Is this a turning point for IICRC?

I never thought I’d see the day in my career of IICRC actually seriously getting on a path of cleaning itself up of the conflicts of interest, the petty politics, and the incompetency which have plagued them like a bad cold over these past two decades.

A few of the sources of the bigger conflicts have been removed officially through not renewing their contracts. The current Board worked hard to make these big changes happen. The late (and great) Paul Thompson was part of the crew who persevered to make sure true reform on the entrenched consultants’ front happened.

A “love letter” on the leaving of Larry Cooper was issued by the IICRC.

(I suspect the Board did not write or review this, because there was a glaringly obvious omission of a past reforming president in the list of presidents Cooper worked for. Plus the “IICRC Office” has never issued such a glowing and self-promotional piece for any other past consultants or former Board members who have left. Not even the founder of IICRC, Ed York, got a press release like this. But… that’s material for another post.)

The point is… some REAL changes appear to be happening. And here are two additional reasons why I say this.

One is the replacement of the Standards Director with someone who actually has credentials and experience.

CLICK HERE => New IICRC Standards Director Hired

For years “paid” positions generally went to the same little group of buddies.

On my time on the IICRC Board, I remember vividly a few of us arguing to allow us to have open bids for all consulting and management contracts. It would have allowed us to see who else was qualified (or more qualified) for the job, and also – especially with a multi-million multi-year management contract – would be the fiscally responsible thing to do.

The argument from the Executive Officers at that time was generally “but look at how long this person has sacrificed to help the IICRC… we owe him.”

They ran the organization like a family business that needed to find a job for a struggling brother-in-law instead of as a real business that needed to be run responsibly.

So seeing the hiring of Mili Washington in the role of the new Standards Director is truly a good sign. She’s not part of the good ol’ boys club.

The second is that IICRC has reduced the size of its Board  to 15 and has reformed its Nominations process dramatically for those Director positions.

CLICK HERE => IICRC Reforming Nominations Process

There are a few startling changes here. The first being the reduction of the size of the board by about half of its current size.

The way past Executive Officers (and some Consultants back stage) tried to pack in votes for their personal agenda was through creating certain board positions like “honorary” and “at-large.”

The actual stakeholder associations each have a sitting representative on the Board, but some powers-that-be wanted to dilute their voice on behalf of the cleaners, so there would be an open ended amount of bodies they could nominate from the floor and add. It was, during my time, absolutely ridiculous. We often had more than 30 on the Board at a time.

But even more ridiculous was the rules for being able to be an Executive Officer, which were that you needed to be a Director and also a Chair of particular committees (assigned by those same powers-that-be), so you ended up with a VERY small – and not necessarily qualified – pool of people to choose the organization’s leaders from. No innovators in that pool, just the same old people with the same old ideas running the same old struggling businesses but being asked to set the track for a multi-million dollar organization.

I can’t tell you how many times I had to hear from these “leaders” about how “tough” it was to serve the IICRC. The time away from their family, the hardship on their companies, and that they needed help with their expenses.

A bunch of big babies. As if anyone was FORCING them to be there.

It’s my opinion that the “paid” President idea (actually hiring someone to oversee the operations) passed purely because some in this little gang thought they might get the gig. Might be more money that they were netting in their business.

But the reformers quietly made sure someone with actual qualifications got it. (Patrick Winters)

The thing about bringing in professionals who know the laws and expectations of non-profit organizations is… you can’t be running a multi-million dollar organization like your own little small family business.

That was the first big step to making some serious shifts within IICRC. Then some of the “biased buddies” were removed. And now we will see with this Nominations call out to the industry if this will be the first step to crafting a Board more representative – and connected – to the cleaning industry, and if we can eventually get some fresh faces in Executive Leadership positions there. There needs to be some house-cleaning up at the top, and in the key Committee Chairs.

What I like about the Nominations process announced in the press release is that it appears to be open.

