In the business of complaints and claims, problems seem to go in cycles. So far, the prevailing theme of 1999 has been installation complaints. Mixed with this is the reason independent carpet dealers will not drown in the sea of Home Depot’s, Lowe’s, Sears, or anyone else. To qualify that, we must include in independent dealers those affiliated with a buying group. Though power in numbers is formidable, my friend and associate Warren Tyler says, “Any individual can out think a billion dollar corporation.”

SEAM PROBLEMS

Anyway, every complaint I’ve looked at in a week is installation related. Seams gapped at the ends, seam tape telegraphing through, mis-cuts at the edges, waterfalled stairs which were supposed to have been capped, seams not centered under doors and corrections to seams made by cutting down the broadloom, resulting in ruined material. This was in one house!

INSTALLATION MISTAKES

At the next stop, we find yarn pulled out of the carpet on a lower riser stair seam. This was a replacement installation for a defective carpet. The replaced carpet had flaws, but the installation damaged the product as well.

Moving along, in another home we find visible seams. The carpet is frayed at the edge of the hard surface flooring. The old carpet was turned and tacked, and the new carpet was just stretched onto the tackstrip. The edges weren’t latexed, there is no molding, there is no turn and tacking. Nothing has been done to protect this edge, which is now releasing face yarn and allowing primary backing material to extend out of the carpet.

At the top of the stairs in the same house, there is a small section where the carpet should have been wrapped over an edge. Instead, the installer cut and fitted a small fill piece which sticks out like a sore thumb. Obviously, he has never been to an installation school, nor is he aware of the CFI certification and training programs available.

In the next house, the consumer had yarn pulling up in a doorway and along the perimeters of the rooms. This damage was created by the knee kicker breaking yarn loose from the carpet backing-classic kicker pulls from attempting the job of a power stretcher with this device.

In each case except the first, the carpet was purchased from either Home Depot or a large department store. The consumer was jerked around, the buying and installation process was a fiasco, and the consumers were left completely frustrated.

One consumer was charged for rip up when he had removed the old broadloom himself. One consumer will settle for an adjustment and have the carpet fixed herself because she does not want to have the store or the installer back in her home.

In the case of the kicker pulls, the department store customer service agent questioned where the consumer had gotten her name, as if she was not to be bothered. She added, the carpet is warranteed for only one year and the store might not do anything for her. This, after she bought a high-end Karastan product from one of the largest department store chains in the country.

I am constantly amazed by how difficult so many retailers make buying new carpet. This industry is its own worst enemy.

In the first case, the dealer, to his credit, has been back to the home four times and sent the installer back twice, but it will still have to replace the carpet because no amount of repair will fix the damage from the initial installation and subsequent repair. That is, the repairs which were supposed to have corrected the original problems have rendered the carpet irreparable.

I’d say in the future, the trend will reverse back to independent retailers who take care of their customers and offer excellent service. Home Depot will not put you out of business no matter how big it gets, because it can’t do what you can due to its size. Let it work for you, not against you. The consumer is not naive. She still knows the smaller local dealer is where to get the best service-clients tell me that all the time.

Capitalize on your skills. Don’t let the stuff we talked about here happen to you. Installation is one area in which you can excel. Help yourself by getting involved with the CRI Seal of Approval Program and the Certified Installers Association (CFI). Both will set you apart.

For more help, I have a new book, “From Problems to Profits With Carpet.” It will show you step-by-step how to help yourself make more profit without spending a dime. The price is $29.95. Call 706-370-5888 for your copy.