Dear Mrs Schreiter

 

Thank you for your email dated 1^st August 2016 of which I note your comments therein.

 

Since this matter arose on the day of installation 4^th July we have tried to be as always fair and reasonable.

 

On the day of fitting your husband was present and our fitter pointed out to him on site that he was having issues in completing his work with the condition of the stairs. The fitter also called the showroom and made us aware. It was our understanding from a later discussion with our fitter that your husband was going to sort this as it was not to do with Mr Carpet.

 

You subsequently visited the showroom that evening and spoke to my colleague who asked you if you had spoken to your husband of which you were not interested in that as you said the job is very bad. I subsequently came to site and you are aware of my findings, in that as a carpet installation the final anchorage of the material was hindered by the poor construction of the stairs in that on several stairs the risers had split/ collapsed.

 

We have fitted your carpets to the same method of installation as we do ALL runners. If our fitter had fitted the carpets incorrectly causing damage to the stairs I would expect it to all stairs not in isolated areas. The stairs have been poorly prepared resulting in the aesthetic damage that you see either side of the fitted carpet on various stairs. These issues are cosmetic and not structural. If your stairs had been fully fitted this would be hidden by the carpet where as a runner is narrower running up the middle and exposing the sides and subsequently the issues that you have. These issues are then touched up/ made good by the customer if required post installation. The main stair case in your home is more than 100 years old that has dried out and split over the years as anything of that age would. There is a lot of preparation required to expose your stairs to accommodate open/ visible sides, more preparation than by just painting over the gaps, holes, splits etc masking the issue. The loft stairs are newer than the main stairs and as you can see the issues are consistent in that the paint has cracked between the tred and the riser as they are separate pieces of wood that the vibrations during installation have caused yet there are no cracks or splits as the wood is not as old and did not need the attention that it is clear that the main stairs require.   

 

We agreed on my initial site visit that I would contribute towards the cost of putting right the bottom riser on the top stairs as a gesture of good will NOT as an admission of liability.

 

Following this offer you presented us with a list of works that way over exceeded what we had agreed, I then replied back to you withdrawing our offer and asking for £700.00 of the outstanding balance where upon we would then attend site, remove the stairs where the sewn finish tape had come loose. From our discussion I queried how they had come to be in this condition and your explanation was during vacuuming.

 

For the record we have installed numerous bespoke taped runners and have never had this problem before. It is our opinion that this has caused by physical unpicking, never the less in the spirit of fair play we were happy to remedy this matter free of charge.

 

Therefore I am somewhat dismayed as to your response in that you feel you have been treated unfairly and on that basis asking us to visit and collect all materials forthwith and a refund of all monies paid thus far.

 

As a retailer of over 33 years our reputation has developed with a very high standard of quality service. Unfortunately the catalyst of most issues raised was the poor condition of your stair cases. Consequently you should be directing your disappointment to your own contractors and not us as at no point have you taken on board the points I mentioned regarding poor preparation and the age of the stair case. Our jobs have to meet the sale of supply of goods act which necessitates satisfactory goods. You apportion blame to us on the cosmetic appearance that you have been left with.

 

Therefore in summary we reject your request for uplift and removal and would reiterate this matter is due to conditions outside our control and we request immediate payment. If this is not forthcoming then we will have no hesitation in issuing proceedings to recover the said amount.

 

Yours truly,

 

Richard Clough