Carpet scam
When buying a carpet one can get a great bargain, but it is also possible to get ripped off. This page explains common carpet scam techniques used by some carpet sellers and dealers. You can learn from this page how to avoid most common scams used in selling carpet.Most common scams used in selling carpet
Throughout the history of carpet sale, unethical sellers came up with a wide array of carpet scam. The following is a list of some known carpet scam schemes.The fiber fraud
When you get into the carpet showroom, the salesperson shows you a carpet and says it is a Stainmaster nylon. Some salesperson show you a real Stainmaster nylon carpet in the showroom but then sell you another carpet which looks just like the one they were showing you earlier. When buying a carpet, make sure the brand and fiber identification are mentioned on your receipt or invoice and also check for the logo on the carpet roll. Otherwise you may be a victim of a carpet scam.
The whole house scam
Carpet dealers sometimes offer you a great price. The whole house carpet installation for one low price. When you read the fine print of these programs, they include extra heavy charges. For example, you may be responsible for removing the doors, otherwise you need to add a pricey item to your invoice. Extra charges include also moving furniture and the disposal of old carpet and pad. Some carpet dealers charge extras for metals and thresholds. All these extras if not told clearly upfront by the carpet house can be a big surprise.The private label scam
Here is another known carpet scam. One carpet from one factory can be sold under many different brand names. This makes your comparison shopping harder as you do not really know what you are comparing. You can buy a carpet from one store for some price, and you can get exactly the same product from another store for 50% extra just because it is being sold under different brand name with different marketing strategy. This is not completely a true carpet scam, but at least it is not ethical sales technique.
Lowest price guaranteed scam
Large retailers want the customer to think their price is the lowest. The retailer says that if you can find the same carpet elsewhere at a lower price, they will meet or beat that price by x%. The trick is that you can't find the "SAME" carpet elsewhere. That is because the retailer is selling the carpet under their own private label.The wholesale buy scam
There are only a few places where you can purchase at "wholesale" prices. Be careful when buying from these places. At these places, the price is low, but you also buy only the carpeting and nothing else. These places do not provide any service other than selling you the carpet. These places do not provide labor, and they are under no obligation to handle warranty claims.The quality fraud
Like with the fiber fraud carpet scam, the quality fraud carpet scam has a direct impact on how your new carpet will feel. When you get into the carpet showroom, the salesperson shows you a carpet. You like to carpet and make the purchase. When the carpet installers arrive, they go right to work. As they are installing your new carpet, you notice that the carpet does not look as heavy or thick as you remembered from the showroom. When you ask the installer about it, they tell you that the carpet is crushed from being in the roll. Unfortunately, the carpet you selected came in three qualities, and what the dealer had done was show you the thicker, and deliver to you the thinner carpet. When buying a carpet, make sure the thickness and density of the material is mentioned on your receipt or invoice. It the parameters do not match, it might be a carpet scam.
The bait & switch fraud
And here is our last carpet scam. Some carpet dealers advertise a carpet completely installed for only some very low low price, such as $11.99/sq yd including padding. When you get into the dealer's store and ask to see the $11.99 installed carpet, you are shown some low-end low-quality rag which no one would really even consider, AND right after that the dealer also shows you some other "quality" carpets. These other quality carpets are however much more expensive. Some carpet sellers advertise low-end rubbish just to get people into their store. Just another carpet scam.In case you came across some carpet scam that is not described here, please, let us know.