Crying over spilled milk

ShaneB

ShaneB

New member
This one is aggravating me... And I want to make sure im giving my customer the right advice. Long story short, customers son buys milk, put it on passenger seat (leather), has to slam on brakes, milk falls to floor and breaks open, entire gallon of milk spilled onto passenger floor.

Now heres what I did after getting called to clean it up (after it had already started to smell, so a few days). Steamed and extracted the carpeting, not necessarily knowing how severe it was (I didn't think it was the WHOLE GALLON). Hit it with ozone for an hour and thought it was taken care of. Get called cause the smell came back. OK, im a man of integrity, ill come back out and go a little deeper (should of in the first place) and wont charge them. Remove the front passenger seat, pull off the trim pieces around the floor, pull up the carpet to find the milk had migrated completely under the carpet, under the passenger seat and even found dried milk under the carpet where the 2nd row passenger floor is. Uh oh...

I spent 2 hours steaming and extracting everything in sight trying to get this smell out. Once I got it all back together, I would say I got maybe a 75% improvement on the smell. Its still there though. Im going back tomorrow because I want to pull up the carpet and expose the padding and ozone the interior for maybe 2 hours. If this doesn't work, im out of ideas.

My concern is that it got soaked up too far into the padding of the carpet (milk ran along the metal floor of the car and was wicked up by the padding). I had discussed this with my customer and I had told him my plan for tomorrow. My recommendation to him, if the ozone treatment does not work, was that the carpeting would need to be replaced. I simply just do not see any effective way short of throwing the carpet in a pool, to get the milk that has soaked into the padding out.

Am I giving them the right advice? Is there anything else I can try to fix this? I REALLY hate to have taken their money for the work that I did when my work didn't fix the problem.
 
This is only my opinion, but I think you went above and beyond. You were give a job without being advised of the extent of the damage, and from your rep I believe you did give it your best efforts. The odor returned (not surprising with milk). Here is where you went above/beyond ... You - for free - not only repeated the work you just did, but you went even deeper into the issue (removing the seats & trim, chasing down how far the milk wicked into the padding and despite the severity of the damage you still tried to repair it anyway.

The fact that A) He let the slop sit for a few days soaking further into the carpet/lining and B} didn't tell you a whole gallon of milk was spilled. That's on him.

That would be like someone telling you their car had "a few scratches" that need buffed out and come to find it's just been wet sanded.
 
Puleeze..! Do you REALLY need customers like this? Me suspects the persons involved should have been more responsible in the first place? Also,...ain't the first time, something like this has happened "on their yacht"? Not likely.
 
PM me a mailing adressss and I'll send you something to take care of it with. What you need to do unfortunately is get the the source and remove as much as possible. But then treat the area with an enzyme to gobble up and left overs before they decay and stink. I would be happy to send it to you on me if you pm me a mailing address.

Sounds like you put your time in to this and I'm happy to help you finish strong. If you can't wait for me to send it to your a local pet supply store will have a product. Just make sure it's an enzyme. We carry a product called bio power that we have great success with. You will need to really wet the area when applying so it gets into all the area that Milk residue remains. Or it will grow and stink again.

Good luck.
 
It is more than likely in the jute or padding under the carpet. If you didn't take it out, do it. Just tell him that this will cost more. Once it is that bad, that jute needs to be replaced. I wouldn't bother trying to clean it. At this point, he may want to try and put a clam in with his insurance company. They may cover it. God luck
 
I think you're right Shane. Replacing the carpet seems like the best option. At least you'll be able to clean every nook while the carpet is out.

JSFM35X said:
PM me a mailing adressss and I'll send you something to take care of it with. What you need to do unfortunately is get the the source and remove as much as possible. But then treat the area with an enzyme to gobble up and left overs before they decay and stink. I would be happy to send it to you on me if you pm me a mailing address.

Sounds like you put your time in to this and I'm happy to help you finish strong. If you can't wait for me to send it to your a local pet supply store will have a product. Just make sure it's an enzyme. We carry a product called bio power that we have great success with. You will need to really wet the area when applying so it gets into all the area that Milk residue remains. Or it will grow and stink again.

Good luck.
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Care to share which product you use? Is it Nature's Miracle?

jtford95 said:
It is more than likely in the jute or padding under the carpet. If you didn't take it out, do it. Just tell him that this will cost more. Once it is that bad, that jute needs to be replaced. I wouldn't bother trying to clean it. At this point, he may want to try and put a clam in with his insurance company. They may cover it. God luck
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Good idea on the insurance claim. I never considered that as an option.
 
Ok thanks guys.

I dont believe the customer made any mistakes beyond not taking care of the spill immediately. By the time they realize how bad it was, it was too late.

