<<<Since Don has chosen to not provide any information in his profile, we can only assume his level of (in)competence by evaluating his contributions hereto.>>>
Get real. I've been a member of SI almost as long as there's been an SI. If I choose not to include a ton of personal information, you'll just have to assume I consider it to be none of your business.
As for Home Depot claiming the number one spot in carpet sales, with 1200 stores, a fraction of 1% market share would probably put them in the top spot. Most free standing carpet stores are local/regional chains with considerably less than 1200 stores. From what the kid at the Bremerton HD showed me, HD stocks around 6 different carpets. All of them the cheapest and lowest quality available. Not that I expect much for .89 a foot, but I sure wouldn't put it in any house I expect to be able to sell someday. That kind of stuff looks like junk and wears like junk. You don't need to look at the back of the pad for density numbers, you can stand 6 feet away and count it yourself. With a reasonable amount of care, a good quality carpet should last for at least 10 years and still look good. In the same time frame, you'll be ready to move your furniture and replace the .89 stuff for the third time, and it'll never look as good as the better quality carpet. That leaves a special order as the only reasonable choice at HD.
I also expect to order carpet at the free standing store, but the difference is even if they don't have what I want in stock, their local distributor does. If a commission sales person at a carpet store has to find a way to see the carpet is installed within a week to close a sale, he'll try to figure out a way to make it happen. At HD, it's four weeks, take or leave it, and the sales person doesn't give a rip if you buy or not. I don't have time to be jerked around by a company where I practically have to beg them to take my money, hunt all over hell's half acre to find someone to beg to, and still not get the service I need. Paying a few extra bucks at a carpet store for top quality service is a bargain by comparison.
You obviously have the kind of lemming like mentality that buys into whatever company hype is feed to you. Home Depot has a wonderful inventory of expanding foam, you can find a couple cases of the stuff blocking nearly every isle in the store, but if you need carpet, it's NOT the best place to shop. |
