Raw Deal: How long do you think a new carpet should keep its bright colour?

HOW long would you expect a carpet to last?

Carol Matthews, of Letham Feus in Fife, bought colour co-ordinated carpets for her home in January 2016.

She chose a vibrant “Blush Damson” shade for her open plan lounge/dining area, hallway and master bedroom.

Carol liked it because it was a bonny, bright “girly” colour and suited her home. She was very pleased with it when it was first laid.

However, in March this year she was vacuuming the carpet when it occurred to her that the pile was very flat. Indeed, it felt like she was vacuuming a bare floor. Carol reckoned it looked “lifeless”.

And this wasn’t a cheap or thin carpet, having cost more than £1700.

Then she moved furniture and was shocked to see the difference in colour between the patches that had been hidden compared to the rest of the carpet.

She realised that, slowly, an awful lot of colour had leeched out over just 14 months.

Seeing it every day, she hadn’t noticed the gradual transformation.

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Then Carol got out a runner she’d had made from an off-cut, but hadn’t yet used, and put it on the floor to compare it to what was around it.

It was a chalk and cheese comparison.

A few days later, when Carol had visitors in, she was hugely embarrassed when they asked when she was getting her new carpets laid?

She had to admit that these were the new carpets.

Carol contacted CarpetRight to point this out and was heartened when they refused her offer to send photos and promised an estimator would visit on June 15.

The estimator agreed that there was a marked difference between the hidden and exposed colours and said the shop manager would take the matter up with the carpet manufacturer.

There was a shock, though, when the manufacturer said the changed colour was due to sunlight shining on the carpets. Carol knew this wasn’t the case. She keeps her blinds closed on sunny days as she doesn’t like the house to be too hot.

In any case, her hall and bedroom are mostly dark, there wasn’t any strong sunlight hitting the carpets there at any time.

And she lives alone, so the carpets weren’t enduring heavy usage.

CarpetRight offered to replace her lounge carpet.

But that was of no use to Carol, she is a very house-proud young lady and deliberately co-ordinated her carpets to be the same colour in all her main living areas.

To replace one (that would then be vibrantly-coloured again) would throw into sharp focus just how faded and flattened the other carpets were.

In any case, Carol had no wish to have another carpet like this one if it was going to look washed-out and heavily-trodden after just a few months.

Carol got in touch with Raw Deal and told us the whole tale. She reckoned that all her carpets were now worth was to be thrown in a skip!

We talked to the folks at CarpetRight in an effort to find a solution. And that’s exactly what they did.

The store manager visited Carol’s house and arranged for her to come into his store and choose carpets which they would fit free.

The future for Carol’s house is bright again.

Do you have a problem?

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Briefly outline the problem and how you would like it resolved. Include contact details of the other party and any customer ref/order numbers.

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