Buyer Beware Common Carpet Sales Scams
Sloane’s Carpet Buying Tips
Unfortunately, we live in a world where not everyone out there has your best interests at heart. Some carpet retailers are ready and more than willing to take advantage of your lack of carpet-buying know-how (see Sloane’s Carpet Buyers Guide). Here’s our advice to help you avoid the scammers and make sure you truly get top value. It’s your home, after all, whatever choice you make you’ve got to live with for years, whether or not someone managed to bamboozle you.
Free Carpet Installation: Nothing is FREE
When you see offers for free carpet installation, free carpet padding, free extra rooms, etc. don’t be fooled. To make up for these “freebies,” you may be charged extra elsewhere in the process. As your mom always said (or at least, ours did anyway), “there’s no free lunch.”
Cheap is Cheap
Consult our guidelines on cost/quality trade offs, fiber selection and padding to make sure you don’t make a carpet decision you’ll regret later. Shop for the best-quality carpets your budget will allow. Wherever you might be facing a trade off, make sure your carpet salesperson is upfront and transparent with you about what exactly those trade offs are. For example, we will always show you the carpet you’re buying and explain the irregularities (most of which are barely noticeable if you can see them at all.) We know it’s important for you to understand exactly what you’re getting, make sure that’s true wherever you go!
Professional Carpet Measurements
Too much carpet costs you money, but so can too little, especially if the carpet you purchase is no longer available. Protect yourself by getting your space measured by a professional installer before you finalize your order. Don’t let them talk you out of it!
Warranty Overpromises
Manufacturer’s warranties on carpeting are difficult to enforce. Talk to your carpet retailers about what they will do to guarantee your satisfaction after your carpet is installed. Relying on the pretty-sounding promise of a warranty can leave you disappointed when you really run into issues with the job down the road.
Buying carpet can be complicated if you don’t know what to look for, but that’s especially true when you’re dealing with someone whose main interest is their bottom line and not your complete satisfaction. Learn more about what questions to ask with our full carpet buyer’s guide, or schedule an appointment to see the Sloane’s Carpet Secret difference.