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I'm both a Certified carpet cleaning technician and a carpet cleaning business owner. Too often, I see unfortunate situations where consumers base their decision to choose a carpet cleaner on price alone. As the U.S. economy struggles, large sub-contracting companies, usually based in New York, New Jersey and California, are making life even tougher for those seeking low-price carpet cleaning by employing, "bait & switch" techniques on unsuspecting consumers across the country. "Bait & switch" is the practice of advertising a low price to get into the home and then suddenly changing the price once inside, usually with high-pressure sales tactics designed to intimidate the homeowner. Don't let this happen to you. Choose a quality, well-known and reputable company such as ServiceMaster Clean, "the World's largest cleaning company". We've been cleaning carpets since 1955 and operate 4,500 locations throughout the world.

Read the articles below for more information on how to protect yourself and your home:
Source: Santa Monica Daily Press
Carpet cleaning company accused of bait and switch

by Melody Hanatani

March 12, 2009

CITY HALL — Accused of false advertising and elder abuse, a carpet cleaning company in the San Fernando Valley was hit with a criminal complaint by the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office this week.

The 16-count complaint against Sharon Gilboa and his company, Woodland Hills-based Clean Dry USA, claims bait and switch tactics in which numerous clients from throughout Southern California were allegedly victimized, including a Santa Monica resident.

The charges, which were filed on behalf of the Los Angeles City Attorney, include grand theft by false pretenses, false advertising and elder abuse. Three of the victims, including the Santa Monica woman, are senior citizens. The Santa Monica City Attorney will prosecute the case.

Gilboa and Clean Dry USA, Inc. are scheduled to be arraigned at the Airport Courthouse on March 17. The misdemeanor charges each carry a maximum sentence of one year in county jail and fine of up to $2,500.

The Consumer Protection Unit with the City Attorney’s Office began investigating the company after it received a complaint from a Santa Monica resident in late 2008. Officials ultimately received more than a dozen complaints.

“Our investigation revealed that there were a number of other victims throughout Southern California who had done business with this same company,” Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky said.

Mark Werksman, the attorney representing Gilboa, refuted the allegations, calling them baseless.

“This case was a result of a huge misunderstanding and misinterpretation of how this company works and what they do for their company,” Werksman said. “When all the facts are presented, then it will be clear that there was no wrongdoing on the part of anyone and that what we simply had is a number of customers whose complaints are groundless.”

He added that the company was always careful to be clear and precise as to what it was charging for its services.

According to the company’s Web site, Clean Dry USA offers various services including carpet, upholstery and area rug cleaning.

The Better Business Bureau, which has received 51 complaints over the past three years, gave the company an F rating. An analysis on the complaints states that customers complain that the technicians employed “high pressure tactics or intimidation to persuade them to agree to much higher priced services.”

Some have claimed that after cleaning, the carpet was visibly the same.

“The company responds to complaints by explaining that the customers were aware that their carpets may not come clean with the dry cleaning method due to heavy soiling, and generally agree to send a technician back to the home for recleaning,” the analysis continues. “To address allegations of bait and switch, or overcharging, the company contends that customers did not have to agree to the charges, but did, and provided a breakdown of their charges.”

Several dissatisfied customers have posted warnings on sites like ComplaintsBoard.com and RipoffReport.com, some claiming false advertising, others alleging that their floors were destroyed in the cleaning process.

One customer on RipoffReport.com stated that the company refused to honor their satisfaction guarantee to refund their money or return and re-clean the carpets.

“They did nothing to rectify the situation,” the poster said. “They use deceptive advertising in their ads.”

Customers who believe they have been victimized by Clean Dry USA or an affiliate company known as Target Carpet Care are encouraged to contact the Consumer Protection Unit at (310) 458-8336 or smconsumer.org

I-Team: BBB Files: Carpet And Vent Cleaning


4/30/2008 10:38 pm

Reported by: Hagit Limor

As many times as you hear the old adage about things being 'too good to be true,' it's just hard to resist, especially when the offer comes again and again for a service all of us need: carpet cleaning.

Tri-State consumers have been getting colorful coupons in the mail, sometimes in special shopper magazines, boasting that a local company will clean your carpets for mere dollars per room or your air ducts for less than $50 for the whole house. Now, dozens of people have complained to the Better Business Bureau about the company after those great deals scrubbed them the wrong way.

