I recently went to the considerable expense of having everything recarpeted, as part of my redecoration plans. I went along to a national (or certainly regional) carpet place, along with a sheet of all the dimensions and the materials of the floor, what was on the other side of each door and so forth. Pedantic levels of information, including tolerances on dimensions, thickness of the other floor coverings.
However, when the carpet fitters showed up yesterday, they took one look at the stairs and gawped... "The risers are concrete!" he said. I was somewhat taken aback, after all I had made it quite clear to the bint in the shop that "the risers are concrete and the treads are wood".
But that crucial piece of information hadn't been passed on, their spec-sheet said nothing about it. This is very hard concrete, and although they tried their best with the nails, they were just buckling. So, the grippers had to be Gripfilled on (as the previous ones were, as I had told the woman in the showroom
)
So, they fitted everything except the stairs but will come back on Monday to do that... for £25. Now, I know that in the scale of fitted carpet prices that is not much money, but it's the principle. I gave them every piece of pertinent information, and they failed to communicate that to the fitters. I went along to the showroom today (not expecting any satisfaction) and was told "Well, 85% of the time the nails are fine in concrete risers!".
But did they tell me that in 15% of cases they don't? No. B*stards. The eunuch with a "Manager" name badge on told me "Well, we can't tell the customer everything about what goes wrong with carpets or you'd be there for hours!!!". Had no response to "Well, would you honestly mind taking a couple of hours over a several-thousand-pound purchase?!"
I think that in future I will be producing my own spec sheets, and insisting that they staple it to their copy of the invoice and the fitter's sheet, just so there is something for me to point at. Now obviously I will just be stumping up that £25: it's not the fitter's fault, and I want my bl**dy carpet fitted.
I suspect that carpet fitters probably have similar problems working with the big companies that kitchen and bathroom fitters do...
However, when the carpet fitters showed up yesterday, they took one look at the stairs and gawped... "The risers are concrete!" he said. I was somewhat taken aback, after all I had made it quite clear to the bint in the shop that "the risers are concrete and the treads are wood".
But that crucial piece of information hadn't been passed on, their spec-sheet said nothing about it. This is very hard concrete, and although they tried their best with the nails, they were just buckling. So, the grippers had to be Gripfilled on (as the previous ones were, as I had told the woman in the showroom
)So, they fitted everything except the stairs but will come back on Monday to do that... for £25. Now, I know that in the scale of fitted carpet prices that is not much money, but it's the principle. I gave them every piece of pertinent information, and they failed to communicate that to the fitters. I went along to the showroom today (not expecting any satisfaction) and was told "Well, 85% of the time the nails are fine in concrete risers!".
But did they tell me that in 15% of cases they don't? No. B*stards. The eunuch with a "Manager" name badge on told me "Well, we can't tell the customer everything about what goes wrong with carpets or you'd be there for hours!!!". Had no response to "Well, would you honestly mind taking a couple of hours over a several-thousand-pound purchase?!"
I think that in future I will be producing my own spec sheets, and insisting that they staple it to their copy of the invoice and the fitter's sheet, just so there is something for me to point at. Now obviously I will just be stumping up that £25: it's not the fitter's fault, and I want my bl**dy carpet fitted.
I suspect that carpet fitters probably have similar problems working with the big companies that kitchen and bathroom fitters do...