As a carpet cleaner one of the comments I dread hearing is that they (the customer) think that the carpet is wearing out after a relatively short time.

The Problem With Piles (!)
One such instance several years ago affected two houses within spitting distance of each other, they were friends and both had the same carpet fitted in the lounge/dining areas also the hall landing and stairs. The retailer in question had asked me to go and clean both the carpets at his expense thinking it would lift the pile.

On visiting both households I found the carpets in question to be of very low density with a 100% nylon pile more suitable for bedrooms and yes, the pile flattened very easily. This was demonstrated visually to the customers when I lifted my notepad from the pile - even this had left a distinct impression. I used this as evidence that the carpet was NOT wearing out but it was the pile that was lying down under pressure, fortunately they believed me.

When I popped in to see the retailer and explained what the problem was I suggested that he could have offered them a better quality carpet to suit the situation. He explained that both customers were shopping to a strict budget and he didn’t want to lose the sale.

Just the other day I was asked to look at another carpet that allegedly had a fitting problem but thrown in as a passing comment was that they (the customer) thought the carpet was not wearing very well…it was only six months old. They had purchased an excellent quality carpet but in order to save a few pennies they had bought underlay (the best quality of course) from a friend of a friend…in fact the underlay was a very poor quality and was doing nothing for the appearance or performance of the carpet. This was pointed out to the owner.

Abrasion Damage
I would also like to highlight some of the other groans and gripes made by the customers to the carpet cleaning technicians about retailers and fitters.

Apart from premature wearing out, one of the most common complaints is the abrasion damage in front of seating units which, according to the customer, just shouldn’t happen. The continual scuffing of the carpet fibres by the customers will abrade the carpet in those areas and can often distort the pile too. This will cause less light reflection in the affected areas giving the carpet a distinctly soiled appearance. The following picture illustrates a spot in front of a sofa where the customer’s feet have caused what initially appeared to be pile distortion, on closer inspection it was found that the friction from his shoes had caused the tips of the polypropylene fibres to fuse together.

This common complaint is closely followed by the indentation marks made by furniture being placed onto the carpet surface. Where there’s a three dimensional surface of fibres sticking up vertically, they are bound to suffer some compression damage when heavy furniture is placed on it. Sometimes, a cheaper underlay which may have been fitted, doesn’t help with regard to the crushability of the carpet fibres.

Yet another complaint often made to a professional cleaning technician is that the protection treatment is not working. The customer may have either purchased a mill treated product or paid for a post treatment.

Protection treatments do work (with the exception of a high polypropylene fibre content carpet where a treatment is not required) providing the application has been done correctly. Many of the adverse comments arise because the protection treatment has been oversold at the point of sale.

Incorrect attempts at stain removal by the customer can also lead to some moans and groans about the protection treatment. The customer’s first reaction is to delve under the kitchen sink far any stain removal treatment they can lay their hands on and use. More often than not a simple initial blotting action with some paper kitchen roll followed by a gentle application of cold water then blotted with more kitchen roll will do the trick.

Customers expectations of a carpet in their home can be often far too high especially so when the family may consist of two or more adults, several children, a dog, three cats and a budgie… expectations should equal reality but rarely do.

Cleansmart says: Take the time to make sure your customer has realistic expectations. Always aim to under promise and over deliver. The carpet cleaner that does this has happier customers, more recommendations and more repeat work.

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