I've used Stanley Steemer before, in multiple states. I've used this particular location at least three times before this visit and was satisfied. However, my experience on January 31, 2015 was, by far, the WORST experience I've ever had with this company.
We had a morning appointment, between 8-9 on Saturday. The crew showed up around 8:30. The first gentlemen was nice and kind. The second, however, just came barreling through the front door without introducing himself. Fine, it's Saturday morning - I get it. I showed them what needed to be done - family room, basement rec room, staircase, and upper hallway. That was it. Immediately, the second guy starts trying to sell additional services to me. I said, no - just do the job that we signed up for. It's what was done last time and it worked out well. This guy starts pointing out problems with my carpet, still attempting to upsell me in additional services. Again, I said no, the carpets cleaned well last time and that was that. As they're cleaning the carpets, I'm mopping my hardwood. The guy follows me into my dining room - "You know, ma'am, we can also clean this for you so that you don't have to do it." I think I may have chuckled a bit and again, I said no, just clean the carpets, that I was almost done mopping anyway. He continues to press and I finally snapped a bit and reiterated my no. He goes back down stairs and starts cleaning with his partner.
Within minutes, the guy shows up again and, at this point, is harassing me to do this additional treatment. So I humor him and ask him how much it's all going to cost. (Mind you, my online quote was for under $200.) He spits out that it's going to be around $400 and I started laughing and said, "NO. Just do the job that we asked you to do online." At this point, he starts negotiating - a discount here, it'll be $350. I'm turning him down. Finally, he says that he'll do one of the additional services for free out of the kindness of his heart, and that the total would be around $230. I conceded.
About an hour later, he pulls up the bill. My husband cut the check at this point. Once they left, I took a look at the receipt - $323.75. No discount applied, nothing was done "for free". I was furious. First off, not because of the whole "no free service" thing - but because the guy not only harassed us, but he also lied. Not only that, but once I added the actual numbers on the receipt - the grand total should have been around $280, even without those discounts. How is there $40 dollar discrepancy?! I even went back online to run a dummy quote with what was on the receipt - none of it added up to the total that we paid.
So I called my bank, cancelled the check. I called the main office, but I had no luck getting through. Left a voicemail, no call back. The next day, I tried calling again and left another voicemail. Nothing. Stanley Steemer has not called back and according to my bank, there hasn't been an attempt to deposit the check, so who knows just what the h*** happened. But either way, I will NEVER use this company again. While my previous experiences with them were good, this one visit with them was enough to infuriate me and turn me completely off. I have the name of the individual, so if anybody here wishes to use Stanley Steemer, please contact me so that I can tell you who NOT to request.
As for the carpets themselves - they smelled HORRIBLE. I don't know what kind of treatment this guy used, but I NEVER had my carpets smell like that in my previous service calls.