Remember the flood? It was 12/3. That’s over 2 months ago, and we still don’t have a new carpet. We met a charming woman from the recommended carpet company. She took the measurements, showed us samples. We picked a carpet and an install date. Our tenant cleared the space. And then the charming woman emailed back to say the carpet would be delayed three weeks. We picked a new date. Nine a.m. the morning before she confirmed. Two p.m. she cancelled—another delay. At which point, John and I wrote a scathing letter explaining their poor customer service in detail and requesting the rent (which we had to refund to our tenant for living in carpet scraps for a month) or our money back.

They gave us our money back. Not really the scenario we were looking for since we really wanted the carpet, but I got back on the phone got two bids this time, and darn if they weren’t way below the company we fired. So, we don’t have a carpet yet, but we’ve got a good price, people who came recommended by people we trust, and crossed fingers.

P.S. Oh yeah, avoid Empire at all costs. After having to fire the first carpet company, several people said, “What about Empire? They say they’ll get it in next day.” I put in a call for a free estimate, and then I looked them up on Better Business Bureau and changed my mind. I called to cancel, and they said, “We’ll give you 50.00 off, 100.00.” (As my sister pointed out, what does $100.00 off mean when they haven’t given you an estimate yet.) I said my piece about the BBB and to tell the manager. They called again tonight to reschedule and said it could take two weeks to get on their do not call list. Aggh!