Bait and Switch South Bend Carpet Cleaners

Have you ever heard of Bait and switch Carpet cleaners in South Bend Indiana? You might have or not, but we will explain exactly what bait and switch carpet cleaners are and why you should avoid them at all cost. Bait and switch carpet cleaners refer to cleaning companies that advertise a very extraordinary low rate per room to clean your carpet. Some of them will advertise and promise you rates as low as $5, $10, $15 etc per room. Some will even mention that these rates include pet treatment, spot and stain removal, pre vacuuming, moving furniture and so forth. Really, how can a company stay in business, in a capitalist economy like ours, and at the same time offer quality services at these unrealistic super low rates? That’s where the term bait and switch comes in.

Okay, so you decided to hire one of those companies offering a super low rate. On the day of your scheduled cleaning, you went to great pain to prepare, by taking a day off from work, dropping the kids at grand ma’s place, taking the dog to a friend or neighbor, picking valuables from the carpet, moving all the furniture from the carpet to be cleaned and so on. Despite that these companies even claim that pre vacuum is included, you decide to be a good customer by grabbing your old reliable vacuum cleaner and vacuuming all the carpets to be cleaned.

Now everything looks ready to go, and guess what, you hear a motor vehicle pull up, immediately followed by a knock. You open the door, and standing there is someone shabbily dressed, without a name tag and business card. Professional cleaning companies always require technicians to wear approved uniforms, for brand quality appearance and safety reasons. This should be red flag number one. If you observe, professional service providers such as plumbers, electrician etc will on average wear approved uniforms and present business cards. You then decide to peep outside to look at the van and equipment, wait; you notice that it is not labeled with the company name. Anyway let’s move on, because you reason that a uniform, business cards or labeled van does not ensure a quality cleaning service. Very true to a certain extent, but remember that professional cleaning companies are willing to invest in these unlike bait and switch companies.

Okay, you now show the carpet cleaner the rooms to be cleaned and he is taking down notes, in order to give you an estimate. You are all happy and possibly have made your own calculations, based on the rate of $5 per room, and since you have 4 rooms, it will come to $20. Being a good person, you have also made up your mind to tip this person $10. He now tells you that he is ready to show you and explain the total. He hands you a piece of a hand written paper, you look at it and you almost collapse because of what you have just read. The total on the paper says $280 (two hundred and eighty). You ask him how the total has shot up from $20 to $280. He explains that the $5 rate per room is only for basic carpet cleaning, traffic areas only, no pre vacuuming, pre treatment, pet treatment etc and that it involves cleaning with water only. And since you have several stains and spots, pet issues and heavily soiled traffic areas, he took all that into consideration to arrive at the $280 price tag for the 4 rooms to be cleaned. He mentions that you can go for this pricey option, or he can go ahead and clean with water only at $5 per room, in addition travel / gas surcharge of $30, plus $20 for preparing the estimate, time spent so far and it will take about 20 minutes to complete. Now you are in panic, you excuse yourself; you call your husband or wife and explain the turn of events. They too are disappointed and upset at the new price.

Anyway, since you took all that effort to prepare, and it’s not possible to take another day off work, grand ma’s schedule, and all the pet odor and stains, you agree, reluctantly, disappointed and feeling cheated to proceed with the $280 carpet cleaning. He gets done and you hand him a check for $280. If you refuse to pay, cops will be called on you by these guys, and the police are known to side with them. You might be prosecuted as well if you write a bad check. Oh my, what a tricky situation you got into. Now you have to borrow money to cover that check, what about the water, electric bill, oh God what did you get yourself into. Guess what, you have just been baited, and he switched on you. You ask yourself, how did this happen. It happened because you got attracted to an advert which was too good to be true, offering $5 carpet cleaning per room.

One week later, your carpets look so dirty because of the soapy residue he left behind and the smell / odor has gotten worse because it took 2 days for them to dry. You decide to call them back, but sorry the number is no longer in service. Maybe they have formed a new company, because everyone became aware of the bait and switch tactics of the previous one, except you of course.

At Ionic Fresh Carpet Cleaning South Bend Indiana, we will give you an accurate estimate the very first time and explain all the available options and pricing. We even explain to customers in advance on how they can save money, for example, by removing furniture from the carpets to be cleaned (saves $20 per room), vacuuming the carpet (saves $5 per room) etc. We also guarantee our work and we are happy to re-clean or treat any areas that we might have missed or that you are not satisfied.

For Carpet Cleaning Mishawaka, South bend, Elkhart and Granger, contact the professional guys at Ionic Fresh, 4312 Hunter Run circle, South Bend IN 46628, Tel # (574) 968-7396, or visit www.carpetfreshcleaning.com