Under-quoting a job

The overwhelming majority of professional carpet cleaners are respectable and legitimate businesses that will provide high quality carpet care at a reasonable price. As with every type of business, there are always a few unscrupulous business operators that will look to take advantage of the average homeowner and can ruin it for all of the other legitimate service providers. Some of these underhanded businesses will cheat you on the quality of the cleaning they perform or on the type and quantity of chemicals they use. Many of them will use the age-old bait and switch technique to lure you in with a price that is hard to resist, only to change the deal when they arrive for the appointment. It is important to stress that these types of carpet cleaning companies are in the minority and you may never have to deal with one, but it's important to recognize some of the ways you may fall victim to their swindles. The basic bait and switch occurs when the company originally gives you an estimate either over the phone or in a coupon sent to your home and then starts to change the price when they arrive at your home to do the work. The reason many of these frauds work is that the homeowner has already made arrangements to spend the day cleaning the carpet and re-scheduling the appointment with another company is a lot of work or they may be moving out of the premises the same day and cannot call another company due to time restraints. They may choose to just pay the higher price and avoid wasting the day. There are many ways that a bait and switch operator can swindle you and the most common one is under-quoting a job. This can start as a flyer sent to you through the mail that offers to clean a number of rooms in your home for a reasonable price. Seeing this, many homeowners are attracted to the low price and don't realize that the "typical" room described in the flyer is much smaller than even the smallest room in their home.