I had my living room carpet replaced. I did my own research and found a Mohawk SmartStrand I wanted to ask questions about. I emailed the owner and he responded quickly (at 10PM at night) that he did have a selection of that brand. I decided to come in and look around. The thing that bothered me, which is one reason why I only gave 3 stars, is that I think his bedside manner could have been improved. He didn't seem to smile much, and when a salesperson doesn't smile it makes me feel uncomfortable or makes me feel like I'm annoying. We had to wait quite a while to speak with him (I think he was the only employee available the day we came in) but he was very knowledgeable about the product. I felt confident that this would be a good company to go with for our needs after having spoken to him and setting up a date for getting the house measured.
The owner was scheduled to come out and he did end up calling me that morning to cancel because he forgot he had another commitment. That didn't bother me since I'm home in the mornings anyway, but I can see how that may deter others. Also another reason why I only gave 3 stars. The service wasn't "exceptional" to me but he did have the courtesy to call and notify me and reschedule for the very next day. That was fine. He was apologetic and it was just fine. I'm flexible.
When he came out to measure, everything went fine. I asked for an estimate on the living room only, and then the whole rest of the house. This is one other reason for not having given 5 stars. I had to email him several times over the course of two weeks to get the quote for the whole house. He had given me the living room estimate immediately and that was fine since that's what we were scheduling within that next two weeks. But he did not get back to me in a timely fashion with the second quote.
Then came time for installation. I asked if the installers had been with him a long time and he said "Yes, for years," on that day that we first came into the store. I'm in my early 30s, and these installers were definitely younger than me, by at least 5-10 years so I'm wondering how they had been with him for years.... I was concerned that they wouldn't have enough experience to install this very expensive carpet I just purchased.
The installation went quickly and the installers were polite and careful. I initially asked if they would use a carpet stretcher to install the carpet but upon arrival they just hammered it in. I'm not sure the correct terminology, but there was a lot of banging with a special tool, and no special stretching machine, which also had me confused as to why the owner would have told me they'd install it with a machine then come out with hand tools and install.
Then, they asked if I wanted the transition piece left in or just have the carpet folded over. I didn't know much about carpet but these installers recommended folding it over as a better option so I went with it. Then I didn't like it at all. I let them leave without saying anything thinking I'd get used to it. I emailed and called the next day to ask for them to come back out and fix it, and they were more than happy to accommodate. They could have just said no, or taken a long time to get back to me, but they were out the very next day to fix it. They did try to just put the piece over top of the bulky folded over carpet, but I learned my lesson the first time and told them to unfold it, cut it off and do it the right way so it didn't bulk up.
I also noticed that my air vent register covers were bent in the process because my new carpet was so thick - I think they may have stomped down on it to push it in and bent the metal but they didn't say anything or didn't notice, and left them bent up. I had them fix those too so they sat more flush and didn't stick up. They fixed everything I asked for but I still feel like some of these issues shouldn't have happened in the first place. They should have said "This doesn't look good" and fixed it the right way the first time. That's why I gave them 3 stars.
On the upside, they were very accommodating to all of my requests. The carpet I selected is great, and it still looks fabulous. I HIGHLY recommend Mohawk SmartStrand carpet. I also want to say I will hire this company again in the future to finish the rest of my home carpeting needs when the time comes. I feel comfortable that they will do a good job and I know what to look for now and what to say if there's something I don't like happening. I'm also confident that they will be responsive to any issues that may arise and accommodate them.
