Notice It's been a while.....

[dealtimeman]

The comparing a restoration company to a cleaning company is like comparing the hospital to a nutritional consultant. Way off.

 

[Mikey P]

Its not about how much is charged per hour. Its a feeling of getting value from your purchasing decision.

Yes those restoration numbers would be high but when the clients see the time and effort we put into saving their home & possessions they are our best resources when arguing with insurance representatives.

In the Burdicks case I don't believe the price is what caused the issue. Didn't the client agree to the estimate? I believe he felt that he didn't receive value for the money spent. Vacuum or no vacuum, he felt taken when he calculated what money was spent vs the time spent there.

Had he asked how long is this going to take when the job was estimated, I doubt he would have booked the job knowing it was going to be done in 2.5 hours.

This is about perceived value. Not price per hour. Not vacuuming.

Obviously the bulk of what was cleaned was not dirty to begine with

Was he one of those dopes thinking that his brown sofas were really white?


I've had a few..

 

[Desk Jockey]

In my opinion (which I my be wrong), I think John &Meg need to consider a sliding scale depending on conditions.

We charge less if we are spending less time on a piece just as we charge more when we have to spend more time on one.

 

[ruff]

The comparing a restoration company to a cleaning company is like comparing the hospital to a nutritional consultant. Way off.

Oh. Sorry.
So they don't want perceived or real value?
I stand way corrected.
Not.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Way, way?

 

[ruff]

Its not about how much is charged per hour. Its a feeling of getting value from your purchasing decision.

Yes those restoration numbers would be high but when the clients see the time and effort we put into saving their home & possessions they are our best resources when arguing with insurance representatives.

And this was your post Richard:

I totally disagree. If it was only light soiling and needed very little cleaning then to "me" it is wrong to charge for the full boat.
2.5 hours is not very much time spent on the job. I don't think wasting more time there doing nothing, is the right thing to do either.

Charge whatever rate you want, I'm not saying you are too high, I'm saying you over charged for the services you delivered.
..........
......
"You can shear a sheep many times but skin him only once"

Can't have it both ways pilgrim.
Since, supposedly, the whole shabang here is about this specific client (incident) and not anything else, I fail to see the difference.

You make tons more an hour than they ever did. But your clients evidently see the value.
So (short of this specific client which I am sure you have some too) do most of Burdick's client. And unlike the mostly one time water damage clients, their clients show it with their feet. THEY KEEP COMING BACK. That my friend is called- A vote of confidence.

You insure yourself and train your people and have some extra expenses. So do they (smaller but existent).
You have your larger overhead and partially that justifies your much much larger hourly $$$$ But not that much when total income is translated into hourly rate.

Your "rental" equipment pays for itself in a few jobs and keeps clicking the $ + $ + $ for years after, and to add insult to injury, mostly while no employee is there and to even top it- on their electricity bill. Even Burdick isn't going that low

Here is some help for you:

 

[dealtimeman]

OFER,YOU SIT CORRECTED AS I CORRECTED YOU!

YOUR WELCOME!!!!

 

[ruff]

Can I stand now?

 

[dealtimeman]

I figured you were typing so I wanted to be politically correct and cite that most likely you were sitting down while typing.

Older folks aren't supposssed to stand and type or even think about walking and typing at the same time.

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

 

[Desk Jockey]

And this was your post Richard:



Can't have it both ways pilgrim.
Since, supposedly, the whole shabang here is about this specific client (incident) and not anything else, I fail to see the difference.

You make tons more an hour than they ever did. But your clients evidently see the value.
So (short of this specific client which I am sure you have some too) do most of Burdick's client. And unlike the mostly one time water damage clients, their clients show it with their feet. THEY KEEP COMING BACK. That my friend is called- A vote of confidence.

You insure yourself and train your people and have some extra expenses. So do they.
You have your larger overhead and partially that justifies your much larger hourly $$$$ But not that much when total income is calculated. Leaving hourly work alone for a minute.

Here is some help for you:

View attachment 19246

Oh it could happen to us too. We don't let it.

We give ballparks, we don't work without some cost expectations. This sorts the pepper from the rat turds. If they are going to get squeamish, let them do so before we do any work.

Our wdr average is but a fraction of the hourly on that upholstery job. Even with thousands of dollars of drying equipment working for nearly free.

