Buyer beware at Taj Rugs. When shopping for a rug recently I saw a carpet at Taj Rugs in Mississauga, but was uncertain whether it would work in my living room. The salesman was very assertive, offering me a discount on the rug and assuring me repeatedly that there was no risk as I was welcome to try it out at home and return it if I wasn’t absolutely pleased. On that basis I agreed to buy the rug. When paying, the salesman raised the price he had quoted me by $50.00 and when I questioned this he said the lower price referred to a different rug, although both I and the friend accompanying me were quite sure this was not so. But I decided not to quibble over it. Then, when the receipt he gave me for the rug did not state the rug was returnable I asked him to handwrite a note on it to that effect. He wrote a note which, admittedly very stupidly on my part, I did not read. The note stated that the carpet could be exchanged rather than stating it could be returned and refunded.
Because I did not read the salesman’s handwritten note I am without legal recourse. However it should be noted the salesman was very emphatic about the sale being refundable, and both the Taj website and the price tags on the carpets claim that rugs may be taken home on approval. Furthermore subsequent anonymous phone and in-store inquiries both to the Mississauga store and to Mr. Vinod Kapoor of the Markham office elicited definitive statements that carpets could be tried at home and returned for full refund.
The end result is that I am stuck with an expensive credit note at a store which has no other product suitable for my needs, and whose shoddy, deceptive business practice makes it a distasteful operation to deal with. Again, buyer beware.
