Thankfully not all carpet cleaners are like this!! To find your local 'Professional Carpet Cleaner' please visit the National Carpet Cleaners Association's website at www.ncca.co.uk or call office hours on 0116 271 9550
The Rogue Trader's Team recorded this video for the BBC's Watchdog Television Programme. The Rogue Traders have been investigating some of the unethical carpet cleaners in the UK for using 'Bait and Switch' to sell their services.
Unfortunately every industry has a few 'bad apples' and these so-called 'carpet cleaners' are starting to give the professional carpet cleaning industry a bad name. However, 'Bait and Switch' selling is only the start as often the cleaning is very much questionable at the best of times and you run the risk of long-term damage to your carpet.
Being endorsed by the UK's Government under the 'TrustMark' scheme of approved service providers the NATIONAL CARPET CLEANERS ASSOCIATION (NCCA) are the only nationally recognised trade association dedicated to the cleaning of carpets, hard flooring and soft furnishings.
How 'Bait and Switch' Works:
To read our full report go to natcarpetcleaners.blogspot.co....
BAIT AND SWITCH STEP ONE:
Get the more expensive product that HE really wants to sell in front of the customer. In this case, showing the customer two test patches to demonstrate the difference in quality between the two levels of clean. By doing this they hope to entice you into 'upgrading' your cleaning service.
BAIT AND SWITCH STEP TWO:
The technician explained that if we did go for the £8.99 service it would 'make your carpet look worse'. Amazingly, it's true! If your carpet is dirty the service that this type of company advertises for £8.99 could make your carpet appear worse because it brings the deep down dirt to the surface as the carpet dries. The Carpet Cleaner told the 'customer' that for the £8.99 clean, they don't even spray any 'shampoo' on your carpet first. In other words they only use water.
BAIT AND SWITCH STEP THREE:
Close that sale! It's time to raise the question of what the more effective - but more expensive - clean will actually cost. A crystal clear comparison is what's needed here, especially seeing as it's be given to an elderly lady on her own. But as you can see in the video this is an unethical person, using unethical tactics, so instead the vulnerable customer was offered a lower quality maintenance clean for £8.99 and a deep clean for 49p a square foot.
The technician also offered a total of £167.90. That's nearly 18 times the amount the leaflet was trying to bait us with!
At this point the actress kindly thanked the carpet cleaner for his demonstration and asked him just to do the £8.99 clean he was initially invited into the house to do. It was then the technician showed yet another ploy at the company's disposal to help make that sale - 'THE DISCOUNT PLOY'.
'The Discount Ploy' required another award winning performance from the technician with him making a call to his office to ask for special permission. After his telephone conversation he came back, this time offering to do...
..."A beautiful deep clean with all the products and a stain shield warranty", all for "£126".
The carpet cleaner spent 56 minutes trying to sell a more expensive product before he finally gave up and reluctantly cleaned the two carpets for just £8.99. How much time did he spend cleaning them? Just 17 minutes.
How can you stop this from happening to you?
Well, it doesn't take much to work out a ridiculous low price like £8.99 isn't going to get the cleaner far. There are two old sayings to remember ...
"If it seems too good to be true ... it probably is"
and
"You always get what you pay for"
EIGHT questions to ask any cleaner before you allow anyone to clean your carpets...
(For our answers go to natcarpetcleaners.blogspot.co.... )
1. What method of carpet cleaning do you recommend and how is it done?
2. Will you remove all the stains from my carpet?
3. How often do you recommend I have my carpets cleaned?
4. What training have you had in cleaning carpets?
5. Will you give me a fully inclusive written quote?
6. What written guarantees do you offer?
7. Are you a current member of the National Carpet Cleaning Association?
8. Are you a member or certified by any other industry or trade bodies?
By selecting a member of the National Carpet Cleaners Association you can have the reassurance all our members are fully insured, trained to high standards and follow our Code of Practice to give you a first class service every time.
To contact us or find a local 'Professional Carpet Cleaner' please visit...
www.ncca.co.uk or call office hours on 0116 271 9550