The cat has been acquitted

The analysis of the carpet sample from our mystery stain showed that it was not caused by animal fluids, so our cat Slippers has been cleared of any and all crimes involving the new carpet. She is greatly relieved.

However, the carpet manufacturer rejected our claim, anyway, on the grounds that there was no evidence that the stain occurred during the milling process. They have a point, I guess, but I also know that *we* didn't make the stain, and I feel just as confident that it wasn't Wagner's crew or the carpet installer.

I didn't want to press the issue with the carpet manufacturer because there really is no way to tell when or how the stain happened, seeing as the carpet had been in the house for two days before I noticed it. So I was just going to let the matter drop, when Wagner said that he and the flooring wholesaler we bought the carpet from had agreed to split a $500 credit to return to us. I thought this was very gracious but not fair to them, as I was convinced neither of them was responsible for the stain. He insisted that we deserved some kind of credit, though. But then I pointed out that Jon and I shared some responsibility as well, because I didn't inspect the carpet thoroughly right after the installation and only noticed the spot a couple of days later.

So we decided to reduce the credit to $200 each from Wagner and the carpet store, which I still don't feel entirely right about, as it seems to me that it's the carpet manufacturer who should be paying.

We also decided not to attempt a repair through plugging in a new patch of carpet. The carpet installer said that over time the seams would become visible, and I'm guessing the cure will be worse than the problem. The spot really isn't noticeable unless you look carefully for it, and I am sure it is just the first of many spots this carpet will attract over its lifetime.

The important moral I learned from this incident is this: Take the time to inspect all work done very carefully, just as soon as it is completed. If I had gone to the effort to look the carpet over closely the day it was installed (instead of just poking my head in and saying "Looks great!" the way I had done), I would've noticed the spot right then and there, leaving no ambiguity about when it had occurred.

Of course, it's not exactly helpful that this lesson was learned at the tail end of our renovation and not the beginning. *sigh*