Help!! Carpet fitter has just stormed out. AIBU?

[whenskiesaregrey]

Sorry for rambling state of this post, I am a bit upset about the way I have just been spoken to. Also, sorry for the length of the post, I just want to include all the detail.

I ordered some carpet last week to be fitted today. It is a local small carpet shop, not part of a chain. They offer a 'free fitting service', but you pay 75% of the price in the shop, and the remainder once fitted. I presume this is because they sub-contract out the fitting. In my case this was £150 in the shop, and £50 once fitted. I have bought carpet and fitting from this shop before, and the fitting service wasn't great, but they said they were using a different company that day, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ordered from them again. In the shop, I mentioned the problems I had had last time (punctuality, not taking old carpet away) and asked for reassurance that the service would be better this time. I was assured it would be.

Carpet was due to be delivered at 9am. At half past 9, no-one had turned up, so I rang the shop asking where they were. I was told they had has a couple of problems this morning and only had one fitter on instead of two, and they might be able to fit me in a 2pm today. I can't do that time as DS has a party 2-4pm, and I work Wed-Fri, so this morning really was the only time this week that was suitable. I explained to the man on the phone that I has problems last time, and was told it would be better this time. So he said he would move some things around, and fit me in about 10am this morning.

At 10, two men arrived to fit the carpet. In the bedroom, the furniture we had left in there was a double bed, a wardrobe, and chester of drawers and two little side units. We had been told in the shop not to worry about moving any furniture out of the room, that they would move it around the room to fit it. DH had taken the mirrored doors off the wardrobe to make it lighter to move, and we had moved all of the other usual bedroom stuff out of the room. The chest of drawers were half empty, just had underwear in them. The bed still had the bedding on it because I didn't think it would make any difference. The little side units did have things in them, but they really are very small, so I thought they be okay. I am 27+ weeks pregnant with PGP, so it is a bit difficult to move things around.

He went to the bedroom and looked around and sighed. The said, you're going to need to get those clothes out of that wardrobe. There wasn't very much in there because we are getting new wardrobes, so it was just a few things to keep us going until the new stuff arrived. I said I would move it, but it shouldn't make much different to the weight. He said if he tried to move the wardrobe, it would collapse, which I said wasn't true as we have just decorated, and have been moving the wardrobe around so we could get to the walls. But I still carried on moving the clothes. He then started opening the drawers in the chest of drawers, which have my underwear etc in. I said the drawers are almost empty, so the underwear shoudn't make any difference to the weight. He then picked up the small unit and dragged it around the room in a way that the drawers all fell forward and the unit nearly tipped up. I said to him that I would move it if he was going to move it like that, and moved the other unit out of the room. He then said 'look love, I'm doing you a favour here, I could leave you to move it by yourself if you want'. By the point, the other lad had turned the double bed up on to its side and was leaning against the window. I said to the first lad that I understood that he has obviously had a busy morning and he didn't have much patience, but I had been waiting for the delivery too. He said 'no patience?! I shouldn't even be here. I'm not staying here and taking this. Do you want me to go'. I said to him if he wanted to go, he should go, but it's his job to fit the carpet. He shouted to the other lad, 'right, we're off', stormed down the stairs and got in the van. The other lad looked a bit sheepish, and I said 'so is he just going to go, leaving the bed on its side and all the furniture like that'. I am quite obviously pregnant, and DS was playing downstairs and shouting to me, so it was obvious that I would not be able to move the furniture back. He said he would have a word with him, but once he had got in the van, they drove off. So the bedroom is left with the very heavy oak double bed on its side, a unit in the middle of the floor, and they left the door open as they stormed out.

I rang the shop and explained that I thought the fitter was very rude, and what was going to happen now. He said that they had done me a favour by moving the other appointments round to fit me in at 10am, and they were wasting time on the phone at the moment, and other appointments needed to be done. He then said it is in my best interest to be flexible with the delivery time, because I wont get my £150 deposit back, because they have ordered the carpet. I then tried to reiterate how rude the fitter had been to me. Apparently the fitter had told the lad in the shop that I refused to move anything out of the room, and that is why he left. Now, if the shop had explained to us to make sure wardrobes were empty, drawers were empty etc, then we would have done it. We told them when we ordered it it was for a bedroom, so you would know the type of furniture would be in there. But we were told that we did not need to get any furniture out of the room, the fitters would work around it.

