Fake underlay?

Eejay

We went to an independent carpet shop to get measured up for carpets in three bedrooms. He recommended using Cloud 9 Cumulus underlay. We ended up finding nicer carpet in CarpetRight (we saw an offcut for one bedroom and got the other two done in the same style - they were stripy but most of the suitable carpets at the independent were plain) and bought the underlay he'd recommend online.

We went back this evening as we need carpet and vinyl for downstairs. We've chosen what we like and he's coming to measure up tomorrow. I know we wasted his time last time but we live about three minutes away from the shop so it's not a huge issue. He said that he's not sure about the underlay we bought as a lot of them are fake Chinese copies and he reckons there's a good chance ours is fake. It looks identical to the one in the shop but he said that the fake version has bits of hard plastic in it and once we find a bit it'll annoy us, so they won't fit it. I've got home and felt a bit of it (we've been using sections of offcuts for protecting the wall behind wardrobe doors that are yet to be put on, etc) and there are some tiny little hard-ish bits in it - but they would be impossible to feel under the carpet! I wish I'd had a good squidge of theirs to compare.

He also told us that they stock much better quality vinyl than CarpetRight. They do have a much better selection, but many of the pieces are identical to what CR sell - I saw the vinyl we've got in our bathroom, for example.

We are going to go ahead simply for the better service (CR were rude and mislead us over various things), but do you reckon he was just BSing us? Is fake underlay a common problem?

ETA: It was bought from 'moreforyourflooruk' which has 99.8% positive feedback - 28,978 positive feedback in the last 12 months (and 79 neutral, 54 negative).

Chunks

Bound to be an expert along shortly but here's my six pennyworth. Haven't bought a carpet for a while to be honest but my understanding was that sheds (and I assume independents also) often sell discounted carpet (to get you interested) and overpriced underlay (to square the economic circle for them). No surprise that the underlay you have is somehow suspect.

No idea if someone would bother to sell 'fake' underlay anyway but one assumes you have some recourse? If it were me, I would roll out the underlay and check it for the defects you describe. If you find any substantial plastic 'bits', you could remove them (as they will potentially affect the 'wearability' of your carpet if you leave them in place).

Good luck.

mttylad

"You fit it or you don't get the job" - simple enough instruction to them

Eejay

He's looked at it and said it's 'B grade' (the seller claims to not sell 'B grade'/factory seconds) but if we definitely want it then they will fit it. Who knows who's telling the truth! Shall look forward to my new flooring though Just the small matter of getting everything painted first.