Initially, the A-Max Hardwood estimator told this customer that we could not perfectly match the existing flooringIt was advised to him during the first visit A-Max would try to come close to the existing wood, but that an exact match could not be promisedThe estimator agreed to work up the estimatePrior to hiring A-Max Hardwood, the customer wanted to meet with the owner of the company to discuss the project's costsDuring the 2nd visit with said customer, both the owner and the estimator again stressed to said customer the impossibility of matching the existing floor exactlyPlans were made to come back and remove some of the old finish before the wood was ordered, so as to more clearly see what type of wood would provide a close matchPrior to ordering the wood the estimator and 25+ year experienced installer sanded a portion of the floor and determined a #white oak would provide a close match.The wood was installed and sanded downDuring this time even the customer stated how close to the existing floor the new floor lookedThe floor was then coated and finishedEven though the customer had agreed to pay the second half of the payment when the coat would be applied, both he and his wife made it a point not to be available to abide by their contractual agreementAmax continued on with the job, expecting things to work out regarding payment like they have for all of our customers for the last 15+ yearsThe floor is coated, looks great, and the crew leavesThe owner receives a call from the customer later that night, who is screaming at him about dog paw marksBetween the time A-Max left the premises (leaving behind nicely coated floors) and the time the customer called, their dog has managed to walk through the finish (a dog they claim was secured in the back yard and one they claim is "suddenly inside" when they arrive home)According to the crew on hand, there was no dog in the house, nor did they witness any dog entering the residenceYet the customer wants to blame A-Max because A-Max didn't keep on eye on their dog, so they claim in an effort to dodge responsibility for their own canineA-Max contacted the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the ruling body for the hardwood industryAccording to the representative we spoke to, hardwood contractors are not responsible for handling or securing a customer's household petsWe also contacted the Revdex.com and was told the same thing Despite this, A-Max agreed to try to help the customer out by recoating the floor to try to rid the hallway of the marksGettingrid of dog paw marks is very hard since the oil in the paws creates an imprint in the finish to the fist layerIt is buffed and recoatedAs can occur some of the dog prints are still visibleA-Max tries again to get the marks to go away - marks we are not responsible forEventually, A-max gets the dog mark area looking as nice as the rest of the coated flooringThen the customer wishes to debate the "match" of the new flooring to oldHe says it isn't close enoughWe advise him he was told it would not be exact and that it is as close as can be doneHe disagrees and continues refusing to abide by his contractual agreementWe tell him the next step would be for him to have a certified inspector come out and write up a reportThe customer decides he won't do thatHe calls a competitor of oursThe competitor refers him to a local distributor for woodThe local distributor is not a certified inspector, neither was the competitorWe then have an inspector come out to the customers houseThe inspector tells the customer a #would not have come closerHe tries to educate him about the effect climate and location have on white oaksHe tells the customer the best way to address the slight tonal difference would be to coat the new portion of the floor with an acid-cured product, one that will amber up the new portion (since a water-based finish was used and they do not amber a floor)He thinks that will bring things a tad bit closer in tone, which is what the customer told the inspector is all he is looking forThe customer expresses concerns about being out of the home due to the odor of the acid-cured productThe inspector tells him it is the best option to achieve the results he is desiringThe estimator agrees to tell the owner about the option and the customer's openness to trying it.At this stage of the issue the owner had his old floor refinished, steps installed and the other portion of their living room installed as well as the dog prints fixedThe refinish was $1,846.00, the steps were $1,810.00, and the bottom landing $The dog paw prints redo was told to the home owner to be $but would be $to help him outThe total of the project without the living room installed was $4,So, at this point the homeowner still owes A-Max Hardwood $1,So, If the homeowner does not want to amber the floor with the appropriate ambering agents (as he agreed to initially) as suggested by the nwfa inspector; the customer can pay A-Max Hardwood the remaining balance of $1,for everything but the living room and A-Max will rip out the wood flooring installed
Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Unfortunately, there only appears to be two acceptable options at this point #refund our money so that we can pay another company to fix the issue Pay to have the incorrect wood removed from our homePay to have our furniture removed and returned to our home once the floors are complete with the correct wood#2-Resolve the issue in court.
