I’ve been traveling around lately doing several speaking engagements and one of the issues that keeps coming up is the lack of understanding about carpet as a product.

UNDERSTANDING THE PRODUCT

Over the years I have developed The Nine Major Claims Categories and Problem Areas that effect complaints and claims. It has been said repeatedly that installation is the biggest problem the industry has. Though installation is a big problem I disagree that it’s the biggest problem the industry has.

The biggest problem is from the category, “Not Understanding the Product; It’s Characteristics, Qualities, and Capabilities by Sales People, End Users and Service People” or basically everyone who deals with it, which includes manufacturers. This is clearly evidenced by the types of problems we have and the characteristics of products and their manufacture that are so clearly misunderstood.

COMPRESSION AND SIDE MATCH ISSUES

For example, one question came up about cut pile polypropylenes and color side match. If this product is solution dyed how can there be a side match problem with it? The answer is that side match shade variation has nothing to do with the color of the carpet. It is entirely a compression issue on the face of the carpet.

Polypropylene, as you should all know, has the lowest resiliency of any of the synthetic fibers used in carpet. Actually, it can be used in the properly constructed carpet to deliver exceptional performance. However, in cut pile configuration, this fiber is going to compact simply from the weight of the carpet upon itself, especially if it is rolled up warm. As a result, when the carpet is installed there will be a difference in color at the seams. This is due to a light reflectance difference in the product from one section being more compressedthan the other. So the further you get into the roll the more the pile compression and the greater the color variation.

To correct this, if you can at all, you may be able to pile lift the carpet. There are no guarantees this can be accomplished successfully but in light of the alternative, which is replacement, you should try. If this were a nylon carpet it would bounce back up once it was acclimated to the installation environment, which is what nylon will do. Is this condition a manufacturing defect? No, in the true sense of the word “defect” it is not but is a condition created by the rolling up of the product. The last one to do that, in most cases, is the manufacturer. So it would be their responsibility to rectify the matter.

This is also a condition which you may not recognize until you get the carpet installed. You could also experience this problem with olefin Berbers where they will exhibit a textural change or variation from being compressed. This will make them feel and look different within the same roll. Again, you may think this is a defect but it is not. In this category you’ll find several important issues.

The lack of proper knowledge of carpet, the product, its components and design. The consumer relies totally on the salesperson to direct them to the proper piece of carpet. The retailer relies on the manufacturer to produce a product that will perform and the rep offers the products for sale to the retailer without knowing the technical aspects of the product. Unfortunately, the proper knowledge and understanding of the product is not known.

Those selling, specifying, and installing the product are often unaware of what works where, how and why and how it should be installed. For example there are still questions about Double Stik installation that everyone should be familiar with by now, many years after the introduction of this system. Yet it continues to be a question that begs for answers. There is also a misconception of the product by all parties due to ignorance. And by that I don’t mean to say that people in the industry are necessarily stupid.

Ignorance is just not knowing and we’re gushing with that. Another thing to remember is that if the carpet does not perform up to expectations it doesn’t mean its defective. Staining, soiling, matting, crushing, dark spots for example, are all conditions that all carpets have done forever. The industry has changed the perception of what a carpet is supposed to do with the warranties and in many cases the carpet itself is not performing like what was removed. The fact is, we make carpets that will perform better than what people are taking out but because nobody seems to understand that you have to at least meet the standards of the replaced carpet, you generate your own complaints.

What people may think is a defect because they think its covered in their warranty is actually the normal performance characteristics of the carpet, in the environment of installation and under the conditions of use. The first thing you have to understand is that if you know the product you can better sell it and claims losses will be held to a minimum.

Most of the problems we see are really avoidable. For example a light color in a high traffic area, a low density cut pile carpet installed where a loop pile should be, a unitary backed carpet with high ribs which is impossible to stick adhesive to no matter what the manufacturer might say, and warranties which aren’t worth the paper they’re written on which continue to propagate more complaints than any legitimately defective carpet ever has.

I’ll continue to help you and assist you in your education, but you have to commit to wanting to learn. Will you do that for yourself?