Vent: Customer's dog decided my power stretcher was a chew toy

I was in Greenville last Tuesday installing a nice nylon carpet in a living room, had my stretcher set up perfect. I turn around for maybe 30 seconds to grab my knee kicker, and this golden retriever grabs the rubber pad off my stretcher and runs off. By the time I caught him, the pad was shredded. Had to pack up and drive 40 minutes to the nearest supply house for a replacement, lost half my profit on that job. Anyone else have animals wreck their tools mid install?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige_harris1mo ago

I used to think people were overreacting when they talked about pets wrecking their tools but that golden retriever story changed my mind hard. You had your stretcher set perfect and then boom, 30 seconds and it's done. I had a cat decide my chisel was a toy once, but that was just a scratch. A shredded rubber pad though, that's a whole different level of damage. Did you at least get to bill the customer for the replacement or did you just eat that cost?

leeknight1mo ago

Man people really act like a torn rubber pad is the end of the world. @paige_harris I get it's annoying but stretcher bars are like 15 bucks at any hardware store. Sounds like the owner should replace it but I wouldn't even bother billing them, just grab a new one and move on. Now if it was a expensive digital tool or something I'd be mad, but a rubber pad is basically a consumable anyway.

jordan4641d ago

Nah I'm with Paige on this one. It's not just about the cost of the pad, it's the time and the setup. Once you dial in a stretcher for the right tension on a nylon carpet, breaking that down and starting over costs you way more than fifteen bucks. Plus that 40 minute drive to the supply house eats up your whole afternoon, especially in Greenville traffic. People who don't install don't get how one little thing can snowball into a lost day.