Regards,*** ***
* *** *** *** *** ** *** ** *** *** ** *** *** *** ***The owner, Allan Jerman, of A Maxx Flooring refuses to talk with us, his helper *** has insisted the floor is fineThe owner, Allan, will not deal with customers, he Did come with *** and agree that the floor
refinishing was fine.--- I, Allan Jerman have talked to *** on the phone the day after the project was completedTwenty four hours after ***'s text/phone call I was at his house with *** to look at his floorOnce I looked at the floor and addressed his concerns I leftI then got another phone call from *** about his back door - door frame, not even apart of the floor "not being repaired"I then went over to his house to caulk his door frame for him (something I was not even responsible for) and met with them in person a second timeI have talked with *** on the phone two times and in person twiceThe wood at the back entrance is actually curling, for lack of finishWe have given them opportunity to fix it, they simply deny there are issues.--- I have never had a chance to see this new issue and can only assume the "curling" in this complaint is water coming through the door as there was no weather stripping present when I caulked the backdoorI personally told them they needed to fix this issue, it is not a flooring issueThey tried to tell me this issue was just fixed, the fixing included someone planing off the door-jam so the door could actually close, not fixing the weather strippingWater could easily get through the door and would cause water damage to the floor or “curling” like has been reported.As far as “no finish” is on the wood or they could only see layer of finish not the typical is interestingTo measure finish you would need a machine to measure mil vs mil and milsThere is absolutely no way to tell the difference on how many coats are on your floor. *** on two occasions, has threatened Us With legal options.--- What was said was that we needed to go to an arbitrator if you were not happy and a resolution could not be foundArbitration is not legal action of any kind, it is to prevent issues like thisWhen that was mentioned you got very upsetThe reason arbitration was mentioned was that having a conversation with you about the floor only ended in frustration, raised voices and thrown out accusations of someone “lying”A mediator or arbitrator would have made each party accountable and helped us reach a amicable conclusionOur contract with all of our customer states that in situations like these we will use arbitration to settle disagreements. We do not feel safe having them in our homeWe want to make a complaint so others will not be taken advantage of.--- Considering I have been to your house twice and have talked on the phone with you only to be accused of "taking advantage of elderly people" and *** saying I was yelling at him when I wasn't, I do not feel comfortable working with you eitherI am also the only company you interviewed prior to the job who would refinish the hardwood that was water damaged in your kitchenEveryone else stated it was beyond repair when it clearly was notThey wanted to charge you extra money that was not needed. We are now asking for a refund of down payment as the floor has to be re sanded to take out several Lap Marks and get the coverage evened outThere are places without coverageAdditionally they splashed the solutions on our front door, and 6" white baseboard, which will need to be repaintedIt doesn't wash off.---I sent a painter for the 10' ft of base that needed to be painted, not out of the ordinary and was more than willing to accommodateUpon the arrival of the painter you refused his services and said he would not be able to live up to your "standards". 6.Additional issues include a scratch on our new refrigerator, cracked tile and solution on our laundry room.--- In the phone calls I have personally had with you and the walk through at your house previously mentioned this was never mentionedThey were never mentioned ever until this complaint, and I can only imagine through the text messages and over phone calls between *** and I with you it would have come out much sooner. We had wood flooring people look at it to be sure we were not over reactingThe last gentleman, not only agreed with us he was very critical of the work, calling it an embarrassment to the industryHe is a certified wood floor specialist,--- On the NWFA website there is no certified floor specialist in IdahoI am not sure who this person might be but I am interestedYou can check on this website: http://woodfloors.org/certified-inspector.aspx to verify what I am saying is correct.Conclusion--- Two weeks after my first phone call with ***, the painter coming to paint the base and fixing their back door which was not floor related he said they were sending paymentI even have a text from *** himself stating he had already done soWhy someone would say they were sending payment then decide the whole floor was “awful” is beyond me. While I don't mind people saying I or my employees do bad work so much, as people in a random occasion have done and is not uncommon in any customer service industryI am not use to people stabbing my ethics and behaviorsTo say that I “take advantage of the elderly” is wrong and slanderousI am more than fair with every customer I have ever come into a slight problem withI am a person who tries to make everyone happy, *** and Elaine are impossible to speak with and have a conversation withUpon a call with them they will instantly say you are yelling at them or being mean, while they come back with raised voices and disrespectful remarksThis is why *** and I recommended we get an arbitrator or a mediator A mediator would have cut any confusion out of the issues at hand and let everyone talk out the issues they might have hadThere is absolutely to make these customers happy.Desired Settlement:We want a refund of monies $paid plus cost of painting, as we will have to go through re sanding and refinishingThe cost will be close to $2,000, not to speak of the interruption to our livesI am interviewing another floor company to see if we can get it done for lessThe wood floor expert will provide a report, and knew Allan, he will also talk to himThis company is advertised as guaranteeing complete customer satisfaction!! That is not true! They denied causing any problems.