Hiring a carpet cleaning service in New York is easy. They are everywhere, you can find them in your locality, on your commute to work or simply by searching online.
Hiring the best carpet cleaning NYC? Well, not so much.
This article aims to make your search easier. Read on to learn how you can pick one from all the carpet cleaning companies NYC.’
Use local keywords
When searching online, do use area specific keywords. Remember, your chances of finding a cleaning agency nearby depends on the specificity of the keyword. The more specific the keyword, the higher your chances. It’s no “secret” but common sense. But people sometimes lack common sense and need advice that native wit alone can offer.
There’s a limit to specificity, though. Don’t include your zip code to the keyword. It’s pointless as a zip code covers a relatively small area. Include the name of the city, if the city is too big and overly populous, include the borough name. For example, New York is a city and Brooklyn is a borough. The keyword “carpet cleaning services NYC” is less specific compared to “carpet cleaning services Brooklyn, New York.
Read reviews and testimonials
Once you shortlist a bunch of carpet cleaning services NYC, read customer reviews on them. Some companies feature reviews on their websites which are, needless to say, only have positive things to add and highly recommend these services to prospective customers.
These reviews may or not may not be authentic. Don’t buy them simply at their face value. If the reviewer has a name and an image, it’s a genuine review. Third-party sites and Google Business Listing are where you can find genuine reviews. If the service has ranked low there, it’s probably not worth hiring. Video testimonials featuring satisfied customers are a good indicator that the company values its customers. So, if a carpet cleaning company has testimonial videos and people in the video look real and their responses sound non-scripted, consider hiring it.
You can get references from your friends, family and colleagues. If they hired one of the carpet cleaning services NYC before and felt satisfied by their level of professionalism, their service must be worth paying money for.
Cleaning staff
When a cleaning company satisfies all your requirements and you consider hiring it, proceed to the next step i.e. check their employee strength, whether they have professionally trained staff. You can straightway ask them to show you their training and certification (more on this later), but I advise have a talk with them first. That will help you get an idea of how much they know about carpet cleaning.
Ask them questions related to carpet material and upholstery, durability of the materials, cleaning equipment, duration of cleaning. If the staff can answer these questions without fumbling, they are fit to handle carpet cleaning work at your home. It’s a screening process and an important one, so don’t ignore it.
Training, certification and license
A professionally trained cleaner must hold a Carpet Cleaning Technician certification, which must be issued by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration (IICRC), an independent non-profit organization, headquartered at Las Vegas, Nevada. The are several types of certifications that allow one to handle carpet cleaning work. These certifications are Fabric Cleaning Technician, Carpet Repair and Reinstallation Technician and Rug Cleaning Technician.
A registered company must have proper license. If you live in New York and looking to hire the best carpet cleaning NYC, bear in mind the licensing authority is the local government. Cleaning companies in New York are legally required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Ask the company if they have this insurance. Don’t hire them if the answer is no.
Staff must be experienced
The cleaning staff you are going to hire must be experienced. Ask them about their previous jobs, how many years of experience they have, etc. It’s best to ask them about their previous assignments, like which houses or corporate buildings they cleaned. Carpet cleaners don’t always want to disclose details about their past employers, so you might have to press them a little bit.
Cost and affordability
Finally cost. It’s almost impossible to get anything in New York that doesn’t come with an expensive price tag, which means if you are on budget, you might have to search for an affordable carpet cleaner. One word of caution, don’t fall for any “too good to be true” offers. If the price is unbelievably low, the quality would probably suffer.
Summing up
Follow the steps mentioned here in this article to hire an experienced, trained and licensed carpet cleaning professional. A little bit of search is okay if the end result is worth it.