General Rules for Dealing with Flooring People
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I’ve heard a lot of peoples’ frustrations in their dealings with service companies
so here's a few simple
rules for dealing with them. Follow these rules and
you will remain in control.
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General Rules for Dealing with Retailers
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People who assume that the ‘biggest’ or the ‘oldest’ or
the ‘family owned’ carpet store is the smartest place to buy their
carpet might end up disappointed. ‘Image’ is often times
the secret to
their success. I encourage you to stay in control throughout the carpet purchase experience
and keep your money in your own pockets. And wherever labor is involved
- like carpet installation - you should
never buy
during a sale.
If there’s
a problem with the installation
you may hear, “don’t worry, it will go
away.” But more than likely,
it only gets worse.
It’s bad enough to have to pay retail for both carpet &
installation, but to get tricked by a retailers'
devious
warranty tactics; it's just wrong.
You can’t blame people for saying “I’ll never go back there again.”
It’s retail rip-off.
We’re all looking for
an honest carpet retailer.
Let’s give them the work so all the dishonest retailers
have an example to follow. People are sick of hearing all
the dishonest excuses.
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Finding a Top Installer
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You can pay retail or you can use my service
where you pay me a small fee and I find you a top installer
in your area. Either way, you must remain in charge of the
installation if you want to be guaranteed a quality job.
It’s pretty easy to
screen your own carpet installer.
Just ask the
tough questions.
I’ve compared the skill and the rates of hundreds of installers across the country
and the installers’
rates graph is the result. My research shows that
rates
are irrelevant. It’s the relationship between
performance vs rates that lets us group them into distinct categories.
You’re looking for guys in just one category: ‘top independent
installers.’ Make the calls and you’ll uncover
the relationship in your area. Or pay me to do it. Just don’t get
lazy and fall in bed with any retailer; you might wake up in a cold sweat.
If you take my advice and stay away from retailers, you’ll have
fewer problems. It's so much smarter to deal directly with
the
carpet installer.
Here’s the best to worst
sources of installers.
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Planning the Installation
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Carpet should be the last thing on your list.
There’s a lot of communication required with installation and most of it should take
place before the installation. So let’s have a
meeting of
the minds.
The Installer has his
installer’s checklist and with my
service you have your
consumer’s checklist. And the both
of you have a mutually beneficial Installation Agreement that
goes a long way towards eliminating problems before they
ever happen. You can even be a
nice guy and still get great service at a fair price if
you stay involved.
If you take my advice and stay away from the dishonest retailers, you’ll never get wrinkles.
Just take the advice of an honest carpet installer.
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To Avoid The Problems, Know the Problems
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Most installation
errors get blamed on the installer but I assure you, the
salesman contributes his share. The vast majority of installation
related problems could be avoided if you avoid the middle men
(retailers' salesmen, store managers, designers, contractors, etc). I recommend you deal directly with an
individual; a top installer in your town.
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How To Save Some Money On Installation
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You can save some money if you
do your own tear-out. You won’t be as rushed
as if you wait until the day of installation. You certainly won’t get any complaints
from the installers. Tear-outs and moving furniture distract
them from what they're best at - installing flooring. You can also
save money by doing the cleanup after the installation and disposing
of the old carpet and installation scraps.
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The Installation Itself
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Here’s a summary of how to
get ready for the installation.
Plan to do carpet last, get your supplies together, put your valuables
in a safe place, remove doors if it was so agreed, vacuum the old carpet
thoroughly (especially behind furniture where dust collects)
get yourself and your family ready, provide good air ventilation,
head off any temperature troubles, go through your Checklist one more time,
and set up your computer up out of the way from the installation so you can
review this site.
You've got a big role to play, so it’s very important that you
be there during
the installation.
Upon the installer’s arrival,
introduce yourself, make sure you get the right guy, and ask about the power
stretcher.
Stay involved in the installation. Stay there throughout
the whole job! Note where they start and finish. Inspect as they work,
and keep them hydrated; just don’t be too friendly.
Here’s what to look for during the installation.
Check the carpet & pad, watch the sequence,
have your dust mask, broom & dustpan ready. Offer to do the
cleanup when
they’re done and be sure to keep a remnant. And please don’t forget to tell
me how it went, while it’s all still fresh on your mind.
Here’s
the report card.
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After the Installation
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I’ve seen it from the consumer’s point of view for so many years…
I want to teach you all the stuff that nobody else will tell you, like how
to do
your own inspection. You must
be satisfied or you don’t pay. Just be realistic.
I make sure you know what your obligations are in case you ever need to
file a claim
and how to make sure you keep up your warranty.
There’s all kinds of ways you can get tripped up. But it won’t happen if you
have the right information and use it to stay in control.
Now, once you’ve bought it right and laid it tight, all you gotta do is care for it
properly and it will last and last. I teach people the truth about
carpet cleaning – that it’s
is just like washing clothes – so they are more in control of that too.
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