Don't Take
the "HOME DETOUR"
Here's some helpful information you should know about "Big Box" Stores, Home Improvement
Centers, and those stores that only have "1-800" Numbers:
Box
stores will charge you to move furniture!
They may tell you up
front, or they might wait to tell you until they are doing the measure in your home. But they will charge
you. They will charge you a "Per room" rate, per item, or they will add on an extra charge per yard.
Beware of this at the 800 number places as well.
Box stores charge
you for an estimate!
They will charge upwards of $50.00
to measure your house. Then they will not tell you how much your total is. The estimator will not tell you
how many square yards / square feet they came up with until you go back to the store to buy. After they have collected
the estimate fee is often when they inform you of "extra charges". And remember what Larry says: If you have
paid an estimate fee, "I'll refund the fee, if you buy from me"!
Who
is measuring your home?
The person who measures your house does not work
for the box store. They work for another company that is contracted by the box store. The box store knows nothing
about the person they are sending in to your home. The same is true of the 800 number places, AND the 800 number representative
is paid entirely on commission. This person WILL try to get you to spend as much money as he or she can. These people
make incredible bonuses by talking you into buying extras that you DO NOT NEED.
Who
is installing your flooring?
The crew that comes to your home does not
work for the box store / 800 number store. This crew works for an installation company. Again, the box store knows
nothing about the people they are sending in to your home. The actual installers that show up at your house may have
very little experience, or a questionable background. Most of the installers here at THE CARPET STORE have been
employed by us for over ten years, and carry their own insurance and bonds.
Read
the small print!
A recent sale at one of these do-it-yourself stores was
a 10% off sale! The small print stated that it was 10% off the "Installation." That equals just
under six cents per square foot off the marked price. Their corporate minds are always working...They often offer a "flat
rate" for an entire home installation that sounds fantastic, but after they add up all the extras, our bottom line price
is always lower on the same product.
Box stores change the labels on their
products
When you have chosen a product, you can't make phone calls
to "shop" the competition. In other words, every store in town may have the exact same carpet you want to
buy from the box store, but it will have a different name on the label. They can advertise
that "Nobody will beat our price on these items" Because nobody else carries "these" items.
We all do, but it's called something else. For example: the carpet you like at the box store may be called "Whistling
Hills". If you call around looking for a price on "Whistling hills", nobody will know what that is.
But we probably have it on our showroom floor under a different name. And for less money!
At the box stores, you pay in full prior to installation!
What
if they do a bad job, fall short on material, or never show up? Most stores, including us, ask for a deposit on the
order and ask for the balance to be paid on completion of the job, after the job is done to your satisfaction. We also
offer payment options including 6 months no interest, OAC.
4 - 6 weeks
until installation!
Box stores standard wait time from the date you place
your order to the installation date is 4 - 6 WEEKS! This incredible wait time has recently been described by one of
our customers as "The Home Detour"! Our average is 7 - 10 working days, in many cases installation can be
done in 3 - 7 days. In-stock carpet can be done same, or next day.
1
Year installation guarantee? That's all?
I called a box store and
asked how long my carpet installation was guaranteed. The answer was 1 year. How can that be? The registrar
of contractors holds companies responsible for 2 years. At THE CARPET STORE, we offer a lifetime installation guarantee
on your carpet for as long as you own your home.
Hold Times and phone
systems
The last time I called a box store, I was directed to an automated
system that asked me to "Press 1" etc. When I finally got a human on the phone, I asked for the flooring department.
After a few minutes on hold, I was disconnected. I called back, sat on hold, asked for the flooring department again,
and finally got an associate on the phone. I asked him "how long is it from order date to installation date?
He placed me back on hold. Minutes later, a different associate came on the line. I asked this person the
same question. He answered it. My total time invested was over 10 minutes to answer a very simple question.
The same phone call to THE CARPET STORE would have taken under one minute from start to finish.
Informed and knowledgeable Staff?
The person
in the flooring department at the box store may have just transferred from the plumbing department, or garden department.
The staff at THE CARPET STORE all have the experience and knowledge needed to answer all of your questions and help you select
the flooring you are looking for.
Beware of the "Upgrades"
All box store associates are trained to "up sell" the customer. They will try to
sell you things you don't need at an additional charge. Things like expensive pad upgrades, carpets with expensive backings,
and higher priced branded yarns. Many different choices are available, however the extra charges these box stores charge
are ridiculous.
Are you buying more material than you need?
YES, you are! The box stores add around 10% more square feet / square yards than you actually
need. They will say that it is for cut allowance or overage. Every time we measure a home that has been previously
measured by a box store, we have come up with less material needed. EVERY TIME! That means you are being charged
too much.
