Who do you think is responsible?

[disneyfanatic60]

I work as an Office Mgr. for a small company. We rent office space on the second floor (the landlord's are on the first floor). The landlord's are tighter than tight. They are pleasant but never want to spend a single dime and the place looks like it.

We hired a very small cleaning service (they don't provide it as part of the lease) a few month's back. My boss recently asked the owner if he did carpet cleaning. The owner said yes they have been doing it since they have been in business (20 yrs.) So we contracted him to clean the carpets.

They used an orbital cleaner (not a steam wand) because it was just filthy and old which we knew was their plan. After the carpet started to dry, let's just say it looked like a "mogel skiing course." Yes, huge huge bumps of carpet some as high as 12" off the grown. Seriously, I could not describe how it looked but we were very worried of someone getting hurt walking on it.

The owner had oddly come down to check on the carpet at the same time my boss stopped by on a Sunday morning. He was shocked at what he found. Said he'd never seen anything like it ever happen. He was extremely apologetic, etc. On Monday, I called and had someone come out and check it and the carpet is shot.

The cleaning person originally agreed to pay to have it repaired/replaced. But now realizing the cost he's becoming relunctant. His insurance company won't process a claim because they feel the carpet can be restretched despite being told otherwise. The carpet has since dried completely and other than a few small bumps it looks just fine and clean!

The landlord is salavating because they feel they are getting a new carpet at no cost to them. My boss is threatening to call in lawyers The owner offered to pay 1/2 the cost hoping either the landlord/my boss would pick up the rest between them. They, of course, told him absolutely not. The guy is a very, very nice guy who owns a very small business. It will take him month's to make up this loss if his insurance company doesn't budge.

What bother's me is that my boss is so quick to call the "attorney." The carpet was 20 years old (okay--maybe 10) and in horrible condition. As far as I'm concerned, it was the landlord's responsibility to clean it in the first place (it's not in our lease). My boss was just trying to get it cleaned and being nice.

Should this guy have known this would happen and it's totally his responsibility? Regardless of the fact the carpet probably needed to replaced anyways prior to this. Should he have to pay the entire bill for a carpet that wasn't worth much at all. I'm trying to be fair to all parties and I'm curious to what you think should happen or what you would do. Not sure if I have a lot of say but I'm still curious to see what everyone's thoughts are either way.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I can only speak from our office -- you'll need to look at the lease agreement to see what the landlord's responsibilities are.

We recently moved our offices, and the new carpeting purchase was part of the lease agreement. However, we pay for our quarterly cleaning (as well as all other office maintenance). Personally, I think that if the carpet guys knew what they were doing, they would have known this (or something similar) would happen and refuse to do the work.

Back in the 90's, before we moved out of our rental house (after a year), we had cleaners steam clean the carpet, and it made a bigger mess in one area than it cleaned up. But, the cleaners warned us ahead of time of some significant spots that might not come out and we took the chance. So the landlord refused to give our security deposit back. It was our fault.

If the carpet was that bad, your boss should have told the landlord in writing. IMO, your boss is responsible for fixing it -- if the stretching brings it back to the condition it was in before the cleaning, then no harm/no foul. Then it's your boss' decision whether to go after the cleaners for the money (the lawyer could give advice about this, although you'll wind up spending money that could be used to replace the carpet).

Timing was bad that the landlord saw the carpet before it was restretched -- he probably wouldn't have noticed it after it was fixed.

How much will the insurance company give for the stretching? If the landlord will pay 50%, and the stretching costs, say, 15-25% (and you use the money for new carpet instead), your company could pay the difference?

 

[gallaj0]

Unfortunately, the cleaning company owner seems to be responsible.

I was the facility manager for several buildings, and this kind of thing comes up fairly often. If the carpet hadn't been cleaned in years, and iot was known that it was a fairly old carpet (over 8-10 years), a responsible cleaning company should have tested an area before doing the entire thing.

When the carpet bubbles up like that it is no longer attached to the floor or backing; it is really just a matter of time before any seams pull apart and it really becomes a tripping hazard.

It is really a matter between him and his insurance company; the landlord has every right to demand the entire carpet be replaced at the cleaning comany's expense.

 

[lovesmurfs]

It is really a matter between him and his insurance company; the landlord has every right to demand the entire carpet be replaced at the cleaning comany's expense.

I really think, though, that since the intermediary (OP's boss) hired the company to do the work, it's the boss' responsibility. Landlord can say that, if asked, he would have hired ABC company instead of the other one, to clean the carpet. Landlord (even if a tightwad) shouldn't have to mess with collecting money from a subcontractor.

 

[bicker]

Yes, either the cleaning company is responsible (if there was negligence) or the tenant is responsible. The only way the landlord could be responsible is if the landlord contracted the cleaning company. Even if the landlord was responsible for carpet cleaning in the lease, you cannot hold the landlord responsible for damage that can be attributed to a cleaning company which the landlord didn't authorize use of for carpet cleaning.

We had the opposite situation in our office: Our landlord is responsible for carpet cleaning, did contract with the cleaning company, and we had the same problem. In that case, the landlord and the cleaning company split the cost of the carpet replacement (including having to disassemble and reassemble every single cubicle).