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PrintHelp Me Hank: Help Me Hank! Carpet catastrophe
Don't try this at home. This day care center is a chaos of little feet. Keeping it organized and safe and clean is as complicated as keeping this pack of adorable kids happy and entertained.
Mira Fayngersh, day care director
"I love all of them. I love what they do."
But Fayngersh has got some trouble underfoot. You can't tell from far away, but look at her carpeting close up. It's unraveling. It's torn. The pile has ridges and tunnels and fluffs and puffs.
Mira Fayngersh, day care director
"Some of them start to give a little bit of tearing in the seams."
Now here's the surprise. This carpet is new, installed just a few months ago. It was expensive, and the kids loved it.
Missy Martin, day care teacher
"They loved the color. They thought it was pretty, and it was nice."
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Now kids can be tough, but just a month later their industrial strength carpet had rips like this, and this and this.
Mira Fayngersh, day care director
"...and here and here and here."
It cost about $6,000, and it was already falling apart. A raggedy rug was bad for the kids, although they were fascinated by the fraying. And it was also bad for business.
Missy Martin, day care teacher
"It was definitely embarrassing for us."
Fayngersh taped up the tears, then contacted the rug store to call them on the carpet.
Missy Martin, day care teacher
"We were very upset."
But the rug store blamed the installer, and the installer blamed the rug store, and the rug just deteriorated.
Missy Martin, day care teacher
"We felt kind of that we were put on the back burner."
Four months and no action, the kids hardly noticed, but Fayngersh and Martin weren't ready to sweep the mess under the rug. So, they picked up the phone.
Missy Martin, day care teacher
"We called Hank."
Time for the teachers to learn a lesson here. They had the power to fix their problem. They just didn't use it.
We dug out the rug's warranty, and it says "ten year guarantee" that it will not show signs of abrasive wear. And that's just what we told the rug store.
Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7News
"So, you'll check into that for me."
And now they have this check, a credit card refund and all their money back. They can't replace the rug until summer vacation and the kids are gone, but come fall, they'll be snug as a bug in a brand new rug.
Missy Martin, day care teacher
"It was great! I mean we wanted to celebrate."
Fayngersh and Martin said they never got a copy of the warranty, but you know the rules: get that stuff in writing.
(Copyright (c) 2007 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)