Lowes didn't want our $4000

[PrincessKitty1]

That's how much it was going to cost us to have our carpet replaced in our living room, dining room, two hallways, and one bedroom. We were all ready to pay when they told us this did NOT include hauling away our old carpet. "The independent installer who priced the installation doesn't have to haul away carpet if you have pets," they told us. "There's an OSHA rule that they don't have to haul away carpet if it has any pet stains."

Our carpet has NO pet stains. All the pets we've had in our 16 years were house-trained before they lived here (we've never had an un-housetrained animal here). There have been occasional accidents, cleaned up immediately with enzyme cleaner, AND we have our carpets professionally steam cleaned every 3-4 months. I think the installer saw our pets and just used that as an excuse to not haul away our carpet. Maybe he didn't want our business because he would have to bring carpet up and down our spiral staircase?? I don't know.

The main reason we were choosing to get carpet again instead of tile is time. We both work full time and did not want to take 2 weeks off from work to move all our furniture, have our carpets pulled up, and have the whole place tiled. I have two friends who had this done recently and it took them both around 2 weeks for the entire process.

Now we're thinking if this is going to be such an aggravation to deal with Lowes, (they would have to send a different independent carpet installer over to make an estimate and see if he/she would be WILLING to haul away the old carpet--otherwise we'll have to find somebody), we may just consider having the place tiled.

I'm just venting. This whole experience has been like buying a car--everything costs more than they said it would ($139 installation--HA! What a bait-and-switch!) and they told us the final price of installation (MUCH more than the $139) included carpet removal--they just "forgot" the small detail until the very last minute that "removal" of the old carpet did not include "hauling away."

 

[Lisa_M]

I wouldn't bother with Lowes. Do you have any small local carpet people to get quotes from? That is just ridiculous that they won't take the carpet away. Where do they plan on putting the old carpet while they are installing the new one?

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I wouldn't bother with Lowes. Do you have any small local carpet people to get quotes from? That is just ridiculous that they won't take the carpet away. Where do they plan on putting the old carpet while they are installing the new one?

Good ques
tion! They said they would need to lay out the new carpet in our carport and driveway to cut it, so I can't imagine where the old carpet would go! We live in a hot, humid, rainy area, and if the old carpet got rained on before we could get somebody to haul it away, it would get wet, moldy, and buggy!

 

[Darcy03231]

When we had new carpet put in we found we did better by going to a small independent owner operated store. Customer service was fantastic and it was less expensive!

 

[Brer Shay]

Does your community allow it to be thrown out with the trash? Ours did, with a certain amount allowed each week. We were able to buy "extra credits" to throw it all out at once. Pretty easy on our end. Chances are that going to a smaller local company will cost you WAAAAAY more in installation than the $139 that Lowe's is offering.

Also, if the pet issue is related to OSHA rules, you'll likely find it at the majority of carpet places.

 

[twinmommyks]

($139 installation--HA! What a bait-and-switch!) and they told us the final price of installation (MUCH more than the $139) sad2:

We just got a quote for new carpet for our living room, hallway and 3 bedrooms yesterday from Home Depot, who is also advertising the $139 installation fee.....................what a joke also.

Not only did it not include the hauling away of the old carpet, it didn't include moving any furniture. That $139 fee is for simple installation and that's it.

We had received a bid from a local store and when we heard that Home Depot had the "$139 special", we thought we could save some $$$$. The Home Depot bid, when you figured in hauling away carpet, moving furniture, etc. was substanitally more expensive. Our local store had included all those items in their bid.

Funny thing is when the guy at Home Depot handed my dh the bid, it was lower than our other bid. However, when dh started asking questions, the answer dh received was, well, that isn't included and will cost just a little more." So dh asked for exact prices and that little bit added up to alot more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, there are people who don't think about those items and just assume it's included and then get stuck paying alot more than expected.

Go with your local store, local contractor. Thank goodness dh asked the right questions or we would have went with the "lower" bid only to find out it was over a thousand dollars more or that we would have to haul out alot of old carpet.

Bren

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Try an independent store. With the economy the way it is you may be able to find a great deal.

 

[CarolA]

When we had new carpet put in we found we did better by going to a small independent owner operated store. Customer service was fantastic and it was less expensive!

Just beware.

The woman I bought my condo from did this. It's a disaster and they won't do anything because I didn't buy it. (It was NOT put down right) I had HD do some years ago and never had these issues, but....

So some of the local stores are just as bad as the biggies!

 

[DannysMom]

I second getting a price from an independantly owned & operated flooring/ carpeting store. When I had my Master Bedroom carpeted, I found the price per sqaure foot was higher, but it was an installed price. So the quoted price was THE price. No nickel & diming me for more money for moving furniture, removal of existing carpet, or hauling away. When I added in all the additional fees at Lowes or Home Depot, that were included in the independant store's estimate, the prices were so very close I went with the independant store, much better customer service at the independant store as well.