--- I have sent a painter to your house and you refused his services stating he would not live to your “standards”I have come and caulked the back door of your house for free which was not apart of the floorI have met with you twice which you have apparently forgot As mentioned above I will send you the balance you paid upon start of workI am not sending this back because I think the work was bad or sub parI am sending it back as a way to end this disagreement and move forwardAs for the $2,I will not be sending thatI am not sure where the arbitrary $2,number comes from. To repeat again, I am sending the $back to *** and ElaineThey also will need to cease all communication to Me/*** via the phone and text messageI will include this written response in a letter format with the refund that I send to their address mentioned aboveThis refund is in no way an admission of fault in this matter
Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.So, you mean to tell me, that after a month and a half of living out of boxes (knowing that we will need to move everything to have the floors done correctly) that we should pay another $and you are going to rip out and leave us with no wood in our living room? You're company installed the wrong wood, left unputtied holes, over puttied areas and damage to our wood risers in the stairway Typically a job is paid in full when the customer is satisfied with the job, which we are not We've had our floors looked at by several different professionals who have all indicated that the wrong wood was used and the workmanship was inferior Even the NWA inspector told us that if the acid cure procedure failed, the only other solution is tear out the wood and replace with the correct wood When we saved the money for this project, we did so with the understanding that the correct wood would be installed in our home We are reluctant to try the acid cure finish, as this company has been so insistent that the job is well done, that I don't trust them to repair and install the correct wood if the acid cure fails All we want is for our floors to be done right and to be able to put our home back together This has been very stressful We may just require legal counsel to resolve this issue, as this company does not take responsibility for their mistakes Regards,*** ***
Initially, the A-Max Hardwood estimator told this customer that we could not perfectly match the existing flooring. It was advised to him during the first visit A-Max would try to come close to the existing wood, but that an exact match could not be promised. The estimator agreed to work up the...
estimate. Prior to hiring A-Max Hardwood, the customer wanted to meet with the owner of the company to discuss the project's costs. During the 2nd visit with said customer, both the owner and the estimator again stressed to said customer the impossibility of matching the existing floor exactly. Plans were made to come back and remove some of the old finish before the wood was ordered, so as to more clearly see what type of wood would provide a close match. Prior to ordering the wood the estimator and 25+ year experienced installer sanded a portion of the floor and determined a #1 white oak would provide a close match.The wood was installed and sanded down. During this time even the customer stated how close to the existing floor the new floor looked. The floor was then coated and finished. Even though the customer had agreed to pay the second half of the payment when the coat would be applied, both he and his wife made it a point not to be available to abide by their contractual agreement. Amax continued on with the job, expecting things to work out regarding payment like they have for all of our customers for the last 15+ years. The floor is coated, looks great, and the crew leaves. The owner receives a call from the customer later that night, who is screaming at him about dog paw marks. Between the time A-Max left the premises (leaving behind nicely coated floors) and the time the customer called, their dog has managed to walk through the finish (a dog they claim was secured in the back yard and one they claim is "suddenly inside" when they arrive home). According to the crew on hand, there was no dog in the house, nor did they witness any dog entering the residence. Yet the customer wants to blame A-Max because A-Max didn't keep on eye on their dog, so they claim in an effort to dodge responsibility for their own canine. A-Max contacted the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the ruling body for the hardwood industry. According to the representative we spoke to, hardwood contractors are not responsible for handling or securing a customer's household pets. We also contacted the Revdex.com and was told the same thing. Despite this, A-Max agreed to try to help the customer out by recoating the floor to try to rid the hallway of the marks. Gettingrid