Carpet Problem - Customer

L

LDPaul

New member
I detailed a Mercedes this last Monday and the lady "who was out of the country when we detailed the car" called me yesterday complaining about the carpet and "soap left in carpet". So today I went over and check out her car. What I found was not soap in the carpet, but these areas in the photos she was complaining about. The car is not new and it took 2 people about 4 1/2 hours to detail, because it was so dirty. I did try to explain to her that it was not soap, but carpet matting due to getting some stains out..This is not exceptable and wants the carpet replaced so it looks like new. I did try to brush it out but that did not work. I have never had this problem from a customer and the carpet looks great as far as being clean. Here are the photos of the carpet. I do have insurance, but this upsets me. What do you think? Help!:nixweiss





5886carpet1.jpg




5886carpet2.jpg
 
I hope you got before pictures. If you did a good job and got really bad stains out then she should have no complaint but who knows with some people. but if you can show what it looked like prior to your ""damaging the capaet"" and that it looks 1000% better then the insurance company most likley would tell her to pound sand but Like i said who knows.
 
No before pictures since it was raining and we had to detail in the garage with little lighting. I always take before pictures, but had problems that day with weather and camera battery was dead.
 
It's kind of hard to see from the pictures but if she is just being stupid I would tell her to take it to the dealership and see what they say. Call the service manager and apprise him of the situation before she gets there so he doesn't get blindsided and if he agrees that you screwed it up then you may have to suck it up and call the insurance in. I imagine that when he sees it and tells her the same thing you did she will not pursue the matter further and you hopefully will not have any dealings with her in the future. I once had a lady come in and tell me she was going to sue me because we broke the seats in her Pontiac Montana van. All we had done was a bloody interior vacuum so I knew she was nuts. Upon inspection, I found that she could not move the seat forward or back because (drum roll please) she was trying to do so by pulling the seat height adjustment handle. She came in screaming bloody murder and went out to a chorus of laughter with her tail between her legs.
 
You just never know about some people :nixweiss Sorry to hear about this. Does all of the carpet look like that, or just the areas where stain removal was performed? What year is the vehicle? How many miles? My guess is that an insurance company would deduct for normal wear and tear.



Good luck, and let us know how this little drama plays out.
 
If she wants her old carpet look new she should have called an upholstery shop. Don't you pay for that. That is what happens when you clean carpets! Explain it to her. Good luck.



Some people have balls! :down
 
Thanks Mr. Clean, those areas on the photo are the only bad areas. We think she was looking for a reason to get new carpet. I have never had this happen in all the years I have been detailing so that is why it is a shocker. I do know someone that repairs carpet so I will contact him and see what he suggests.
 
i work with rlspringer and was on that detail, i think maybe she wants the new carpet before her husband sees the burn hole next to drivers seat from a cigarette, she is lucky we got it that clean, guess we cant please everyone all the time
 
It loosk clean, but something went wrong on the carpet. MAybe to harsh of a soap, to strong of a brush, but you can clearly see that is not how the carpet should be. If you look behind the panel of the net, that is how it shoudl look. I know maybe people got there feet there, but it is the same thing in the back. Who sits in the back on the hump, no one. im not saying you did a bad job,cause i think it loosk great, but i can see what she is saying. I dont like the look of that carpet myself etiher.
 
Did you rewet it, wet vac (or exctract) it and rebrush? That sometimes works. Is it possible it was already that way but the dirt and grime obscured it?



I tend to agree with your belief she knew her carpets were trashed and called you to have someone to blame for their condition.
 
I agree Scottwax. I think it was that way in the beginning and she is wanting new carpet. We extracted a lot of soap out of the carpet from the previous detailer. That is why it took us so long to detail the car.
 
I don't see what she is complaining about? Maybe its my computer, but if it were my car, I would be happy. Doesn't sound like a legit claim IMO.
 
Durmaid extractor and simple carpet cleaner mixed in a spray bottle 60/40 mix (60% water/40% cleaner). We sprayed the carpet and then extracted except areas with stains. On stains we used a carpet brush. That is all we did!
 
hmmm, I'm stumped, maybe the damage was done from the previous detailer. It does look to be damaged...maybe from brushing to hard. Before pictures would have helped........good luck
 
wifehatescar said:
hmmm, I'm stumped, maybe the damage was done from the previous detailer. It does look to be damaged...maybe from brushing to hard. Before pictures would have helped........good luck
Click to expand...



That is what we think since there was so much soap in certain areas of the carpet. It only took us to use a good extractor to release the fibers of the carpet thus creating the problem.
 
The problem you are facing is why I really don't like doing a car for a new customer without them being there so I can go over the car with them before and after.
 
Have you tried redoing it with just clean water and the extractor?



I see the areas that she's talking about (I wouldn't complain, but people are like that...), and it looks like the carpet is matted down.



The only time I've ever seen something like that was when the carpet was matted and hardened because of too much soap being left in.



It's possible that the combo of all the soap you re-activated from the previous detailer, combined with your cleaning solution has gummed those portions of the carpet up.



If I were you, i'd call her up, say that it appears to be something that you can easily correct, and that you haven't yet found the cause of the problem, then go over and try to extract as much of the soap as you can with clean water.



At least this way, you can say you offered to correct the problem, and was turned down because she's trying to have the carpet replaced to cover unrelated damage that she's caused... Insurance companies love hearing things like that...
 
blackntan said:
Have you tried redoing it with just clean water and the extractor?



I see the areas that she's talking about (I wouldn't complain, but people are like that...), and it looks like the carpet is matted down.



The only time I've ever seen something like that was when the carpet was matted and hardened because of too much soap being left in.



It's possible that the combo of all the soap you re-activated from the previous detailer, combined with your cleaning solution has gummed those portions of the carpet up.



If I were you, i'd call her up, say that it appears to be something that you can easily correct, and that you haven't yet found the cause of the problem, then go over and try to extract as much of the soap as you can with clean water.



At least this way, you can say you offered to correct the problem, and was turned down because she's trying to have the carpet replaced to cover unrelated damage that she's caused... Insurance companies love hearing things like that...
Click to expand...



I agree and we did exactly that with our extractor. Used clean water and extracted, then used a light brush to blend the carpet. It was never good enough for her and she wants her carpet replaced. I called my insurance company yesterday and gave them the information. I tend to think we were just the escape goat and she want to find a way to replace her carpet. Some people are just scammers and I got bit. I hope other detailers learn from my problem. I learned a valuable lesson.
 
How did it come out after you redid it?



If that's the case, then it does sound like she's just out to get soemthing new...



Ah well, that's what insurance is for...



Just make sure you delete her off of your customer list...
 
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