The fact that they have put a call out to the industry for “recommendations” through the industry magazines is a good sign. In the past, when consultants were asked to put contracts out to bid that they wanted to give to “buddies,” or ANSI standards that are required to get public comments but they didn’t really want to field questions, it would be posted in obscure places that you’d see only if someone happened to point it out to you. I remember numerous complaints from some IAQA members on some of these documents being “hidden” away.

So, this press release is yet another sign that it’s not the way it used to be. The call for Nominations has been VERY public. It’s not hidden away. I mean… it’s on my blog, isn’t it. =)

The notification says that recommendations do not necessarily guarantee an actual nomination, but they they will all be seriously considered by the Nominations Committee.

I’m curious to see if the Committee will actually consider new faces in the mix, or if it will just be going through the motions to save face.

I’ve been told that past IICRC President Carey Vermeulen (the president that was glaringly missing from the original Cooper love letter) is sitting on this committee. If that’s the case, it’s a VERY good sign because Carey was one of the few past Presidents at IICRC who actually tried to clean up the conflicts within the organization. During my years at IICRC he was the only President worth a damn. And of course the “little southern cartel” did what they could to push him out of there so they could run things. It was shameful.

I also like that included on the list of 24 qualifications required for nominating someone is that they need to have a sense of humor.

Heck, if that was a requirement back in my time there, we would have lost ALL of the leadership in one big swoop, except for Darrel Paulson and Carey Vermeulen. LOL. =)

Everyone took themselves way too seriously back then. Especially the ones that were making money or gaining status and influence from their roles there.

I remember the time a “volunteer” there had a motion made on his behalf to pay him $10,000 for all of his “sacrifice” in the prior year.

It was my first Board meeting, and I mentioned that I had never heard of a “paid volunteer” before, and asked him if anyone held a gun to his head and FORCED him to be a volunteer. But this southern couple pleaded and argued, until that motion actually passed.

There are some things I was proud of during my IICRC time, but it’s events like that, that made a mockery out of the process for those of us who were taking our roles and responsibilities seriously. With today’s laws regarding non-profits, there is much more scrutiny. Thankfully.

I had no patience back then for the mediocre leadership that saw nothing wrong with voting “yes” on policies that benefited them personally. Heck, I resigned not once, but TWICE. (Yes… I was a glutton for punishment.)

But thankfully others had much more patience and perseverance than I did.  So today we are seeing the results from those willing to wait it out, and work hard, and make REAL change happen by reforming from the ground up.

Paul was not alone in being a principled, persistent soldier for reform for years on that Board. Other past reformers during my time helped as well, Cliff Zlotnik, Lee Pemberton (continued on later by his son Jim), and of course Carey. And there are a number of truly good guys on the Board as Directors right now, making really good things happen.

So if you have anyone in mind who you feel would be a strong industry representative on the IICRC Board, I encourage you to see if they are interested, and then submit your recommendation by July 15th.

I have my own qualified list, and I look forward to seeing if we actually see some new faces as a result.

I actually have hope that this is a turning point for the IICRC. Never thought I’d ever be writing that here.

- Lisa

P.S. I know that I have opinions that can tee off a few people, and probably some points of view that not everyone agrees with me on. Please feel free to post a comment pointing out where I’m wrong. I’m open to being corrected. I’ve been wrong before. =)

I’m passionate about this industry, and making things right when I can, and that makes me push when maybe I should be holding back. But that is the way I’ve always been, and when you are in the industry as long as I’ve been, and seen a lot of the back stage activities – both good and bad – there comes a point when you decide to either take action and speak up… or just turn away and be apathetic. I know I’ve been hard on IICRC over the years, and some of its players in particular who I just don’t particularly like. That said, as I see real change happening, I will be the first one to support and promote the IICRC through my channels as reform continues to happen. I know my opinion doesn’t really amount to much to them, but I applaud the current IICRC Trade Association Directors and Patrick Winters for making what I thought was impossible look to be actually happening.