 

[4Seasons]

I find this interesting because we JUST got home from Lowes pricing out carpet for a rental property we own. Now, it does help tremendously that one of our other tenants works at Lowes, in the carpet/flooring department thumbsup2 ), he told us the $139 included take up and removal of the old carpet. He said Lowes is basically taking a loss on the installation in order to bring in sales. It does state on the Lowes website that haul away is not included, so maybe it is up to the installer. Apparently the one our Lowes is working with does include it. I'm wondering if you get back in touch with Lowes do they deal with multiple installers? Never hurts to ask.
It does pay to shop around though. In our case we are getting such a fantastic deal on the carpet (overstock clearance, the entire roll) we can't pass it up.

 

[ceecee]

We went to a local carpet dealer and saved a lot over our Lowe's quote. We got living room/dining, 3 bedrooms, stairs, hallway, vinyl in entry and 2 baths, upgraded vinyl in kitchen and ceramic tile in another entry for $5000.00.

 

[disneymom3]

Try an independent store. With the economy the way it is you may be able to find a great deal.

Especially in this economy go local....we need to support those small businesses. And the customer service you get is usually FAR superior to a large company. They live by word of mouth and need those happy customers to continue their company.

Sorry about hte hassle you are dealing with.

 

[PHXscuba]

I agree completely with the PPs who said to get some other bids from local contractors. If nothing else, you'll know whether the "total" price from Lowe's is reasonable. A smaller contractor may have more flexibility to work with your schedule, including haul-away, etc. if you explain your situation and needs.
We had a similar issue with a big chain and countertops. The HD price-per-foot wasn't bad, but after looking at the 14-page list of everything they would charge me additionally for, it was going to add 20 percent to the price! I got some other bids from local companies and saved money and a big headache (HD wanted to leave me w/o countertops and sink for 2 weeks while they fabricated).
We have had mixed luck overall with HD/Lowe's. They've worked fine for some things, but others it's been a hassle having a third party involved. I guess I'd treat it as one bid on a job and look at other avenues as well.

PHXscuba

 

[Belle4mygrl]

Wow what a difference in areas or we had a great installer.

We got the deal last fall of $249 and was told it did not include moving furniture. I wouldn't expect them to do that anyway. I would have everything cleaned out. when we did our basement we couldn't move pool tables and they helped us move the tables around. Plus, he did a fantastic job making sure the floor was clean before he laid carpet. We got the same installer to do our hardwood floor in the family room.

 

[fraggie]

Do you have Empire? Look on the internet and check it out. We paid about $4000 for tile in our large kitchen, hall, and 2 baths. Plus carpet in our living room. They moved everything and hauled everything off.

 

[jedijill]

That's crazy. I just replaced the carpet in my house last May before putting it up for sale. It was petstained (which is why I was replacing it.) I paid the $139 through Lowe's and they hauled away the carpet and moved all my furniture. They did a great job.

Must be different in different parts of the country and who they contract with.

Jill in CO

 

[tinker&belle]

Do you have Empire? Look on the internet and check it out. We paid about $4000 for tile in our large kitchen, hall, and 2 baths. Plus carpet in our living room. They moved everything and hauled everything off.

OP, I would be careful before choosing empire. We got a quote that was extremely high and there are many reviews online of people who had similar things happen. Just have a couple other quotes before choosing empire.

 

[torinsmom]

I was getting laminate over my whole house except for the kitchen and baths. I had Empire come out and with their 50% off special, they quoted me $7,000 This was for about 800 square feet. Then Home Dept came out and their bid was $5000. I found a local licensed man to do it for $3000 and that included moving the furniture, hauling out old carpet and everything else. They did it over 2 days and it looks great! I can't believe that Empire wantes more than twice as much for the same thing!

Marsha

 

[Piecey]

DH and I originally bought our Lowes detai in January, on a 10% off, 0% 12 months Lowes Credit weekend.

When we went back to pay for the carpet (after the guy did the measurements) she said we were incredibly lucky we did it the day we did because we were locked into the old installation policy.

She said the NEW $139 nickels and dimes for everything, while ours was all included. She was really upset with things.

Our entire upstairs- 3 bedrooms, bathroom, sewing room and closet and stairs (17 steps) cost us >$2400 for carpet and the premium pad.

It goes in Tuesday.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

When we had new carpet put in we found we did better by going to a small independent owner operated store. Customer service was fantastic and it was less expensive!

Agreed. We shopped all the "chains" and did much better at an independent small local store.