"The more I thought about it, the more angry I got," said Amy Clark.

"They just took advantage of us," says Ksenia Misiukavets.

Both Clark and Misiukavets thought they found great deals through this coupon from Breeze Carpet & Ventilation Cleaning. Clark would pay $6.95 a room to clean her carpets. Misiukavets would pay $49.95 to clean all the vents in her house.

But when the company's workers got to the house, Misiukavets said, "They were walking around for about 20 to 25 minutes counting on how much it would be and they told us it would be around $600."

The exact bill was $681, a far cry from $49.95. Misiukavets says she figured they were the experts and didn't realize she was overbilled until after they left. "I didn't know what to expect and they just used it against me."

"Basically, they tricked me," Clark says. "They tricked me into spending way more money than I planned on spending."

Clark says the company's $6.95 cleaning was so light, it was no better than what she could have done herself. The worker told her for a real, deep cleaning the price was $280. "He said it was something that everyone did and I had to have it so I kind of felt pressured, really pressured into spending more money even though I told him up front that I only expected to pay under $25. I really don't have the money right now."

Misiukavets and her husband told the company the same story when they called back after the workers left and the vents looked just as dirty as before the expensive bill they paid. "I said, 'I'm sorry, but I am trying to resolve this problem the way it should be done because you didn't do the work and you have my $700, and we don't have that much money.'"

Misiukavets never got a refund. Clark got half her money back, but only after she got the Better Business Bureau involved.

"This particular company generated a lot of complaints," said Jocile Ehrlich, the president of the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau. She calls Breeze's tactics "Literally a bait and switch situation."

Ehrlich says the BBB called Breeze to set up a home cleaning, and got the same pitch as many customers who complained of pressure to upgrade to much more expensive deep cleaning. The BBB stuck with the price in the ad, then called an expert cleaner to look at what you got for $6.95 a room.

"In their opinion, there was no soap that was used," says Ehlich, "And in addition they said they would have cleaned the carpet, just as most other carpet cleaners would have, to the level of clean this company showed as their premium clean, for a price much less than any of the prices this company tried to get us to purchase."

Worse than the shoddy workmanship and high prices, the victims said was the way the company treated them when they tried to work out a solution.

"I spent a lot of time on the phone and just the way they made me feel, it was horrible. It's just really wrong," cried Misiukavets. "They said, 'We don't do refunds,' and he was really rude on the phone always, any time I called. They would put me on hold for 25 minutes, and it was just horrible."

Clark says the company's customer service representative was "Unsympathetic."
"I had trouble getting a hold of the manager and when I finally did she basically said, 'it said in the fine print under the $6.95 per room that that did not include a deep cleaning,'" Clark said.

At least Clark got some of her money back. Most customers may never do so becuase Breeze Carpet and Ventilation seems to have closed up shop. The office on Kemper Road was cleared out with no furniture. The phone number is disconnected.

Ehrlich says the bottom line was that what they offered  "wasn't much of a deal" despite the initial advertised fee. The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning and updated its website to warn other consumers. We've posted both those here, along with some tips from "Don't Waste Your Money"'s John Matarese.

Scam Hits Hundreds in Triangle

Wednesday, March 01, 2006
By Diane Wilson

(02/24/06 -- RALEIGH) (WTVD) -- Eyewitness News Troubleshooter Diane Wilson has been investigating a scam that has hit hundreds of consumers, including some in the Triangle.

The businesses do mass advertising, with weekly mailings that offer carpet cleaning and air duct cleaning at a great deal.

"This is just one giant rip-off," said N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper. "Clearly, this company was up to no good and tried to take money they didn't earn."

Don and Melissa Cokely know firsthand how the scam works.

"I've lost 30 years of my life," Don Cokely said. "How many other people are in the same situation?"

The couple bought a Raleigh company called Riteclean. They took over the carpet-cleaning business in April 2001, advertising carpet cleaning as low as $6.95 a room.

" We wanted to create a nice, family-owned business that was honest, respectable and decent," Don Cokely said. "We had an attorney, we had an accountant, we had a financial advisor. Every one of these people looked at this business and it appeared on the surface as a viable business."

The Cokelys were given financial records that had Riteclean making gross revenues just under $1 million in 10 months. But within days of taking over the company, the Cokelys say red flags popped up, especially when it came to employees.