A Tribute To An Industry Reformer.

The best men and women in any industry… the ones who really get the great things done… are usually the ones who never ask for the attention or the awards. And they certainly don’t expect either.

They are involved because they want to do what’s right. They volunteer for the cause, to get the work done, and not for the credit.

Paul Thompson was one of those industry “best” individuals.

I’m sure you’ve seen his big smile at the many Connections events he took part in:

Paul with his daughter Lyndsay

Paul would remind me that the first time we actually met was during a meeting of trade associations regarding Connections, and I introduced myself to the room as “that b*tch from California.”

What can I say? =)

I was coming in on the heels of our CFI board removing our sitting rep for deciding to not listen to policy votes, so it was a “tense” time of drama…

…and I have a tendency to try to break the ice with a chuckle. (And a bit of truth to it too – LOL.)

So Paul said he thought I would be difficult to work with. But instead we formed a cadre of industry peers who worked extremely well together in a lot of messy environments from Connections to IICRC.

At that point, almost a decade ago, Paul already had a long track record of serving this industry through his association NEIRC, serving in many roles there including its President. He and his brother Daniel had operated a cleaning and restoration company together since 1977, Town & Country Services in New Hampshire, and he took his pride in his craft to extend to making sure he contributed to making it better as a whole.

Paul brought a wealth of industry expertise and industry team-building experience to that Connections meeting. And even though he never said he wanted to “lead” anything, he ended up becoming a leader, because that was just how he was. Work needed to get done, and someone had to do it. And while everyone else looked for excuses why they had no time – he was always stepping up to the plate.

I assumed that since he was used to big messy restoration clean-up jobs, that tackling Connections, and then IICRC would not be too scary for him.

Paul receives the Kenway Mead Leadership Award from Craig Kersemeier

Paul served as President of Connections several terms, and also was elected to the IICRC Board multiple times, where he served on their Ethics Committee and on the Instructors and Schools Committee.

Paul had the ability to do what needed to be done, despite it not being the “popular” or easy choice.

I can’t remember how many times I heard him say “I know this will mean I won’t get re-elected, but it needs to get done.” And ultimately, even his opponents would come to admit he was right, even if they didn’t like it.

Heck, they’d even end up having a beer with him. That’s just how Paul was. He could separate the policy differences from the people.

Paul was someone I looked to for feedback, because he had more wisdom in this industry than I had, and a very strong sense of what was “right.” And he had the courage to back it up with a fight if necessary. I admired that enormously, and it was an honor to work under his leadership at Connections. I learned a great deal through that experience, and through our committee work together at IICRC.

Then his company joined our Platinum program at Piranha, and I had a chance to see the side of his life that he was truly passionate about – which was his family.

The Thompson Family

Ginny and Paul Thompson

Piranha has always had a great mix of work and fun, and Paul focused on building up the cleaning side of their business, and get away from the restoration side, so that he would have more time and energy to focus even more of his life on the family he loved – especially his wife Ginny.

Paul stepped away from his role at Connections a few years ago, and IICRC soon after. He did so after helping achieve a few really big “wins” for reforms in both places. Much of the reforms we see happening today with IICRC come from the groundwork that Paul helped put in place, and through the example he set in his role there. He gave other reformers there the courage to stand up as a group to make serious change.

The last few times I saw Paul at Piranha events, with his wife Ginny and his daughter Lyndsay, I had never seen him happier. With the industry “battles” off of his shoulders, he just looked like the happiest man on the planet.

NASCAR driver Steadman Marlin and Paul at the track.

When I spoke to him a few weeks ago, he was looking forward to his trip to Nashville with Ginny to the Country Music Festival, something they were doing annually with friends, and where this year he unexpectedly collapsed and left this world much too soon at the age of 53.

My call with him was like every conversation we had – full of laughs, and talking about what plans he had in store for his company and making even more time with his family. I’ve never seen a happier husband, and a prouder father.