of dog paw marks is very hard since the oil in the paws creates an imprint in the finish to the fist layer. It is buffed and recoated. As can occur some of the dog prints are still visible. A-Max tries again to get the marks to go away - marks we are not responsible for. Eventually, A-max gets the dog mark area looking as nice as the rest of the coated flooring. Then the customer wishes to debate the "match" of the new flooring to old. He says it isn't close enough. We advise him he was told it would not be exact and that it is as close as can be done. He disagrees and continues refusing to abide by his contractual agreement. We tell him the next step would be for him to have a certified inspector come out and write up a report. The customer decides he won't do that. He calls a competitor of ours. The competitor refers him to a local distributor for wood. The local distributor is not a certified inspector, neither was the competitor. We then have an inspector come out to the customers house. The inspector tells the customer a #2 would not have come closer. He tries to educate him about the effect climate and location have on white oaks. He tells the customer the best way to address the slight tonal difference would be to coat the new portion of the floor with an acid-cured product, one that will amber up the new portion (since a water-based finish was used and they do not amber a floor). He thinks that will bring things a tad bit closer in tone, which is what the customer told the inspector is all he is looking for. The customer expresses concerns about being out of the home due to the odor of the acid-cured product. The inspector tells him it is the best option to achieve the results he is desiring. The estimator agrees to tell the owner about the option and the customer's openness to trying it.At this stage of the issue the owner had his old floor refinished, steps installed and the other portion of their living room installed as well as the dog prints fixed. The refinish was $1,846.00, the steps were $1,810.00, and the bottom landing $200.00. The dog paw prints redo was told to the home owner to be $800 but would be $400 to help him out. The total of the project without the living room installed was $4,256. So, at this point the homeowner still owes A-Max Hardwood $1,256. So, If the homeowner does not want to amber the floor with the appropriate ambering agents (as he agreed to initially) as suggested by the nwfa inspector; the customer can pay A-Max Hardwood the remaining balance of $1,256 for everything but the living room and A-Max will rip out the wood flooring installed.
Initially, the A-Max Hardwood estimator told this customer that we could not perfectly match the existing flooringIt was advised to him during the first visit A-Max would try to come close to the existing wood, but that an exact match could not be promisedThe estimator agreed to work up the estimatePrior to hiring A-Max Hardwood, the customer wanted to meet with the owner of the company to discuss the project's costsDuring the 2nd visit with said customer, both the owner and the estimator again stressed to said customer the impossibility of matching the existing floor exactlyPlans were made to come back and remove some of the old finish before the wood was ordered, so as to more clearly see what type of wood would provide a close matchPrior to ordering the wood the estimator and 25+ year experienced installer sanded a portion of the floor and determined a #white oak would provide a close match.The wood was installed and sanded downDuring this time even the customer stated how close to the existing floor the new floor lookedThe floor was then coated and finishedEven though the customer had agreed to pay the second half of the payment when the coat would be applied, both he and his wife made it a point not to be available to abide by their contractual agreementAmax continued on with the job, expecting things to work out regarding payment like they have for all of our customers for the last 15+ yearsThe floor is coated, looks great, and the crew leavesThe owner receives a call from the customer later that night, who is screaming at him about dog paw marksBetween the time A-Max left the premises (leaving behind nicely coated floors) and the time the customer called, their dog has managed to walk through the finish (a dog they claim was secured in the back yard and one they claim is "suddenly inside" when they arrive home)According to the crew on hand, there was no dog in the house, nor did they witness any dog entering the residenceYet the customer wants to blame A-Max because A-Max didn't keep on eye on their dog, so they claim in an effort to dodge responsibility for their own canineA-Max contacted the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the ruling body for the hardwood industryAccording to the representative we spoke to, hardwood contractors are not responsible for handling or securing a customer's household petsWe also contacted the Revdex.com and was told the same thing Despite this, A-Max agreed to try to help the customer out by recoating the floor to try to rid the hallway of the marksGettingrid of dog paw marks is very hard since the oil in the paws creates an imprint in the finish to the fist layerIt is buffed and recoatedAs can occur some of the dog prints are still visibleA-Max tries again to get the marks to go away - marks we are not responsible forEventually, A-max gets the dog mark area looking as nice as the rest of the coated flooringThen the customer wishes to debate the "match" of the new flooring to oldHe says it isn't close enoughWe advise