People seek out carpet retailers who have “been in business for years” thinking that if they go there, that they’ll get a top quality carpet and installation. Not always!

Retailers charge full retail for both material and labor.  Obviously.  They're retailers.

But what most people don’t realize is that the retailer subcontracts his installations to low-end installers – the ones who take shortcuts.

Low-end installers have to take shortcuts because retailers won’t pay them enough money to take their time and do the job right. One of their many shortcuts is to skip the installation of tack strip behind metal strips (see photo below). We’ve all seen it, carpet that gradually pulls away from metal strips and begins to fray. Before long it's an eyesore.

The owner of this carpet never imagined that the installer would be taking shortcuts in her house.  It would only have taken him 1 minute to install that tack strip, but he’s not getting paid for it, so he’s not gonna do it. Plain & simple.  Nobody works for free - not even 1 minute - certainly not the low-end gypsies. Installers know they can get away with this hasty work if the customer has been conditioned to ‘stay out of the way.’  And the crooked retailers encourage their customers to do just that.

When the lady called me for her first carpet cleaning, I noticed the carpet pulling away from the metal strip. I offered to fix it for her before it got any worse but she said she'd call the retailer to come fix it. I knew what would happen. Nothing. She called the retailer while I was cleaning but he wanted more money to come back. She got mad and said “ohhhh, just skip it.” It happens all the time. It’s why I started carpet at cost. I’m sick of seeing people get taken advantage of.

I know what’s gonna happen when I go back to clean for her again.  It will have frayed out to the yellow line and everybody will be embarrassed for her at how ugly it looks. She’ll know by then that the store won’t help her, so she’ll tell me “ohhhh, just fix it.”  But by then I won't be able to just fix it!  I’ll have to do a crescent shaped patch and it will be noticeable. And I'll charge her for my work too. Then I'll be the bad guy. It happens all the time. And I just wanted to be her carpet cleaner. 

Question: Do you see the ‘secret’ to the retailers success?

Answer: He hires low rate installers who take shortcuts but charges you full retail for installation. He then pockets the difference and hopes you don't complain.

This lady got taken advantage of plain & simple.  Her loss was the retailer's gain. Secret Shortcuts become expensive reminders of what happens when you blindly trust a retailer. 

I want people to seek out a top installer and put him in charge of the installation. He'll charge you for that tack strip but he'll actually install it too because he knows it's necessary for a proper installation. You'll still pay retail for installation, but the money actually goes to the person who's earning it, not some greedy retailer. 

The cool thing is that you have accountability when you deal directly with the installer. He must perform.  Every top installer I know backs up his metals with tack strip. It's routine.