 

[ruff]

In case you were wondering this is to get down.
You already climbed up

.......

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

So young yet wise beyond his years.
Exactly! And so well put. In a nut shell- That was the problem. Burdick should have asked to be paid in advance.

That Michael Berra!

 

[SamIam]

And this was your post Richard:



Can't have it both ways pilgrim.
Since, supposedly, the whole shabang here is about this specific client (incident) and not anything else, I fail to see the difference.

You make tons more an hour than they ever did. But your clients evidently see the value.
So (short of this specific client which I am sure you have some too) do most of Burdick's client. And unlike the mostly one time water damage clients, their clients show it with their feet. THEY KEEP COMING BACK. That my friend is called- A vote of confidence.

You insure yourself and train your people and have some extra expenses. So do they (smaller but existent).
You have your larger overhead and partially that justifies your much much larger hourly $$$$ But not that much when total income is translated into hourly rate.

Your "rental" equipment pays for itself in a few jobs and keeps clicking the $ + $ + $ for years after, and to add insult to injury, mostly while no employee is there and to even top it- on their electricity bill. Even Burdick isn't going that low

Here is some help for you:

View attachment 19246

I would argue anytime the insurance is paying clients don't care about price.

The only time they care is when they get the check and start thinking I want some of that money.

How can I complain enough to get to keep some???

You broke this I didn't ask for that ect. Ect.

 

[cu]

We had a similar problem about a year and a half ago. The custys bill was $1200 or $1300 and she thought it was to much. ( this custy is use to our pricing . her mothers house is $2800 , her old home about 1500 and she pays $6 a sqft when we clean her area rugs ) anyhow. We went back and forth on the cost of the cleaning project. Put it back on her.." How much do YOU think it should be etc... We settled on 850 . We thought that was the last job we'd ever do with her. 12 months later she called us to do 2 sofas for her they where 375 each. No problem getting paid, she came to the house and told me all about the new house she's building and how we,ll have to come and pick up all her area rugs in January from her storage etc..etc..

As a service company we all run the risk of the unhappy custy. Be it a new customer or long term customer . No matter how well we prep or try to. Somewhere , someday, someone is just waiting to be pissed at you . We access how much damage can that someone do to our company and our rep in their area. As this custy came from a interior designer and is not a Facebook er or yelp person and we've worked for her the last 4 or 5 years . We where fine letting her have a 400 discount .

If I was dealing with Meg's custy . First timer, kinda know them , no potential for future biz or referring. I'd take between $500-600 cut my losses and mark as no future service / no referring his company. Learn my lesson from the job and move on to the next.

I could be wrong . It's just what I'd do.

 

[Jimmy L]

Take what money you can and run

 

[rick imby]

Well Meg, you certainly get these guys wound up.

 

[Russ T.]

Excellent thread!

Meg, you mentioned the CRB. What a fantastic and versatile tool. Do you guys use rotary extractors too?

John might want to check out the 18" Royal. It's BIG and light and can make pretty quick work out of vacuuming the palaces you guys service.

No attachments for upholstery though...

Thanks for being transparent.

 

[rick imby]

With this being your normal pricing and knowing you are busy it is obvious you are very good (normally) at getting your customers to see great value in the quality of your service. I may have missed it but do you have a moneyback guarantee?

 

[PrimaDonna]

With this being your normal pricing and knowing you are busy it is obvious you are very good (normally) at getting your customers to see great value in the quality of your service. I may have missed it but do you have a moneyback guarantee?

Very true, Rick. We are practically booked up till Tha is giving at this point. This is the earliest we've ever booked at that far for holiday cleaning.

We don't have a written money back guarantee. But if someone is has issue with the quality of work we will do whatever it takes to make it right. If that means a refund, then that is what we do.

There are no complaints from this person about the quality of the work. He's not looking to pay less because the upholstery didn't come clean. He's calculated the "hourly rate" and then determined that we were getting paid more than he thought it was worth. That would not fall under a money back/ satisfaction guarantee. The only thing he's not satisfied with is the price be how long it took for us to do, which he had agreed to prior to us doing the work. Funny he was ok with the price when presented but then wasn't when he realized how long we were there.

 

[bob vawter]

Way, way?

Well Meg, you certainly get these guys wound up.

perhaps John forgot the obligatory footrub........?