I’ve met many people in this industry. I have many acquaintances, but very few I’ve worked with who I would call as truly a dear friend. Paul was one of those friends. And though I only knew him for less than a decade of his life, his example of how to be excellent in your craft, and how to make sure family comes first, had a profound impact on me.

I am a better person because I had the honor of knowing and working with him. And our industry is a better one because of him.

This post is my tribute to Paul, and is my thanks to Ginny, Lyndsay, and Blake for sharing him with our industry. The good that he has done will continue to have a positive impact for many of us for many years to come.

May he rest in peace.

- Lisa

P.S. Here is Paul’s published obituary and details regarding his funeral => Paul Thompson (7/1/57 – 6/13/11)

25 bucks buys you “approval”

CRI had a lackluster announcement on adding their 1,000 “approved” Service Provider:

CRI 1,000th SOA Service Provider

So… what does it really take to be “approved”?

Well, considering that their “equipment tests” used fake soil with no relevancy to actual cleaning performance or protocol, I did not expect a very comprehensive approval process for the cleaning technicians.

And I was right.

Seems that what is required is…

…a check.

There is a loose commitment to use “SOA approved” products – but considering that many of the best products and tools in our industry have not submitted to the regulatory joke of this “scientific” process, there is no way any technicians could be preforming excellent work in the field with the limited choice of “approved” products.

At least I find that highly unlikely, in my opinion of course.

The sad thing about all of this is that the MOST IMPORTANT piece of the cleaning puzzle is in fact the technician.

Yet, they are the afterthought in this program.

Heck, they didn’t even use REAL cleaners in the testing process. The President of CRI mentioned that he himself has never cleaned a carpet in his life.

So the cleaning test, not designed by actual cleaners, expectedly did not garner the support of the real cleaners. Especially since their CRI “test” showed rental machines ranking high, when most technicians have direct experience in cleaning up after the disasters that rental machines create.

The professional cleaning industry of course has not supported this program from day 1 as a result. At least no professional cleaners that I know support it.

And that’s the crux of the conflict here. That the most important piece of a “great cleaning experience” is missing.

We saw in the demos in Arizona that the “best” equipment in the wrong hands led to a poorer result, and that “trained” hands on equipment that might not be known as “the best” could create better cleaning results.

The variable was NOT the equipment – it was the technician.

So with technicians tossed in as an afterthought in the CRI program, it refutes completely their statement that “only the best pass the test…” because the only test the cleaners are given is whether or not their check clears the bank.

- Lisa

Dirty Truth About Rug Cleaning.

Not many people talk about the fact that “carpet cleaning” and “rug cleaning” are not the same craft.

There’s the sense of “hey it’s all fuzzy, ain’t it?” – and that fuzzy is cleaned the same way.

But in fact, they are completely different cleaning specialties, and require different methods, solutions, and techniques. And when you employ “proper” on-location carpet cleaning training and products to natural fiber rugs, you often end up causing more harm than good.

Here’s a piece that lays out why:

View this document on Scribd

There will be some cleaners who read this and pay no heed to the details. “Who cares?” These guys I affectionately refer to as the “spray and suck rug hacks.”

Other professional cleaners will read it and will agree, because they already properly wash rugs in-plant, or they will see changes that they need to make to their current cleaning process.

And some will see the value of sharing this education with their own clients, to explain why rugs must be removed from the home for cleaning.

Regardless of which group you belong to, I hope you enjoy the article.

- Lisa

P.S. You can find more on this topic in my latest post at the Rug Chick blog.

Lawsuit impact on our industry.

There is an ominous trend of lawsuit filings by a company I’ve never heard of before (Thermapure) regarding using high heat in restoration, mold, and bed bug removal services concerning patent infringement.

These lawsuits have been filed against small and large restoration companies, as well as restoration manufacturers.

