Spoke to a dealer this morning about a problem with 468 yards of level loop nylon carpet with a unitary back installed in a church that had about 100 or more high loops protruding from the surface. The loops were not noticed at the time of installation nor after they vacuumed the new carpet after installing it. This is not abnormal because it will take time for the carpet to acclimate to the environment in which it is installed, the yarn will relax and expand and the high loops would then become obvious. The dealer filed a claim with the manufacturer who sent an independent inspector to look at the carpet. The dealer knew nothing of the inspection and was going to handle the concern with the manufacturer and church himself. This is a condition that can often be rectified.

The inspector trimmed off about 50 high loops, told some ladies at the church they could buy napping shears and trim the rest off themselves and reported that the carpet was not defective. This is where the problem started. First, the inspector had no business trimming off loops from a level loop carpet. He could have trimmed one or two to see how it looked to determine if the condition could be fixed. Unless he was given specific directions to conduct the trimming he should not have done it. Doing so only served to aggravate a situation that was correctable, made it a bigger problem and created a headache for the dealer who was more than willing to resolve the condition himself and work out arrangements with the manufacturer. Now the end user and the dealer both want the carpet replaced and rightfully so.

The manufacturer is not being helpful in this case. The dealer sent them two small sections of the carpet, one new and one that had been installed. The manufacturer said they tested the carpet and found the tuft bind to be between 11 and 12 pounds and that the high loops would not pull out. That’s nice but that’s not the problem. This is a visible defect. The high loops should have been seen at the tufting machine because this is a tufting problem. To say that the loops won’t pull out glosses over the issue of unsightly high loops, a visible condition that neither the dealer nor the end user bargained for. The dealer by the way, sells a lot of this product and has never had a problem with it. This is the first time he’s been confronted with this type of visible defect on this product and he could have resolved the concern with the manufacturers help. Instead, the waters have been muddied, no one wants to keep the carpet and the manufacturer doesn’t want to replace it.

Visible defects are those that are visibly obvious looking at the carpet. Surface blemishes, and high loops qualify, are not that uncommon. The high loops may not show up on the carpet right after installation but they will become evident shortly thereafter, as these did. The argument that they should have been seen when the dealer inspected the carpet can go back to the manufacturer. They made it on their tufting machine and that’s the first place the high loops existed. In fact, inspecting the product carefully, and there is an inspection frame on every tufting machine, would have indicated a problem existed with the machine that required correction. It’s not the dealers responsibility to fix defective carpet unless some arrangement is made with the end user and manufacturer to do so. Most likely there would be some type or monetary adjustment requested as well to keep the carpet with the repairs, which would be an acceptable resolution. No inspector should attempt a repair, unless it is to determine if a repair is possible and this should only be done in a small area. It should never be done without permission and definitely without telling someone in authority, that being the manufacturer and the dealer and getting agreement from them, after the dealer has spoken to the consumer, if necessary.

Does the dealer have a right at this point to have the carpet replaced - absolutely. The manufacturers agent, which the inspector is, created a situation that complicated a correctable concern and made it a big problem. The concern is not if the high loops will stay in the carpet but that they exist at all. There’s no sense arguing about this, it’s a visible defect created during the manufacturing process. As the dealer commented, “When you have a big stick, use it” I’m the big stick, use me all you want. As my friend Pete Ciganovich says, “When you don’t know what to do, call Lew.”

We also have a brand new Estimator II on CD or you can download it - go to our website to preview this unique product and order on line. Also, available, The Carpet Gator for easy unloading of carpet deliveries. Easy to use, won’t damage the carpet, your back, the truck and it will prevent damage and loss to the product. This is a tool every flooring retailer selling carpet should have.

Remember, when you need an honest answer to a problem call me - we don’t charge you for asking questions.