Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The flooring that was installed in my entire home does not match the sample the salesperson showed me during my in-person meeting with him (***** *****). Furthermore, I had given specific instructions to both the Flooring Direct sales office and to the salesperson, that I wanted waterproof vinyl flooring with NO KNOTHOLES.This flooring is a darker color than the sample and has many many imperfections (knotholes, cracks, blobs/blemishes, etc.).

  

  Business response

  10/23/2024

  BBB Complaint # ********
  **** *******
  
  We are sorry that Ms. **** ******* did not like the outcome of the Product.
  Our installers Sopia and ****** came into the office and showed me photos / video of this installation.
  Everything seems well except customer doesn't like the *** plank design.
  Our Sale representative ***** met with Ms. **** ******* and ***** 5-24-24 for a Sale consultation, which he showed samples and did a room visualizer when they picked the following product LONE STAR SPIRIT SKYFALL GROOVE ***TS107
  *********************************************************************************
  
  The installation date was set for 5-31-2024, requested per Contract from Ms. **** ******* because of moving truck was expected for Monday 6-3-2024.
  As a Flooring company, we just dont go and install Floors without any agreement or approval with the Customer.
  On the installation date the Material was approved and signed off by ***** ***** to the Installation.
  While our crew were working on the final touch *** Ms. **** ******* requested to replace some of the planks and signed off the completion paperwork.
  
  The following Week she was calling the office and was stating that she got the wrong material installed.
  I reached out to our Vender Lions ***** ****** to go with me to identify the Material.
  He confirmed the Material with the description on contract and explained to the customer how it was designed and manufactured. (Wood look Vinyl plank)
   There are no HOLES,CRACKS or any damage with the Floors planks.
  The customer claimed she was promised there wouldn't be any wood knot design on this product,which our Sale representative stated no promises were made about what it looked like.
  In conclusion, there were no issues found with this floor. The concerns that were reported are assessed to not be due to the manufacturing process. We will be turning down this claim.
  With everything that was done, we have completed our Contract.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  M. Rostamzada
  General Manager
  Flooring Direct
  ************ -212

  Customer response

  10/24/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   

  The salesperson NEVER did a room visualizer. 

  I informed the installer upon my arrival I was unhappy with the product because it had knotholes and cracks.

  I signed off because the lead installer stated he would be back to REPLACE at least the worst planks (most cracks/blemishes knot holes).

  This product has actual indentations for the knot holes/small holes.  They collect dirt and are unsanitary.  The product installed does NOT match the sample the saleperson brought to the house.  The sample had no indentations, cracks, knotholes.

  Either the sample was not representative of the actual product or a bait and switch occurred and a different cheaper product was installed in my home.

   

  Customer response

  11/09/2024

  Why doesn't Flooring Direct go back into their system and search for the "room visualizer" that ***** states he showed my friend and I on the afternoon we met with him and I signed the purchase contract?  Neither of us saw a room visualizer and your software should have the history from that date.

  The flooring does not match the sample.  The salesperson either does not know the products he is selling or Lion Flooring provided to them a sample that was not representative of the actual pattern. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  06/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hidden fees over $3000 once work started. Floors not installed properly by National Floors Direct. Not level subfloor after extorting money to level it. Most importantly, stairs that I was charged $8000 to do was not done to code with each tread being split and not level. They refuse to fix their work and want to charge me to do it properly.

  

  Business response

  06/11/2024

  This is not one of our customers.  This complaint is for National Floors Direct.  We are Flooring Direct and we are not affiliated with them.

• Initial Complaint

  04/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought carpet from Flooring Direct on January 4, 2019. The salesperson assured me it had a lifetime warranty against showing traffic patterns. Recently, when another salesperson visited to show us the upstairs carpet, I inquired about the warranty for the existing carpet on our bottom floor. They said it should be covered and referred me to ***. *** contacted me on April 10, 2024, asking for receipts for carpet cleaning. Despite explaining that I didn't have receipts but had the carpet cleaned annually, *** didn't reply. After sending a follow-up text on April 24 and receiving no response, I called Flooring Direct's 800 number the same day. The agent promised to forward my information to the ************* but I heard nothing. On April 26, 2024, I called the ************* directly. The person I spoke to informed me that *** had left for the day and said she would email him to request a callback. Unfortunately, I still haven't received a response.

  

  Business response

  05/03/2024

  Customer had set up an appointment for us to come out on 4-2-24 to give a quote on other areas where there is carpet.  He spoke with our salesman during that visit and asked about the warranty information on the Master Bedroom carpet that we installed in 2019. This showed signs of matting.

  For us to file a claim, we need 3 receipts showing that they had professionally cleaned the carpet.  Manufactures warranty states that they need receipts every ***** months.   He did not have these receipts and said that the original salesperson did not instruct him to keep these receipts.  He said he had never needed them before in 50 years of owning houses.  Without these receipts, we cannot file a Claim with our vendor.  He had replied on 4-10-24 and his message was cleared by mistake, so no one saw his message back to us.  He replied to his message last week and no one replied on our end.

  After speaking with the salesperson that went out on 4-2-24, he said he could show him a similar color that we stock, and we could do as an accommodation if the other rooms were purchased.

