Spine-tingling, scary and ghoulish... and I'm not talking about Halloween.

Carpet Cleaning is no different than any other service industry. There is a need for the services we provide, and you as the consumer deserve fair value for your hard-earned money. So what is fair value?

We believe that fair value starts with your first impression. Do you get a "good feeling" that the company you choose to hire are professionals in their field, and do they invest in you as a potential life-long customer? In today's electronic world, forming that first impression can all be done with a tap or click on virtually any device from the comfort of your own home.

A family member saved a newspaper insert from 1972, and as I was taking a trip down memory lane viewing nostalgia from Edmonton past, I came across an advertisement from a local carpet cleaning company. The time value of money has made the pricing irrelevant, and it was from a time in our history before Canada welcomed the metric system, but I am guessing that this particular company had employed the all too familiar lead-with-price maketing strategy. They were offering a wonderful, and perhaps, too good to be true price offering... because what really caught my eye was the handwritten note that family member had marked beside the ad. She had obviously phoned the company and requested a quote, and the actual price recorded in ink was almost double the cost of what they had promised!

Now this company is no longer in business, and the whole point of this article is not to cast stones, but rather, is meant to shed some light and help you the buyer beware. Bait and switch is a tactic that is still alive and well in today's market, and you don't need to look very hard to find examples of it. Most often look no futher than your own mailbox. Once a company has your attention, the tactic is to hit you with a high pressure sales pitch to inflate the price with a myriad of "add ons" and "extras". So, before you hire a carpet cleaning professional, do a little research. In many cases you can find testimonials and customer feedback online with a simple google search, or on many facebook community pages. Oh, and don't forget that valued word of mouth recommendation from a family member or friend.

Fair value has a different meaning to each of us, and you need to determine what is considered a fair exchange for your hard earned dollar. Become informed and take the time to search out a service provider that has a solid reputation, and stands behind their performance. Do they have a written guarantee? Do they perform an in-person visual inspection before they quote? Is their pricing upfront and agreed upon before they start cleaning? Do they do it right the first time, or do they have a history of performing customer service damage control from a long list of unhappy customers? If you are satisfied with the answers to these questions, then just maybe, there is some truth to the old adage that "you get what you pay for".