him he was told it would not be exact and that it is as close as can be doneHe disagrees and continues refusing to abide by his contractual agreementWe tell him the next step would be for him to have a certified inspector come out and write up a reportThe customer decides he won't do thatHe calls a competitor of oursThe competitor refers him to a local distributor for woodThe local distributor is not a certified inspector, neither was the competitorWe then have an inspector come out to the customers houseThe inspector tells the customer a #would not have come closerHe tries to educate him about the effect climate and location have on white oaksHe tells the customer the best way to address the slight tonal difference would be to coat the new portion of the floor with an acid-cured product, one that will amber up the new portion (since a water-based finish was used and they do not amber a floor)He thinks that will bring things a tad bit closer in tone, which is what the customer told the inspector is all he is looking forThe customer expresses concerns about being out of the home due to the odor of the acid-cured productThe inspector tells him it is the best option to achieve the results he is desiringThe estimator agrees to tell the owner about the option and the customer's openness to trying it.At this stage of the issue the owner had his old floor refinished, steps installed and the other portion of their living room installed as well as the dog prints fixedThe refinish was $1,846.00, the steps were $1,810.00, and the bottom landing $The dog paw prints redo was told to the home owner to be $but would be $to help him outThe total of the project without the living room installed was $4,So, at this point the homeowner still owes A-Max Hardwood $1,So, If the homeowner does not want to amber the floor with the appropriate ambering agents (as he agreed to initially) as suggested by the nwfa inspector; the customer can pay A-Max Hardwood the remaining balance of $1,for everything but the living room and A-Max will rip out the wood flooring installed
Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Unfortunately, there only appears to be two acceptable options at this point #refund our money so that we can pay another company to fix the issue Pay to have the incorrect wood removed from our homePay to have our furniture removed and returned to our home once the floors are complete with the correct wood#2-Resolve the issue in court.
Regards,*** ***
* *** *** *** *** ** *** ** *** *** ** *** *** *** ***The owner, Allan Jerman, of A Maxx Flooring refuses to talk with us, his helper *** has insisted the floor is fineThe owner, Allan, will not deal with customers, he Did come with *** and agree that the floor
refinishing was fine.--- I, Allan Jerman have talked to *** on the phone the day after the project was completedTwenty four hours after ***'s text/phone call I was at his house with *** to look at his floorOnce I looked at the floor and addressed his concerns I leftI then got another phone call from *** about his back door - door frame, not even apart of the floor "not being repaired"I then went over to his house to caulk his door frame for him (something I was not even responsible for) and met with them in person a second timeI have talked with *** on the phone two times and in person twiceThe wood at the back entrance is actually curling, for lack of finishWe have given them opportunity to fix it, they simply deny there are issues.--- I have never had a chance to see this new issue and can only assume the "curling" in this complaint is water coming through the door as there was no weather stripping present when I caulked the backdoorI personally told them they needed to fix this issue, it is not a flooring issueThey tried to tell me this issue was just fixed, the fixing included someone planing off the door-jam so the door could actually close, not fixing the weather strippingWater could easily get through the door and would cause water damage to the floor or “curling” like has been reported.As far as “no finish” is on the wood or they could only see layer of finish not the typical is interestingTo measure finish you would need a machine to measure mil vs mil and milsThere is absolutely no way to tell the difference on how many coats are on your floor. *** on two occasions, has threatened Us With legal options.--- What was said was that we needed to go to an arbitrator if you were not happy and a resolution could not be foundArbitration is not legal action of any kind, it is to prevent issues like thisWhen that was mentioned you got very upsetThe reason arbitration was mentioned was that having a conversation with you about the floor only ended in frustration, raised voices and thrown out accusations of someone “lying”A mediator or arbitrator would have made each party accountable and helped us reach a amicable conclusionOur contract with all of our customer states that in situations like these we will use arbitration to settle disagreements. We do not feel safe having them in our homeWe want to make a complaint so others will not be taken advantage of.--- Considering I have been to your house twice and have talked on the phone with you only to be accused of "taking advantage of elderly people" and *** saying I was yelling at him when I wasn't, I do not feel comfortable working with you eitherI am also the only company you interviewed prior to the job who would refinish the hardwood that was water damaged in your kitchenEveryone else stated it was beyond repair when it clearly was notThey wanted to charge you extra money that was not needed. We are now asking for a refund of down payment as the floor has to be re sanded to take out several Lap Marks and get the coverage evened outThere are places without coverageAdditionally they splashed the solutions on our front door, and 6" white baseboard, which will need to be repaintedIt doesn't wash off.