A complaint normally involves physically going to the installation site, looking at the floor covering and trying to determine by what is exhibited and seen, what the problem is. Often that's not enough, as it takes more than just looking in many cases to figure out what's going on.

Two recent cases in particular will highlight this for you. The first deals with a medium blue carpet on stairs that was dark on the edges. The carpet had been down for a short period of time-less than a year- when the consumer called the dealer complaining the edge of the stairs was dark, and she felt there was a problem with the carpet. As usual, we had the dealer email photos of the carpet so we could first look at it and try to help determine what was going on. In this case, the dealer was also able to get a small section of the product from the affected area and sent in a sample to us.

When the sample was received, it was evident the dark area was soiling rather than wear, a dye issue or some other color altering event. The dark area also had a lemon scent when smelled, and it had a different feel, like a drag or slightly sticky residue. Smelling and touching the carpet defined what the real problem was.

Someone had used a cleaning agent on the carpet, which had a lemon scent that left a residue causing soil to be attracted to that area resulting in the nose of the carpet turning dark. This is not a problem with the carpet, nor was it the dealer's problem or responsibility. The condition can be corrected by simply hot water extracting the affected area of the carpet using no cleaning solution at all. This will flush out the residual material and remove the dark area. If the dark area comes back, the process should be repeated to remove the remaining residue.

Smelling and touching the affected area resulted in the cause being determined and the complaint being resolved.

In the second case, an 8-inch bubble appeared in a living room carpet about four feet off the wall. An inspector visited the site, said the carpet felt like a limp dishcloth in this area and used a UV light to try and determine if anything was there. The dealer had also previously gone to look at the carpet. There was no indication of how the surface of the affected area felt in comparison to an unaffected area when it was checked for delamination, and no one smelled the carpet.

Feeling the spot would have revealed any residue. Smelling would indicate an odor of something, which could be urine, kerosene, wine or another chemical agent that would destroy the bond between the primary and secondary backing. Not all chemical substances will show up under UV light, so using other senses is necessary.

When in doubt, touch the area affected- see if it feels different from unaffected areas. If it feels like something is on the carpet, smell it- gross as that may sound, it can save you from the pain of going through the claims process and give you a quick and definite answer.

Most of the time you'll be able to identify the odor- your nose knows more than you think it does.

This is one of the reasons why I always say, "The carpet never lies; it will always tell you what's wrong if you know how to interpret what it's saying."