Was I being unreasonable to the fitter? Is it true I can't get my money back on the carpet? I don't want that fitter back in the house, he really was so horrible to me. I understand he has obviously had a busy day, and I said that to him, but at the end of the day, that isn't my fault and he shouldn't take it out on me. I also don't like the suggestion from the shop that they are doing me a favour by re-arranging the delivery for me, when I have paid for a carpet and fitting, and that is what I expected.

I am pretty upset at the moment, which is probably all pregnancy hormones. I got a bit upset on the phone to the shop, so he said he would ring me back 'when I had calmed down'. So I am waiting for them to call back now. Where do I stand?

Thank you if you read this far!!

No, furniture-moving probably isn't 'a standard expectation' ? which'll be why the OP checked and double-checked with the shop to make totally sure that they would provide this service.

OP if the shop are advertising the service of moving furniture, and confirmed it to you when you double checked with them in person then YANBU at all.

And why would you ask about the furniture moving service and then refuse to allow them to do it?

It would have been sensible to empty the furniture that was left in the room and unmake the bed but other than that the problem seems to lie with the shop and the fitters attitude to you.

I would suggest that you call Consumer Direct for the best advice on 08454 04 05 06. They have been a big help to me in the past.

I ordered a beautiful wooden sleigh bed that was sold to me as the top end of the range but on sale as they were producing a different design now.

Within minutes of the bed being delivered and built I noticed it had a big crack running through the foot board that would mean it soon split in half.

I rang the shop and they said they would replace it and asked me to keep the original bed in the mean time.

The second bed had the same fault.

The third bed had a hole smashed through the foot board and didn't even make it out of the delivery van.

The fourth bed was cracked in two different places.

While I was on the phone arranging delivery of the fifth bed they admitted that the beds were all factory seconds, not end of range beds, and would all have some sort of damage.

The salesman had blatantly lied to me and none of the others had bothered to explain during the weeks of replacements and redeliveries.

I asked for my money back and they said that because I had paid in cash I would have to wait for over two weeks for my refund.

I asked to speak to the manager and they said they didn't have one, the previous manager had left and not been replaced.

I asked for the number for head office and they said they were not allowed to give that number out to anyone.

So I went to the shop anyway and rang consumer direct from my mobile. It was during this loud conversation, which several other customers were listening to quite intently, that a salesman walked over, handed me my money and asked me to leave, so I didn't need to follow their advice but it was still very good and I think would have worked had I needed to take it.

I've also had a sofa delivery man get very shitty with me because our sofa was big and would not fit through the living room door without having the arms taken off. We had warned them in the shop of this problem and chosen a model that could have the arms easily removed.

Instead he brought the sofa in completely built, pushed and shoved it at the door, took it back outside to try and force it through the conservatory door, by this time uncovered and getting wet from the rain, back around to the front of the house, scraping it on a wall, and eventually admitted he needed to take the arms off.

But before he did that he kept saying things to me like "that's taking up my time that is. It's like you leaving your car parked outside and walking to the supermarket, it's a big waste of time when you could drive."

It took him longer to carry the sofa back and forth than it did to take an arm off and bring it through the door. I was pregnant at the time too and he annoyed me with his rude attitude. He wouldn't listen to me even though I knew it wouldn't fit through the conservatory (we tried it with the old sofa when we moved into that house and that sofa was even smaller than the new one). I wasn't rude to him but he was getting really shitty with me and in the end I said I would ring the shop, which was on the next street to us, and ask them to send someone to the house to witness what was going on because he was upsetting me.

I hope you get this sorted, but I think Consumer Direct is the best way to go at this point.

And I think it's been said before, define 'moving furniture'. People clearly interpert this differently. I would empty and move as much as possible, leaving the likes of a sofa and bed. Some people seem to expect the fitters to handle drawer units full of stuff. That's what should be clarified when booking and preparing for them coming. That's where the shop is at fault.

But yes to offering of tea or coffee or soft drinks. Even if they are very late. But not if they are rude.

Name and shame OP, You were treated horribly. They weren't doing you a favor they were paid to do a job.

Also see if they are registered with Yell.com and leave a comment explaining what happened.

I find the criticisms on this thread bizarre.

