Sharps - damaged new carpet and refusing to admit liability

SN1966 · 15 March 2020 at 6:02PM

We have just moved into an old house which needs a lot of improvement. We had very little furniture and most of the bedrooms are small, but with wide alcove spaces. Wanting to maximise space, we decided to have wardrobes fitted into the the alcove spaces. We were unable to move in without the carpets being replaced first, as they were old, threadbare and so filthy they were beyond saving, so had to have the carpets put down first and then looked to have wardrobes put in. We contacted Sharps who told us that this was not a problem and they could work with the carpet being rolled up. We even asked the original carpet fitter to come back and take the carpet up for us where the wardrobe was to be fitted so that there was no possibility of damage to the carpet by us trying to do it ourselves. Once the wardrobe was built and installed, we noticed that the installer had cut the carpet where it is fitted into another cupboard in the room, without mentioning this to us and even though we had checked with him first that the carpet had been rolled up enough. He clearly cut it roughly and quickly with a blunt knife as the carpet edge is jagged and badly frayed under the cupboard door and into the room. I should add that he told us, while he was leaving, that he had just landed after a long haul flight, was extremely jet lagged and did not want to be at work that day, so was in a hurry to get it done and leave, which explains a lot. We have contacted Sharps on a number of occasions, both directly and via Trustpilot, about the damage only to be told that the installer denies it so they have no choice but to believe him. We pushed back until they finally sent someone out to review the damage. Their response after this visit, after much chasing, was that they believed that we damaged the carpet ourselves as the installer still denies it, but that they will offer us £100, without admission of liability, as a "gesture of goodwill". Clearly not enough to replace the carpet and it is not damage that can be repaired, so we would have to either live with it or spend more of our own money on a new one. They have said that they will only accept evidence such as an impartial eye witness account or a visual recording of him cutting the carpet, which clearly we would not have, and surveying the damage did not provide this so, basically, the visit was a total waste of time. I have repeatedly tried to appeal to their sense of reason by asking why we would damage our own, brand new and very expensive carpet, after having a carpet fitter return to pull it back up for us to avoid any damage, but to no avail. We have already said that the carpet fitter would witness the fact that the carpet was undamaged just beforehand, but damaged after the installer's visit, but they have closed this down by saying that he could have damaged the carpet himself and we are covering up for him (??).

I am very tempted to take this to dispute resolution as I feel we have been treated very shabbily and this has added a lot of stress to an already very stressful and difficult house move. Does anyone have any experience of going to dispute resolution, especially with Sharps? They are a member of Retail ADR, but I don't know how impartial they really are and whether we would have any chance of winning more compensation, sufficient to replace the carpet, without an eye witness account, if this is really the level of evidence they expect! Is there any other recourse we might have? It is beyond galling to feel I have to accept a badly-frayed carpet that has been down less than 3 months or spend out on a replacement at a time when we are having to pour money into our house. It's not covered by our insurance either.