Alan's
Preferred Carpet
Dealer Directory
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Carpet Buying Q & A |
| Homebuyers Often Discover Carpet Damage too late |
| Lifestyle Often Dictates Best Carpet Choice |
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Landlords: |
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The Complete Carpet Buying Guide
Save Hundreds On New Carpet!
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Where to Buy Carpet?
Your basic 6 options...
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Nationally Advertised BIG-BOX Carpet Resellers. These guys blanket the airwaves with TV commercials. Some will send a salesperson to your home to close the sale in one visit. Never buy without searching the internet for complaints about these carpet companies before you buy. Home improvement warehouses fall into this category because they use private labels, they typically do not hire their own installers, they require 100% payment money upfront at the time of purchase, and they do not offer free in-home estimates. Should you have a carpet problem, they will refer you to the sub-contracted installation company or the carpet manufacturer for a remedy. In many cases, no one will accept any responsibility and the consumer is left holding the bag.
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An Online 1-800 Carpet Wholesaler. These are carpet peddlers who will send you small carpet samples through the mail. They want you to buy carpet sight unseen (other than a small swatch) and then you will be responsible for dealing with the full size delivery truck when it arrives. If you discover the carpet is defective, or otherwise unacceptable, you have to wrap the roll back up and arrange to ship the carpet back at your expense. Good luck lifting it back into the truck! (the driver won't help you!)
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A Franchised Carpet Reseller These carpet peddlers are hooked up with a large carpet distributor or co-op to increase their buying power. They put on their own private labels to prevent you from comparison shopping at other carpet stores. In this case there are two middlemen between the carpet manufacturer and you.
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A local carpet warehouse with 50 rolls of carpet displayed on the showroom floor. These local guys are doing their best to be consumer friendly and offer low prices. Unfortunately, they are also offering low-quality goods. They often buy carpet in sufficient quantity to get some good deals and they may also buy rem-packs. What is a rem pack? It is a group of carpet, vinyl, hardwoods, or laminates that the manufacturer sells at a huge discount because the products are either seconds, overstock, leftovers, returns or whatever. It is very possible that they are defective in some way.
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A Carpet Layer with some sizable leftovers in his garage. If you find an installer with some extra carpet or other flooring available at a special price, you need to know that their is a limited supply of that carpet or other material available. There is no manufacturer's warranty.
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A Locally-Owned Family operated Carpet Retailer with a few remnants and a neat showroom with a good selection of carpet samples is my favorite choice. These locally owned carpet stores buy first-quality carpet directly from the carpet manufacturer. I believe they provide the best customer service and are most friendly and knowledgeable. Should you ever have a problem they will become involved and work with you directly until you are completely satisfied. Visit my preferred Carpet Dealer Directory
Learn how to buy carpet like a pro!
