The Low-down on Scotchgard™ Carpet & Upholstery Protector, Part 1

Every year consumers begin their housekeeping ritual by having their carpets and upholstery cleaned. Many consumers have an unsettled feeling when they ponder the decision to “hire” a carpet cleaner. The internet is replete with consumers who post their unhappy experiences with the carpet cleaning services they received. Whenever a consumer in Scottsdale, Arizona has their carpets or upholstery cleaned, it seems like the carpet cleaner is focused more on selling protector than cleaning the carpet. To the vast majority of consumers in the Scottsdale area, Carpet and Upholstery protectors do not live up to all of the hype. Since more consumers are declining protector services, Stone Care of Arizona would like to share “THE LOW-DOWN ON CARPET & UPHOLSTERY PROTECTOR IN SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA.”

There are two distinct possibilities for their motivation:

Most carpet cleaning technicians are paid a commission for selling additional services. Their management will deliberately hire “selling technicians” who will increase the outgoing size of a cleaning invoice. Of course, there is nothing wrong with commission sales. However, offering carpet protector services “must” be based on the “cleaning needs” of the customer versus the need for a “commission.” You can spot a selling technician by their approach. When they begin the process of selling you before taking the time to get to know you, it is obvious that they do not have your best interest at heart. Sales technicians have a tendency to try to manipulate or shame you into purchasing protector services.

The major reason why protectants are offered is to protect your investment. Carpet and upholstery are susceptible to spills and spots. Technicians who genuinely “care” about their consumers will not try to profit at their customer’s expense. This technician will only offer “what you need” and never will cross the line into the realm of selling for the sake of selling. Both their conversation and motivation are anchored in trying to help you.

The main reason, customers say “no” to applying protectors is because they are feel manipulated by a sales technique without a proper foundation. The commission seeking technicians is under pressure to sell and their behavior and conversation is the tell-tail sign that they only want to sell. Secondly, oftentimes consumers are not able to see any difference between a protected carpet and one that has not been treated. Consequently, customers are disappointed in the claims made about repellency the Technician promised.

Simply stated, it doesn’t work due to Technician error or negligence. Technicians do not always follow the directions stated on the bottle. Many protectors have a specified amount that must be sprayed based on square footage for proper coverage. For example, carpet cleaners are directed by DuPont to diluted Teflon Advance to use 4-part waters to 1-part concentrate. It will cover 200 square feet of damp carpet. This means if you have 2000 square feet of damp carpeting the proper amount of Teflon Advance needed to be applied would be 10 gallons. The retail cost is $56 and plus taxes. The cost of maximum coverage suggested by the manufacturer is approximately $560. If you pay 18 cents to clean 2000 square feet, the price would be $360. Most carpet cleaners price by the room. The going rate is $33 to $60 per room. Leaving the bait and switch carpet cleaning companies out of the equation, this is the going rate in our industry. Let say, you have 9 rooms and stairs, you would pay $297 to $540 for carpet cleaning. Would you pay an additional $560 on top of the cleaning for the protector? The answer to this from most customers is NO! Why? Very few consumers will pay more for the protector then the cleaning. The place the carpet cleaner in a precarious position.

In order to circumvent the process and cut corners, some carpet cleaning companies will engage in the following practices:

Most protectors such as of SCOTCHGUARD™, TEFLON ADVANCE®, MAXIM®, and STAINSHIELD® will license legitimate carpet cleaning companies to service their warranty claims. These companies want you to have confidence in the benefits of reapplying protector after cleaning. Most legitimate carpet cleaning companies will never knowingly undercut their application process. These legitimate carpet cleaners are seeing a decline in Protectant service from customers who have justifiable cause to believe carpet Protectants are not worth spending the extra money.

Sadly, too often carpet cleaning companies will not train their technicians on the proper applications for SCOTCHGARD™, TEFLON ADVANCE®, MAXIM®, and STAINSHIELD®. This places you to the consumer to police their motivations and application of what you expect. 

Be sure to ask questions about the warranty of SCOTCHGARD™, TEFLON ADVANCE®, MAXIM®, and STAINSHIELD® before consenting. Most of the aftermarket post-treatment protectors have written documentation providing you with a written guarantee. 

Thanks for reading Part 1, The link below will take you to Part 2: 

The message is brought to you by Stone Care of Arizona, Carpet, Tile & Grout and Natural Stone Care company. If you would like to discuss cleaning applying SCOTCHGARD™, TEFLON ADVANCE®, MAXIM® and STAINSHIELD® on Carpet and Upholstery please give us a call at 480-625-0557.