Groupn Tile and Grout Cleaning:
This past weekend one of my local competitors ran this tile & grout cleaning advertisement with Groupon: "150 square feet of tile & grout cleaning for only $59.00 a SAVINGS of 81%- a value of $262.50 (this would translate to $1.75 per square foot which would make him the most expensive tile & grout cleaner in Sacramento, probably the world). This Groupon was for man made tile only, porcelain and ceramic, NOT natural stone. In the past I have expressed that there is a market place for Groupon but NOT in the cleaning business. Of the $59.00 a consumer will spend with Groupn 50% of the $59.00 ($29.50) will go to Groupon and $29.50 will go to the cleaner.
According to the Groupon "ask the vendor" question section he was asked two questions I would like to address:
1). "I currently have 400 square feet of tile & grout how much for the remaining 250 square feet after the groupon? His answer was "$1.00 per square foot and it is the lowest price we have ever offered. Normally we charge $1.75 per square foot." I am sorry folks but this is NOT honest. How do I know this? First according to his yelp reviews he has run a similar ad on Living Social and a previous ad on Groupon this calendar year. Most if not all of his business has been coming from these deeply discounted offers. Second, I keep a fair hand on my competitors and I know that the AVERAGE RATE OF CLEANING IN SACRAMENTO IS $1.00 PER SQUARE FOOT. According to his Yelp Reviews he is averaging 2 1/5 stars and the people with complaints are the ones who bought a Groupon or Living Social coupon. In fairness to him he did have a number of positive reviews for carpet cleaning.
2). "How long does it take you to clean and seal 400 square feet of tile and grout?" His answer, "It usually takes us about 2 hours to clean and seal 400 square feet of tile and grout." If you go back to the first page of my website you will see that when we are cleaning 500 square feet or more we devote the entire day to that one customer. Why? Because there are numerous steps you must take to properly clean and seal tile and grout. Before you can seal grout you must first blow dry the grout and it must be dry before applying sealer of any kind. It typically takes ONE HOUR to thoroughly blow dry the floor before you can apply the sealer. It typically takes us one hour to set up and prep the floor for cleaning. His answer to this question clearly demonstrates that he does not know how to properly clean and seal a tile and grout floor.
If have said it before and I will say it again "If it sounds to good to be true then it probably is." Folks please stay away from these types of cleaners. If you have questions please email me at paddle@frontiernet.net.
Michael Hull