I do need customers like this. The owner has been very understanding and has been very appreciative of my efforts to this point. I'd say I made as much of a mistake as they did simply because I didn't treat the spill as severely as it was when I first came out. I learned from the experience so the value to me is more than just the money.

im going back today. It takes 5 minutes to remove the seat and roll the carpet back. Going to ozone it for 2 hours. I'm going to set it up and leave the machine there and go pick it up tomorrow since I don't have time to just sit there and wait. By then I think we will have our answer.

ill look into this enzyme cleaner you speak of. Actually I'll PM you. I can probably tell them there is one more option short of replacement, but I will have to charge extra at that point
 
I can tell you from first hand experience, milk is unreal to get rid of. One of my kids spilled some in one of our trucks. Thought I got it all cleaned up. Wrong....... Did it again, smelled good. A few weeks later smell back.

Big problem with it, is you think you got it, and it's right back when it gets warm and humid.
 
Milk:

giphy.gif
 
Ronkh said:
Another thought as well.

Call Poorboy and try some of the new enzyme soap?
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Shane ..Dwayne should have your info and will get a bottle out today .. you may want to postpone the ozone and wait for the delivery ;)
 
Just tried the new beta formula from Dwayne last night on dog's bed. Smelled better this morning but did not spend much time beyond the quick walk-in-walk-out of the room. Will check at lunch since I do have another product that is similar from Janitor's Warehouse (it took a few days but definitely worked at removing the smell of urine in a bathroom). Not tried either on milk, so your mileage may vary
 
ShaneB- While I've done some pretty incredible work with my Ozone Generator, I'd go with the Enzymatic product. I gave some of mine (Hi-Temp Protein Stain Remover) to a guy I know and he was able to take care of a Protein Drink spill in his Audi's trunk. It's *imperative* to really let the product soak/dwell so don't be stingy with the stuff and don't rush things. Even then it's a roll of the dice, hope it works out for you and the client.

[rant] How does this happen?!? It just astounds me that people spill such stuff in their vehicles. Milk/bleach/whatever.. I simply don't understand, but it seems to come up fairly often. Sigh..[/rant]
 
Poorboy said:
Shane ..Dwayne should have your info and will get a bottle out today .. you may want to postpone the ozone and wait for the delivery ;)
Click to expand...

update .. Dwayne is on his way to the Post office .. it will be there Monday (USPS ???) ... good luck and as Accumulator said don't be stingy and follow the directions ;)
 
Its a super enzyme product called Bio-Power.

Made by a company we distribute called Multi-Clean.

We sell a ton of it for a varienty of uses and it can be used straight on major problems or diluted for less icky issues.

From keeping grease traps flowing, to dumpster cleaning and deodorizing, to carpet spotting (organic), stench removal, restroom 2nd pass freshening (after full soil removal and disinfection).

I purposely did not mention the name earlier as I am never looking to derail your store, I don't think you carry a product in this category. I was just looking to help another member out with an issue I can handle and I was not going to accept payment or freight charges so I felt it was not a violation of the TOS.

Any more questions, or if you ever needs some, let me know.

Jeff



Vega@Autopia said:
I think you're right Shane. Replacing the carpet seems like the best option. At least you'll be able to clean every nook while the carpet is out.



Care to share which product you use? Is it Nature's Miracle?



Good idea on the insurance claim. I never considered that as an option.
Click to expand...
 
JSFM35X said:
Its a super enzyme product called Bio-Power.

Made by a company we distribute called Multi-Clean.

We sell a ton of it for a varienty of uses and it can be used straight on major problems or diluted for less icky issues.

From keeping grease traps flowing, to dumpster cleaning and deodorizing, to carpet spotting (organic), stench removal, restroom 2nd pass freshening (after full soil removal and disinfection).

I purposely did not mention the name earlier as I am never looking to derail your store, I don't think you carry a product in this category. I was just looking to help another member out with an issue I can handle and I was not going to accept payment or freight charges so I felt it was not a violation of the TOS.

Any more questions, or if you ever needs some, let me know.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Thanks and no problem! We're allowed to talk about any product here on Autopia :autopia: and if it's going help anyone in the future, even better. We just can't post any links to other stores or products. I was just curious as it might help me in the future. I do have a gallon of Meguiars D116 on standby, but I've only ever used that on pet urine on carpet. Thanks for the reply.
 
as a licensed insurance adjuster id advise that would be a waste of a claim..insurance would not cover that type of peril (spilled milk)

additionally even if it did, it would be subject to a deductible


props on going above and beyond

that's more than should have been asked considering they were not forthcoming with all the necessary info for you to be successful the first time
 
Dwayne got a hold of me before I had a chance to reach out. Much appreciated. He also mentioned that I should expect it Monday.

I talked with my customer today and explained the situation and the plan moving forward. I skipped the ozone treatment and we will wait until the new product arrives. I should be able to get over there Tuesday and do the work and I will for sure be following up with them as well as writing a review.

Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions. I'll be much more prepared if I come across this problem again.

Also, it was my customers son who spilled the milk. New driver, didn't know better than to put things like milk up on a seat. Accidents happen. At least they care enough to want it taken care of properly. And I wouldn't say they withheld information. I more or less misinterpreted what was said. This has been a pleasant experience (aside from the obvious) between myself and them.
 
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