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Company returns $1,000 rug to customer with refund after months-long cleaning ordeal

Posted at 2:53 PM, Dec 28, 2017
and last updated 2018-01-04 20:38:06-05

BELTON, Mo. -- UPDATE 1/4: Pam Sivigliano unrolled her area rug for the first time after getting it returned nearly three months later than expected.

"Doesn't look bad, the fringe looks bad, but the carpet itself doesn't look bad," she said.

Sivigliano said it all started in October when her little dog Cricket peed on one small corner of the massive rug which covers nearly her entire living room.

She sent the $1,000 rug to Chem Dry to be cleaned on Oct.3, 2017 and expected it cleaned and returned just seven days later.

When it wasn't back in mid-December, the 41 Action News Investigators went looking for answers. 

Sivigliano's bank statement shows her check for $242 to clean the rug was cashed on Nov. 8, 2017, more than a month after the rug was picked up.

Her receipt showed an Overland Park address for Chem Dry, and Kansas records show Gil Patterson owns the company.

When the 41 Action News Investigators went to the Chem Dry address in December, it was for an Overland Park home.

A man answered, but did not open the door and claimed he wasn't Patterson.

In December, Patterson told the 41 Action News Investigators by phone the rug was saturated in dog urine and needed multiple treatments.

Sivigliano denies that claim and noted her hardwood floor where the rug is shows no damage from excessive dog urine.

In December, Patterson told the 41 Action News Investigators he'd return the rug and refund the $242 Sivigliano paid to get it cleaned.

He made good on that promise Jan. 2.

It was nearly three months to the day after his reps picked up the rug to be cleaned.

Sivigliano believes it happened because the 41 Action News Investigators intervened.

"I think all of my calls, your interaction, is what led to the carpet being delivered," she said.

As for little Cricket, Sivigliano has a gate so the dog can't access the rug again.

The 41 Action News Investigators were unable to reach Patterson for comment about the delivery of the rug and the refund.

Sivigliano said he apologized when he returned the rug and money, but she won't be using Chem Dry again.

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BELTON, Mo. -- ORIGINAL 12/28/17: Pam Sivigliano lives in a home in Belton, Missouri with her little dog Cricket.

The 70-year-old Sivigliano works as a monitor on a school bus for students with special needs to help make ends meet with her Social Security income.

An area rug about 8 and a half by 12 feet previously covered almost the entire floor of her living room.

But after Cricket had an accident on the rug, Pam decided to get it cleaned.

"Rather than have the carpet cleaned on the wood, I asked the carpet to be picked up and delivered and cleaned," she said.

On Oct. 3, a receipt shows a representative of Chem-Dry came to pick up the rug at Sivigliano's home.

Nearly three months later and after more than a dozen phone calls, she said she still doesn't have her rug back.

"It's their practice that it could be back in my home within a two to three day period," she said.

But Sivigliano's bank statement shows her check for $242 to clean the rug was cashed on Nov. 8, more than a month after the rug was picked up.

She said she made her first phone call to find out why the rug hadn't been returned on Oct. 21.

"They were unsure as to which carpet I was talking about, they wanted me to identify it," Sivigliano said.

Her receipt shows an Overland Park address for Chem-Dry which is owned by a company called Phoenix Services Inc.

Kansas records show the same address and list Gilbert or Gil Patterson as the owner.

41 Action News Investigators went to that address looking for Patterson, and found that it was a home in an upscale Overland Park neighborhood.

The 41 Action News Investigators knocked on the door and a man came to the door, immediately saying no to the camera.

The man denied being Gil Patterson and said Patterson was at his office but declined to say where the office is.

A car parked in the home's driveway had a list of commissions for services done by company techs on the dashboard in plain sight.

Before the 41 Action News Investigators became involved, Sivigliano said Chem-Dry representatives called her only twice in two months.

The first time was in late November to say the carpet still smelled.

The second time was Dec. 4 when they wanted to charge her an additional $69 twice for two more cleanings.

She did not agree to the extra charges.

The 41 Action News Investigators were able to reach Chem-Dry owner Gil Patterson by phone.

Patterson claimed when the rug was first picked up in October, it was dripping with dog urine and it was difficult to get it clean.

Sivigliano denied that claim. She said the rug only had a couple of spots on it.

There's also no indication of damage to her hardwood floor from excessive dog urine.

The 41 Action News Investigators asked Patterson to see the rug, but he refused.

Sivigliano said she was "disappointed" by the company's response and service.

According to the Better Business Bureau, Chem-Dry has one unresolved customer complaint from 2015, but because that complaint is more than two years old, the BBB still gives Chem-Dry an overall "A" rating.

After the 41 Action News Investigators raised questions, Patterson called Sivigliano to tell her the cleaned rug will be delivered to her home and her money refunded next week.

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Andy Alcock is an investigative reporter for 41 Action News. See his full report tonight at 6:30 p.m.