Take note. These flooring industry scams are intended to defraud unwary buyers and have recently turned up in the Denver metropolitan area.
Don’t be fooled—there is no free lunch in the flooring industry. If a store advertises the installation of your carpet for one low price, it’s likely that cost will be recovered through an ‘up charge’ on the cost of the pad and carpet to cover the cost of installation. Do you really think that a trained and talented carpet installer would work for free?
Look for hidden costs in the fine print. Some special pads may exceed $8.00 per yard. And look for extra charges for items that may not be included such as individual pieces of tack strip that are required to install carpeting properly.
Also, avoid the ‘bait and switch’ where a store advertises whole house carpet, pad, and install for $999 but the product advertised is of such low quality that you would not put it in a dog house. Once they have you on premise, the store will attempt to switch you to a higher priced carpet and install.
When purchasing a car, buyers are often brand loyal and look for a particular name such as Chevy or Ford, and a particular model. What if car dealers removed the labels and the manufactures produced cars that appeared the same and you weren’t able to distinguish what you were buying. Welcome to the carpet world. This practice is commonplace and makes it very difficult to do apples-to-apples comparison shopping. When a store guaranties the lowest price by 5 or 10 percent, they are often substituting inferior product to help make the sale profitable. We recommend buying through brand name mills.
Purchasing an inferior product is easy if you don’t do your homework. If you walk into a carpet store and the sales person does not explain the differences between your product choices, it’s time to leave. Please see our Glossary of Terms in this section of the site to inform yourself of important differences between carpet types, styles and construction. And check out the Videos we have posted on types of fibers and how they perform.
Many carpet samples have two-to-three grades on each carpet sample board. Make sure you know which style you are selecting and that the same style name is reflected on your invoice. It should also be on the wrapper from the mill when it arrives for installation.
It’s easy to find a product on the Internet today at a cheaper price than from a local company. But be cautious with carpeting as Internet purchases can be problematic. Carpeting must be installed by qualified persons and local companies can inspect and correct defects in carpeting while Internet providers can not. If a separate local company is used for installation, there can be finger-pointing when it comes time to take responsibility for issues. Returning carpet to the transport company for return to the mill wrapped properly for shipment can be a daunting task too. Also, there may be additional costs when asking the original installer to pick up the new carpet and support or service can be spotty after you make your payment.
Carpeting is a costly investment for your home. Choose a dealer that can give you the service you need locally—especially if a problem does happen.
