I saw a post the other day in a carpet cleaner’s forum that asked the question “how do people stay in business with this kind of pricing?” The post included an ad from another carpet cleaner advertising $25 per room for cleaning.

I have to admit, I often see these ads locally, and have seen them for a long time- there is always someone out there willing to do the work for less. Or do they really? I was at a customer’s house one time, cleaning the carpet. The customer was moving into a new home, and, as a professional, I mentioned I could clean his air ducts as well. He showed me a coupon, and said he had called another company, and asked if I could match their price. I couldn’t- it was lower than I would have charged for just a few of his vents- we’re talking $75 for the whole system cheap. I would have charged closer to $800. This wasn’t a unique experience for me, but what was unique was that the company showed up while I was starting to clean the last room of carpet, and while it was a large room, they were done and gone before I finished cleaning that room of carpet. They rolled in a vacuum, not a nice one, and hooked it up, turned it on for a few minutes, then packed up and left. Oh, they also didn’t honor the coupon, instead charging the guy $800. Now, I’m all for utilizing technology to make things go faster and easier, but I know (because I did an inspection of a few of his ducts) that they didn’t clean the ducts very well at all.

This customer was interested in one thing- saving money. He saw my bid of $800 and was blown away by how much it was, instead electing to go with a “cheaper” company and ended up spending as much or more (I went back later to do them right) than he would have if he had just done them right the first time.

Carpet cleaners have a bad rap for upsell and bait and switch. And if the price is too good, they are definitely going to be one of those. I’m no different, I offer additional services all the time- I upsell like crazy. So does McDonald’s. So does the gas station, the car wash, the grocery store, any attorney I’ve ever talked to. It’s the way it’s done that makes the difference. Giving customers solutions to their problems and options on how to make those solutions happen is how America’s economy was built- we recognize that one size doesn’t fit all- and that having those options can really benefit us. And those companies that do do the ol’ bait and switch, they don’t last a long time.

Some things to consider when hiring a carpet cleaner- they need to make a living, too. If they are charging $15 per room, or $25 per room, they aren’t going to be around very long. Let’s say, for argument, that a person has 3 rooms they want cleaned. So their bill would be $75. The cleaner has to drive there, set up, clean, and then drive home. Unless they live right next door, we are looking at 15-30 minutes of drive time there, and the same back. They have to have some advertising costs, otherwise how did you hear about them? They have to have the equipment, and that equipment needs to be maintained. Maybe they took a credit card for payment- those can cost a provider up to 4% of the total bill. Maybe not much, in the big scheme of things, but watch how fast these numbers add up. The cleaner needs insurance- business liability, vehicle, equipment, worker’s comp, unemployment at a minimum. They have to be able to put gas in the vehicle, tires on the vehicle. They need some kind of a solution to properly clean the carpet. They need to have some training (though many don’t). They need a place to park their equipment. And at some point, they themselves need to get paid.

Again, let’s say for argument’s sake, they do the work in an hour. That’s a respectable time for three rooms of carpet. It CAN be done in 15 minutes, but should it be done that fast? Most pre-sprays require 5-10 minutes of dwell time to be effective. Let’s split the difference and say it takes them 45 minutes to do the work. $75 for 45 minutes worth of work sounds pretty good. Except there is the drive time (30-60 minutes there and back). There is the gas that was needed to rung the equipment (assuming it is a truckmount). $5. Oh, and insurances. Again let’s say $5. Might be more or less, depends on how many customers the cleaner does each month. The 4% for the credit card, $3. Chemicals and equipment, let’s say $20 all in (purchase and maintenance). So far we are at $37 in costs. Advertising is the big one. This is usually close to 15-20%. Let’s take the low end. $11.25. That leaves a whopping $26.75 for almost 2 hours worth of work. Now, maybe in some places that might be a living wage, but in backwards Idaho, McDonald’s is paying $15+ an hour. That should tell you that making a little over $13 an hour is not very much.

This should point to three things- first, they aren’t going to be around very long. They will not be able to sustain that pace for long. Second, if they really are charging like that, they can’t be cleaning very well. It is what I call a “blow and go.” They will be in and out so fast there is no way they could actually do the job and do it well. Third, they aren’t really charging $75. They are going to increase that price, through upsell or through bait and switch tactics. But they certainly won’t be doing it for $75. Ok, maybe they will do it for $75, but it’s going to be a blow and go.

Instead of looking for the cheapest carpet cleaner, one should look at reputation and methods of cleaning. Look for experience. Look for someone that can stand by their work. They won’t be cheap, they will be in demand, AND you will get what you want- a clean home or office without the fear of being ripped off.