What Will It Cost To Have My Carpets Cleaned?
Carpet Cleaning Prices: What Is a Professional Carpet Cleaning Going to Cost Me?
Questions to ask
This is probably the most asked question we get at Zerorez. What will you charge to clean my carpet? It's also the question all other carpet cleaners get asked a lot as well. And it's understandable. If you don't know what questions to ask you'll by default, ask about price. I've written an extensive booklet on this subject and you can download it here: Consumer Guide to Carpet Cleaning. (please link to download) It will give you all the tools necessary to make sure you find the best carpet cleaning company possible to take care of your carpet cleaning needs.
Avoiding unpleasant surprises
Folks who call Zerorez about having their carpets or area rugs cleaned and have not read the above mentioned Consumers Guide are often worried about how much it will cost, and they want reassurance that the price they hear on the phone is the price they will pay when we come to clean their home. We can surely sympathize, because nobody wants to be surprised when it comes time to pay the bill, no matter what the product or service is that they are seeking.
Upfront pricing to avoid confusion
At Zerorez we are very upfront with quotes we provide over the phone, so it seemed strange to us that there was so much confusion regarding what people were hearing when they called other service providers. We decided to look into the matter to see why so many people were telling us about bad experiences they have had in the past, and here is what we discovered:
Low Ballers
There are a LOT of carpet cleaners who will do anything to get in your door! These are the "low ballers," and generally their only marketing tool is low price, then they twist your arm to buy additional products or services when they come to your house, and the price goes way up.
The price may seem low at first, but that is not what you end up paying. If you insist on the initial low advertised price, the work will probably be inferior.
The reality is that no carpet cleaner can clean a whole house for $59.95 (or whatever the low-ball price is) and be able to stay in business for long. Low ballers count on "upselling" and big price increases, no matter what they initially quoted over the phone.
There is truth in the adage that you "get what you pay for." And the biggest complaint we heard about Low Ballers was that customers would end up in unpleasant confrontations with these types of service providers.
Discounters
You've seen them forever. They offer BIG savings, 30%, 40% or even 50% off. The question is, off of what? Often their "40% off" price is year round and highly inflated. So 40% off of a price that has been raised by 50% is not a deal, it is a 10% price increase!
If they can't tell you the actual price for a service, hang up! In carpet cleaning, as with any other discount offer, you need to know the starting price before you can even begin to decide if a discount is really a discount!
Bait and Switchers
These service providers are a lot like low ballers, but they use a trick called "bait and switch." They quote low carpet cleaning prices and set the appointment with you, then when they arrive they announce that you scheduled the basic service, but because of certain conditions, such as your carpet is extra dirty, or it is the wrong fiber, or the fibers are damaged, you need the upgraded service, which costs twice or three times as much.
Since they are already there, and because you don't want them to do a bad job, you switch to the higher priced service. What we've found is that even the higher priced service offers a mediocre cleaning job at best.
Doll House Cleaners
Most folks have no idea how many square feet of carpet they have. So when a cleaner says they will clean 3 rooms of carpet for only $39 dollars it sounds like a great deal. But if you look in the small print, you will see that they consider a room to be 75 square feet of carpet or less.
Then when they arrive they announce that your rooms are much larger than the quoted rate, so your standard 10 foot by 12 foot (120 square feet) rooms will actually cost twice as much! Not nice! It's another variation on the low baller and bait and switch concept.
Low price is a problem on several levels
And that is the problem with companies who choose to compete on price alone. Typically, their equipment is of lower quality and poorly maintained. The cleaning products are of inferior quality and the same goes for the employees. Do you really want that going on in your home? And forget about getting anything out of them after the cleaning is complete.
Free Quoters
Some companies offer free on-site quotes. They send either the technician or the owner out to your house, ready to close the deal and start working, or to schedule the service for a later date. Often these companies will charge for their service based on how many square feet of carpet there is to clean. I've found that a lot of reputable companies follow this model. They often can give you a ball-park price, however usually will refrain from giving you a quote by phone.
How Zerorez Quotes Carpet Cleaning Prices
We feel that customers deserve honest answers and honest quotes. First, we quote on the phone so you don't have the discomfort of someone standing in your living room pressuring you to decide and get going.
Minimum service charges
We pride ourselves in delivering a high-quality service to your door. This means having a full-service package consisting of the best trained service technician equipped with top-notch equipment and tools. This also means being fully insured for your protection. Running a real business does take money and for this reason we have a minimum service charge that currently (as of December 2015) stands at $179.
Water treatment fee
Zerorez is unique in that we have a process in which we create our high pH alkaline cleaning water out of ordinary tap water. We also take our alkaline cleaning water with us after the cleaning for proper disposal. We charge a $15 per appointment as a water treatment fee.
Three area carpet cleaning special - our most popular item
When our customer service representatives quote a price on the phone, that is the price you should expect to pay! We generally offer a three area carpet cleaning special that is priced in the $199 - $229 price based on seasonality. The areas can each be up to 200 square feet, which accommodates most rooms (a large 12' by 15' room is still only 180 feet), so there is almost never an additional cost for a bonus sized room. Additional areas (after the special) are priced at $50 each.
The best cleaning each time, with a solid guarantee
Each time we clean, we use the best process available to make things come out just right. We feel that most people will respect our realistic and fair price for the work that is contracted for. Beyond that we offer you our You Gotta Love It guarantee: If you are not totally delighted with the results of our cleaning we will do whatever it takes to make it right. No fine or small print, just a solid guarantee that assures your complete satisfaction.
Circumstances your quote might be subject to change
Although we do our very best to get all the pertinent information on the scheduling call, there can be circumstances that might need to be addressed by the service technician on-site. We call this a technician assess and will let you know when this applies. Items such as pet urine odor issues or carpet repair fall into this category.
Change of Scope
If you schedule carpet cleaning and you see that our soap free process really is better and your technician is doing a wonderful job, you may decide to have him clean additional rooms, or a couch and love seat, or even a tile floor. That, of course, will cost more, and your service technician will go over with any additional items and their respective cost.
We're here to help
We hope this helps when you are looking for a carpet cleaner that is honest and straightforward in cleaning your carpets, upholstery, area rugs, hardwood and tile or stone floors. And remember, you can always check our website for the monthly special we have going, or call and talk to one of our friendly call center representatives to learn about any other specials we might have coming up.
We look forward to serving you, with the most amazing, soap-free cleaning process ever. And remember, Zerorez truly is Zerorez The Right Way to Clean®! 866-937-6739 or www.zerorezsocal.com