  Since there has been 5 years since he purchased the carpet, it is out of our 2-year installation warranty and since he could not produce the cleaning receipts, we cannot file the claim.  It is unfortunate and we are willing to work with him if the other areas are purchased. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Flooring Direct was hired to remove carpeted areas and replace with hardwoods that match our existing floors. This is a brand new home. We did our walk-through with the builder then closed on our home, and the next day Flooring Direct came in. We never moved in our home. No other contractor has been in our home. We needed this job done first so we could move in. At this time we still havent move in and there is no end in sight to when we can move in. They gave us a timeline of the job to be done, and the timeline kept getting longer. They would say they are showing up at a certain time and did not. It was always later in the day. Finally, they get to staining the floors. After it sets for a couple days, we go to see it, and it is the wrong color. We have light beige, real wood looking floors. The flooring they stained has a red color to them, and do not even look like the same type of wood. All week long we have been waiting for a resolution. They have not provided one. They have admitted that they cannot complete the job. They admitted they dont know what happened. They admitted even if they can get the color right, it will always look hazy and like a color has been painted on them. It will never look like real wood. It will never look like the floors that we already have in place. Aside from that, The contractors literally ruined our home. Our brand new construction home that was in perfect condition has now been destroyed by them. Our home needs to be repainted. They damaged existing wood flooring. They broke base boards. Door are off the hinges in multiple place. Our door stoppers are missing. Our home is covered in a thick layer of dust everywhere! Even where they didnt do any work. We continue to live in a hotel room with our family while we pay for our home we cant live in. They collected 100% of our money for the job and have abandoned the job. Our floors need to be redone. They took 100% of the money and left us with this mess.

  

  Business response

  04/08/2024

  CONTRACT SALE. PLEASE REFER TO ATTACHED DOCUMENTS:

  THERE ARE NO MODIFICATIONS TO THE CONTRACT SPECIFYING THE CUSTOMER CLAIM WE WERE TOLD TO CUT OUTSIDE. WHICH IN AND ITSELF IS NONSENSE. IT'S A SAND-AND-FINISH JOB THAT WOULD REQUIRE SANDING IN THE HOME. WE UTALIZE VACCUME ATTACHMENTS ON OUR EQUIPMENT. THE CUSTOMER DEMANDED TO MONITOR THE WORK IN PERSON AND SAW OUR INSTALLERS USING PROPER VACCUME ATTACHMENTS. WHILE HE WAS PRESENT IN THE HOME, HE CAUSED UNDUE STRESS AND LACKED PROFESSIONALISM WHEN ADDRESSING OUR EMPLOYEES/CONTRACTORS, LEADING TO A REASSIGNMENT LATER IN THE ****
  
  CUSTOM STAIN & WOOD MATCH REQUEST:

  TYPICALLY, WE TRY TO AVOID CUSTOM STAIN MATCH REQUESTS FOR WORK INSTALLED BY ANOTHER COMPANY. THAT SAID, THIS CUSTOMER WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE THE SPECIFICS OF THE WOOD GRADE AND STAIN USED DURING THE ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION. JUST TURNS OUT HE PROVIDED INCORRECT INFORMATION. I HAVE ATTACHED THE DETAILS WHERE OUR SALES *** WAS PROVIDED INCORRECT INFORMATION. CONVIENTLY, THE WOOD AND STAIN WERE BOTH WRONG. THE ***** PROVIDED SAID, "#2 WHITE OAK AND MAGIC OIL INSTALLED BY FLOORING SERVICES." IT TURNED OUT TO BE #1 WHITE OAK AND CERTAINLY DID NOT HAVE MAGIC OIL THE FIRST TIME. THAT'S EASILY PROVABLE, AS MAGIC OIL HAS A SATIN/MATTE FINISH. WHICH WE DELIVERED, BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE CUSTOMER HAD PREVIOUSLY. AFTER OUR TWO BEST-PERFORMING TEAMS WERE ABLE TO GET A 90% MATCH, THE CUSTOMER REFUSED, SAYING IT WAS TOO NOTICEABLE. THE CUSTOMER EVEN YELLED PROFANATIES AT OUR STAFF WHEN WE CALLED TO NOTIFY HIM THE GRADE OF WOOD WAS WRONG WHEN OUR TEAM WENT TO PICK-UP. HE EXCLAIMED THAT WE SHOULD HAVE AUTOMATICALLY KNOWN THE INFORMATION ABOUT "FLOORING SERVICES" HIS BUILDER/CONTRACTOR GAVE US WAS INCORRECT AND THEN HUNG UP.  LUCKILY, OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE VENDOR ALLOWED US TO SECURE THE CORRECT WOOD WITHOUT THE $750 COST INCREASE, ALLOWING US TO PROGRESS TO THE NEXT STEP. SHOWING OUR EFFORTS TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND TO SATISFY AN ALREADY TEDIOUS CUSTOMER. WE STRIVE FOR FIVE STAR SERVICE.
  
  CUSTOMER REQUEST FOR NON-VOC STAIN & HEALTH CONCERNS:

  AS YOU WILL SEE ON THE CONTRACT, REFERENCE TO THE USE OF "NON-VOC" STAIN. THERE ISN'T SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE WIFE'S LUNG CONDITION OR A REQUEST TO CUT MATERIAL OUTSIDE. MAGIC OIL WAS USED BECAUSE IT'S WHAT WE WERE TOLD WAS USED BY THE BUILDER, AND IT'S NON-VOC.  THE CUSTOMERS KNOWIGLY STAYED ONSITE DURING PART OF THE INSTALL. AFTER SIGNING THE ATTACHED "PRE-INSTALL CHECKLIST," WHICH CLEARLY STATES DUST WILL BE PRESENT, WE RECOMMEND STAYING OFFSITE. THIS CUSTOMER DID HAVE LODGING; THEY JUST CHOSE TO BE THERE AND CAUSE A FUSS AND MAKE THEMSELVES SICK KNOWINGLY.
  