---I sent a painter for the 10' ft of base that needed to be painted, not out of the ordinary and was more than willing to accommodateUpon the arrival of the painter you refused his services and said he would not be able to live up to your "standards". 6.Additional issues include a scratch on our new refrigerator, cracked tile and solution on our laundry room.--- In the phone calls I have personally had with you and the walk through at your house previously mentioned this was never mentionedThey were never mentioned ever until this complaint, and I can only imagine through the text messages and over phone calls between *** and I with you it would have come out much sooner. We had wood flooring people look at it to be sure we were not over reactingThe last gentleman, not only agreed with us he was very critical of the work, calling it an embarrassment to the industryHe is a certified wood floor specialist,--- On the NWFA website there is no certified floor specialist in IdahoI am not sure who this person might be but I am interestedYou can check on this website: http://woodfloors.org/certified-inspector.aspx to verify what I am saying is correct.Conclusion--- Two weeks after my first phone call with ***, the painter coming to paint the base and fixing their back door which was not floor related he said they were sending paymentI even have a text from *** himself stating he had already done soWhy someone would say they were sending payment then decide the whole floor was “awful” is beyond me. While I don't mind people saying I or my employees do bad work so much, as people in a random occasion have done and is not uncommon in any customer service industryI am not use to people stabbing my ethics and behaviorsTo say that I “take advantage of the elderly” is wrong and slanderousI am more than fair with every customer I have ever come into a slight problem withI am a person who tries to make everyone happy, *** and Elaine are impossible to speak with and have a conversation withUpon a call with them they will instantly say you are yelling at them or being mean, while they come back with raised voices and disrespectful remarksThis is why *** and I recommended we get an arbitrator or a mediator A mediator would have cut any confusion out of the issues at hand and let everyone talk out the issues they might have hadThere is absolutely to make these customers happy.Desired Settlement:We want a refund of monies $paid plus cost of painting, as we will have to go through re sanding and refinishingThe cost will be close to $2,000, not to speak of the interruption to our livesI am interviewing another floor company to see if we can get it done for lessThe wood floor expert will provide a report, and knew Allan, he will also talk to himThis company is advertised as guaranteeing complete customer satisfaction!! That is not true! They denied causing any problems.--- I have sent a painter to your house and you refused his services stating he would not live to your “standards”I have come and caulked the back door of your house for free which was not apart of the floorI have met with you twice which you have apparently forgot As mentioned above I will send you the balance you paid upon start of workI am not sending this back because I think the work was bad or sub parI am sending it back as a way to end this disagreement and move forwardAs for the $2,I will not be sending thatI am not sure where the arbitrary $2,number comes from. To repeat again, I am sending the $back to *** and ElaineThey also will need to cease all communication to Me/*** via the phone and text messageI will include this written response in a letter format with the refund that I send to their address mentioned aboveThis refund is in no way an admission of fault in this matter
Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.So, you mean to tell me, that after a month and a half of living out of boxes (knowing that we will need to move everything to have the floors done correctly) that we should pay another $and you are going to rip out and leave us with no wood in our living room? You're company installed the wrong wood, left unputtied holes, over puttied areas and damage to our wood risers in the stairway Typically a job is paid in full when the customer is satisfied with the job, which we are not We've had our floors looked at by several different professionals who have all indicated that the wrong wood was used and the workmanship was inferior Even the NWA inspector told us that if the acid cure procedure failed, the only other solution is tear out the wood and replace with the correct wood When we saved the money for this project, we did so with the understanding that the correct wood would be installed in our home We are reluctant to try the acid cure finish, as this company has been so insistent that the job is well done, that I don't trust them to repair and install the correct wood if the acid cure fails All we want is for our floors to be done right and to be able to put our home back together This has been very stressful We may just require legal counsel to resolve this issue, as this company does not take responsibility for their mistakes Regards,*** ***
Hello, I appreciate your message and would like it if you were to give us three options to settle all of your matters Thank you!
