Cleancare of Boulder

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/01) */
In our initial conversation with the customer, he explained that he was very sensitive to odorsWe warned him that to remove the cat urine, we would need to use a powerful urine neutralizer that had a strong odor itselfEven with that warning,
he still desired us to take care of his problem for him
When greeting our technician and showing him into the home, the customer stated that he was much more sensitive to smells than most peopleHe said, "For instance, your cologne is very strong to me." The technician told him that he actually was not wearing any cologneThe client answered back, "Well, then, it must be your deodorant."
When initially inspecting the bedroom where the cat urine contamination was, it seemed minor as the technician could not smell any trace of cat urine upon entering the roomThe customer then put his face into the carpet and smelled it so that he could tell the technician where the cat odor wasHe said he could smell it along the edge of one wall
The technician then attempted to perform a black (ultraviolet)light inspection as there were no visible cat urine stainsUnfortunately, the room was very bright with daylight and the window coverings did not keep light outBlack light requires darkness to indicate urine stainsThere were faint signs of urine, but nothing definitiveUsually pet urine is very obvious under black lightBut again, brightness of the room nullifies ultraviolet accuracy
Our urine removal procedure involves flooding the area with pet urine neutralizerWe literally pour it out of a watering can onto the carpet so that it fully saturates the carpet and padThis allows the neutralizer to follow the same path as the cat urineCat urine will travel down through the carpet and get into the pad and even onto the sub floor below thatSo, urine neutralizer needs to do the same thing
Urine neutralizer will dissolve and dislodge alkaline salt residues that build up in urine deposits and neutralize sticky and gummy lipidsAlso, specialty surfactants carry the active ingredients deep into the carpet and help to penetrate the carpet fiber for more effective treatment
After allowing the neutralizer to sit for minutes, we extracted it out of the carpet and pad with a specially designed extraction tool called a Water ClawSee video at: http://www.cleancareboulder.com/How-to-Get-Rid-of-Your-Cat-Urine-in-Arvada-CO.ht...⇄ /> After extracting the neutralizer, we then flooded the area with clear water and used the Water Claw again to get remaining neutralizer out of the carpet material
Following the clear water rinse, we flooded the area again with an odor killing agentThis agent, called Hydrocide, contains an odor neutralizer that binds to and absorbs odors no matter what the sourceIt can handle odors from humans, animals, food, chemical processes and smokeThis is a premium odor counteractant that is very well known and respected in the pet odor restoration industryIt is also nearly neutral as far as containing any odor itselfIt is practically odorless when it is appliedAny odor it does have, disappears upon dryingThis was used to take care of any and all odors associated with the cat urine as well as any chemical odor from the urine neutralizer
After extracting the Hydrocide with the Water Claw, the entire room was then pre-treated with an enzyme cleaner and then steam cleaned with our truck mounted machine with degree soft waterAnd finally, after drying the carpet with Air Path dryers, we lightly sprayed the entire room with Hydrocide as a last odor killing step
Our first cleaning service took us and 1/hoursWe charged the customer $The technician knew he had initially quoted the customer too little the more he spoke with him about his odor sensitivitiesMuch additional work beyond our service procedures was performed (hence the and 1/hours)However, we do not bait and switch our pricing so the price stood firm
The customer called the next week and said that the cat urine odor was now goneHowever, he complained about a chemical smellWe arranged for a second cleaning to alleviate that issue
At this second service call, the customer showed the technician to the roomUpon entering the room, the technician could not detect any odorThe customer stated that "You can't really smell it in the air, you have to put your face down near the carpet" The customer then proceeded to put his nose in the carpet in the area he had previously pointed out urine contaminationThe technician did the same to see what it was the customer was smellingTo the technician, it just smelled fresh and cleanThere was absolutely no urine odor, which is what we were hired to removeHowever, respecting the customers opinion, the technician again strung our truck mount hoses from his far away mountain side parking spot, down his very steep outdoor stairwell and feet to his home's entranceHe hauled in our equipment a second time and re-cleaned the entire roomClear water was flooded onto the previous cat urine areas and extracted again with the Water ClawJust to ensure customer satisfaction, the technician flooded the area a second time and again extracted with the Water ClawHe then steam cleaned the entire room again with clear, soft water at degreesHe then placed AirPath dryers in the room
No money was collected for this second 1/hour serviceOur time invested: hours, plus drive time for $
