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The common scams to look out for
The carpet cleaning industry like all other industries is not without its fair share of cowboys and scammers. No doubt you will know of someone who has fallen prey to them maybe without realising it at first.
The conclusion to this is a loss of trust in all carpet and upholstery cleaners and spreading caution to anybody contemplating having their carpets or upholstery cleaned.
The truth is, if you choose your cleaner by price alone and go for the lowest you will probably receive the lowest service. There is a vast difference between good and bad carpet and upholstery cleaners.
The most common comment we hear when quoting is “but doesn’t the carpet get dirty quickly once it has been cleaned?” In short they shouldn’t, but carpets cleaned using the wrong method with inferior quality products will leave soil attracting residue in the carpet which is the cause of rapid re-soiling.
We hope that the information contained in this page will help you in choosing a professional and ethical service like ours!
One of the most common scams is BAIT AND SWITCH.
You will receive a leaflet, phone call or even a knock at the door offering carpet and upholstery cleaning at incredibly low prices for example hall stairs landing £15 through lounge £18 or 3 piece suite £25. This is the BAIT.
You book them in to carry out the cleaning, they will not provide you with any written quotes. They arrive and start straight away without inspecting the carpet and without vacuuming which is the most important step in the cleaning process.
Now for the SWITCH. They have to move furniture (extra charge), they have to carry out spot cleaning (extra charge), the carpet is dirtier than they expected (extra charge), the furniture has lots of cushions (extra charge), and so it goes on.
Eventually, once the job has been finished, usually to a poor standard, you are presented with your invoice with all the extra charges, your £58 job is now £200 - £400 or whatever they can get away with. Most will pay just to get rid of them.
You are left with poorly cleaned carpets your furniture is probably ruined and you will not see them again.
Another common scam is SPLASH AND DASH.
Once again you are contacted in the same manner as above. The cleaners are sub contracted and on low wages, they have no incentive to take care with your carpets etc. as they need to get as many jobs done as quickly as possible to make their money.
They rush in, soak your carpets SPLASH and extract out as quickly as possible, get the money from you and DASH off to the next job. You are left with soaking carpets that have not been cleaned properly and will take days to dry. The carpets may shrink and they will definitely re-soil quickly. Your furniture is probably water damaged, probably beyond restoration and you will not get them to return because there is no money in it for them.
A cheap clean will probably result in a poor job which could result in major damage that you will have to pay for!