Initially, the A-Max Hardwood estimator told this customer that we could not perfectly match the existing flooring. It was advised to him during the first visit A-Max would try to come close to the existing wood, but that an exact match could not be promised. The estimator agreed to work up the...
estimate. Prior to hiring A-Max Hardwood, the customer wanted to meet with the owner of the company to discuss the project's costs. During the 2nd visit with said customer, both the owner and the estimator again stressed to said customer the impossibility of matching the existing floor exactly. Plans were made to come back and remove some of the old finish before the wood was ordered, so as to more clearly see what type of wood would provide a close match. Prior to ordering the wood the estimator and 25+ year experienced installer sanded a portion of the floor and determined a #1 white oak would provide a close match.The wood was installed and sanded down. During this time even the customer stated how close to the existing floor the new floor looked. The floor was then coated and finished. Even though the customer had agreed to pay the second half of the payment when the coat would be applied, both he and his wife made it a point not to be available to abide by their contractual agreement. Amax continued on with the job, expecting things to work out regarding payment like they have for all of our customers for the last 15+ years. The floor is coated, looks great, and the crew leaves. The owner receives a call from the customer later that night, who is screaming at him about dog paw marks. Between the time A-Max left the premises (leaving behind nicely coated floors) and the time the customer called, their dog has managed to walk through the finish (a dog they claim was secured in the back yard and one they claim is "suddenly inside" when they arrive home). According to the crew on hand, there was no dog in the house, nor did they witness any dog entering the residence. Yet the customer wants to blame A-Max because A-Max didn't keep on eye on their dog, so they claim in an effort to dodge responsibility for their own canine. A-Max contacted the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the ruling body for the hardwood industry. According to the representative we spoke to, hardwood contractors are not responsible for handling or securing a customer's household pets. We also contacted the Revdex.com and was told the same thing. Despite this, A-Max agreed to try to help the customer out by recoating the floor to try to rid the hallway of the marks. Gettingrid of dog paw marks is very hard since the oil in the paws creates an imprint in the finish to the fist layer. It is buffed and recoated. As can occur some of the dog prints are still visible. A-Max tries again to get the marks to go away - marks we are not responsible for. Eventually, A-max gets the dog mark area looking as nice as the rest of the coated flooring. Then the customer wishes to debate the "match" of the new flooring to old. He says it isn't close enough. We advise him he was told it would not be exact and that it is as close as can be done. He disagrees and continues refusing to abide by his contractual agreement. We tell him the next step would be for him to have a certified inspector come out and write up a report. The customer decides he won't do that. He calls a competitor of ours. The competitor refers him to a local distributor for wood. The local distributor is not a certified inspector, neither was the competitor. We then have an inspector come out to the customers house. The inspector tells the customer a #2 would not have come closer. He tries to educate him about the effect climate and location have on white oaks. He tells the customer the best way to address the slight tonal difference would be to coat the new portion of the floor with an acid-cured product, one that will amber up the new portion (since a water-based finish was used and they do not amber a floor). He thinks that will bring things a tad bit closer in tone, which is what the customer told the inspector is all he is looking for. The customer expresses concerns about being out of the home due to the odor of the acid-cured product. The inspector tells him it is the best option to achieve the results he is desiring. The estimator agrees to tell the owner about the option and the customer's openness to trying it.At this stage of the issue the owner had his old floor refinished, steps installed and the other portion of their living room installed as well as the dog prints fixed. The refinish was $1,846.00, the steps were $1,810.00, and the bottom landing $200.00. The dog paw prints redo was told to the home owner to be $800 but would be $400 to help him out. The total of the project without the living room installed was $4,256. So, at this point the homeowner still owes A-Max Hardwood $1,256. So, If the homeowner does not want to amber the floor with the appropriate ambering agents (as he agreed to initially) as suggested by the nwfa inspector; the customer can pay A-Max Hardwood the remaining balance of $1,256 for everything but the living room and A-Max will rip out the wood flooring installed.