Electricians Ruining Carpets with muddy/oily footprints

[WhiteP]

I've just received a rather distressed phone call from oldest son. They'd just laid new carpets in their flat this week. They had electricians in today to put in new lighting. Electricians clumped through house and have left oily/muddy footprints or stains of an indeterminate nature all over the carpets. Son has tried desperately to get stains up with carpet cleaner but probably made it worse.

What to do? I've told him to get on to his insurance company, but does he have any comeback over the sole trader who employs the electricians?

Where I live, even if a tradesman comes to make a quote, he routinely takes his shoes off or covers them in those blue elastic over-socks.

[LooksLikeImStuckHere]

If he was in the house when they were there, I'd guess they'd just say he should have asked them to take their shoes off.

Could hire in professional carpet cleaners?

I have a Bissell Spot Clean. An expensive-ish outlay but with new carpets it has been a miracle device and has got out everything that has gone on the carpet.

[wowfudge]

I disagree - their liability insurance should cover them for things like this. It is not for the householder to ask every tradesperson to take their shoes off and I imagine suitable footwear is actually ppe for electricians.

I had a similar thing happen with Argos delivery people a good few years ago. Their insurance paid for my carpets to be cleaned - I had to get three quotes and they chose to go with the cheapest, but he was very good.

With new carpets I just wouldn't take the risk of trying to clean them myself, especially if you are not sure what the muck is.

[LooksLikeImStuckHere]

Ah, there you go!! A much more preferable answer

Fingers crossed he gets it cleaned!

[WhiteP]

Thanks Wowfudge and LLISH. I'm also baffled as to why he let them tramp round the house and make the mess but he said he was working on something at the time. Also, I'm amazed that the workers in question did not notice the mess they were making and continued to make it. I can empathize that the first thing he did was dive in with carpet cleaner, only to make it worse.

For any tradesman it's fundamental first principles not to make a mess, to prevent a mess and to tidy up after you. I don't think he can do much about insurance until tomorrow morning when lines and offices are open.

Particularly surprised that a large company like Argos would fall into such a trap, but at the same time you'd also expect them to want to rectify the situation professionally. I'm not so hopeful in this situation.

[wowfudge]

What do you mean 'fall into such a trap'?

[WhiteP]

I meant be so careless with employee training and instruction that their employees did not think to cover their feet or cover the surfaces in advance, leaving their employers, Argos, to have to rectify the damage caused to your carpets.

I believe it's called an idiom.

[wowfudge]

Ah right - it read as though you were implying I might not have been honest about the cause of the oily marks!

We recently had a furniture delivery where one guy wiped his feet diligently but his colleague proceeded to walk mud everywhere. As we were a fortnight from replacing the carpet I told them not to worry about it.