Having a business in California, I can tell you the obvious – that random machine-gun spraying of mass lawsuit filings carry a cost whether they are well-founded or frivolous. We (the business owners) end up paying… even if we are not involved directly.

Heck… the only high-heat I have experience with is my hair dryer.

But I’m paying attention to this, because I know it’s serious enough to have a cost that I may end up paying for through any of the equipment and services I buy produced by those caught in this litigation web.

I’m a rug cleaner who handles contents-cleaning from restoration jobs, and uses restoration equipment for the drying of textiles. Even though technically I am not a “restorer” – what happens in the restoration industry impacts me. So it also impacts you, I’m sorry to say.

Attorney Ed Cross has coordinated an effort to create a Restoration Industry Defense Alliance, in order to pull together resources, information, and strategies to collectively hit these efforts head-on.

Tomorrow (Thursday 3/17) at 12pm Pacific, Ed Cross is conducting a webinar on this topic to educate the audience on the details surrounding this matter, and next steps needed.

If anyone is involved in the restoration field, or cleaning field, you will want to listen in on this. The webinar price is $50. If any of you have dealt with any lawyers in your lifetime, then you realize that $50 is actually “free” compared to what you are usually charged to listen to someone share guidance. =)

Though this webinar will not be giving YOU specific legal advice (that’s the job of YOUR lawyer), it will be sharing what is going on, and why the suits are being filed, and other information that not only makes you better informed, but also better protected in making sure you are not doing anything that may throw up the “HEY, SUE ME TOO!” flag.

SIGN UP NOW => Edward Cross Thermapure Litigation Webinar

If you’ve never been on a webinar before, you log onto a computer and see slides from the presenter, while also listening in on your phone or through your internet phone access with your headphones. If you can’t be on your computer at that time, you will still have a phone number to call in and listen while on the road (or have your staff participate).

I do not know if the call will be recorded and replayed, but usually when we do our own, it’s easy to hit the record button and share it later. So I assume even if you sign up and cannot be on it “live” that you will have access to the recording. And if not… $50 is an easy refund.

This is an important issue. A potentially very costly issue. And as professionals in our industry, I just thought it would be important for you to know it’s going on, and to educate yourself if you feel you should do so.

I’ve known Ed Cross a long time. And the one thing I know very well is that I would never want to be on the other side of the table against him. He is excellent at what he does, and I’m happy to see him stepping up as the advocate for our industry.

See you on the call! I’m already signed up…

- Lisa

 

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Carpet Bureaucrats vs. Carpet Cleaners

How many of you would let DC bureaucrats run your business?

Anyone? (**crickets**)

Fact is, most bureaucrats when they need more money only know how to TAKE it through fees and regulations, instead of CREATE it like small business owners do – through delivering value first to customers, and EARNING more revenue.

And our industry is no different, we have a distinct division between those in the trenches, cleaning real dirt and earning their money, versus the big business carpet mills and regulatory associations like CRI, who only know how to “take” in fees to increase their own revenue (or lobby to have states – like CA – make new rules to force more to buy their goods… growth through regulation, not through performance or quality).

Here’s a piece I wrote a few months ago on this ==> Industry Parasites vs. Industry Producers

The fact is, groups like the CRI do not understand “us” cleaners because we are two very distinct groups.

When companies become very large, they lose their sense of accountability, and lose their focus of value creation.

People and companies become numbers and budget line items.

Their focus is in keeping the status quo (and their jobs) in tact – not on delivering even better value to American homeowners.

There are quotas to keep, budgets to keep, shareholders to impress, lobbyists to press, and LOTS and LOTS of egos to stroke.

It’s so much simpler for small business owners. And so much more rewarding. Why?

Because every day we KNOW when we have done well. We clean a home to the best of our ability, the client is super happy, and we are paid.

No supervisor asses to kiss. No reports to write to justify our role and salary. No subordinates to make look bad so we can look even better.

The quality control for small business IS the happy client. It is their clean home.

