How Not to Win a Contract

When my wife and I moved into our house 25 years ago with the exception of the kitchen (Bruce flooring), the master bedroom (harvest gold shag carpeting), and the upstairs bath (black wall-to-wall), the entire house upstairs and down had wall-to-wall deep pile burgundy carpeting.

We didn’t waste much time before dumping the harvest gold shag and the black carpet in the bathroom (!). Over the years bit by bit, room by room we (mostly my wife) have removed the burgundy carpeting, refinished the hardwood floors, and put in hand-knotted Tibetan area rugs (certified as having been made without child labor).

All that remains of the burgundy carpet is the stairs.

For years we have searched in vain for a stairrunner or broadloom that we liked for the stairs.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a large, established flooring and carpet company to look at what they had and, mirabile dictu, we found something that we actually liked. We took some samples home to see how they looked in vivo. Always make sure that the carpet you like looks as good in your home as it does in the showroom.

It did! We returned to the store a week later to arrange for a representative to come in and make an estimate. It always galls me to pay for an estimate but that appears to be how things are done these days.

It was when the representative arrived that I began to have second thoughts. He arrived on time and was pleasant enough but he had no idea of why he was there. He was the first workman of any variety who’s come into my house in more than a decade without a work order.

I explained to him what we planned to do. He measured the stairs, counted the stairs, exhibited extreme reluctance to answer any of the several questions I asked him, and bolted for the door.

Here’s the picture that has emerged for me of the company. Recalling that each time we went to their physical location we dealt with completely different people and no records appear to have been kept of our previous visits other than the payment records they’re required by law to keep, I think that practically everybody involved with the company is a subcontractor from sales reps to refinishers to installers, the management is slovenly, and, due to its location, the company inhabits an enviable spot, indifferent to price, performance, interest, or demeanor.

I’m inclined to distrust anybody who doesn’t much care whether he or she gets my business or not and my trust in this particular company is shaken. They’re not exclusive distributors of the carpet we saw that we liked, there are other, closer vendors, and where we had previously been ready to sign on the dotted line (and pay the 50% upfront down payment), now we’re inclined to shop.

Here’s our concern. It’s a small job, he’s a subcontractor, and he didn’t do a thorough review of the job. I don’t entirely blame him for that—I blame the company. It’s not his fault that he didn’t know what the heck he was doing here or that he wasn’t prepared to answer questions. We had paid the company for the estimate and what we got wasn’t worth what we paid for it.

If it runs severely over cost, say, for example, they need to replace boards or even rebuild the 70 year old stairs or if he finds a more substantial job, he’ll bail and we’ll be left with a half paid for, partially executed job that the original company won’t want to tackle and will just defer indefinitely. Better to find somebody who wants the business enough to figure out what the job or at least operate in a businesslike manner.

We may go back to them yet. Depends on what we find. I’d rather do business with somebody who wants the business. If we do go back to them, I’ll probably insist on a completeness clause in the sales contract, something to the effect that they’re willing to live with whatever their estimator came up with whatever the actual costs. Something that sounds pretty innocuous but means that they’re on the hook for the job, not just for the estimate.

I think there are several broader observations to be made. Not all businesses have suffered equally in the economic downturn. In fact, some have more business than they can handle. That’s probably true even in the areas of the country that have seen the most severe downturns.

Also, that a company prospers does not necessarily mean that it is well-run. Location, location, location.