  CUSTOMER CLAIM OF PROPERTY DAMAGES & IMPROPER CLEAN-UP:

  BOTH THE CONTRACT & PRE-INSTALL CHECKLIST MAKE REFERENCE TO DUST/DIRT/SMALL DAMAGES/ETC. THE CUSTOMER DID NOT OMIT THOSE CLAUSES, AS YOU WILL SEE HIS INITALS NEXT TO THEM. ADDITIONALLY, ALL THE IMAGES WE HAVE BEEN SHOWN SHOW NORMAL DUST AND MINOR DINGS/SCRAPES THAT ARE EASILY FIXABLE. IF THE CUSTOMER ALLOWED US TO COMPLETE THE WORK, THESE WOULD HAVE BEEN RESOLVED. HE WOULD NOT ALLOW AN AMICABLE SOLUTION TO BE MADE BEFORE FILING THIS CLAIM, PUTTING US IN A POSITION WHERE WE CAN NEITHER REFUND HIM OR COMPLETE THE WORK UNTIL THE CLAIM IS RESOLVED. HE CLAIMS WE "ABANDONDED" THE **** THAT'S A LIE, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. WE ATTEMPTED TO REFUND HIM FOR THE PORTION OF THE WORK THAT HE WOULD NOT BE SATISFIED WITH AFTER HIS MULTIPLE VERBAL HARRASSMENTS TO OUR TEAM. HE NEVER ***LIED TO OUR ATTEMPT TO REFUND HIM AND RESOLVED HIS DISPLEASURE. RATHER, HE FILED THE CLAIM SAYING WE ABANDOND THE **** WE TRIED TO REFUND THE TOTAL PORTION OF THE SAND-AND-FINISH ~$3500. WE ALSO OFFERED TO SAND AND FINISH THE WHOLE FLOOR, INCLUDING THE PARTS INSTALLED BY THE PREVIOUS COMPANY, SO MATCHING WOULD NOT BE A CONCERN ANYMORE. EVEN THOUGH EITHER OF THESE OPTIONS ARE GREAT FOR THE CUSTOMER, HE EITHER REFUSED OR IGNORED US.

  Customer response

  04/16/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   I was unable to submit my response and was told I could email it.  This is from ****** ********** with a complaint against Flooring Direct.  
  
  I am rejecting this response because the dispute has not been settled to my satisfaction.  The response is filled with numerous lies.
  
  1.  It appears the person responding to my complaint did not actually read my complaint but merely copied and pasted information from somebody somewhere.  The majority of the response has zero to do with my complaint.  
  
  2.  Where the person says my husband "yelled profanities at our staff", calls him a "tedious customer", gave "verbal harassments to our team" is untrue.  I've been married to my husband for 15 years and he is a former pastor.  He does not use profanity.   That is outside of his character.  I am now adding slander and defamation of character to my complaint.
  
  3.  Where the person states they "typically avoid stain match requests for work"...that is irrelevant since they did accept nearly $15,000 from us and write on the contract they are to match the existing stain.  That is what they were hired to do and if that was not in their ability to do, they could have declined the job.  They are the flooring professionals.  How would I know what they typically do or do not do?  They came over, looked at the project, bid the job...then a contract was signed.  It was a straightforward process per the usual manner someone would hire someone for a job.  If they didn't feel like they were competent to do our flooring, they should have said so.  There was zero hesitation.
  
  4.  The person writing the complaint has clearly never been to our home.  They are saying I stayed in the home while the work was being done.  Another lie.  They are stating the damage is minimal.  Another lie.  If they would have come to the home to see the damage, they would see the gross negligence done by the contractors.  We have many videos and pictures as proof.  The damage was extensive and extends along the entire length of walls and baseboards.  They were doing floors yet the damage extends high up the walls even as high up to reach and damage two brand new ceiling fans.  It was sad to see that they treated our brand new home like trash.  
  
  5.  In one part of the response it says we made it so they can "neither refund him or complete the work until the claim is resolved" AND "we tried to refund him $3500".  The person is speaking out of both sides of his mouth.  This is  contradictory which seems normal with this business as they say one thing then say something different.  We were never offered $3500.  Another false claim.  Even if so, that would not even come close to cover the repairs of the extensive damage.
  
  6.  Where the person says they offered to have our entire home re-sanded so they can then match the floors put down by them is ridiculous.  Why would I want my brand new almost 4500 sq ft home to be totally re-sanded to match your mistake?  We like the floors we have.  They were supposed to match what we had.   Not put down whatever wood and color they like and then redo our entire home to give us different flooring throughout.  Not re-sand our entire home and create more mess.  Not remodel our home the way they want to. 
  
  7. Our contract states we are getting white oak #2 and they put down white oak #1. Their sales person came out BEFORE we signed a contract and saw our flooring ahead of time.  We have white oak #2 as such, white Oak #2 is on our contract.  I am glad that their BBB response admits to breaching our contract by putting down white oak #1.  I am in agreement that they put down flooring that breached our contract.  They never had us sign a new contract changing the wood to White Oak #1.  Our floors are currently mismatched and can only be matched by ripping out their white oak #1 and replacing it with white oak #2 like was agreed upon per our contract.
  
  8.  Where the person says they strive for five star service, that did not happen with us.  They made a mistake.  They admitted to some of the mistakes.  They said they would not complete the job in a satisfactory manner.  Once they realized they messed up our floors and couldn't ever get them right, they never showed back up to do work.  So yes, they did take 100% of the agreed upon amount of money, and they did in fact abandon the job. Per my attached evidence showing the email thread from ******, yes, he did mention he would give us a figure but that was another failed commitment.  A figure was not presented to us.
  