The OP paid for a specific service. Some people (elderly people being an obvious example) will need a more extensive service than just carpet fitting. They will need people to move the furniture for them, to take the carpet away and to fit the carpet. They will also want people to turn up at a particular time.

If somebody pays for that service, that is what they should get.

Our local shop does not offer furniture moving. We have a piano and I explained that I couldn't move it from the room and could they fit with it left in. They agreed to this in advance and were fine with it. But the OP should not have to go through this because she paid for a service which included moving furniture.

I honestly believe some people struggle to retain facts! They advertised no need to move furniture and that they would remove old carpet.and yet op is unreasonable in expecting them to do precisely that !

Huge x post, I see most recent posters get it!

Rubarb the OP said in her first post "We had been told in the shop not to worry about moving any furniture out of the room, that they would move it around the room to fit it." That is quite reasonable (and normal in my experience, although some companies charge extra for it and some don't - the competitor of the place where I worked charged per item, the company I worked for took a "move what you can" approach.

The sentence above shows the OP knew the furniture would have to be moved around the room and that they didn't need to move furniture out of the room. But common sense should indicate you need to empty it. I know common sense doesn't always apply - I can remember tales of fitters being confronted by cabinets with 100s of china ornaments... "Can you move it?" "yes, but you will end up with a pile of dust rather than your ornaments..."

I'd be interested to see exactly the wording of the poster on the window.

If the sign in the window said they'd turn cartwheels in the newly carpeted room whilst juggling the old rolls of carpet and that's what she paid for, then that's what she should have been able to expect!

Wow yhis thread reminds me of our morning routine...
Me. Ds1 can you get your shoes please
Ds1. Mummy, have you seen this bridge i have made
Me. Yes ds its lovely, could you get your shoes please
Ds1. Where are we going today mummy
Me. Nursery, could you get your shoes please then we are all ready to go
Ds1. Lays down on the floor to poke ds2&3 and make them laugh

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?

Op YANBU

OP - I understand you and your DH are angry but yes you have to give them a reasonable chance to remedy this. I suspect they have more than one pair of fitters as it will be subcontracted. Speak to the manager tomorrow and say you want another pair of fitters since the first set were clearly rude, regardless of what they claim it was rude to leave a job unfinished. Tell them you want it done in the next 24 hours and yes they will have to move furniture. Be flexible about when they do it but insist it's done or you receive a full refund.

The thing the manager will want is to complete the contract quickly and without it escalating, you have that on your side. Remind him that you both want the same thing, the carpet delivered and fitted correctly in good time. Don't get sucked into a debate. State what you expect and ask him how he will achieve it.

Staff in carpet places are generally not the most clever or customer focused - spend all day staring at your carpet, your brain will turn to porridge too! the managers are normally mindful of the fact that a bad review or negative will lose a lot of customers and his biggest spend is advertising so he won't want that. Try to put today behind you and work towards a resolution. :)

OP YANBU at all. I would have emptied the drawers and stripped the bed, but only for my own sake so there was no more mess made than needed.

FWIW, when I was very pg I ordered a flat pack sofa bed/futon thing from Argos. They arrived to deliver it about 20 minutes after DH had left for work.

They brought it in through the front door and refused to bring it any further because of health and safety . Our hallway is tiny and enclosed (basically just enough room for the door to swing open and then straight to enclosed stairs.

They laid the HUGE box along the stairs, and refused to move it anywhere else. This rendered the stairs impassable for the rest of the day (toilet is upstairs ). They absolutely refused to move it, even knowing that I would be unable to shift it and therefore not be able to go upstairs all day. Total FUCKWITS! In the end I had to get a neighbour to move it.

Complain, complain, complain to shop, trading standards, newspaper etc

I notice amberleaf hasn't been back, having spectacularly missed the point. What had offering cups of tea got to do with someone expecting the service they paid for? :o

bloody hell, I wish my DS could write GSCE Eng Lit essays as long as the posts on this thread..

I sympathise with you OP.

We had a sitting room carpet fitted recently after having the house decorated.

On paying for the carpet (whole amount up front) I asked about the furniture.

The guy said he understands that three piece suites cannot be moved out of rooms, but to just make sure things like the tv were removed (which we did). All that was left was the suite and a bookcase - no books on it though as they had been removed for the decorator - so very light to move, but awkward to move out of the room.