The customer called a week later and complained that when he put his nose down in the carpet, he could still smell a chemical odorSince this is the most neutral smelling odor counteractant on the market, we told him that any more cleaning would be counter productiveFrom years of experience and many odor restoration training courses, we are well aware that odor can be a psychological issueIf the customer believes he smells something, he will always smell itThere are instances that no matter what resolution is performed, that psychological barrier of an existing odor to an individual cannot be overcome
We did give the customer one last optionWe would place an ozone machine in his bedroom.Ozone machines work by changing Oxygen (O2) into Ozone (O3)When contaminants such as odors, bacteria or viruses make contact with ozone, they are destroyed completely by oxidationIn so doing, that extra atom of oxygen is consumed and there is nothing left...no odor...no bacteria...no extra atom, only oxygenOzone reverts back to oxygen after it is used
However, we would not do this ozone service for freeWe have performed pet odor services in hundreds of homes using the same method we used in this customer's home with exemplary resultsIn fact, we have not had a single claim of residual odor in over years of pet odor serviceNot surprisingly therefore, ozone service is an extra, additional service that is apart from our pet urine restoration serviceWe quoted him a charge of $for ozone serviceThat is what the cost is for us- we would have made zero profitHe declined, stating that for one, it should be done for free and two, he doubted that ozone would take care of the problem
So, where were we to go from there? The customer stated that we have an Iron Clad guaranteeHowever, we clearly state that it does not pertain to pet urine contamination.See bottom of page at: http://www.cleancareboulder.com/Newsletter.html as well as: http://www.cleancareboulder.com/Pet-concerns.html
We will always attempt to satisfy a legitimate complaint and will come back out as soon as we can to re-clean any area of concern for freeHowever, we explain to pet urine customers (before we attempt removal) that pet urine service is never guaranteedWhy? Because, there is a wide scope of unpredictability in pet urine removal as far as amount of urine deposits, urine location, age of that urine, psychological issues and the unique olfactory senses of certain people
We did not believe that there was anything further that we could possibly do to satisfy this customerAfter inspection on our second visit, we simply did not agree that a "strong odor of cleaning product" exists at allSo to avoid prolonging this unworkable situation, we refunded the customer the full amount of our cleaning invoiceEven though pet odor contamination does not fall under our guarantee, we at least wanted to refund his money because we are not in the habit of sending away dissatisfied customers
We have performed services as we said we would and removed his cat urine odor as well as is possible by industry standards
We advise replacement of carpet and pad when cat odor removal is not satisfactoryBut, the cats do not become our responsibility just because we clean after themThey are in fact HIS catsResponsibility for replacement falls on the customer alone
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/12/02) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The business is mis-stating some facts
I was not warned ahead of time that the "neutralizer" had a strong odorI was certainly not warned that there would be any lingering odorI had expressed up front the importance that there not be any lingering odor
It should be noted that before the business was recruited i'd already attempted to neutralize the cat urine odor myself with enzyme products, but I didn't feel that it was 100% effectiveThat's no doubt why a UV lamp didn't reveal surface problemsI have & used a UV lamp of my own
A week after the first visit, I called and complained that yes, while the urine smell was gone, I couldn't utilize the bedroom without having windows open, as the smell of the cleaning chemical(s) was too strongI further explained that I was worried, as the smell didn't seem to be dissipating very rapidly, and colder weather was surely coming, such that having windows open would no longer be an option
That "...the technician could not detect any odor..." is surely more a reflection of his senses that molecules in the air in the roomAny & everyone who i've subsequently had over is immediately aware of the "off" smell in the room
After the 2nd steam cleaning, I did note an improvement, particularly when getting my nose on the carpet out in the middle of the room, but the chemical odor situation persists throughout the room, and i'm not able to utilize the largest bedroom in my house
Since all this, i've had the floor heat in that bedroom crankhigh, hoping to volatilize the chem's as much as possibleCan't really say whether it's helping
So basically, I seem stuck with a bedroom that I can't yet utilize, and no solution proposed or pending to removing the chem' smell
The business offered to bring an "ozone machine" for a $50-some fee, but I remain skeptical that it would do anything with the origin of the odor, deep in the carpet & padI expect it might only just help for the very shortest termAnd I don't feel the business is acting honorably, in proposing to charge for any follworkHow "iron clad" is that?