  We will continue to pursue all necessary routes until we are compensated for the damages incurred by this company.  From the incorrect wood being put down, the incorrect stain being placed, the damage to our walls throughout the home, broken baseboards, stain spilled on our new stone, damage to two ceiling fans, extensive dust throughout our home causing air ducts and home to be deeply cleaned by a professional, the lengthy hotel stay while our home was inhabitable and while we waited for this business to make things right, the cost to have someone else to come in to re-sand and re-stain the floors just so they would somewhat blend with the existing flooringthe damages are extensive and costly. They are in the 10s of thousands.  This is not normal dust and minor dings/scrapes that are easily fixable per their response.  The evidence does not lie.  This person is greatly mistaken.  And again, clearly has NEVER been in our home to see the damage or attempted to actually make things right. 
  
  You will see in my pictures what the home looked like BEFORE and how it looked AFTER they did work in our home AND how they left our home and abandoned it.  Reminder, this is a brand new home that we closed on and they came in the following day to start their project.  We hadn't moved in yet. We stayed in a hotel so they could do their project efficiently.
  

  
  

  

  Business response

  04/22/2024

  I will reply to each of these complaints as best as i can.  I personally didn't not hear your husband yell profanities.  He got heated with Max and i when we were on the phone when we realized that the wood that is supposed to be in your house was incorrect from the information given to us.  We were only letting him know that we were changing it to #1.  He told us to deal with it, he didn't have time and repeatedly told us that he had missed an important phone call and then hung up.  We changed the wood because our installer knows the difference between #1 and #2 *****.  Our salesman was using your information when we ordered the product.  As a company, we took the hit on the cost because it should have been known at the point of sale.

  We typically don't do stain matches when the existing wood is butting up to the new wood.  Our installer matched the stain as close as he could.  From what i was told, he got it within 90% match.  The real problem with the stain is how the magic oil looks next to water-based poly.  The company that installed your floor initially said it was #2 and they used magic oil.  It was clear that they used Water based poly and these two polys are very much different. 

  We would never be able to match that stain 100%.  There were some missteps in the order, and we acknowledge that.  

  You are correct that our message was from someone who wasn't there.  I have not been there either but have a little more knowledge than what he had on your job.  We were aware that you had health concern and you were at the jobsite during the hand scraping process and your husband was there during the installation process. 

  Our install manager was at the jobsite and the damage is minimal.  Since we were unable to proceed with the job, we were unable to caulk the baseboards, touch up the walls and fix any of these issues.  I have seen your photos and our Install Managers photos, and these are minimal in my opinion.  I don't know anything about the fans being damaged. This was not brought up during any conversation or with our install manager at the jobsite.

  The refund of $3500 was talked about internally.  We were going to send that but got the Insurance claim and decided to hold off.  $3500 is the remaining labor that hasn't been done on our end.  That was a mistake on his part as he thought this had been sent out.

  We did offer to resand your entire floor to make the floor even.  With the 2 types of polys, there would be no other way unless water-based poly would be used. I am going by the expertise of 2 very good installers and our Install Manager who say the wood is #1.  I don't think we breached the contract since your husband told us to proceed but was not willing to pay more money.  This was a mistake by our salesman, but he was going off of the information provided by you. 

  I decided that we should not proceed because it was clear that you were done with us.  I asked ****/ ***** and Max separately and all 3 said that we will never satisfy what you were looking for.

  During the Zoom call that you recorded, you mentioned several times that you didn't want us to proceed.  That was my reasoning on why we should stop and give you a refund.  There was no respond to my first email from your husband.  The response was the Nationwide claim filed under our insurance that is being dealt with now.  I held off sending anything until we had a resolution from that. The 2nd email was to redo the entire floor. We received his email that we had abandoned the job.  

  We do strive for 5-star service.  With faulty information given to you by the other company, we were unable to satisfy you.  Many of the issues with damage would have been rectified before we finished the job.  Missing caulk, filling cracks is fairly minor and happens on every job where baseboards are removed.  The handprints on the wall are unfortunate but happen and we were willing to clean that up as well.  We were sanding your floor and even with a dust containment vacuum, there is going to be dust.  That would have been cleaned if a stain/ poly would have been accepted.  I believe ***** made 9 samples and **** made at least 3.  

   

  Customer response

  04/27/2024

  1.  We have white oak #2.  You put down white oak #1.  As a result, the floors dont match in type.  Please refer to my previous attached picture titled additional_info 1 that shows how our wood that was already present has character in it like natural wood.  You can see different color planks, knot holes, imperfections.  The wood you put down looks like engineered wood as it is pretty uniform throughout.  Our builder told us it was white oak #2 because it is.  Since the issue with your company, we have had two separate flooring companies come out and they confirmed our original floors are white oak #2 and the one your company put down is white oak #1.  There is a ***** difference between the two.  The white oak #1 stick out like a sore thumb.  ************ has been the ONLY one saying we have white oak #1.  It would have been nice if the company manager would have come out to look at the flooring.  It is VERY noticeable that they are not the same.

  
  2.  The stain put down by your company was never a 90% match. That is false  They were red.  They tried to do some tests by putting different colors on a few planks but it still was not right because as your employee admitted, it would always look cloudy like someone had painted on them.  Per the same attached picture I referenced in the above, your stain was red.  We do not have red stains on our white oak #2 boards.  We have very natural light oak colored flooring.  No red, not slightly redthere is just simply no red tone at all.  I dont understand why you keep saying things like, you were 80% done and the match was 90% correct.  It is completely false.  The evidence doesnt lie.  You were 0% done.  Step 1 still need to be completed because the flooring needs to ripped out and the correct white oak #2 needs to be installed.  You were never a 90% match in stain color.  We have ZERO red color in our white oak #2.  This can be confirmed by other flooring companies.  You are incorrect.  Again, it would have been nice it the manager of the company came out to see what was going on because there was a huge discrepancy.  

