Presidio Sentinel San Diego, January 2013
By Laura Walcher
If there’s one thing you shouldn’t do, domestically speaking,
it’s buy new
carpeting. Just keep the carpeting
you’ve got,
y’know? Never mind
the age, its stains, the wear, the kids, the dog.
Especially the dog.
In our case, Barney.
Don’t go listening to
your kids: “Maaaaaa, your
OLD CARPETING IS SO EMBARRASSING …!”
Just go out to dinner.
We wanted wood, or
tile, but there go the kids again: “Maaaaa, carpeting is so warm and cozy. Tile and wood are so cold.”
They could just keep their shoes on, y’know?
We gave in, decided
to shop around but, surprisingly, the kids chimed in: “Maaaaaa, just go to
North Park Carpet. Shopping around will drive you crazy.”
Crazier?
Oh, never mind. Here’s Mike Stevenson at North Park
Carpet:
LW: You’re the second generation in
N. P. Carpets? Did you know all about it when it was time to take over? Does
dad approve of your management/style?
MS: I went to work for my father in 1975.
When he retired, in 1995, I
was experienced! And, he’d HAD it!
LW: HAD
it? And he’s the installer!
MS: He was hard-nosed towards employees and hard –to-handle customers.
He was a ‘my way or the highway’ kinda guy. I try to please everyone!
LW: So, this abysmal
undertaking is not your fault, right? No wonder your dad was so crabby. You’re a nice guy? By the way,
not that I’m complaining, but could I have gotten a better price – you’ve seen
all the ads?
MS: Advertising takes a hook to work .. 50% off! Free labor! Sure
it’s ‘free’; just ask the guys doing the work if they are getting paid? It's
always built in. You must lie. I don’t do that, and I hate gimmicks. We
don’t have sales. We don’t falsely inflate the price then discount it. Its all
BS ..oops! We take a less-than-industry average markup. Do the work ourselves
and almost never get beat on price. Think you’re getting a deal? Someone who
makes a living doing that, has gotten over on you!!
LW: This ordeal is just
one notch under moving altogether.
MS: We don't talk our customers into buying (as I hope you
experienced). We don’t badger them.
When they’re ready, we try to prepare them for the worst. We might split
up a large install rather than forcing a long hard day. It’s more costly for
us, but I’ve decided it’s worth it. The alternative is rushing, tossing
furniture around and a mad dash to finish … Not our way! Even with our system,
we know it’s stressful! I like to remind customers ...soon it's over and you
get to enjoy the results for many years!
LW: 7.
Any advice for staying …um: sane, during the
process? Do you offer counseling?
MS: Resign yourself! OK, a lot of disruption, no way around it.
Ask a lot of questions - and still many will remain unanswered til’ the dreaded
day.
LW: I learned a LOT
about men (and their women J)
from Eric and his guys during our installation, wow. Do you offer counseling?
MS: (silence)
LW: Hello, Mike? You haven’t said one word about how to deal with a dog,
either? You sold me canine-resistant
carpeting, right?
MS: I hope you’re loving your new carpet,
got a great report from Eric and the boys. The dog cracked them up, too... You
were a joy to work with for me. Thanks again!
In media training, we call that “deflection.” So, before we’d even begun to recover from the
installation, I decided rather than ever do it again, I’d either live in a
tent, keep the old carpet forever, or, sorry, Eric, we’d kill Barney:
WISH WE
HAD A DOG NAMED "DUKE" - !
HE'D BE
CLASSY AND HE'D NEVER PUKE.
OUR'S
UP-CHUCKS ON THE RUG,
STRIDES
OFF SMARMY, ALL SMUG,
AS IF
IT'S JUST SOME CHARMING FLUKE!
DOES HE
CARE THAT OUR CARPETS ARE NEW?
THAT
THEY COST SOME BIG BUCKS - NOT SOME "FEW” ?
BUT IF
"DUKE" WERE OUR PET
WE NEVER
WOULD FRET,
NOR HOLD
NOSES, NOR NEVER SHRIEK "YEWWWWWW" - !
XXX
