Case History: DEAD BODY

Mary Ann Goff Portage, Indiana, U.S.A. July, 1989

Mary Ann Goff was giving a NonScents demonstration to the Moose Lodge of which she is a member. After the meeting a woman came up to her and told her that her father had died from a heart attack in his house. He told his neighbors that he was leaving the next day to go on a trip, but th e next day his car was still ~ the garage. After not seeing his car leave the house for aweek, and trying to contact himwithout response, his neighbors became more concerned about his well being. On the seventh day the police and coroner were brought m and found this man dead in the bathroom. The body was already beginning to decompose and was covered with magggots in places. This was a three bedroom house with an attached garage and a basement. The odor of decayed flesh permeated the entire house.

This man's daughter, who was at the Moose Lodge demonstration, had called a commercial cleaning company to clean up the house and remove the odor. Their fee for this service was $500. When they finished, the remaining odor see med to be almost as bad as it was originally, and in addition, it now had the additional odors from the chemicals that the cleaning company used to decontaminate the house. Thus, this woman was m a desperate situation. She needed to sell this house, which was a nice piece of real estate, but no one could even bear to walk in the house because of these odors.

Mary Ann sold this woman three caps (2 lb. bags) and one box of 4 oz. bags, which contains four bags. She told this woman to put one of the caps in the bathroom and open the window slightly. She also told this woman to put the remammg bags (caps and 4 oz. bags) in the supply air vents and a few other places. However, the woman just placed these bags indiscriminately around the house and did not put any in the air ventilation system. The air conditioni^I g system was also not turned on.

Two days later this woman checked the house and found that there was still a strong odor present. Mary Ann was asked to go to the house. She found that the chemical odors from the commercial cleaners were more intense than those from decayed flesh. The product was rearranged. Two of the caps were hung on a clothes line in the bathroom where the body was found and where the odors were most intense. The window was opened about 1 1/2 inches. 611 the doors inside the house were opened to let air circulate through the whole building. Prior to this time, the doors were all closed ~ an unsuccessful attempt to contain the odor. Four of the 4 oz. bags were put
a nearby closet, sixteen more were put in the bathroom, and a couple were put ~ the supply air vent. This time the air contitioner was turned on. Three days later Mary Ann called this woman and learned that all of the odors were gone from the house. This woman wrote Mary Ann a testimonial letter to the effectiveness of NonScents Word of this successful application allowed Mary Ann to sell another $400-$500 of product to members of her Moose Lodge.

Comment

Some very important lessons can be learned from this ease history. First, it is obvious that the commercial cleaning company originally called in did a good job in cleaning the area of greatest contamination. This is indicated by the small amount of product that was needed to resolve this problem. A second important lesson to be learned is that it is not a good idea to just tell a client how to use the product and expect them to use it that way* E possible it is best for the distributor to apply the product. There is a better chance that a distributor will have a mare comprehensive understanding of an odor problem and will make sure that the product is applied correctly. The time and expertise is worth the fee that they will pay you.