  
  3. I know you keep saying the damage was minimal.  If you would have came to our home, you would have seen how bad it was.  We have far more videos that show the extent of the damages.  It is difficult to see damage in a random few photos.  But the videos show entire lengths of rooms that are damaged from top to bottom.  Again, I can only upload so many megabytes to this complaint.  But what I have showed thus far paints a pretty good picture of the damage.  And the receipts for work we paid to repair some of the damage paints an even bigger picture.  Then factor in the quotes of work that still needs to be done and you will see that the damage is not minimal.  It is excessive. Your negligence has cost us a lot monetarily.  We paid you, then had to pay more contractors large sums of money to fix your mistakes, and repair damages. Meanwhile, our home is still not right.  It was pretty devastating to see how our property was handled in the hands of your employees. 

  
  4. My response to the $3500 that you guys had come up with behind closed doors...but never actually conveyed to us...is still the same.  That amount doesnt touch the surface of covering the damages incurred.  It was never presented to us anyways so that is a moot point. 

  
  5. When my husband signed the contract with your company to do the work, the salesman told him they would not cut the wood in our home.  Your other employee then tells him weeks later, that they will absolutely cut wood in our home or they will walk off the already started job.  He said that no other company would do the cutting outside.  That is false and that was a sneaky thing for your team to do knowing how much my husband expressed (before signing the contract) that it would be a deal breaker for doing the job if wood was to be cut in our home.  Come to find out, your install guy was wrong again.  He wanted to make his work easier, and by doing so, made our home unhealthy for my family.  We have already had flooring companies come out to our home since you walked off the job.  We were told that they would have never cut wood in our home.  If there was ever a circumstance that they needed to cut wood in someones home, they would turn the **** off and cover the vents until the work was complete.  That was not done in our home.  Our entire home was covered in thick layers of sawdust even though you only worked on part of our home.  Our home treated with extreme carelessness by your team.  

• Initial Complaint

  09/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The company admitted on multiple occasions to installing the floor and baseboard in my home incorrectly. They said it was installed too close to the wall and the baseboard is to tight to the floor. Bad installation has caused buckling throughout my house. The process has lasted almost one year since initial complaint. They inspected my house, claim responsibility and then say they are going to fix it but never do. This process has happened many times and each time they give me someone new to start over with. In May, they told me they would replace with a superior product for a $300 upgrade fee but then have refused to do so since. No actual person will take my call and they continue to lie about the details through email over and over again. I spent close to $13k on this install and want it replaced like promised or refunded.

  

  Business response

  09/07/2023

  This installation was done one 6-7-2022 with one of our best crews.  ***'s initial inspection was on 11-23-22.  His initial assessment was that we needed to make relief cuts around the cabinets and island in Kitchen that were installed after our install.  In doing this, we would need to add shoe mold to cover the gap where the floor had the relief cuts made.  *** was told that they really didn't want shoe mold, but it is needed.  *** did specify in his report that we did need to r&r some baseboards as they were a little tight. 

  In the BBB complaint, this was not mentioned and was left out. This is the Main reason why this floor buckled.  

  ***'s report said to send *** and get it scheduled as soon as possible before it got worse. 

  On 12-1-22, we were told by *** that Somer wants the repairs to be done after Christmas because they had family coming in for the holidays.  We were willing to do the repairs at that time because we knew the floor would buckle due to the cabinets and island. They decided to wait to after the holidays.  I am attaching that email from ***, dated 11-29-22 and 12-1-22. 

  On February 14th, *** sent an email that we would need to file a Claim with the vendor.  He stated that Somer wanted someone to take responsibility for the material. 

  On 2-16-23, we commissioned a 3rd party inspector with our vendor, and they had a backlog of 5 weeks before they could get someone to go out.

  On April 4th, we received a message from our vendor that the inspector was trying to confirm inspection with Somer with no response, so they had to reschedule.  Somer texted us on 4-5-23, "Can you confirm your inspector is coming today".  ***** tried to salvage it but the inspector had not gotten a reply.  Inspection was set for 4-13-23 with ************************  We received the report from our vendor on 4-20-23.  They asked us if we installed the Kitchen cabinetry, and we told her we did not. This is the main reason why the floor buckled.  The baseboards were a minor factor.

  On 5-2-2023, the 3rd party inspectors report was sent to ************************  This will be attached as well.  ***** responded the same day asking for a full refund or to replace the floors.  She said they were never told about installing floating floor under the cabinets.  This email will be attached.To be honest, we should have been the last crew to come in after all other trades.  How would we know where the cabinets were going?  *********** that installs over flooring, knows that you cannot install over a floating floor.  It can be installed on a glue down wood, tile or glue down vinyl.  This installed was pushed sooner even though we wanted to wait.  We wanted to help as much as possible but, in the end, this was not caused by us, and we shouldn't pay for it.  ***** wanted to do everything he could to save this as he had sold Somer many floors over the years.  Even with the floor buckling, he feels like she didn't like the product as much as what she bought from him previously.  The main responsibility is whoever installed the cabinets and center island over the floors.  That has always been the main issue of why this floor failed.  

  

  Business response

  09/07/2023

  I tried to add the Inspection Report but it would not add.  I will try again after i send these.  They are in a PDF form.

  

  Business response

  09/07/2023

  These are the 3rd party inspectors report.

