Marc wrote to AT with a great tip:
Found this great online store called FloorMall for hardwood flooring and area rugs. They are offering tax free and free shipping on all area rugs. If you call in your order they give you and additional 10% off. Great find!!
What we discovered: hardwood, laminates, bamboo, cork, tile, vinyl, area rugs and carpet. That covers it all, right?
We purchased 1700 square feet of flooring from Floormall.com (aka Hardwoodbrokers.com). My installer determined the flooring was defective and stopped installing it. He talked to HardwoodBrokers.com on the phone. That was the last we heard from the company. The refused to accept/return my phone calls. I went to the store and Marc called the police. He said I'd be put in jail and my four children would be put in Child Protective Services.
The manufacturer decided to take back the flooring (I only asked for it to be swapped out for non-defective flooring). Hardwoodbrokers.com has a policy stating they'll honor the Manufacturer guidelines, but they kept almost 30% of the total cost (their profit plus almost $1500 from the wholesaler!).
There are a variety of complaints with their local BBB. I filed a complaint with the Office of Consumer Affairs, who tries to moderate issues. Marc stated I was mentally unstable; the flooring was not defective.
We go to court on the matter in November. I'll bring the flooring, my installer, and another company who evaluated the defective flooring. Once we have a judgement against them for the refund and all legal costs (plus maybe slander?), this company may be in rough financial shape.
There are so many other companies to buy flooring from. The manufacturer cited situations like this as reasons to NOT buy from the internet. Have your installer buy the flooring so he has to resolve problems if the flooring is bad.
Bridget Ryan
bmoryan@yahoo.com
Dear Reader,
This customers complaint is absolutely false. This customer ordered flooring from Floormall.com and installed over 100 sq feet. After installing this amount she decided she did not like the width of the flooring she purchased. If we delivered flooring in terrible shape then 1. why did she accept the delivery? 2. why did she install it? If she would of read our Terms and Policies at
http://www.floormall.com/disclaimer.php she would of seen that once you install your flooring, (especially 100 sqft of it), you can not return it. That is the industry standard. This customer has also filed 2 complaints with the Virginia Commonwealths Attorneys office. Of course they sided in Floormall.coms favor. If you would like to see the letter as proof to this customers false claims please email us directly at customerservice@floormall.com, subject Virginia Commonwealth letter. As a potential customer to any business you are very fortunate to do your do-diligence on the company you purchase from. Unfortunately as a business owner you can not do your do-diligence on your customer base. If we had the opportunity to sell to this customer again we would definately refer this customer to our competitors.
Thank you for your time,
Mar Henderson
CEO and President
Floormall.com
800-313-1107 ext 109
ceo@floormall.com
Dear Reader:
The Consumer Affairs letter does not state they found in his favor *or* that my claims are false. Please call Consumer Affairs directly for the information - 757-426-5836.
What kind of a company would bully and name call a consumer who is asking a refund for merchandise she only wanted exchanged?