It works for what it was made. I am placed it on my carpet to make my home office chair roll with ease. Before I had the mat rolling the chair to sit at the desk was hard now I can push away from the desk to stand up or sit and roll the chair back closer to the desk to work. Adjustment were necessary since I am working at lot more from home than before.
It may protect the carpet but its thickness (or thinness) allows it to compress into the carpet and thus makes rolling the chair around tough - i.e. the chair casters get hung up in the divots . . . or maybe I'm just too fat!
This is a replacement for an older one which after years of use wore out. I would not have purchased it a second time if I were not satisfied with the product.
Arrived in time - bend like hell. Mat is to thin and moves spikes are way to short to have any effect. Chair wheels dent the mat very heavily - makes moving the chair around difficult at times. Does not work well on thicker carpets. Not worth the money.