The first comes from a retailer who sold an expensive cut pile, 100% wool carpet to a customer who would complain of fuzzing. She used an aggressive vacuum on the carpet, which was determined to be the ultimate cause of the complaint.

The consumer should have complained to the vacuum manufacturer; instead, she called the flooring dealer to ask him to take a look.

He did and also tried to shear the carpet to make it look better. He did this as a courtesy and told us the carpet did look much better. Later, the consumer said he damaged the carpet. He went back and saw some loops he had nicked but they weren’t very noticeable.

The point is the consumer was the one who caused the problem. In his effort to be professional, the retailer is dragged into a situation he did not create. He will, however, have to defend himself for working on the carpet which may make him liable for some damages. Had he just looked at it, listened to what the consumer did and offered advice on how to pursue this matter, he would have been better off.

The vacuum was too aggressive for this type of carpet, and her complaint should be with the vacuum manufacturer, vacuum retailer or herself, not the flooring dealer.

Cut pile wool in a home will fuzz. Wool is a staple fiber that is spun. It will not hold up well to aggressive use or a vacuum designed to agitate and lift.

Unfortunately this dealer involved himself in a situation that may financially hurt him. He has been advised to seek legal council, which will cost him even if he can extricate himself.

In a case like this, certainly respond and look at the problem. Help by guiding her to a resolution. Once you involve yourself, it becomes yours in some way, shape or form. The carpet was ruined and the consumer wants it replaced. Who better for her to try and get a new one than from the dealer?

In the next case, a consumer spilled dry, red JellO on her carpet. She called a couple of retailers asking how to take it out. One said use a detergent and water, another said to put hot water on it, but neither gave her the right answer.

Using water of any kind will give you a mess and the consumer will wind up with something that will likely never come out.

First you have to get the powder out dry using a vacuum without any agitation—you don’t want to push the stuff into the fiber. After getting the powder out as best as possible, use an extraction process to flush it from the carpet. Call a professional cleaner to do the flushing. It is likely this will get all or most of the powder out, depending on the fiber type and carpet color.

Delamination at the seam

This carpet was down less than a year when it delaminated at a seam. An inspector felt it was from the consumer using Carpet Fresh with a wet cleaning. He thought high alkalinity broke the latex down.

There’s more, but suffice it to say this was most likely not the cause. It may have been from the seam not being sealed, over wetting during the DIY cleaning process or something else foreign to the carpet.

Fresheners are essentially scented neutral ph baking soda that should not compromise structural integrity. Using them with wet cleaning processes will not break down latex and cause delamination. Something else caused this. Sometimes thinking you know more than you do results in the wrong information.

If you have a question, need help or want to find out if someone is telling you the truth about a flooring problem or issue, call us, we have the right answers.