 

[Bob Pruitt]

No guarantee? What?

 

[Cleanworks]

No guarantee? What?

We don't offer any written guarantees either. We stand by our work and will redo anything that isn't satisfactory or if we can't satisfy you, refund your money. I find when you put guarantees in writing, you open yourself up to abuse from unscrupulous customers. For all those that think that John and Meg are charging too much, take a good look at the invoice. They are averaging $240 per hour on that job, using 2 truck mounts, 2 techs, and applying protector to everything. I have some jobs where I am lucky to make $100.00 per hour and I have some where I make $300 per hour. Remember these are on the job site hours and don't include the truck prep and cleanup.

 

[jcooper]

Learn to work on vacuums and more importantly learn how to suggest the best model/brand when they ask for suggestions. My first answer is "The one you enjoy using the most"..

That's just about exactly what I say.


If you need to spend 500$ on a dyson to make you want to use it. Go for it.

 

[ruff]

We don't offer any written guarantees either. We stand by our work and will redo anything that isn't satisfactory or if we can't satisfy you, refund your money. I find when you put guarantees in writing, you open yourself up to abuse from unscrupulous customers. ..................

Interesting.
I've offered a 100% guarantee for 27 years (since day one) and up to 3 years ago nobody ever took me on it.
In my experience most people just want to know that you've given it your best, appreciate a good effort and will not take advantage.

 

[Mikey P]

I told Mrs Food Dye that if she wasn't happy there was no charge.


instead she gave me a $15 tip

 

[Cleanworks]

Interesting.
I've offered a 100% guarantee for 27 years (since day one) and up to 3 years ago nobody ever took me on it.
In my experience most people just want to know that you've given it your best, appreciate a good effort and will not take advantage.

Can you show us how your guarantee is worded in an ad you are running?

 

[PrimaDonna]

And then this happens...

Just got this email:

Also, I want to take this time to tell you how thrilled we are with the grout/tile cleaning!! I never would have guessed that my floors would look virtually brand new -- your work is awesome!!! Moreover, your attention to my questions and concerns last week was incredible; I've never hired a company that is so responsive and caring. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.


Best Regards,

XXXXX

This job was about the same as the one that didn't pay. I think she got the "perceived value" (Even at $2.00 sq. ft for tile cleaning and $1.25 to seal, @Mikey P) and we are scheduled to do another $2k in carpet cleaning for her.

 

[ruff]

Here it is Ron:

"If you are not 100% satisfied with our cleaning, we’ll re-do it for free. If you are still not satisfied, you get your money back. We want you to be absolutely delighted with our work (guarantee is valid for 30 days from the date on this invoice.) "

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Also, I want to take this time to tell you how thrilled we are with the grout/tile cleaning!! I never would have guessed that my floors would look virtually brand new -- your work is awesome!!! Moreover, your attention to my questions and concerns last week was incredible; I've never hired a company that is so responsive and caring. Thank you from the bottom of my he

I just talked to a cleaner that I do some consulting for today about a similar compliment. The key to a customer being happy with your work is how you made them feel, more than how the job looked.

You'll notice that after the"virtually brand new" comment, she mentioned "attention to my questions and concerns.." and "I have never hired a company that is so responsive and caring"

If I can paraphrase this famous quote:

They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel.
—Carl W. Buehner

I believe this version of that message to the bottom of my heart:

"They may forget how dirty it was, and how bad it looked, but they will never forget how you made them feel when you were in their home"

 

[Mikey P]

Agreed Jim, for most its rarely about the true quality of the workmanship.

And far more about the porkchop and how well the tech and the homeowner got along

 

[Cleanworks]

Here it is Ron:

"If you are not 100% satisfied with our cleaning, we’ll re-do it for free. If you are still not satisfied, you get your money back. We want you to be absolutely delighted with our work (guarantee is valid for 30 days from the date on this invoice.) "

Thanks Ofer. We offer the same thing but in writing we just our work is 100 percent guaranteed. When people ask about our guarantee, we explain it to them. Reason I ask is we have at least company here offering a written 30 day guarantee. They have so many people calling about perceived guarantee issues, they have a person who drives around investigating claims. I have rarely had to redo anything but when I do, I do it cheerfully at no charge. I have only had 1 customer abuse it in 30 years but I am loath to spell it out in writing.