  Customer response

  09/07/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   

   

  ***'s initial inspection was on 11-23-22.  His initial assessment was that we needed to make relief cuts around the cabinets and island in Kitchen that were installed after our install.  In doing this, we would need to add shoe mold to cover the gap where the floor had the relief cuts made.  *** was told that they really didn't want shoe mold, but it is needed.  *** did specify in his report that we did need to r&r some baseboards as they were a little tight. 
  In the BBB complaint, this was not mentioned and was left out. This is the Main reason why this floor buckled.  
  ***'s report said to send *** and get it scheduled as soon as possible before it got worse. 
  

  **Response: *** inspected our flooring and determined at this time that the flooring was installed too close to the walls as seen in an area where baseboard hadn't been installed yet. He also asked if his company had installed the baseboards, which they had, and also determined at this time that the baseboards were installed too close to the floor as well. We talked about how the cabinets were installed on top of flooring and that can cause issues from the expanding and contracting from temp temp changes  but ultimately they should have left room for that with installation. The salesman ***** was in constant communication with us before the install and knew that our house was demoed and everything was removed including the cabinets. Neither he or the install manager on site the day of install ever mentioned anything about the flooring going under the cabinets or any issues with that at all. We hired what we thought were experts to install our floors and shouldn't be expected to know proper flooring installation details ourselves. In the end, *** admitted the issue was caused by his company. No relief cuts were planned as the issues was throughout the house. We did initially talk about opening up the walls to see if the problem was as he thought but i asked him to wait till after Christmas to do so because I finally had a working kitchen and I was upset this was happening. Pictures of all the buckling were provided before this time and *** agreed it was his companies fault.  *** never gave me a report, never stated anything needed to be done in any time frame and never offered to set up replacement. No additional damage has occurred since the original inspection or pictures taken. *** never stated his plan was to make relief cuts only and time was of the essence. Do you have proof of said report ****, messages, emails  etc. with your claims?

   

  On 12-1-22, we were told by *** that ***** wants the repairs to be done after Christmas because they had family coming in for the holidays.  We were willing to do the repairs at that time because we knew the floor would buckle due to the cabinets and island. They decided to wait to after the holidays.  I am attaching that email from ***, dated 11-29-22 and 12-1-22. 

  ***Response- I never said I have family coming in, I said I was too upset about the damage to the floor at Christmas to do anything right now. Again, no time frame or anything was communicated with me. The buckling was not due to the cabinets. You are trying to infer that new cabinets were installed later, thats not the case. When you installed you knew cabinets were going to be installed. As the professional, you should have installed the floors accordingly. Now knowing better myself, two things should have happened. One, the floors should have had a space from the wall to allow the floors to expand at the walls as well as had the baseboard installed at a level that allowed for such movement. Or two, glue down floors should have been installed to have no movement at all! Also a key factor to this problem is that the "professionals" should have delivered the product days if not a week before to allow the product to acclimate to our house. This alone could have saved us all this trouble. But, Flooring Direct did not acclimate the product at all and delivered the morning of install on a hot summer day!!! 

  
  On February 14th, *** **** an email that we would need to file a Claim with the vendor.  He stated that Somer wanted someone to take responsibility for the material. 
  On 2-16-23, we commissioned a 3rd party inspector with our vendor, and they had a backlog of 5 weeks before they could get someone to go out.
  On April 4th, we received a message from our vendor that the inspector was trying to confirm inspection with Somer with no response, so they had to reschedule.  Somer texted us on 4-5-23, "Can you confirm your inspector is coming today".  ***** tried to salvage it but the inspector had not gotten a reply.  Inspection was set for 4-13-23 with ************************  We received the report from our vendor on 4-20-23.  They asked us if we installed the Kitchen cabinetry, and we told her we did not. This is the main reason why the floor buckled.  The baseboards were a minor factor.

  **Response- I don't have record of any such email from *** on Feb 14th or any other email from him ever. I have a text that I **** to ***** asking to open a discussion about getting a refund. He said he spoke to *** about getting it replaced. He then asked me if I wanted the same floor or a different floor. Then proceeded to tell me I'd have to pay for the new floor!! I said thats a hard no and asked to go through their insurance at that time. Instead, Flooring Direct contacted the manufacture and tried to blame them for a faulty product! I agreed to to having inspector come. He never contacted me and I messaged Flooring Direct to ask if the inspector was still coming. He obviously lied and has no proof he tried to contact me. I spoke with the manufacturer, they were not "commissioned", they were accused of having a faulty product by Flooring Direct and paid to have inspector come.  I took the day off work to meet him. He never showed. After many angry phone calls to Flooring Direct and the manufacture, they **** me another inspector another week later who met with my husband who took the day off work. The report later stated that the manufacturer was not to blame. Obviously cabinets were to be installed over the floor because the house was emptied. If the product stated that it voided a warranty, that is info that should have been communicated to us at sales meeting, during the 100 correspondence texts with salesman before install, day of install etc. Never did anyone communicate any issues beforehand!!! 

  
  On 5-2-2023, the 3rd party inspectors report was **** to ************************  This will be attached as well.  Somer responded the same day asking for a full refund or to replace the floors.  She said they were never told about installing floating floor under the cabinets.  This email will be attached.To be honest, we should have been the last crew to come in after all other trades.  How would we know where the cabinets were going?  *********** that installs over flooring, knows that you cannot install over a floating floor.  It can be installed on a glue down wood, tile or glue down vinyl.  This installed was pushed sooner even though we wanted to wait.  We wanted to help as much as possible but, in the end, this was not caused by us, and we shouldn't pay for it.  ***** wanted to do everything he could to save this as he had sold Somer many floors over the years.  Even with the floor buckling, he feels like she didn't like the product as much as what she bought from him previously.  The main responsibility is whoever installed the cabinets and center island over the floors.  That has always been the main issue of why this floor failed.  

