The Seven Carpet Truths:     

There is no such thing as FREE labor. There is no such thing as FREE underpad. There is no such thing as an invisible seam. There is no STAIN PROOF carpet. There are no miracle fibers. There is no such thing as a real 70% off. The life of a carpet depends on your lifestyle

How To Shop For Carpet:     
Shopping for carpet should be fun, and if you are prepared it will be fun. To begin with, know your carpet dealer. Carpet is not something you purchase often, and therefore you may not be informed as to what is the norm in today's market. You must find a dealer you trust, and who is a professional. If you were considering a serious operation on a critical part of your body, you would not want someone who is not a professional doing the operation. Also you would not want the least expensive doctor to do the work. Your professional carpet dealer will be informed as to the most modern fibers, pad, colors, styles, and installation techniques. Ask your friends who have had carpet installed, and see if they are happy with the entire carpet buying experience.

The Private Label:    
Is more of a marketing ploy to prevent you the consumer from shopping using the old "apples to apples" comparison technique. It's kind of like buying a mattress - you can find the exact same mattress under 10 different "names" depending on where you shop. In the case of carpet, the most prevalent use of "private labels" is found in the the big box retailers, and large buying group stores. Private labeling is now so prolific, that most larger carpet dealers use some sort of private labeling to keep true comparison shopping to a minimum.

Guaranteed Lowest Price :     
This ploy is used by many of the giant retailers who want you to think their price is the lowest. The gimmick is to say that if you can find the same carpet elsewhere at a lower price, "we'll meet or beat that price by 5%". Of course you can't find the "SAME" carpet elsewhere because the giant retailer has it private labeled.Therefore, the only place you will find the same named carpet is at a branch or division of the same chain. Furthermore, if you do select a carpet from their showroom, most of these companies charge between $30 to $50 for an estimate, and the only way you get this money back is to purchase the carpet from them. You will find that most carpet speciality stores do NOT charge for an in-home estimate. Finally, the contract labor pool that this type of store must draw from does not assure you of a quality installation. Someday retailers are going to learn that consumers are not stupid.

Carpet Scams

Bait & Switch:     
The carpet industry practically invented this one. If you haven't heard of this scam, you probably live on another planet. So for all of you aliens from another world, here's how it works. All carpet manufacturers have sample books or "deck boards" as they are referred to . These books may have one large carpet sample on the front, and all of the colors in smaller samples inside the book. Some books may have two, three or even four large samples on the front.

When there is more than one sample on the front of the book, each one is usually a different thickness or "quality". Usually these qualities differ only in thickness, and sometimes there is not much difference that you can see or feel. But there is always a difference in cost.

The scam is simple. Let's say a carpet sample book has three samples on the front - A, B and C. C is the thickest one. You are so excited about buying your new carpet that you don't thoroughly read the contract. What happened is, you picked out C. The salesman wrote B on the contract, but charged you for C. He was fully aware of what he was doing.

Or, he will write C on the contract, but send out B, gambling that you probably won't notice the difference.

It gets even worse when you add in the fact that many carpet retailers, including the biggest ones, private label the carpet styles, so it is impossible for you to shop the price or to really know exactly what you are getting. Ever try to shop the price of a mattress? If you have, then you know exactly what we are talking about.

Over Measuring:     
This is one of the most widely used scams in the carpet industry. The salesman measures the area to be carpeted. He shows you this big thick plush carpet and tells you he can give it to you for only $10.00 per square yard, installed over a padding so thick, you 'll be able to sell your bed and sleep on the floor.

He then tells you that you have 160 square yards, and the total job will cost you $1600, complete. You tell him you will get some other prices and you will get back to him. You go around shopping, only to find that all the carpets that resemble the carpet he's showed you are $15 or more per square yard, and you think he must be giving you a great deal!

In actuality, you only have 80 square yards. He's really charging you $20 per square yard.

We are exaggerating slightly. It's unlikely that someone would tell you that you have twice as many yards as you really do, but you get the general idea of how it works. In most cases, if you end up buying carpet from one of these crooks, they will not write the total quantity on the contract, so that if you ever discover their scam in the future, they can simply deny what they sold you.