Do you always let the client win ? in other words is the client always right

[leofry@1966]

I had a lady call last week and wanted a the carpet in her camper cleaned, I told her i really didn't do campers and it was hard to move around in them, but yes i would do it. so i show up and really the carpet looked fine to begin with, but had a few stains, i told her i could not promise i could get the stains out. I had told her on the phone and then again it was $75 also told her it would not take long like about 15 mins,I mean there is only like 20 sq feet of carpet, she complained about the price and the previous carpet cleaner she had once before ALL WARNING SIGNS. but i did the job then i walked through with her and she was fine with it. I collected the money and left.. this was Monday, well Friday night her husband calls and complains and says i will lose a lot more than that $75 after he tells people how bad i am... i told him i went over everything with his wife and walked through when done, I also told him not to threaten me with bad mounting me. SO i am not gong back and i am not listing to him or is wife... many may say i should i understand... but to me the CLIENT is not always right...

[Rob D]

I probably would have went back to look at it sometimes things might not dry right and so on. I have found 99 percent of the time it's new spills or soil and they are looking for a free clean. I give it to them and when they call me again for service the price is through the roof if they want cleaning. If they say ok , thats great. If they say no way then that's great to I tell them go elsewhere. People can be jerks and take advantage of you but I dish it back and give it right back at them. The customer is not always right but I try to accommodate all.

[leofry@1966]

you know in this case i don't think its a new spill, i think its cause there crazy.. i knew she was gong to be hard to deal with and i should have walked away but i was completely honest and overwhelming told her this is not a miracle and like i said the carpet really never looked bad to begin with, hey i might be wrong but this time i am not gong back .. i was honest, we went over it before i left and i am not spending anymore time trying to satisfy someone that i cant satisfy. one more reason i want to do more and more commercial cleaning...

I will throw something else out there.
I have one set of apartment complexes i clean, i give them a deal on cleaning them but i wont come back unless i charge, because to me there is two reasons why i might be called back
1. it was so nasty that it really needs to be cleaned again
2. they have someone crying about it and its too easy for property manger to say well they will clean it for free so just call them....
(nether one of these two are my fault}

now if they want i will charge them full price and come back when they want me to but if you want the deal no call backs

also keep in mind that i am the owner and operator so i know there being done right...

lol i know some will say this is terrible.. but i have always been someone who thinks different

[MikeB]

Going back to take a look is in your best interest in a situation like this. People CAN be jerks for sure! But, unfortunately the guy is right about costing you more than $75 if left unsettled. I have found, in both my business, that turning an unhappy customer around can be the best "cheerleader" advertising you can get.
If you go back, try to fix his problem if you can (put on your concerned face) If he is just a jerk and unfixable, at least you know you tried to play the game.
He might have just had a bad day and paying to have his camper carpet cleaned probably wasn't a priority to him, etc,....unless he is a complete JERK, he has to at least respect you for coming back and trying to please him and that should disarm his desire to trash you to his friends.

[leofry@1966]

I am telling ya there nuts, the clients you put in the do not work for bucket. The mistake i made was cleaning it the first time, and I am not making a second mistake by gong back ... had the man called and said can you come back and look at this yes i would have, but his first sentence was a threat, and he owns a business also so if he wants to play that game.. well i can play... bottom line is you cant make everyone happy and sometimes you have to realize that and move on, and that's what i will do

[Lefty724]

I would have taken a different approach myself. Imo, the customer is always right. I have had a few of these customers myself.

I would've killed them with kindness, went back, did another cleaning, then gave them their $75 back. This way you have the upper hand and are completely done with them! They have absolutely no reason to ever call you again.

This would have cost you 30 minutes of your time and taught you a valuable lesson imo? Where there is smoke.......

[Ed E]

I offer a 100% satisfactions guarantee. No hassel. No argument. If they are dissatisfied due to insanity or jerkitude, I assess whether to try and fix the problem, or return their money and cut and run. To this point, I have never returned a single cent to a customer.

All that being said, there are jobs I do walk away from, for a variety of reasons. No hard and fast rules to that, other than trying to utilize whatever common sense I can muster.....

[leofry@1966]

ok so lets say you clean for someone today and they call you back in 6 weeks and say there not happy you go back ?

[encapman]

I've learned that it is almost always the best course to let the customer win, even if I know they're wrong. I'd rather lose to a crazy customer than to have a dissatisfied person out there which would be toxic to our business. I have eaten a few problem transactions in the past 30 years in business, but it's managed to help us keep a solid reputation. And I don't feel that letting ourselves be wronged on occasion has hurt us in the long run. It's never pleasant, but in the long run it yields better results. Lose a little, win in the end.

[leofry@1966]

ok i want a new cimex... i think there is something wrong with this one.... lol just trying to make a point.. would you if i was serious send me another one... my guess is you would not and OF course i don't blame you... the point is am not different than you guys you say you always let the client win but you don't and you should't.

Every situation is different and of course I have went back to do other jobs, but this one i am not and IMO one person can not hurt you business or there would be no business because there is always someone out there that is not satisfied about every business

[encapman]

Like I said... "almost always the best course".
Sometimes there are exceptions to the rule.



Rick Gelinas
The Encapman
1-800-330-1888
Encap Supplies: http://www.Excellent-Supply.com
Encap Message Board: http://www.EncapBoard.com
Encap Chemicals: http://www.Releasit.com

[leofry@1966]

lol i hear ya Rick... and maybe i did let emotion get the best of me... but like i said keep in mind
1. 5 Days after the cleaning the called back on friday night at 7:30
2.started right off the bat saying i was the worst carpet cleaner he ever saw.
3. then went into i would lose more than the $75 by bad mouthing me
4. never said anything like hey john you think you could take a look at this.
5. i did a final expection with his wife and she said she was happy.
6. the carpet never looked bad not even before i started cleaning
7. i was very very very honest about the process.

if he calls back i will offer to do it over if he does not am moving on, IMO its going to be ok, i will live and he will live lol happy happy happy ...

[encapman]

Here's a page with the guarantee we've had for our cleaning biz (in the right side bar).

http://www.kleenstep.com/page1/

[Rob D]

Just an example I have. I had cleaned for a customer that had a carpet that really looked great. Some people actually do maintenance cleaning not just restorative cleaning. Keep this in mind how many times have you said to yourself " why do they let them get so bad" but now say it didn't really need cleaning kinda a double standard. Don't worry we all do the same thing. Anyways, this customer called me a few days after cleaning and said the carpet looks worse and actually had a orange hue. I didn't really believe it because this carpet looked new before cleaning. When I went the next day the carpet looked terrible after inspection of the bad areas I found crystal like substance at the base of fiber and it turned out that months ago the dog chewed up a orange kool aid box. She didn't mention it because she thought she vacuumed it all up and it wasn't really a concern anymore. Myself I kinda breezed over the carpet thinking " it doesn't need cleaning" lesson learned for me. I always do hand and knee carpet inspection now before cleaning.
Another example was the same type situation but it turned out to be a yellow dye in the pad bled up into the white Berber. The pad manufacturer ate the carpet.
The great thing about being self employed is you get to make all these great decisions. But keep in mind they can cost you plenty if it's not the proper decision. I almost always accommodate but then service price goes up for those special needs cases or I just politely decline

[FloorCareMD]

1. Go back.
2. Clean the trailer trash's (camper trash) carpet
3. Have a container of ants that you gathered up with you (lots of them)
4. "accidentally" on purpose release those ants in the camper when the crazies are not watching.
5. Smile and enjoy your ride home.
ps .. cockroaches work too.