   

  ***response-Lies! You never stated to me that you should be the last crew coming in and I never rushed anything. You never stated you wanted to wait!!!! You **** another crew out to inspect the floors after you were denied by the manufacture. *** and *** came and agreed to replace the floors. We discussed the plan and *** assured me that he will take care of this and fix our issue properly. ***** later messaged me saying that your company agreed to replace floors with superior product for a fee of $300 upgrade. I agreed but asked him to waive the fee if we don't ask him to replace the master closet that didn't have much noticeable issues. He said he would get back to me. He even **** me a sample of the new floor. He never replied to my question and deleted this text thread!!! Since then, he hasn't responded to me nor has *** who said he would take care of us!! Then, a new person ******** has been emailing and refusing to speak on the phone. He has requested to start the process completely over!!!! I have never met him nor has he seen the disaster of my house. He refuses to speak to me in person and continually lies via email to try and support his claims. 

  To sum up my responses- You are ultimately responsible for installing incorrectly in multiple ways. You cannot blame anyone when you never communicated any issues that could happen. Non acclimating, installing to close to walls/ baseboard and installing under cabinets are all your installation issues that caused the buckling. I would like a refund of the purchase amount or the alternate floor replaced at the installers cost as promised.

  

  Business response

  09/08/2023

  The Main reason why this floor failed is due to the center island and cabinets. Period.  

  How would we know where the cabinets were being installed??  A professional cabinetry company knows to put the template of the cabinets or island on the floor, cut at these marks and install with enough expansion so it can move. Then, add shoe mold to cover that gap.   The main issue is with that company not ours.  

  In ***** inspection report to us (this was internal to the office), he stated clearly that the center island and cabinets were installed on top of the flooring. This is in the email that was attached previously.  He never said that we were at fault!! He has denied that vehemently.  There were a few areas of baseboard that he said were needed to be readjusted.  This was also in his report.  *** said this morning that he wanted to open up that baseboard in his first visit 11-23-22 and was not allowed to. On 11-29-22 you sent a message to *** and ***** that you wanted to circle back after Christmas.

  I am not understanding how you do not feel that the cabinets or island has caused the buckling??  your response "The buckling was not due to the cabinets. You are trying to infer that new cabinets were installed later, that's not the case. When you installed you knew cabinets were going to be installed" Again, how would we know where you are going to install the cabinets or island? 

  The 3rd party inspector sent his report that stated this.  We commissioned Swiff-Train (our vendor) for a 3rd party inspector because we felt we were not at fault and wanted confirmation of this. Your response was that "Flooring Direct contacted the manufacturer and tried to blame them for the faulty product".  We knew that the island and cabinets were the cause and wanted proof from an inspector. This was paid by our vendor, not us.  If we were at fault, we would have taken care of this and even not being at fault, still tried to help fix it, but those repairs were delayed.  Due to the delay, the floors got much worse.

  The inspectors report came back that it was due to the Cabinets/ Center Island.  It was site related, not installation or product defect.  We offered to fix it on 11-29-23 and you wanted to wait until after Christmas.  I apologize about thinking that you pushed it to after Christmas due to family members coming in.  I have ***'s text with ***** included that did state that "lets circle back after Christmas. It's actually quite upsetting to look at but i don't want to deal with it now. TY"

  ***** lost many of his texts from that time due to his phone issues.  Anything that was sent from you to *****, would still be on your phone and you could screenshot it.  He didn't delete texts, they were erased due to his phone problems.  it wasn't malicious at all.

  To your response- Lies!  I never stated that we should be the last crew coming. 

  That is what a normal install is supposed to look like, and it didn't happen that way.  Flooring should be the last trade in the house during a remodel.  We don't like to work around other trades and we don't want other trades damaging the floors.  But, in the end, it is what the customer wants. ***** tried scheduling this job on May 24th and was asked to move it a week so the painters would finish.  When she gave the June 6th date, ******* wanted it done sooner but the painters were still there, and the paint would need to dry. The 6th date was move because the beam guy would be there until 11am. We were told that the floors needed to be finished before you could move in, and we accommodated that.

  We ultimately feel that we are not responsible for the floor buckling. The blame should be placed with the cabinet company. They were the ones who installed on top of the floor and caused the issues.  The baseboard issue was minor and wouldn't have caused this.  

   

   

   

   