No politics. No lies. No manipulation. No parasites. No board of directors.

You ever meet a person who has escaped the chains of big corporate business? Someone who surely everyone said was NUTS to leave their “safe corporate job” – but who is thrilled to be working for himself? Even if the pay is less – he’s happier… why?

Because he has the freedom to do excellent work and give excellent service. And he does not have to cut back on quality to please the bean-counters, and he does not have to worry that someone else will swoop in and take credit for HIS work. And he can set his own hours, choose his own clients, and be the decision-maker on every important choice… instead of passing it like a hot potato from committee to committee – afraid that if it happens to be the wrong decision someone will have to take responsibility.

Nope… small business owners FREELY take responsibility. They take pride in doing their best and being the leader of their company, which might not be a BIG business, but it is HIS business (or HER business or THEIR family business).

It’s their small business. Their creation. Their rules.

The funny thing is, the big business bureaucrats think they have the real power. That they have the “great” life…

…when they are all in a corporate trap.

They have no real freedom – they are told what to do on EVERYTHING. They are judged by others on EVERY action. Many have no real satisfaction in their work, because at the end of the day they do not KNOW if they had a great day – they only know when the performance review says they were great later that quarter.

Running a business through committee is like running your marriage through your in-laws. If they had to speak up and make decisions FOR you, and had the power to VETO you, would you be more or less miserable? Would you have a more productive and enjoyable marriage by committee?

Now, I’m sure your in-laws are awesome. The point is, multiple voices delay action and keep you from jumping on things that you know “in your gut” are something you want to do. You can’t create “great gut instincts” through committee. In fact, you can’t create anything outstanding through committee.

This is why you can have all of these individually great business minds on the IICRC Board, but together you get a lot of recycling of the same old ideas and a pace of progress that any 2 year old can outrun.

The only thing committees are great at creating are regulations and complexity to keep committee members busy (and employed). =)

Which is why the Health Care Bill from DC is 2,000+ pages long – when if YOU wrote the bill (or any entrepreneur for that matter) – you could keep it simple, keep it fair, and keep it to one page of bullet points.

Am I right?

I’d rather eat REAL dirt before working for a big business corporation. Because I want to create real value for real people in real time.

Kudos to all of you REAL cleaners out there making a real difference in the lives of your family, your employees, your clients, and your communities. You create more real value in a year than any of the big bureaucrats who are trying to tell you what to do.

All my best to you for your BEST year ever in 2011,

Lisa

P.S. Bill Bane’s great post on “Who are They?” – a must read. His perspective on “us” and the CRI.

An eye for an eye.

A recent post on the Bane-Clene blog hits on a trend that is becoming a reality within the cleaning industry, that of cleaning companies showing their displeasure with the CRI’s baseless SOA recommendations by referring their customers to carpet retailers who are not actively following CRI’s horribly flawed and completely irrelevant testing results.

The CRI knows how to make carpet. They do not know how to clean it. Remember their President’s exact words at his presentation to cleaners sharing that he knew nothing about cleaning, but he thought the Rug Doctor did a pretty good job?

The next time your clients ask you who is the best retailer to purchase their new flooring from, realize that this is a valuable referral you are about to give. You are the person they trust into their home to care for their floors, upholstery, rugs, and their overall indoor environment.

Take a moment to check and see which retailers in your town are drinking the SOA koolaid, and which ones are genuinely giving their flooring customers cleaning recommendations based on actual results from real cleaners and not some meaningless logo based on “tests” with fake dirt.

Reward those who have high integrity like you do.

- Lisa

Solving a problem that isn’t there.

CRI came onto the scene with their Seal of Approval program as a way to “solve” a problem with cleaning their product that simply did not exist.

Here’s an excerpt from the latest issue of the Bane-Clene Newsletter (I’ve uploaded page one of the issue, with permission, but here is the excerpt. My emphasis added.)

