I just had my carpet cleaned. I have a great room (living/dining) and 13 steps. I called as a result of a mint magazine ad. The initial "maintenance" special was 2 rooms for $29.99. Steps would count as 2 rooms as well so I'd probalby end up paying for 5 rooms - $49.99. I figured I'd have to pay $75 to include some spot cleaning.

After all was said and done, I ended up paying $360. The technician as much as said that unless I do the deep scrub and the chemical treatment, I wouldn't be happy with his work. The good thing about the chemical treatment is that in included a teflon application, a $90 value, which also gives me "guarantee" of $90 tops for any subsequent cleaning for life if I do it within a year.

He brought in his equipment after I moved all the less than larger furniture, and within 35 minutes he was ready to leave. It took 2 days for my carpet to dry and left a sticky feel to it. The steps were wet for 3 days. The carpet I was sure was ruined. After it finally dried, it looks good and the traffic areas haven't returned yet.

I called Jennifer and complained about the wet carpet. She offered to send in another one of her techs to re-wet my carpet and extract what she thought was probably the chemical "boost", which is making my carpet feel sticky. I didn't want to get my carpet wet again so I turned her down.

I think a word to the wise, if the estimate you're expecting is 1/3 or what they end up charging, ask them to leave and get a second opinion. I wish I had.