I engaged the local Uticolor franchisee to do a deep clean of my leather lounge. He quoted an hour's work for $120, which I thought a bit expensive but agreed to. 20 minutes after the appointment time, I phoned to see where he was. Said he was 10 minutes away. After another 20 minutes he showed up - no apology or explanation for being 40 minutes late. He proceeded to scrub the lounge with a brush and soapy water - saying he couldn't get out any stains and that he could recolour the lounge for another $270. After a leisurely 30 minutes of cleaning he held out his hand for $120. He refused to give me a receipt unless I paid him GST on top of this amount. The work was patchy and I have had to do 3 applications of leather treatment to get some protection back into the leather. This was the worst value for money experience I have ever had. I work as a professional decorator and charge less for my time than he does for a poorly done job with a scrubbing brush and soapy water. I would never engage him again, never recommend to clients, and would advise anyone needing leather cleaning services to go elsewhere. I am sure that Uticolor employs some reputable franchisees - just avoid this one.
Approximate cost: $240
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Despite my applying expensive leather treatments after this "service", my lounge continues to look dry and patches are very porous so they soil easily and need constant attention. It no longer looks like the top quality Italian leather that we paid for.
Just want to tell the full story and address the facts.I quoted $120 plus Gst to clean a white 2.5 str lounge over the phone. I quote per seat area + gst not on a time frame.When customer called to see why i hadnt arrived i was 5 to 10 min late at that time and told her i was almost there about 5 mins away max.So i was approx 15mins late.I would call customer if i am going to be more than 20 mins late.Being a mobile service there are many facters to play havoc with time schedules.I am a leather surface technician, i clean using a industry standard procedure done by hand and specialized cleaning solution designed to be gentle on leather and the user.The lounge had dye transfer which is from new strongly coloured clothing mainly new denim jeans which is what this lounge had.All the dirt was successfully removed,unfortunately sometimes dye transfer does not totally remove.This lounge was stark white.The customer showed me the product she had been using for maintance which is designed for horse saddlery,it contains oils which is number 1 enemy for modern leather.We sent her the manufacture data on the product which outlined warnings not suitable for modern leather lounges. Uticolor Lounge Cleaning has a money back guarantee which was offered and accepted minus the gst which i paid out of the $120 fee paid by the customer.The customer was unwilling to pay the gst so no invoice was offered.On our books the the job was $120 including gst to which we paid.
Brett Uticolor Newcastle