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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

New carpet bought, but fitters cut it short - reasonable outcome?

108 replies

GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:25

We've paid £5800 for new 80/20 wool mix carpets through most of the house. It was £34.99 from the shop plus fitting costs so covers quite a large footprint.

The fitters arrived on Monday and have done an ok job, but on one corridor (in an L-shape) they've cut the carpet about 20cm too short... I found this out when I happened to be walking by as they discovered this. They glued another strip to the carpet but I'm so upset every time I walk by it - I can clearly see it! It's worse than when I first viewed it in afternoon sun, now that I've seen it in full daylight.

I asked about the fix while they were still here and they said that the heat bonded glue would keep it together for years, but I'm still sore when I see it.

I've paid a 50% deposit already. The suppply, estimate, measuring and fitting of the carpets was all done by the shop. All the fitting has now completed.

I've emailed the owner to say I'm not happy with the result (esp now I've hoovered it and there's little threads from the carpet backing coming up through the glued gap between the bit they've added on). I've asked for a replacement for that section - but I suspect it'll be costly because that section is a 7m x 5m square that they'll have to source, to cut into the L-shape.

I'm upset that such a high-value purchase (to me) has gone wrong and that I didn't stand my ground and ask them to fit it with a replacement when they were still here. AIBU to ask them to replace? I'm not wanting a discount, I just want the job to be done properly, as quoted/expected.

I've never bought carpets before so not sure if I'm being reasonable.

OP posts:
Original poster
GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:25

(we paid the 50% deposit on a credit card, so do have section 75 credit card protection)

OP posts:
nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 18/09/2020 15:27

The fitter will have to pay to replace that section. That's what would happen in the carpet shop I work at.

SavoyCabbage · 18/09/2020 15:27

Yanbu, even slightly. You bought enough carpet to cover the area without joins.

Di11y · 18/09/2020 15:28

Absolutely require a new carpet. Even if they offer some compensation it's not what you bought ie one piece.

TheQueef · 18/09/2020 15:29

Is the carpet roll 5m long?
I think the standard is 4m so I hope they helped you choose the right size!
Regardless yanbu, you paid for wall to wall so should be given that. If it needed a join they should have explained before you paid.

Elsa8 · 18/09/2020 15:30

Definitely they should pay for and fit a new carpet, it’s their error.

ivfbeenbusy · 18/09/2020 15:30

@SavoyCabbage

Yanbu, even slightly. You bought enough carpet to cover the area without joins.

This isn't strictly true

Carpets come in certain widths and depending on the width and orientation of the room you may always get a join but it should be in the most discrete and logical spot which in this case it doesn't sound like it is.

StillAlive76 · 18/09/2020 15:30

Totally not your problem. It's up to the fitter or the carpet shop to get a replacement redone. Insist you are not happy and will not be paying the balance until the work is completed to your satisfaction. That's a heck of a lot of money for something you are not happy with, they should honour what you paid for.

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 18/09/2020 15:31

Hell no you are not being unreasonable! That is a lot of money to spend on carpets, and to have a fuck up like that is just not on. They need to replace it.

TheQueef · 18/09/2020 15:31

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut is roll size relevant or did I imagine it somehow?

TheQueef · 18/09/2020 15:32

Take photos too from every angle.

Happydaysforever123 · 18/09/2020 15:32

YANBU once we were buying carpet we were given the choice of having a join in one room to save money before the carpet was ordered which we declined. Yours is obviously an error, I'd insist on having it redone properly before you pay the balance.

Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? Or a legal helpline?

SavoyCabbage · 18/09/2020 15:33

She said they cut it short though, not that it wasn't wide enough.

Florencex · 18/09/2020 15:34

Yes you can ask for it to be refitted. This has happened to me twice! The first time the fitter said he was confident he could join it invisibly and if I wasn’t happy he would take back up. He did it invisibly and I decided to keep it rather than go through the hassle of waiting another x weeks.

The second time in another room, the join was not done quite as well. However my house is old with lots of nooks and crannies and it was In one of these so really not noticeable.

But in both cases, the fitters made it clear that I could refuse the carpet.

Original poster
GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:36

Here was what I spotted, and quickly took a pic of: ibb.co/h8pKrNw

Now: ibb.co/CJ7pbqM and ibb.co/pj2nZKp

It's a carpet that comes in a 5m wide roll yes.
I've taken photos and attached to my email to the shop.

OP posts:
Original poster
GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:36

I do have legal protection on my home insrance, yes, we pay to have it as an extra every year ... just in case (mainly for employment advice/etc as we're not in unions).

OP posts:
TheQueef · 18/09/2020 15:38

If it was big enough to start with the fitters are absolutely being cf.
A complete replacement in that area is the only thing you should accept.

Original poster
GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:39

I over heard the fitters say "oh no it's been cut short" as I walked around the corner into my study, it was clearly an error. just to clarify, that there was no point in the measurement where they said they'd have to join it.. and it's an odd place to join that there if that was the case, right outside the door.

OP posts:
Original poster
GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:40

surely they wouldn't ask the fitter to replace it out of pocket?! (that section is worth about £1200 if i went to a nearby competitor)

OP posts:
bethany39 · 18/09/2020 15:43

But it's the fitter that fucked up OP - why shouldn't they pay to replace it?

Original poster
GremlinFoxtrot · 18/09/2020 15:45

The fitter (as in the person) is employed by the shop though - at least seems to have been - they're permanent staff, not a contractor.. i think? surely that would be more than his weekly wages?

Or do fitters generally do it self employed, VIA the shop?

(naive of me!)

OP posts:
2bazookas · 18/09/2020 15:47

If they made a mistake with the cutting, it's their liability. They will have to order more capet and refit at their expense.

But are you sure that's what happened? Or was the carpet width you ordered just not big enough to fill an L shape so a join was inevitable,

TheQueef · 18/09/2020 15:48

Instead of cobbling it together they should have called the shop when they spotted it, not style it out.

I'm cross on your behalf Angry
I was robbed on my first carpets years ago. I could only afford the 99p m2 for the house but I saved to get a nice lounge carpet for the crawling baby.
The fitters were in their fifties, experienced and really pleasant, they even put my heavy sofa at the other end of the room to show the pattern more.
They were so nice and friendly I took their advice.
F2f six months when I eventually move the sofa for Christmas tree there is a huge square pull in the wool, ruined, could see the hessian. Six months had passed so the shop just laughed at me.
Twats.

NoSquirrels · 18/09/2020 15:51

I think it depends if the fitter cut it short, or if the roll has been supplied to them (by the shop) cut short.

It is a bad place to have a join, because it's a high traffic area, in a doorway. So whilst I think it looks absolutely fine right now, and no one else will notice it, unfortunately it may not wear well, in time. So you do need to ask the carpet shop what has happened.

Poppyismyfavourite · 18/09/2020 15:53

hmm I was on your side but I've looked at the photos and can't see a join at all??