"No background checks are done," Melissa Cokely said. "They don't have any experience in carpet cleaning."

Eyewitness News shot undercover video in 2000 while investigating complaints that Riteclean's previous owners were taking advantage of customers.

After taking over, the Cokelys say they quickly realized customers were getting ripped off by the employees they inherited.

"The reliance is: I'm going to go out, I'm going to do the least amount of work I can do and get most amount of money I can, and if these people complain, then I'll deal with it later," Don Cokely said.

They admit customers were not getting what they paid for.

"It didn't matter how hard we tried, you can't run it honestly because it's not meant to be set up honestly," Melissa Cokely said. "You can not clean carpet for $6.95 a room."

Within a year, Riteclean was bankrupt.

"We've lost respect, dignity," Don Cokely said. "It's rather humiliating, and I think the worst part is it took us so long to figure out what actually happened to us."

For the last 31/2 years, the Cokelys made it their mission to figure out what happened. Through countless hours of research, the Cokelys realized they are not alone. The men who created Riteclean in North Carolina created similar companies in at least 11 other states. Hundreds of Raleigh consumers are familiar with one of the companies, America's Best Home Services.

Not doing the work, fake warranties and high-pressure, bait-and-switch sales are all reasons why Attorney General Cooper took action against America's Best Home Services.

"You lure consumers in with a low advertised price and then&you scare them into something else," Cooper said.

Besides North Carolina, attorneys general in Ohio and Massachusetts have filed suits against the men behind these companies.

Cooper is seeking a permanent injunction against America's Best owners so they can't do business in this state again. That case is pending in the court system.

There are ways to prevent this from happening to you. If the company is offering something that sounds too good to be true, it typically is. Be careful when service workers enter your home. Do not let them do any work until you have it in writing what services they are doing and what is the exact price you pay.

Remember that in the state of North Carolina, you do have a three-day right to cancel these services.


Carpet cleaner faces bait-and-switch charges
3/1/2001 2:32:43 PM
TEANECK, NJ - A carpet cleaning company faces charges of violating the state's Consumer Fraud Act for allegedly using bait-and-switch tactics, deception and misrepresentation.

Tri-State Carpet and Upholstery Care Inc. was charged in a two-count civil complaint filed by the Attorney General's Office last week in Superior Court in Hackensack.

The state says much of Tri-State's business was obtained through "unconscionable commercial practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation."

The IICRC reported tremendous interest after a television news magazine exposed "bait-and-switch" operations: click here.

More recently, IICRC directors moved to increase rates and prevent abuse of the IICRC logo, targeting "bait-and-switch" operations: click here.

New Jersey sued Tri-State following a 10-month investigation by the Division of Consumer Affairs. In two years, the division received more than 40 complaints about the company, which faces penalties up to $7,500 for the each violation.

The suit charges Tri-State failed to give consumers estimates before performing services, overcharged and failed to honor advertised prices.

In addition, the company was accused of "harassing and threatening consumers" into agreeing to additional services, failure to respond to consumer complaints, charging customers extra to reclean their carpets, and misrepresenting warranty terms.

Peter Mancini of Fort Lee, Tri-State's president, told the Bergen Record the charges have no merit. "When we go to court, we will show there is no wrongdoing. We feel we have a pretty good record."

The state says when consumers agreed to upgraded services, the work was "substandard," resulting in the destruction of carpets. One complaint comes from a couple who paid Tri-State more than $1,000 to clean and dry their carpets and furniture after Tropical Storm Floyd left 18 inches of water in their home.

A week after Tri-State finished its work, mold and mildew was found all over the furniture, and a mattress under the couch was still soaking wet.

Another couple says they responded to a coupon offering to clean one room for $6.95 or five for $34.75. After the price was pushed up to $415 the carpet never dried, and later developed mold and offensive odors.

Tri-State's office manager Michael Harnist tells CM e-News Daily the company has been advised by its lawyers not to make any further statements to the press.

The Bergen Record reports that eight months ago, New York regulators reached a settlement with Tri-State over similar charges. As part of the settlement, Tri-State agreed to honor all advertised discounts, implement a system to respond to consumer complaints within 30 days, pay judgments obtained by former customers, and pay $5,000 to the Attorney General's Office for the cost of its investigation.

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