Home Carpet One — Attraction in Lake View Township

Last summer, my wife and I decided to take advantage of Home Carpet One's annual sale and try our luck with another flooring purchase as we had been satisfied customers of HC1 in the past. Though we had to wait 3+ months for an install date (sale customers are sent to the back on the installation queue at HC1), we were excited about the wool carpeting we had selected for the lower level of our condo.

Unfortunately, I was out of town during the installation and wasn't able to see the new carpeting for a couple of days. Much to my surprise, there was a pattern of clearly noticeable compression lines that were evenly spaced (~6-8" apart) throughout the entire roll of carpeting that was now in place. I simply assumed these would come out with wear, but I was wrong. I phoned the store to share my concern about the look of the carpeting and was visited later that week by someone from the HC1. He took some photos that he promised to share back at the store and when I asked for a timeline for follow-up, the gentleman told me that I would need to call the store for next steps. The onus should never be put on the customer for follow-up. (Customer service training would be good for this company, Example 1.) I did, in fact, have to be the one to call the store for follow-up a week later and was ultimately visited at home by the owner of the store (at this point, I was hopeful for a satisfactory outcome). The owner took a look at the carpet and decided to send a carpet cleaning company out to steam clean this brand new carpet in the hopes that the compression lines would be lifted. Seemed like an awful stretch to me, but it happened. Unfortunately, those efforts were fruitless.

The next step in this process was to have an independent carpet expert visit our home to evaluate the carpet that had been installed. Within seconds, the independent evaluator could tell it was "manufacturer's defective carpeting" that was installed across approximately 2,000 sqft of our home. He said the carpet should have never been laid. This meant the defective carpeting would have to be pulled so that new carpeting could be installed. Very disappointing. And yet the level of disappointment I would feel would only increase.

I waited two weeks from the day the evaluator came to my home before I reached out to HC1 to learn of next steps. Until then, I had never been contacted by HC1 to discuss the evaluator's findings (did they think I would simply go away?!?). When I finally got the store manager on the phone, he shared with me that they would be out to replace the defective carpet. When I asked if there was any remedy in mind for the disruption and inconvenience caused by new carpet installation, the fine young man reminded me that HC1 would be picking up the tab for the installation so that I (the customer) wouldn't have to pay it (as this isn't something the manufacturer covers). Why should I feel grateful for not having to pay install fees associated with defective carpeting being replaced? (Customer service training would be good for this company, Example 2.)

I just spent 2.5 hours moving all of the smaller items, toys, boxes, etc. from our lower level rooms to make the installation easier for the next set of carpet layers to visit for this job. You'd think HC1 would show some level of respect for our time as we'll have to spend another 2.5 hours moving things back in place after this second disruption. Throughout this experience, I was floored by HC1's nonchalant attitude about what had happened and a clear lack of empathy (until I nearly had to beg for it via an email to "manager") for what had transpired.

Home Carpet One's disregard to detail in installing clearly defective carpeting and disinterest for a strong, "let's do what it takes to keep this family as a customer" response drove me to write this review. Please exercise caution when working with this company. They appear to place profit over customer service training and appropriate customer response. They may also benefit from the installation of manufacturer's defective...

A place for well-informed buyers only! We needed carpet for our new home and went to Home Carpet One based on prior reviews and purchased in August of 2015. Although we made it clear we had a 94 lbs dog, and 2 toddlers, we were advised and purchased a high-end wool carpet which would "last a lifetime." Unfortunately, this carpet stains when ANYTHING touches it, and can't be cleaned with anything other than water (or will stain further). In fact, a professional carpet cleaning service cleaned our carpet last month (in hopes of trying to get some of the stains up) but informed us that they are not permitted to use any cleaning solutions or stain removers on wool carpets because they all stain. Additionally, the wear pattern of this carpet seems quite excessive given that it has only been in place for 8-9 months. After doing some online investigation (and reading some of the FAQs on the Carpet One site), wool carpet was the absolutely worst carpet choice. Carpet One states on their own site that wool carpets have no wear or stain warranties. So why would they advise this purchase knowing our family needs. Given the cost associated with this purchase, I can only assume they were more interested in the sale, then making an informed recommendation that would best suit our needs, or the service after the sale. I have attempted to contact Home Carpet One to get guidance on options (perhaps there is an actual manufacturer defect in our carpet), but have yet to get a response. I would avoid this store unless you have extensive knowledge in exactly what you want/need, but don't count on knowledgeable recommendations that reflect your true needs or prompt service after the sale.

UPDATE: A repair person from Home Carpet One came to the house and confirmed that there were no manufacturer issues with the carpet, and advised us that all carpets will show stains. Also confirmed that Dyson vacuum use would void any warranty for this carpet. So the worlds most popular and effective vacuum can't be used in our home without voiding the warranty on our carpet. Again, in my opinion, we were guided to purchase the wrong carpet type...

I had had two wonderful experiences with this company in the past, so it was natural to re-hire them to carpet our basement (which had sustained flood damage and needed new floor coverings). It was easy to set up an appointment, it took no time at all, and I selected carpet from their website. The carpet, by the way, is beautiful and well-priced per sq. ft. The gentlemen who installed did a nice job and were courteous and efficient. However, some damage was sustained to the newly-painted walls and a doorway, and the installation on the exposed stair ends was skiffy. When I contacted Joel regarding these issues, he was very kind and responsive, and an artisan was sent out the next day. The repair to the stair carpeting was well-done (we had to shave off the end of the stair, but it's fine, it isn't a big deal). So why the three stars? Because not one of the men who actually came to my house to observe the damage took any responsibility for it, no one apologized, and they treated me like I was being unreasonable. They disputed that they did damage to the door--that's fine, I can't prove that they did it, I only know it wasn't like that the day before. But they definitely did damage to the paint around the stairwell. Can we touch it up? of course. Do we want to take time to do it? not really. Could the artisans have used a piece of cloth, leather or cardboard to protect the wall from tool marks? I would think so. In the end, I had to explicitly tell the man that I didn't want remuneration or anything like that, I just wanted an Apology. That's it. It was embarrassing to have to ask. And I am going to take the feminist high ground right now and say that women are treated like this all the time by male artisans and tradespeople. I was taught to apologize if I damaged somebody else's stuff, even if it it an accident, as I know it was in this case. That's just...