  Customer response

  09/08/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   
  

  I am not a liar and *** did admit all fault in November. You have never met me or even seen my house. You refuse to speak on the phone. Him and *** also agreed to fault and to replace the floors in May. You dont know what youre talking about. The floors got worse? News to me. What proof do you have of this? And the convo you said **** had about scheduling the replacement Im not aware of. Weird that she would all of a sudden deal with ****. And most notably, why would she try to schedule the replacement if you were not at fault? Because you lie about everything. Everything! You cannot in your right mind say you didnt know where the cabinets were going. Or try to convince me that is wasnt your job to alert me to the issue of installing on top of the floors. Thats why we thought we hired a professional to take care of the details. I notice you havent addressed the acclimation issue either. I have run out of patience and will be taking you to court to recover our costs. Satisfaction guaranteed is laughable. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our floors were done Friday 4/8. Tile design itself looks good but there's grout or something stuck to areas that needs to scraped off. Some of the tiles have damage. They caulked the floorboards and there's gaps between the caulk and the floors so it looks uneven. The caulk spread down into the grouted areas and so now we have bright white vertical areas near the floorboards. The install manager came out 4/13 and looked at the flooring and agreed the caulking should not have been done, tiles were defective, some were chipped, and the floors should have been cleaned. He saw all the chips, pitted grout, caulking, separated caulking, defective tiles, and the poorly aligned baseboard seams. He assured me it would all be fixed. I told him it had to be done on a weekend because I had just taken a week off work and couldn't take anymore time. He said he would order the grout and tiles and put me on the schedule. 4/23: 2 workers show up about 9. I was a bit surprised as there was only 2 of them. I asked if it was just them or if anyone else was coming and they said no. I asked if all the issues were on their list of things to fix (broken/defective tiles and baseboards). They looked confused and then started looking at their paperwork. Turns out there was a major communication barrier. We called the install manager and he asked if we wanted a different team. We told him we thought they were sending a crew to knock the job out since they were going to have to remove all the baseboards and reinstall in order to get all the caulk off. He hung up and we couldn't get ahold of him again. They worked until 10:39 and left without saying anything. I was with a different contractor explaining a fencing job and when I went to walk him out they were just gone. Packed up and left without saying anything.

  

  Business response

  07/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/04/25) */ I have talked with Mr. ******** and we have talked about getting the original crew out to resolve all of their issues. We were told not to send the original crew initially. They have worked here for many years. We can't explain why they installed defective boards but we/ they will repair them as well as the baseboards. Most of our crews are between 2 or 3 men. If you send too many people on a repair, most would be standing idle, looking for something to do. 2 or 3 men is normal. We have the repairs set for Monday May 2nd. Consumer Response /* (3000, 12, 2022/05/10) */ My complaint was closed but my situation is definitely not over. They've failed at professionally installing my baseboards and they've not replaced the 3 extra boxes of tiles they used to replace the defective tiles they installed. They installed 40 defective tiles. That's not an accident. That's just not caring about customer satisfaction or company reputation. Are there any other avenues of getting this resolved? Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2022/05/10) */ The ******** have been in contact with Karen about having our painter come out to paint the baseboard as well as our cleaning crew to clean up after this repair. We had 3 extra boxes, but some were used for the repair. There were more tiles than Martin had on his inspection. We will get those boxes ordered and delivered to the house. Martin was to go out on Friday to supervise and I don't know the circumstances on why he didn't show? We will get this resolved soon. Thanks ****** Consumer Response /* (3000, 21, 2022/05/25) */ Company has still not delivered the boxes of extra tiles they owe us which was previously stated. They keep saying they order them but this is week two of no delivery. Business Response /* (4000, 23, 2022/06/01) */ We have the 2 boxes on order. Unfortunately, we have had 5 office employees that have had Covid Including me in the last few weeks. So these hadn't been picked up. We will pick up those boxes and drop them off. Consumer Response /* (3000, 25, 2022/06/02) */ Now it's 2 boxes??? They told us and written in the BBB replies that they would be replacing 3 boxes and they still have not. Business Response /* (4000, 27, 2022/06/02) */ I'm sorry, it is 3 boxes. The PO that i had on file showed 2 but it had been updated in that time frame. I picked these boxes up this morning and Randy our delivery driver can bring by tomorrow. Consumer Response /* (3000, 29, 2022/06/03) */ Yes I would like the delivery of 3 boxes today. I can run home at any time if I need to be there. I've called ****** and the office. No answer. Business Response /* (4000, 31, 2022/06/03) */ I had texted Jesse back after I received his voicemail and let him know that I had picked them up personally from our vendor. I was really trying to get Randy to deliver them today, but he had an extra stop added today and we will have to deliver on Monday. When I know his schedule, I will text Jesse to let him know the timeframe he will be there.

• Initial Complaint

  02/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  After my initial complaint with BBB about my flooring buckling after such a short period of time a manager named Martin came out to inspect the floors on September 30th, 2021. He took a short video of the lifting and insured us he'd have someone reach out to us to set a time/ date to come out and cut the flooring to release some pressure. ("Which happens over time due to shifting") He did make a comment that if we didn't hear from them in a couple weeks, to reach out again. We didn't hear from anybody after several weeks, so that's exactly what we did. For several months to come. We texted/ called him on December 1st, no response. December 19th we reached out again, this time to the installation coordinater named Karen. She agreed she'd reach out to Martin and get back to us. Never did. Fast forward to February 22nd, 2022 we decided to try to contact again. Because HELLO, we spent thousands of dollars on a product that isn't living up to our expectations. In conclusion, her response was Martin decided the flooring was buckling because of dog urine. Mind you, my dogs do NOT **** on the floor. The buckling is across my whole living area. & worse UNDERNEATH my couch. I do not live in a zoo. Never once did Martin have the courtesy of sharing this opinion with us directly. Nor did he make it seem like the fix was a decision that needed to be figured out. It seemed pretty set in stone. & I didn't realize they could take back their word on agreeing to fix it initially. We told Karen this answer was unacceptable and we still demand the fix but again, no response. Apparently without BBB's help again, this isn't going to be resolved and I dread having to spend thousands of more dollars for another company to redo my flooring because of something a company literally agreed to fix. To my face. It's as simple as setting an appointment with a tech to cut some flooring. & just like that a satisfied customer who would've used your services for further areas of the house.

  

  Business response

  04/04/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/03/09) */ I have talked with my Martin our Installation Manager and Karen our Installation Coordinator to schedule a time for one of our Installers to try making relief cuts. Martin told me that he smelled urine as soon as he walked in the door and maybe he was afraid to say anything about that?

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