(WHAS11) Today’s Consumer Watch comes from a south Louisville woman who claims her carpet was damaged by a carpet cleaning company; she called Good Morning Kentuckiana's Andy Treinen and Andy answered.
It is a lovely home on the south side of Louisville that Sarah Toney takes a great deal of pride in. Cleaning her carpets is a part of the routine maintenance. "I had a great experience with Coit before," explained the elementary school teacher, who had previously hired Coit to clean her carpets; but this time, she says there were several problems.
The biggest problem was with the area under a rug in the living room. “So then we checked the rug, you know, and it was wet. I knew automatically what happened. I'm not a carpet cleaner and I know I wouldn't have cleaned a rug on top of a rug and left it there," said Toney.
Toney said Coit responded immediately, and they've been back three times to try to resolve the problem. The difference between a white carpet in the living room and a yellow carpet right next to it is unmistakable, but the question is what is it worth? "The manager said it was the backing in this rug that discolored the carpet because it was wet," said Toney.
We took the problem to Coit General Manager Robert Pledger. "Mrs. Toney is right, there's some discoloration under her area rug,” said Pledger.
The Toney's paid $236 for the original cleaning; a job Coit has been doing for 45 years. Pledger says it's Coit's policy that the customer is always right. "Mrs. Toney will love Coit when we're finished. We guarantee you that. We guarantee Mrs. Toney that and everyone else; we take care of our people," insisted Pledger.
But Toney says she's tired of the companies failed attempts to fix her carpet. She wonders why they removed area rugs in her family room to clean, but not in her living room. When asked what she wants to see happen Toney said, “I want my carpet replaced."
Pledger told WHAS11 that replacing the carpet is an option, but first they want to exhaust all others, after what was clearly a costly mistake to both the customer and company. But Toney says the technician’s mistake is now Coit’s problem. “He said he made a judgment call not to move the rug," recounted Toney.
Before Coit can make another attempt at fixing the problem, Pledger says Toney has to agree to let them back in; he says Coit has a steam cleaning and ironing option that he would like to try. “Yes sir, we're going to take care of Mrs. Toney, there's no doubt about it," insisted Pledger.
We'll keep you posted.
Coit has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has zero complaints in the last three years.
