Response to Angie's List Review--(member name removed) Hi (member name removed), thanks so much for your review, it really points out to me some things we can do better and I've figured out how to solve those issues so they never happen again to anyone. I'm so sorry those three things happened to you and I want you to know that even though you don't intend to use us again, I want to make it right for you and here's how I propose to do that. 1. Two discolored sofa cushions. The most likely cause is cellulosic browning, which is an anomaly that sometimes occurs when the pH of the fabric rises just as the fabric finishes drying. In this case, the technician could not have known that the cushion was going to appear to brown or fade and it would not have been evident while the tech was there. We would never try to conceal a spot or area we could not get cleaned well. That is beneath our integrity. We have been cleaning for enough decades to know that the customer relations 'time bomb' hiding a spot would create, would have far more fallout than simply showing the client the problem and explaining that we could not clean it any better. As with fine clothing, dealing with upholstered fabrics is more involved, with unknowns outside the control of an experienced professional. Therefore we cheerfully build in free touch ups because fabrics can be fickle. To fix cellulosic browning is easy, if that is what the problem is, and I could have your sofa looking like new in a matter of a few minutes. We cleaned this for you in October 2013, but you only told me about this problem with the cushions when I talked to you last week (six months later). If I had known, I would have fixed them for you months ago. You told me there has been a family medical emergency that prevented you from calling and I can completely understand why that would take precedence over allowing us to take care of this for you. I'm so sorry you have been living with this problem. This is why I call and email you and all my clients after the work is done to make sure they are happy with the work, but sometimes clients don't tell me about something that is bothering them. I urge everyone to tell us. We want to know. We want to make certain that every client is as happy as can be about the service we perform for them. I hope you will allow us to touch this up for free for you. 2. Forgot to charge for an area rug, which you felt obligated to pay for. I'm sorry this happened. Once in a great while, a technician forgets to charge for something. When that happens, we honor the price quote and clean the item for free. Chris told me that he was just telling you that you were getting that room cleaned free because he forgot to quote you on it. He never intended to ask you for payment and did not want you to feel uncomfortable about it. He just wanted you to be happy that you got something for free. But when you offered to pay for it, he thought that was extremely nice of you. Looking back, I can see now that he never should have accepted the offer of payment, because after he left, it has become a negative that has undermined our original intent in giving you good cleaning and a pleasurable service experience. I'll gladly refund the money, even if you don't intend to use us again. Chris would never have accepted your generosity if he had known that it would mean losing you as a client. In fact, I'm feeling like no matter how we explain to the client that we are happy to be cleaning something for free for them, when this happens, there is no way we are going to come out looking good in the long run, which is what we intend. So we have decided to make it a policy that in the future, if we ever forget to charge for something, not only will we clean it for free, we will not even mention it to the client, so they will never know, because there seems to be no way we can tell them and come out looking good. If we tell them we are cleaning something for free, we will always look like we are trying to guilt them into paying for it and we will lose a client one way or the other. So we will never mention it again. I only wish we didn't have to lose you to learn that lesson. Again, I thank you for bringing this to our attention, because it enabled me to see that we need to change our procedure, so that we don't cause any other client to feel this way, ever again. You also mentioned that Chris did not clean some barstools for which you asked for a quote. That's because Chris felt like you were having so much done, that he decided to clean them for free as a kindness to you, that's why he never gave you a quote on them. We didn't forget, the stools were cleaned as a gift to you. 3. Lack of responsiveness I'm sorry you feel like I ignored you, and you are justified in that. Shortly after the cleaning, I called you to see about your plans in scheduling the other work you needed--hardwood cleaning and marble polishing. I did indeed leave at least one message for you, which I had noted on your file the day that I left it. I am pretty sure I left a second message just saying thanks for the work, which I usually do with every client. Now I'm wondering if I called a wrong number or something. I then sent a "Thank you" email. But I didn't pursue calling you after that, because I didn't want you to think I was being pushy. That was quite some time ago. Last week you finally called me back and we talked. I was relieved we were finally reconnecting. I was sorry to hear about your troubles, and I was anxious to move forward in getting things fixed up for you. In this review you said you asked about why we didn't call with a drapery referral. I sense the cleaner, who operates 3 dry cleaning locations plus a fire retardant company never got my message from his staff. Someone dropped the ball with his business, but believe me, I will be in touch with him about that. He has never done that before. Referrals from one business to another are very valuable and I am careful whom I refer because I don’t want my customers having a bad experience when I refer them. So I will be following up with this drapery cleaner to make sure they don't do this again, or I will replace them if need be. When you called, I was not trying to placate you without knowing who you are, as the review accuses. Your name came up on the caller I.D. I knew who you were. I had been thinking about you and wondering if I ought to call you again, or if you would get annoyed with me, thinking me to be pushy. I felt so relieved that you were finally calling me back. I didn't need to look up your file or ask your name or phone number, I was just eager to see how I could help you. I told you I called you and left a message, and that's the truth. It was noted as such on your client file. You said in the review that you checked your phone to see if I'd called. Did you go back six months? Because that's how far you would have had to go back to see that I had called. Also last week, you said you had a question about the bill, that I did not understand. I told you that I would have to talk to Chris, the technician who did the work and get back to you. There I let you down. We were so slammed for Easter and Passover that I didn't get back to you as fast as I should have, but I did in fact have it on my schedule to call you today, after a meeting I was having with Chris this morning. After talking with Chris, it was my intention to have him come back out there and re-clean the cushions, have a look at your revised project list and have him review your questions about the bill when he is there with you face to face, instead of going third person through me. I called you and left a message. Then I saw this review. I understand, as you told me last week, that this emergency with your family member and the move complicated your life and certain details & projects had to wait. Family and medical issues certainly take precedence over cleaning floors. So I really believe that I was doing my part on my end to get in touch with you and you were busy dealing with a crisis--not that I was neglecting you--I was just trying not to be an annoyance. I don't ever want any of my clients to feel like I'm dropping the ball or ignoring them and I take pride in the fact that we strive to deliver a cleaning and service experience better than anyone else. It's inevitable that something, sooner or later, will slip through the cracks and I'm sorry for that. When we did finally reconnect, I immediately took measures to hand your follow up over to Chris. I feel the technician, in this case my husband, is in a better position to review the cleaning performed, the pricing, explain any outcomes and talk about doing some touch up work for you. Since he was there, it would be more straightforward to talk to him, and best in person. Again, I thank you for this criticism because it gave me an idea of how I can improve my service. I've made a system for "special concerns" like yours, so that I can always have them right in front of me and visible and so that on any given day I can see who I need to call or what I need to do for my clients to make sure this never happens again to anyone. In conclusion-- (member name removed), if there is any other way you feel like I can make this better for you, please tell me and allow me to do that. I don't want to lose a great client like you, but even if you don't intend to use us again, I want to make things right between us before you leave. Please allow me to do that for you. If after all we can do you are still displeased for ANY reason, just let me know, and I'll be more than happy to send you a full refund, which has always been our policy to do so. I don't ever want to lose a client, but if I do, I don't want them going away feeling like they received less than the service we promised or that they paid for something they weren't thrilled with. Sincerely, Wendy Fenske