Personally, I wonder now if steam is just simply inadequate to mobilize the chem' maybe a solvent like ethyl or methyl alcohol would be more effective at removing itsomething which itself would completely volatilize and leave no lingering solvent odor
My $was refunded, but the smell remainsThis customer is simply not satisfied
'Be happy to supply a list of names of people who've agreed about the lingering smell in the room
Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2015/12/14) */
We stand by our previous response to this complaintWe did not "mis-state" ANY facts as the consumer claimsThe consumer was indeed warned of cat urine neutralizer odor from the very initial inquiryThis warning is standard procedureHis cat urine issues in his carpet were dealt with according to industry standards using the highest quality restoration products availableIt is a method we have performed thousands of times with not one single complaint from ANY other clientSee our Revdex.com complaint recordNOT ONE since we opened our doors in
We have experts in our industry that will support our contention that the premium odor counteractant we used to kill urine odor (after the urine neutralizer has unlocked the urine from the fibers) has a neutral odor and that it is undetectable upon dryingIt kills all odor molecules it comes in contact with and simple chemistry dictates that it cannot leave behind an odor
FACT: Cat urine damages carpetThe customer allowed his cats to urinate on his carpetWe firmly believe that the urine from the client's cats has damaged and degraded the adhesives in his carpet's foundation and that may be where any odor he is detecting may originate fromOur previous odor treatment would not be affecting that current odor as it is an ongoing odor from off gassing of the adhesivesIn fact, the consumer still has the same cats living in his homeCats ALWAYS return to the same area they originally urinated inIt becomes, in a sense, their toiletAre we supposed to just believe this has not happened in this consumer's case?
This is why we do NOT guarantee pet urine removalThere are too many unpredictable variablesConsumers are always warned that the procedure may not completely remove the odor or even all of the urine (we can't see underneath the carpet)The consumer continuously states that that our service with him was guaranteedOur website contradicts that claim and it is simply not trueThe ONLY fool-proof way to eliminate cat urine is A) Remove all cats from the home and B) Remove and replace the carpet and carpet pad and C) Paint/seal the sub-floor underneathThat is the ONLY guarantee-able way to eliminate cat urineWe recommend this procedure for this consumerHe will be dissatisfied with anything elseOur company does not perform carpet removal and re-installation, however
Our pet urine removal methods are a way of avoiding the high cost of replacing carpet and padMany times it is sufficient and we have many consumers who are happy with the resultsHowever, if you have extremely sensitive olfactory senses as this consumer does in fact have (he admitted this from the outset), you should not expect others to perform miracles that are above and beyond what is reasonableWe believe that is what is being asked of us here
Also, the customer tries to come up with his own home remedy for the problem by advising in his rebuttal that methyl or ethyl alcohol would take care of the problemSorry, but alcohol has no rinsing abilities for removing residue and no inherent odor removing capabilitiesJust look at ANY over-the-counter odor removerNone contain alcoholNeither do professional odor removers available to usSo why would any trained odor specialist apply ethyl alcohol straight onto carpet? We will notAnd we will never add another chemical to this odor sensitive consumer's home again
I noticed on the Mediation Specialist's cover sheet that she suggests both parties involved in a complaint move to middle ground to resolve the issueWe have done that and moreWe actually honored a guarantee on a service that is NOT guaranteedWe came back and performed a second thorough cleaning for FREEThen upon further complaint by consumer, we then refunded all money paid to us because there is nothing further that can be doneHow much more can we move towards "middle ground?" Realistically, we have bent over backwards to accommodate this consumer
We do not feel we have any further responsibility for this consumer's carpetHe was a negligent home owner by allowing his cats to urinate on his carpetOur company does not accept responsibility for his negligence just because we tried to aid him in his problemWe took all proper steps in properly performing pet urine remediationBut in this particular consumer's case, this is just not a satisfactory procedureHe has cat urine damage, not chemical residue odorNothing we used would have caused the issues he is complaining aboutAgain, we have industry experts who back this contention
Our stance is that it is HIS property damaged by HIS cats and it his HIS responsibility