“Score: Installation-314, Sales-253, Cleaning-131

…I’ve monitored complaint sites on the internet since 1995 for carpet related complaints. The results in the headline above are the number I reviewed and cataloged in one year.

Installation leads with peaking seams and rippling caused by not using a power stretcher. Faulty pattern matches, dye defects and side match issues are high on the list. In retailing, defective carpet, late deliveries, broken promises and product substitution are in second place. Some retailers have even taken deposits while in bankruptcy and didn’t deliver the carpet.

Carpet cleaning complaints are a distant third and are insignificant by comparison.

Most cleaning related complaints were from consumers trying to clean their own carpets. The main gripes were about watered down chemical products and cheap, poorly maintained rental equipment. Building managers (DIY variety) also complained.

Complaints about professional cleaners were nearly all about bait and switch advertisers, failure to return phone calls and rude techni- cians. Consumer complaints about cleaning equipment, chemicals, brands or methods used by professionals are non-existent.

It’s time for CRI to stop extorting money from professional cleaners and their suppliers through the auspices of their bogus and flawed SOA testing program.”

If CRI wanted to truly solve a pressing problem – they would tackle the bigger sources of the complaints and claims they handle.

But…the MONEY isn’t in that. =)

The money is in the testing fees and membership fees for ALL of those products and tools and machines.

This program has never been consumer-driven or consumer-focused. It’s always been about the money. In my opinion of course.

- Lisa

P.S. Want some Holiday Rug Care Tips to share with your clients – here you go!

CLICK HERE ==> Holiday Rug Spills – ‘Tis the Season!

Scumbags in our industry.

I saw this video today via the Baneclene blog…

…and it infuriated me.

Bill is spot on in his post in regards to the biggest harm done to consumers by some cleaners is NOT their equipment and solution choices (and whether or not they are SOA-approved) – but rather those scumbags like Joe Esposito in New York in this video, who knowingly prey on the elderly to rip them off.

If this rug in the news clip had gone to a REAL rug plant, the price would have ranged between $4-6 per square foot. Some variables would be the condition of the rug, and whether any animal activity required additional work. Any transportation trip fees would be extra if the client did not bring the rug to the facility (and in this news clip I expect they would NEVER want anyone to see the filthy operation that they had in a small little garage with an expensive Mercedes in front).

Let’s say that rug was 10×12, and the price was at the middle point of $5… that would be, for 120 square feet, $600.

In this news episode the price was almost SEVEN THOUSAND. And they did not wash the rug, it looked like they did not even clean it, as evident by the other company who came in and gave it a quick steam cleaning and the water running grey. (By the way, wool hand woven rugs should NOT be steam cleaned, they should be washed, but that’s a post for another day…and on my other blog, the Rug Chick blog. For the visual it was good for the camera in this case.)

If I were a consumer, and watched this news clip, I would be scared to call any cleaning company to handle my valuable rug (the large one in this video is a 1920′s era Sarouk hand woven wool rug), and I’d be scared to let anyone like this walk into my home.

But scumbags like this are not new in our industry.

They’ve always been around, running bait-n-switch operations. It might be only five percent of our overall industry – but it soils and stains our ENTIRE profession.  Those of us who take pride in our work and service have to work harder because of criminals like these.

What’s the answer? Education…and exposure.

I know many of you do exactly this in your business, you educate prospects to help them make an informed decision on choosing the right cleaning company.  You give an estimate BEFORE the work begins, so they know what amount they are authorizing.  You cover all variables that require additional work BEFOREHAND, and not after the fact.

Sheesh… that is just the way all businesses operate, when they are ethical. Right?

An even scarier thought is that there are some scumbags like this in restoration also handling flood and fire disaster work. Charging for services they never do, and exposing the occupants of homes to even more danger – and over billing – than what these rug cleaning criminals have done.

It’s time to clean up our own industry of these guys…

…we ALL are harmed when there are a few pathetic losers like these guys harming consumers.

- Lisa

P.S. I hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving. =)