Two situations came to my attention this past week that you may be able to relate to. One was a case involving an engineered wood flooring product that was installed in a home, supposedly with all conditions being acceptable for the installation. The dealer took moisture readings of the substrate, which indicated no compromising readings. The material was acclimated; the installation conducted according to the manufacturers and wood associations instructions. Shortly after the installation the dealer received a call from the consumer that the flooring was lifting. Sure enough, when the dealer went to inspect the floor it was indeed reacting on the floor. He pulled some boards from the box of left over material to find the same thing existed in some of the remaining boards. The floor was inspected by an independent agent sent by the manufacturer. He confirmed the condition existed but stated it was installation related. The dealer did not agree, because of the boards he had from the box that were also warped so another inspection was conducted. This time the inspector said the same thing – installation was again sited as the problem. The dealer wasn’t buying these determinations and we agreed that if the boards in the box were doing the same thing as the ones on the floor that the material itself was suspect. There are tests that can be conducted to determine whether or not the wood is the problem. The results, along with all the details of the installation, a chronology of what has occurred, digital photos of the site and actual samples of the material, are all evidence that can be examined to determine exactly what the problem is, why it exists and who caused it. The evidence never lies. Circumstance, situations and appearance of a problem can be interpreted incorrectly, taken out of context, be gathered incompletely, overshadowed by opinions or beliefs but the pure science and laws of physics applied will never lie.
When it comes to blatant defects and flaws this second situation takes the cake. The dealer in this case ordered 60 yards of material at a cost of over $24.00 per yard – his cost. The material arrived, was taken to the consumers home, furniture was removed, old carpet taken up and the carpet rolled out to cut. When the carpet was rolled the installer immediately noticed that it had bands in it – these looked like short broken lines similar to markings on a highway. The installer immediately called the store and the dealer came out to look at the carpet, which obviously could not be installed like this. He called the mill to complain and wanted them to pay for lost time and labor. The claims analyst said they should have inspected the carpet first, which she was right in saying, but the carpet should have been inspected at the mill first and not been shipped this way. The dealer sent photos of the carpet and the marks are clearly a manufacturing related issue – they match the belts on the line which carries the carpet and in addition there are crush marks in the carpet. Now these may not have been noticed by the inspectors as this condition could result at roll up, which is after inspection and caused by compression and exacerbated by the carpet being warm when rolled up. The dealers’ photos speak volumes and clearly indicate the cause of the problem and where it took place. After he contacted the rep the problem was resolved to his complete satisfaction but he wasn’t happy about the experience.
These types of situations are becoming more common and I’ll give you a tip, they’ll likely get tougher on claims now that the residential business is off. In 37 years in the business I’ve gone through a number of industry slow downs. When business slows down claims seem to pick up as everyone watches their cash more closely and guards against losing a penny of it. For this reason however, there should be more diligence on everyone’s part; the manufacturer should make sure no obviously defective carpet is shipped and the dealer should inspect every piece that comes in before installation. You should all be a little more paranoid about quality right now, it’ll save you money.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts