Michael's Flooring Outlet

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/28) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] GM
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@michaelsflooringoutlet.com
Good Day,
We at Michael's Flooring Outlet's pride ourselves on taking care of customers. We did everything we could to help...

this customer. We installed the floor for our customer in July 2012. Our customer was happy with the installation after we completed everything. The installation went well & we closed the invoice as we do with every other customer.
Our customer called in on 10-22-12 wanting to have a couple small issues looked at. The complaint was about a small gap under a trim by the door and entry closet & a board by the trim going into the kitchen. Also the customer wanted to have a couple of holes filled in a molding that we installed. As flooring experts we are used to having a repair needed here or there. Especially with this type of flooring as expansion & contraction takes place. The GM was dispatched to go take a look at the issues. He found that a couple very minor repairs needed to be done. We went very quickly to the customer's home on 10-29-12 to complete the work for our customer. When we left the job he stated he was happy with the repairs done. We closed the complaint file at that time.
Our customer called us back on 2-02-13. His complaint this time was that a row of flooring next to his molding was not staying together. We immediately set up a repair & sent the GM by to make sure we took care of the issue for the customer the best we could. On 2-13-15 we completed this repair for the customer. On the day of the repair it was thought that a molding may be letting the product move causing the gaping. The issue was repaired & notated. When we left our customer was happy & we closed the complaint file at that time.
Until February 2015 everything seemed to be fine with the floor. The customer called in February 2015 letting us know more gaping was taking place. This is a laminate floor & humidity levels can have an effect on the product. Knowing this we sent the GM by again to take a look. The GM reported that the issue may be with the product & not our installation services. We always try everything we can to work with a product prior to making a claim, because the manufactures want us to try everything we can to repairs any issues. We followed every protocol prior to hiring an inspector that cost over $500 to go out to let us know the exact issue. The inspection took place on May 27th, 2015. The inspector found an issue with the locking system of Armstrong's product. Michael's then set in motion to have Armstrong pay to replace the product. The GM emailed back & forth with the representatives from Armstrong consistently to get the issue resolved. Armstrong was not yet willing to replace the issue without having samples from the defective product. There was no product left over to test. So we had to email back & forth a lot to get things perfect on both ends before replacing the floor.
Michael's Flooring has email documentation that took place in representation of our customer on the following dates: 3-20-15, 3-30-15, 4-14-15, 5-4-15 x4, 5-27-15, 6-14-15, 7-12-15 x3, 720-15, 7-21-15 8-4-15 x6, 8-11-15, 8-28-15, 9-4-15, 9-8-15, 9-9-15 x 3, 9-11-15 x 4, 9-14-15 x 4, 9-21-15, 10-1-15, 10-9-15, 10-28-15, 11-2-15. These email were just after the last complaint that were made & sent to get the floor replaced. Text messages went to the inspector on multiple dates were sent as well trying to get a copy of the inspection report. This shows that we were doing everything we can to get this customer taken care of. Michael's Flooring prides ourselves on our customer service, but have to follow procedure to the replacement of a floor.
We finally got Armstrong to agree to replace the floor in October 2015. We ordered in a new color of laminate that the customer has chosen. We set up the installation in October of 2015. We replaced all the flooring that was found defective. We did the job well & the customer was happy. We then closed the file on this matter. We were relieved to have been done with this issue. The customer liked the floor that we had done. Even though the issue, they did get to have a floor for 5 years that was eventually replaced & brand new again. Keep in mind that the floor did not look ugly at the time.
On 12-24-15 the customer called us about an issue with a leaking toilet. First off the gm think's that the customer had done something to cause this issue. Generally if there is a leak with a toilet it will be found much faster. Although we believed it was not something we caused, we agreed to fix any issue for the customer. Basically the customer complained about a leak 3 months after we were at the home, that's just crazy. Although again we just wanted to take care of the customer because he was still threatening legal action. The installer went out on 1-11-16 to repair the bathroom that was concerned with this issue. The repair was done as well as it could have been. After the installer left the customer sent me several aggressive texts which I responded to in a very delicate way. The customer stated that a vanity had been damaged & a baseboard damaged. He did want to speak with the owner, but it is the GM's job to take care of the issues. The GM felt that he was doing and would do everything he could to make Michael's Flooring customer happy. The GM explained to the customer that the owner would not do anymore than he was to get him taken care of. The customer quickly agreed that the GM was doing fine to help resolve the issue so the owner was not notified of any issues at that time. A time was set for that Saturday 1-16-16 for a different installer & the GM to go to the home once again to be sure the customer was happy. The installer & the GM went and replaced all the baseboards in the bathroom & a piece in the hall. Upon looking at the vanity a board that holds the vanity to the wall was damaged in the BACK where it would not even be seen by ANYONE. The GM asked the customer what they wanted him to do, the customer told him they wanted it to be replaced. Knowing that the damage could not even be seen but wanting to be sure the customer was happy the GM said "who wants to go pick a new vanity at [redacted] with me?" The customer went to [redacted] and picked a vanity which was installed for the customer that day. We left the home that day & the customer was happy. We closed the complaint file at that time.
During the discussions with the GM the customer was told that we were working on getting the issue resolved. The GM took steps to call the customer over 10 times during the process to let them know what was going on. Steady communication took place with the consumer during this whole process. Needless to say we will not be doing anymore for this customer. We will not be giving this consumer any money back as we have done everything we can to get our customer taken care of.

First off, we at Michael's Flooring Outlet are very sorry that this issue has occurred.  We take every customer very seriously.  We spoke with [redacted] on 11/25/16 about the spot on her vinyl floor.  We told her we would contact the local [redacted] representative and call her...

back to get inspected.  She said she called [redacted] direct and they were rude to her.  We contacted [redacted], the local [redacted] representative, he said he could go out the following week and asked us to call the customer back to set up a time.  We called the customer back on 11/25/16 to set up a time and her answering machine was full and not accepting messages.  Tried to call back again on 11/25/16 then on 11/26/16.  We tried to call a few more times over the next couple of days with the same result.  We would like to do everything we can to take care of the customer.  We hope that this does not reflect negatively towards our business since we try so hard to ensure that each and every customer is our highest priority.  Thanks for the concern.  We will keep trying until we get ahold of our customer and resolve this issue.