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Hamilton, NJ (May 14, 2014) - Just as sure as the sunrise, it’s guaranteed to happen every spring. They promise to clean all the carpets in your house for $59.00. It may sound too good to be true. However, it probably is. To make matters worse, they finally show up–three hours late-in a beat up pick-up truck with no company name, and hop out in torn jeans and a soiled tee-shirt. Then one realizes that, “you have been the victim of a bait -and -switch campaign”.

People may get confused about bait and switch. Bait and switch scams work as a company that advertises cleaning a roomful of carpet for a ridiculously low price. When they arrive, they inform you the price they quoted is only for the traffic lanes and doesn’t include any cleaning chemicals. “That’s like taking a bath with no soap,” says senior textile inspector Rodney Mortillaro at http://www.allstatecleaning.com

Customers agree to pay extra for the chemicals because they are usually thankful for someone showed up. In the end, the final bill ends up costing some hundreds of dollars. Another typical scam is hearing that, a company would clean a set amount of rooms for a very low price (like 5 rooms for $49.00). After they begin, home owners discover a linen closet, hallway, foyer, or regular closet is counted as a room, and they wind up paying a lot more than ever thought. Bait-and-switch scams are especially targeted towards the elderly. Seniors are more likely to be intimidated by high pressure tactics and by someone, who “promises” to give then a good deal.

The latest carpet cleaning ruse is promoted through deal-of-the-day websites. It offered 3 rooms of carpet cleaning for $49. To take advantage of this offer, one has to prepay for a non-refundable certificate that expires in 90 days. Also, the website that makes the offer IS NOT responsible for the quality of the work. Plus all sales are final. The unknown fact is that, most companies that do this went into business yesterday.

Besides all these, they have to give half of the $49 or $24.50 to the deal-of-the-day websites. It is quite evident that, they cannot afford to clean 3 rooms of carpets in your house for $24.50 and still make a profit out of it. Most of the time, they don’t even show up for appointments. If they do show up, then they often tell the customers that “you're going to get a quick dash and splash job that just uses water”.

Better job needs to fork up more money for them to use a cleaning chemical. Or they get so many calls, they’ll book a customer out three months in advance and then the certificate expires. If they do show up, the job won't be guaranteed. If you complain about them to the BBB, Yelp or Google+, that’s even OK. They ensure to be in business tomorrow under another name as quick as one can change the socks. Then they would do it all over again.

One reason why; they may clean for such a low price is because of the cleaners that are gang bangers or illegal aliens with criminal records, or they may be foreign nationals. Entering one’s home allows them to "case" the home to plan a future burglary or home invasion. They may even sell the credit card information of the customer to an identity theft ring.

In such a scenario, people often get confused on how to avoid a bait-and-switch scam. The best protection against bait-and-switch is to ask some pointed questions before the cleaner arrives at the home. One may also call several local cleaning companies. If the company cannot answer simple questions, the customers are suggested to move on to another company. Home owners should also consider the fact that, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

10 factors can be focused on while dealing with a cleaner or calling company. Callers can ask if they are certified in carpet cleaning or not. If not, customers can enquiry about the type of formal training they have. Customers can check on the business experience of the particular company. Companies with the longer experience are likely to be the better ones. Prospective customers can also ask for list of references for verification. It is also important to check is the company is free from drug, alcohol and criminals etc. Companies that don’t screen their employees can put the residents of a home at risk. Customers are always restrained by the experts from dealing with companies or cleaners, who don’t pre-screen and drug test their employees and who are not bonded. It is also important to verify the proof of insurance and the business license of the company. Callers should enquiry about the steps of cleaning process that would be followed by the company. Customers can also ask about the duration of time that would be required to dry the carpets. Callers can also check on the factor, if the company offers free, no-obligation, on-site written quotations or not. Customers must confirm if the cleaning company offers a written, satisfaction or money back guarantee or not. It is also necessary for the customers to ask the cleaners to verify that their cleaning solutions safe for the family and my pets.

After the questions have been answered, callers may check the firm’s reputation with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org. One can also check with the consumer affairs department of the state’s attorney general’s office. Textile inspector Rodney Mortillaro comments, “You’d be shocked at the number of companies that have lousy reputations when it comes to addressing consumer complaints”. If, one has decided on a cleaner, make sure to pay the bill with a major credit card. Sometimes it gets difficult to locate a cleaner to come back to fix a problem after the bill is paid. Paying by credit card gives an option to dispute the bill if the problem is not resolved to the satisfaction.

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Bait and Switch home cleaning scams are found in the market. These companies come up with unbelievable offers to trap the customers