Fitters came (we had to pay them for fitting) and I could hear them moaning to each other. One guy came in to the kitchen to see me and said it would cost extra for him to move the furniture and did the guy in the shop not explain this. I said no he hadn't but I certainly would not be paying any extra. After a few mins of him sucking his teeth in he said on is occasion he would do it for the agreed cost. I told him bloody good job because I wasn't going to pay a penny more.

As a former carpet salesperson, thanks for this whomoved:

"Staff in carpet places are generally not the most clever or customer focused - spend all day staring at your carpet, your brain will turn to porridge too! the managers are normally mindful of the fact that a bad review or negative will lose a lot of customers and his biggest spend is advertising so he won't want that."

BTW I have a post grad qualification and am a lawyer, but spent my formative years selling carpet! Actually due to working out areas and pattern matching, it does involve some degree of brain power. We did have some salespeople who weren't rocket scientists, but they were all reasonably bright.

Oh and it's absolute nonsense that the biggest spend is advertising. I can tell you that from first hand experience.

Also, I have to say that the owner of the shop where I worked was not adverse to sending the odd customer on their way even if it might cost the shop some money if he thought they were more trouble than they were worth, so this is also completely wrong in my experience: "The thing the manager will want is to complete the contract quickly and without it escalating, you have that on your side."

I do agree with your advice to just go in there and get it sorted though. This has got completely out of hand.

I also offered my carpet men a cup of tea. I offer any tradesman who comes into my home (and the window cleaner) a cuppa.

Just a quick post to say I am out at the moment and will catch up with posts later. Thanks for your help.

Eurochick, you are clearly the exception to the rule. Just like not everyone who works in McDonalds is a spotty teen and not everyone who works in a university is a smarty pants. :)

Seriously though you don't do it anymore. Perhaps I have been unlucky. But my experience has been thickies 5, intelligent people 1. I go back to the smart person though. So I bet you will have been successful because people sought you out to buy carpets from?

YANBU

'It is on posters in the window of the shop 'free fitting, removal of old carpet, we will move the furniture'. The last time we bought from the shop we were told we didn't need to move the furniture, and we were told the same this time.'

Do what Whomovedmychocolate advised. If they won't agree, threaten small claims court. When it is all over, never ever do business with these people again. And spread the word.

If they advertise that they will move furniture then they will move furniture. You were taking the stuff out of the wardrobe. You would presumably have taken your knickers out of the chest (though I agree it would have made no difference) if the man hadn't gone ahead and looked through it all first. It might have taken you ten minutes to get the stuff out and moved somewhere else?

They were not doing you favours. They owed you professional service for which you paid money. That is what doing business is; it is not a personal favour and you do not owe them anything as a customer except the price they charge for their service.

They should have been there when they said they would. It was a huge inconvenience to you to have to reschedule not a favour. They should have moved your furniture. They said the fitters would not have to have the room cleared, but that they would work around it. It was not a favour. It was part of what you paid for.

"TheRhubarb To me its about what your attitude towards workmen/tradesman is, thats why I mentioned the tea."

Oh sorry, that wasn't addressed to me personally was it? Strange then that it should have my name in it. Oh well

No my reply to your post was addressed to you not my original open tea question which you did see as thats what you were replying to!

StealthPolarBear

I notice amberleaf hasn't been back, having spectacularly missed the point. What had offering cups of tea got to do with someone expecting the service they paid for

No because Amberleaf has had the school run and other things to do!

I'll explain again...the tea question was in relation to people in generals attitude towards tradesmen, that was in response to some of the attitudes on the thread not the OPs issue which IMO she should get either her money back or her carpet and get another fitter.

yanbu

very poor service on behalf of the carpet fitters.

good lord on a bicycle!

1. OP was told when she purchased carpet - no need to move furniture
2. Carpet fitters didnt show
3. When they did "fit her in" like they were doing HER a favour, they were rude and complained about moving furniture.
4. Stormed out when challenged.
5. Shop person rude to OP when she phoned to complain.

People advised her to:-
A. Complain and not be bullied
B. Consult her bank about getting the money back via delta dispute
C. Told to contact trading standards if no satisfaction.

This is 11 pages long???????

Personally i think people should move furniture, fitters will be on a price and wont want to waste time on moving furniture and also don't want the responsibility if something gets damaged. BUT she was told, categorically, that the fitters would move the furniture, she is therefore NOT BU.