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!!

YANBU. You didn't get the service you'd paid for. It wouldn't have taken long for you to empty the drawers and take the bedding off if that was going to be a problem for them.

amberleaf are you now actually suggesting the OP deserved this treatment for mentioning a previous issue and asking that it be rectified?

This is called 'feedback', not 'moaning'. Many businesses rely on feedback to improve their service and remain successful.

btw your skirkting boards are of no relevance to this discussion...

I think you cam claim the money back by way of an indemnity - you arrange via your own bank

"IF a shop advertised and told its customers that carpets could be fitted around furniture, how many of you would be bothered to empty your rooms"

I would cos I would realise that it was a crock of shite and the job would be done ten times quicker if the room was emptied of as much furniture as possible

redlac, they already had done as much as they could. Her husband had taken the heavy doors off the wardrobe and most drawers had been emptied.

I wonder how those of you who say she should have emptied the room expected her to move the bed? The drawers are neither here nor there, 2 men can easily move a set of drawers and a sidetable. The wardrobe and bed would probably have to have been dismantled as the OP explained, they are static pieces.

So, would you have got your fella up at 5am to set about dismantling the bed even though included in the price of your carpet and fitting was the promise of the removal of the old carpet and the fitting around of furniture?

Also, just as an example of these lovely men who were only annoyed because of cross-communication etc. Despite the OP being 27+ weeks pregnant HE SAID THAT HE WOULD LEAVE HER TO MOVE THE FURNITURE HERSELF.

Oh and the shop have implied that she would not get her money back and have told her to calm down before they speak to her again.

Who here thinks that demonstrates a good service?

amicissimma has a great suggestion.

they hadn't done as much as they could - there was still drawers in the drawer unit and 2 small side units which could have been taken out and the duvet was still on the bed. Like I have already said I am sure that the fitters are used to moving round empty wardrobes and beds.

Maybe its because I have heard stories from my DH who is a decorator about the amount of people who make his job that little bit harder by not clearing out as much as possible that I try and do as much as I can to get tradesmen to do their job as quick as possible.

I completely agree that the fitter was an arse and should never have spoken to the OP they way that he did and that the shop fucked up.

I'd phone TS now and explain what has happened. They might have similar cases and may agree to phone the store on her behalf.

If she does all this in writing, don't forget that she has an uncarpeted room and is £150 down whilst waiting for the post to deliver and waiting for a reply.

No you dismantle the bed the day before and sleep on the mattress that night..then shift that in the morning, its not that hard.

amberleaf are you now actually suggesting the OP deserved this treatment for mentioning a previous issue and asking that it be rectified?

This is called 'feedback', not 'moaning'. Many businesses rely on feedback to improve their service and remain successful

No I didnt say she deserved anything.

How long ago did she get the other carpet? 2 years? bit late to give 'feedback' now dont you think? what exactly could be rectified 2 years later?!

redlac
You see - you are coming at this from the POV of hearing your DH moan about customers not doing this. But if a company offers a service then they are bound to do what they promise.

The moving of the drawers, shifting of the bedlinen etc - it would have taken 2 men maybe 5 mins? At the very most.

Certainly not worth having a massive strop and being totally unprofessional by leaving.

redlac - the OP was willing to move the things, but as explained in her post, she has PGP and so finds it difficult to move things. Did you not read that?

She only left underwear in the drawers. And a duvet can easily be whipped off.

I don't think they were moaning about a few clothes and a duvet, they were moaning about the fact that there were items of furniture in there in the first place.

It's a bedroom. I'm sure most carpet fitters turn up fully expecting the static furniture to be left in place as most people won't/can't dismantle beds and wardrobes. I fail to see how you can leave a bedroom completely empty unless you've just moved in.

I completely agree with you Eternal like I said I no way condone the way that the fitters spoke or acted towards the OP.

My DH would never react like that to someone who hadn't moved their furniture and would move it for them even though it throws his back out and had to have 2 days off work unpaid

I fail to see how you can leave a bedroom completely empty unless you've just moved in

Really? come on its not that hard! its a nusiance but then redecorating generally is!

AmberLeaf. She didn't complain, she asked if they were now using a different fitting company because of previous issues. It was not a complaint but a general remark about what happened last time. Fair enough if you are using the same company to check to see if they are using the same fitters you had a slight issue with.

Also, regardless of what YOU would do my dear. The OP is 27+ weeks pregnant with PGP. The shop advertised and stated to her that she could leave furniture in the room. I think it's laughable that you suggest that in spite of all that they sleep on a mattress anyway. Why else would she have checked about the furniture? She didn't just take the word of the adverts in the window - she DOUBLE CHECKED.

YOU might be happy sleeping on a mattress, but that does not mean that everyone should do so just in case a shop does not keep to its commitment to provide an extra service which is included in the price you have paid.

Moving furniture means just that. Moving the furniture itself, not everything stored in it. When you move house, do you leave your removal men full wardrobes and drawers to move or do you empty them?

BTW, this issue is often what makes carpet fitters late. I often had to deal with irate customer when our fitters were running late because a previous customer had not cleared out the room at all.

BTW, FYI OP they don't just lift the bed and roll the carpet under. The carpet is usually slightly bigger than the room for one thing, plus it needs to be stretched so it doesn't wrinkle. If the room can't be emptied, the usual MO is to stand all the furniture over to one side of the room with the bed on its side. Fit the clear half of the room. Carefully lift all the furniture over the loose carpet on to the part that has been fitted, taking care not to drag it at all as this will pull it off the gripper or wrinkle it. Fit the other half of the room. As you need to lift the furniture a foot or so over the loose carpet, it really does need to be empty.

Barry "But the op did specifically agree this, albeit with the shop and not the fitters. It's not op's fault that the shop should have communicated with the fitters, and seemingly failed to do so. Shop should be bending over backwards to rectify their mistake IMO."

You quoted me but clearly didn't bother to read my whole post as I made the point above in the same post and the reference to agreed and paid for was as in the fitters know about it.

YANBU - poor you. Disgraceful and shoddy service.

Maybe that's the key here, those of us with trade like husbands have heard the horror stories and what some customers expect and would do as much as possible before hand, despite whatever bullshit information we'd been given by the sales department before hand.

I have already said that they probably wouldn't expect to find no furniture but it is easier to move a drawer unit with no drawers rather than one with half of them taken out. Her DH could have removed all the drawers instead of just removing 2.

I think you are right takingiteasy

redlac your husband has every right to be pissed off at customers who don't move furniture...but then he doesn't include it as part of his service does he?

Eurochick
Actually, I have moved several times in the past 10 years and they have always packed everything, including the stuff in the wardrobes.

I only pack my undies, everything else is done by them.

And, while I understand that the delays would make the fitters late for the next job, it is the shop's responsibility to make absolutely clear what is included in the "moving your furniture" part of the contract.

If it was easy why did they have to make such an almighty fuss about it then?!

But it doesn't sound like the sub contractors include moving furniture, it's the shop that are saying they will and not communicating that. Also, as it's been pointed out, leaving a wee room packed with unemptied furniture is taking the piss. I'd read that as a bed and carcasses of drawers are acceptable. Full wardrobes - not. The OP and her husband seemed to suspect that was the case given they'd done half a job of emptying them.