Carpet cleaner gets his share of dirty jobs
Carpets take a beating this time of year. Snow and mud get tracked in. Christmas drinks and goodies get spilled and maybe a new pet is introduced to the family, bringing the joy of housebreaking duties. Then there is often a mess from the Christmas tree. Kevin Bunce, 33, owner of Allklean in Coeur d’Alene comes to the rescue.
Bunce grew up in Idaho, graduating in the top-10 of his Timberline High School class in Pierce (he admits there were only 17 in the whole class) then attended the University of Idaho until “my scholarships and money ran out and I needed a job.” He started working for a carpet-cleaning company in Moscow to make ends. The rest is history.
Living in Coeur d’Alene with his “wonderful wife and three children,” Bunce says he cleans almost anything that is textile, including fabrics, rugs, carpets, furniture and draperies. He also does water damage cleanup, “drydowns,” and cleans after smoke damage.
What is your job title? “I like to call myself the ‘owner and operations manager.’ “
How long have you been doing this? “I cleaned my first carpet professionally in September 1993. So roughly around 13 years. I have been the owner of Allklean for more than five years. It was a great decision and one that I would never think twice about if it were in front of me again.”
How did you choose this line of work? “I don’t know if ‘choose’ is the right word, but I do enjoy what I do now. I would call it supply and demand. Thirteen years ago my landlord demanded rent, and carpet cleaning jobs supplied me the money to pay him.”
Are you paid: (a) well; (b) more than you are worth; (c) slave wages, (d) could be better? “I think someone told me the average salary in North Idaho is $18,000 per year. By those standards, I get paid well. If I said slave wages my customers might feel guilty. Hmmmm… I would say we all want to be paid more, right?”
What is the best thing about your job? “The best thing about my job is making people happy. It is gratifying work that you can see unfold before your eyes. I enjoy people and making them happy makes it enjoyable. Also, I am at a different house about three times a day. Variety makes this job nice.”
What is the worst thing about your job? “The worst thing would have to be wet feet. I walk around on wet carpet all day and I get wet feet. By the end of the day, my shoes are super clean, but my feet are cold and wet. Did I mention I’m a huge believer in boot-drying machines?”
Do you plan on doing this job (a) until retirement; (b) until something better comes along? “I plan on doing this until retirement. I have other business ventures on the table at the moment, too. Carpet cleaning is hard work and when you’re an owner working the truck, it can all stop in an instant due to physical inability with who knows what type of injury or illness? I have to be smart and put eggs in other baskets. My goal is to have good employees that I can trust to take over my cleaning tasks someday, but I’m not sure when that will happen or when I would let it happen. That’s a big step, not just for me, but for my customers as well.”
Do you have any on-the-job funny stories? “I have so many, but I love this one the best. I have a customer who I have cleaned for many times. She typically services her carpets with cleaning about two times a year. Every time I have cleaned her house, there was an old terrier dog that wondered around. The dog was pretty much all blind and deaf, too. For the most part, I hardly ever noticed the dog, but I was reminded of him as I cleaned up his messes from time to time. No mess would be like the one I will describe. I arrived at the house just like normal and my regular customer showed me the areas and off to work she went. I cleaned her place just like normal, and avoided the elderly dog as much as I could. I was completely done with the job, all my hoses were put away onto the truck. Just as I was grooming the main living room, in comes the old dog. I waited for him as he crossed the room slowly, and then it happened. I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing. As he crossed the room, he started doing his thing. Not the liquid kind, but the other kind. Now, mind you, cleaning up after pets is not that big of a deal for me. But it was like he wasn’t going to stop. It just kept coming. Pile after pile. Finally it stopped, and the smell started. Pheeewy! There must have been five or six piles in a line across the room, he never stopped walking the whole time as he did his deed. My first thought was, ‘Great, now I have to setup and clean this up, she will surely notice if I don’t clean that up.’ Keep in mind, had this have happened 60 seconds later, I would have been gone and out of the house on to my next appointment. But timing was critical here, as a witness and a carpet cleaner I couldn’t leave the mess.
So, I had to act quickly. The first thing that ran through my mind was what was I going to do with the “stuff.” I surely wasn’t going to put it in my truck’s garbage can, and in her’s wasn’t any better of an idea. I realized that putting it down the toilet was the best choice. Later I realized it wasn’t, but at the time, it seemed like a great idea. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed the roll of toilet paper off the dispenser and headed into action. I grabbed each and every pile and put them in the toilet. I pushed the handle and the toilet struggled handling the mess. It flushed slowly and then it did what I really, really did not want to happen right then. It got plugged. So, I grabbed the plunger and tried to unplug it. No success. Over and over I tried to unplug it. So…now what? Well, first I had to re-clean the living room and put down some sanitizer. Well, that’s another 30 minutes down the drain … literally. But what about the toilet? I figured since I didn’t really cause the mess, I would leave a note telling my customer what had happened. All seemed good, till I get back to the office. I got the message. ‘Your technician used my restroom and plugged the toilet, we would like a plumber to come out and fix it.’ So now, she thinks it’s from me? Oh boy.
I called her up, and tried to tell that story and get her to believe it wasn’t me, but that seemed futile. So, I did what needed to be done and called a plumber to have it fixed. Now, when I return to clean that house, the furniture is mysteriously stacked in the bathroom. I am not so worried about me, but what if her dog really has to go?”
Any bad experiences? “When you service 1,000 customers a year, bad things are going to happen. It’s just statistically possible. One time I was cleaning and my customer informed me that she was going to be leaving to run some errands. Naturally, my van is parked in the driveway. I asked her if it needed moved. She takes a quick glance and tells me she could avoid it. I continued on cleaning and from the upstairs room I suddenly saw my van lurch forward about 5 feet. I ran downstairs to see what had happened. She backed straight out of the garage and traveled a good 15 feet and then struck my van so hard that the back doors were bent upwards. Since they were open, it caused even more damage. I traveled around for two weeks with those doors bent like that. I always ask if they need out of the driveway first now.”
If there was a movie made about you and your job, what actor should play you and why? “Well, this is a tough one. It needs to be someone handsome, because if it’s going to play me on the big screen, I need all the help I can get. All joking aside, I think Will Ferrell would play it the best. So many funny things happen everyday, he could maximize the funniness. I want to see a movie about carpet cleaning, but I’m not sure if it would appeal to the masses.”