What To Look For: Finding The Right Sofa Cleaner
Keeping your upholstery fresh and clean will brighten the living space, lighting up the room and impressing your visitors. On the other hand, without proper care, it will lose its lustre and drag down the decor of the room with it. Having a routine sofa cleaning schedule in place will enable you to protect your set. However, this is not a task that can be carried out by just anybody. There is plenty of risk involved, especially to the beauty of the upholstery, and the structural integrity of your set. When hiring a sofa cleaning company, there are different aspects that need to be considered. These include:
- The expertise of the firm
Typing “professional sofa cleaner near me” into your browser’s search bar will no doubt yield hundreds of services. Certainly, not all of them are actually experts who will deliver on their mandate. Yes, search engines come with algorithms that rank the service providers based on different metrics including their digital footprint and online reputation. Here, you want to dig deeper into the companies that show up after the results. This involves looking through their history of performance and customer reviews, which brings us to the next point.
- Reputation level
What do other customers have to say about the sofa cleaning services they received from the company? Checking the feedback they give on the brand’s social media handles, business directory review sections, and even asking around amongst your friends and colleagues who may have dealt with the local companies, will give you an idea of what you can expect. When going through the reviews- especially on social sites, remember that negative reviews are not necessarily a case to write off a brand. What does this mean? First, no company has achieved 100% satisfaction will all its clients throughout the history of its existence. Secondly, social media does have lots of trolls, who get thrills from bashing brands. So, what should you do? Well, for the trolls, simply ignore them. However, for the genuine customer complaints, be keen to observe how the company dealt with the issue. Professional firms follow up on these negative reviews, in order to address the complaint and rectify the situation- after which the aggrieved customer is encouraged to follow through with an update on their review. Such situations show you the kind of emphasis that a company makes in ensuring that its customers are satisfied with its services. Of course, if the company representatives are being all rude and dismissive to the complaining customers, then that’s a major red flag.
- Years in which the company has been in operation
This enables you to judge its viability. Definitely, a company that has been around for years will be more reliable than a rookie picking up the task as a hobby to keep them preoccupied over the weekend. Fly-by-night types whose physical address cannot even be accurately traced are actually a security concern. On the other hand, companies that have been in operation for longer will have service reports that you can assess, customer ratings, and some even come with awards that they have achieved. Given that the sofa cleaning industry is highly competitive, for the company to survive in it over the years, it will need to be effective in its service delivery, giving you more confidence when hiring them for the task.
When engaging the sofa cleaning company, be sure to ask them to give you the specifics of the products and processes that are used, all through to the drying time that you can expect after the process. Also check whether it uses its own trained and certified experts, or it outsources to the task to a third party- a subcontractor. In addition, ensure that you get a detailed quotation for the services being rendered, for you to know what exactly you’re paying for, which is particularly handy in avoiding disagreements later on.
Getting the specifics cleared up
There are a couple of issues that you will need to ensure have been raised and settled before you hire the sofa cleaning company and the task commences. For instance, in case there are particularly troublesome stains that you want to be addressed – like the scenarios with pet urine stains, notify the company about this, as they require different measures compared to the regular drink spills. Speaking of pets, for those with cats and dogs that will be aggravated by the presence of the cleaning crew and heavy machinery in the household, it is recommended that you make prior arrangements to have them out of the residence when the cleaning will be carried out- for instance, Fluffy can be taken out to the dog park, or stay with a neighbour.
Are you particularly keen on eco-friendly cleaning processes? Bring this up as well, as the company’s personnel should explain in detail about the products and systems that they intend to use to accomplish the task. For those with kids and pets, there should be an emphasis on the application of cleaning agents that are friendly to the little ones. How long will the sofa take to dry? While the specific time cannot be accurately determined – as it is prone to environmental conditions at the premises, there should be an estimate given, that way you can plan accordingly. Has the company been insured? This is in line with industry best practices, where the goal is to ensure that the client, and the sofa cleaning firm as well, are protected in case of accidents while the task is being carried out.
When it comes to the price, don’t be quick to snap up the cheap offers on the market. Comparing quotes from different companies will point to a reasonable price range for the services you desire, based on your particular situation. Low prices end up being costly in the long run. Cases of poorly done services and damages made to the furniture due to hiring rookies for the task, having been drawn by the rock-bottom rates, will force you to dig deeper into your pocket to resolve the issues that arise.