It's not just the "Big Box Stores"...Beware
of the "Next Day Installation" Stores
These stores promise
everything from free trips to next day installation and discounts up to 70 % off! Our customers have told us about how
they have been treated by these companies. Bottom line...If it sounds too good to be true, it is! These
are some of the highest priced dealers in town. Many are not even local, and do not have a local showroom,
business license or office. Ask where their corporate offices are. Also, we at THE CARPET STORE have
never given a higher bid than these stores on the same product! Their marketing strategy is that if you
have them into your home, you will buy without shopping the competition. SHOP THE COMPETITION BEFORE BUYING FROM THESE
PLACES!
Check with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors and Better Business
Bureau!
At this time (4/7/07) One of the above mentioned companies has
5 current unresolved complaints and 47 other documented complaints against them with the registrar of contractors. Their
website is: www.azroc.gov
Update: As of 12/12/07 a
"Next Day Installation" store has had their Better Business Bureau membership REVOKED.
The most common complaints were pertaining to rude customer service and lack of follow-through to get jobs completed.
Here is the article that was published in THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR:
BBB ousts Express parent
By Shelley Shelton
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.11.2007
The "happy home people" are pretty frustrated over a decision last month
by the Phoenix-area Better Business Bureau to revoke the company's membership.
But
the Better Business Bureau of Central, Northern and Western Arizona says it gave the parent company of Express Flooring lots
of opportunities to show how it had changed its habits before taking the drastic step of revoking its accreditation with the
bureau.
Phoenix-based Express Home Services LLC does work in Southern Arizona as Express
Flooring and advertises frequently on Tucson television stations.
Officials of the Phoenix bureau said a persistent pattern of complaints against Express Flooring prompted the bureau first to suspend the company's
membership in 2006, then to revoke it last month.
Express Flooring officials say they are proud of their customer-service
record despite the issues with the Better Business Bureau.
The company pleaded its case before the bureau's board last
December and was told the suspension would remain in place while the bureau continued to review the company's records.
As of Monday, bureau records showed Express has had 198 complaints in the last 36
months, with 62 of them in the past year. That comes out to a little more than one complaint per week. All have been
resolved or administratively closed.
Express remains in good standing with the Arizona
Registrar of Contractors, with three open complaints and 37 that have been withdrawn, resolved or settled in the past two
years, said ROC spokesman Brian Livingston.
"They have no disciplinary processes at all," he said. "The
complaints come in. They handle them before it goes to any other disciplinary action."
Express Flooring operations
manager Henry Jaffe said the bureau became angry with the company after an incident about a year and a half ago in which voices
were raised.
"The BBB got angry with us because there was a complaint with a consumer and we offered a cash settlement
to resolve the complaint," said Jaffe said. "They were upset that they didn't manipulate that situation and they
got into a screaming match."
In three letters to the bureau after the suspension — dated July 13, 2006, Feb.
14, 2007, and Oct. 11, 2007 — Express CEO Brad Beck detailed his company's service record.
He noted that the company
has resolved all complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, revamped its customer service staff, has a complaint ratio
of less than half of one percent and has about eight times fewer complaints than an Illinois-based competitor that does business
in Phoenix and remains a bureau member in good standing.
Jaffe said the company wasn't given much time to present its
case last December and that all the letters Beck wrote to the bureau have been ignored.
Matthew Fehling, CEO of the Phoenix-area
bureau, said the company was given an unusually long time to show it had changed its behavior patterns.
"We've explained
to them over and over again how the process worked and gave them ample time," Fehling said.
The complaints were repeatedly similar in nature, most frequently pertaining to rude customer service agents and
lack of follow-through to get jobs completed, Fehling said.
If the company could have eliminated or significantly
reduced those kinds of complaints, the bureau's board would have seen it as a tangible sign of improvement and desire to improve,
he said.
The Illinois competitor does business in 23 states and isn't a fair comparison, he said, and Express has shown
only anecdotal evidence of its workload, which it says is about 20,000 jobs a year.
"They pleaded their case and
then we were sitting in the same chair a year later," Fehling said. "It's somewhat unusual for us to allow a company
to remain in suspended status for that extended period of time."
The company was never granted a follow-up hearing
because the committee members felt they'd already heard the story, based on the types of complaints that continued to come
in, he said. "This is how seriously we wanted them to turn it around. They're a big company in our area. We wanted them
to meet our standards and unfortunately they don't right now. A year is plenty of time to institute the changes."
Jaffe maintains that the sheer business volume the company does, combined with the fact that all complaints have been resolved,
should speak louder than whether the BBB has revoked the membership.
"I can handle not being a member of the BBB,
but you know what really bothers me as a human being is the unethicalness that that institution is portraying here,"
he said. Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at 434-4086
What to expect from THE CARPET STORE:
No extra charge
to move furniture
No "Hidden" Fees
No charge for the estimate (Even refund the fee you have paid to another store for an estimate)
Experienced professionals in your home for the measure and installation.
Fast
installation times
Lifetime installation guarantee
No 800 numbers - excessive hold times - or automated phone systems
Experienced
knowledgeable Staff
No High pressure sales tactics
Huge showroom
No Deposit / Credit card to check out samples
Licensed Contractor
Proud member of SAHBA
Proud member of the Better Business Bureau
