait and switch carpeting cleaning all the time? These
hack carpet cleaners or companies vow to do the same thing to you every single
time. When you answer their ads and call
in for pricing, they tell you that everything is included in the pricing of the
cleaning of all the carpets in your house for $99. You assume it is going to be all the carpet
because the deal says “whole house” right?
They go on to tell you not to worry and that their work is guaranteed.
But, doesn’t something click
in a consumers mind that $99 for their whole house might not cut it? What if the rooms or areas are too big? What if my carpet is too dirty for the price
they are offering? Do I want and can I
trust a company who is advertising a low ball price of $99 to be in my million
dollar home? What if they steal
something? What if they break
something? Do they have insurance? What if they leave my friggin carpet soaking
wet? Do I want to be walking around on
wet carpet for the next 4 days waiting for it to dry? You have to ask yourself these kinds of
questions sometimes.
Starting off with
disappointment as they finally show up to your job 2 to 4 hours late without
calling or giving you an ETA heads up, you see that the vehicle they came in is
run down and they are in regular semi-beat up clothing and not in some type of
uniform. Then they have the audacity to
tell you that they will not be able to honor the pricing that was quoted over
the phone for some reason or another, usually because of the mark up that
revolves around spots being extra, or so they say. I will grant them that it is difficult to
quote a price effectively over the phone.
That I will grant anyone who tries to quote a price over the phone.
How to Avoid Scam Carpet Cleaning Tactics
There is an ethical way to
do it though, quoting a price over the phone.
Proper communication lacks in many carpet cleaning technicians. It’s simply a matter of asking the right
questions and providing your customers with an explanation as to how the
pricing would go up and what would cause it to go up and that, that would be
the only reason why it would go up and not over something unethical like all spots
being extra or something.
Carpet cleaners that offer
up some extra cheesy incentive to go with their service instead of their
competition are a clear cut signal that a potential scam may be taking place. They might offer you some type of free coupon
for dinner or some movie tickets, demonstrating customer appreciation as a way
to get your business. Once they gain
entry to your home is when the pressurized sales tactics begin!
They say that the advertised
price was only for what’s known as traffic areas or lanes and not for any
carpet outside of those areas. Other
carpet will be extra. Sometimes,
cleaning agents in order to clean your carpet with aren’t included in the
price, so they claim. So that’s when
they begin to tell you that your carpet most likely won’t get cleaned right
without it. The elderly usually get hit
the hardest with this type of scam. You
agree to allow them to clean and then the bill ends up costing you hundreds of
dollars more than you were expecting.
Carpet cleaning should
promote an ethical outlook about their business with company lettering or business
advertising on their vehicles. They
should have some type of uniform on and they should learn an ethical approach
to pricing so that consumers aren’t left disgusted with our industry. More so, it is up to the consumer to ask the
pertinent questions, essentially feeling out the various different carpet
cleaning companies until they’ve found the right one that comes across as
ethical. Listen to they way they talk to
you and answer your questions. Are they
trying to rush you or are they taking the time to listen to you and answer all
your questions the right way? Look into our service if you are in our area of operation.
