Country Carpets

Review: My complaint involves several issues. I purchased bamboo flooring from Country Carpet on 6/25/11. The flooring was installed approximately 5 weeks later. Within several months of the install, floor boards were seperating and pulling away from the walls. I contacted them and [redacted] performed an inspection in November 2011. He initally said the problem was due to low humidity in my home and told me I needed to get a humidifier. I had never seen wood flooring separate so significantly, but went ahead and paid to have a whole house humidifier installed to see if this resolved the problem. The problem continued to worsen and [redacted] then informed us that the problem was due to manufacturer's defect. He stated [redacted] was sending him replacement flooring so he could eliminate most of the gaps. He also installed a transition piece in the middle of my hallway, telling me this was the only way to handle this specific gap. He and his son both stated they had never seen a floor separate like this.

The floor continued to separate in several areas and they attempted to repair the problem on multiple visits to my home. After attempting to have the floor fixed for nearly a year and being told that they could not give me [redacted]'s number to complain, I finally searched the internet and contacted [redacted]'s after-sale consumer department. I was then told that no claim had ever been filed. Amazingly, [redacted] was suddenly willing to arrange for an inspection by [redacted]. The representative, named Tom, came to my home on 11/21/12. To protect my interests, I had a neighbor present to observe the inspection and interaction with the [redacted] rep and Country Carpet employees. I was told by the inspector that I should not expect to see any additional shrinkage since the floor had been acclimated to my home for well over a year. I was also told a report would be ready in a few weeks and I have a witness to attest to this. Six months have gone by and my floor has separated in numerous place again and I still don't have the promised report. I have asked repeatedly for the report, but I am dismissed an told they don't know what happened to it. Isn't it their responsibility to follow-up and find out what happened and get a copy. I believe a large part of the problem is the way the floor was installed and that Country Carpet is trying to cover this up by laying the blame all on [redacted].

I called [redacted] again on my own after getting no where and was told that they had no record of a [redacted]-authorized inspection. I now want to know who this guy was and if I was lied to about him being a [redacted] representative. If not, where is the report, why does [redacted] seem to have dropped of the face of the Earth, and why am I being denied a copy? Consequently. I arranged a different inspection with [redacted] for 1/3/13. This inspector stated he would complete his report in several weeks and provide it to [redacted]. After several weeks of calling Country Carpets without success, I followed up on 2/18/13 with [redacted] and was told the report had already been provided to Country Carpets. I then called and spoke with [redacted] who claimed to know nothing about the report. I told him I spoke with [redacted] at [redacted] and offered to give him contact info. I stated that they said the report was provided to them and that they were responsible for getting the information to me. He said he'd find out and get back to me. My husband called several more time and was again told they didn't have the report. Finally, on 3/31/13, I sent a certified letter containing a summary of my complaint. Naturally, this prompted [redacted] to respond. [redacted] promised to send me the report. When it didn't arrive two weeks later, my husband called and spokje to Art. [redacted] took his email address and promised to send it, saying his printer was broken and he couldn't fax it. This was on 4/5/13. On 4/17, I spoke to his wife and asked for the report to be resent immediately. She said she knew her husband was "working on it". I wasn't sure what there was to "work on", since he had promised the email 2 weeks earlier. After waiting another week, my husband called on 4/26 and [redacted] now refused to send the report telling my husband it was wrong. He then told my husband that the floors were the problem and he had "good news". They were going to give him new flooring and we just needed to make arrangements for installation.

Seriously? At this point we clearly don't want the same defective flooring, we want our money back. Also, even if we got replacement flooring, why should we have to pay to re-install if it truly was a faulty product? Why should the money to fix a manufacturing defect come out of my pocket? I spent more than $6,000 to purchase, prepare and install this floor. I'd prefer to let an authorized [redacted] dealer rip out the defective flooring and put in a different floor or to settle this by giving me my money back and taking back their faulty flooring. At the very least, if my only option is to get the same flooring, I don't want to pay for installation again.

Can you please help? My next step is to contact an attorney because I don't know what else to do. Thank you!

[redacted]Desired Settlement: Preferred resolution - Full refund and removal of defective floor

Next best option - Removal of defective floor and credit for alternate flooring and install provided

Final option - Removal and reinstall of bamboo flooring at no charge

Business

Response:

{Please see attachment.}

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

The response indicates that [redacted] determined the problem to be the consumer's fault. I have a problem with this for a number of reasons:

At no time prior to or during installation were we told there was a humidity issue in our home OR that we had to maintain a specific humidity level for the floor to perform as expected. How can one fail to maintain a standard if the standard was never communicated? As professional installers, why wouldn't Country Carpets make us aware of the potential for humidity issues prior to or during installation? When he came to inspect the problem after we first reported it in November 2011, [redacted] expressed surprise at the low humidity level. But, if he'd measured the humidity prior to or during install, why would this surprise him and why wouldn't he have mentioned it as a concern? He told me he'd never seen floor separate so much and that I should consider using a humidifier to solve the problem. At the time, I was annoyed because no one had mentioned this before the install. If they had, I might have made the decision to install a different floor instead of now being told I needed to spend additional money on a humidifier. Jarret's response was said he didn't realize the humidity in our home would be a problem and that occasionally floors expanded too much and buckled, but he never saw so much shrinkage before.

After the holidays, we called again to complain that the floor had gotten worse despite the fact that we had paid to have a whole house humidifier installed as suggested by [redacted]. By now, there was a huge gap in both my hallway and kitchen. Upon re-inspection, I was told that low humidity wouldn't cause that much shrinkage, so [redacted] had contacted the manufacturer. I was then told [redacted] acknowledged having issues with excessive shrinkage on this flooring and they were providing replacement floor boards to fix the problem. During the next 6 months or so, I was repeatedly told that [redacted] knew there was a problem with the flooring, specifically that the bamboo was experiencing excessive shrinkage. To that end, I was also told [redacted] going to pay for the cost of replacing the entryway wood with tile flooring to prevent further separation. Why would he say that if it weren't true and then come back to the house multiple times attempting to fix the problem?

Finally, in a desperate attempt to get things resolved, I contacted [redacted] myself and told them what Country Carpet told me. This should all be documented on [redacted]'s recorded line. In November 2012, Country Carpets brought [redacted] to my house to perform an inspection, representing him as a [redacted] representative. To this date, I have yet to receive a inspection report and [redacted] denies ever sending him. Where is the report and why does [redacted] now deflect all questions about him, flatly refusing to explain exactly who [redacted] was? Once again, I ask Country Carpets to furnish this information. For the record, I requested my neighbor to be present during this inspection because I had already lost all confidence in what Country Carpets was telling me. He witnessed me being told by [redacted] that I would receive a report in a matter of weeks. I also have not received the inspection report from the second inspection, performed in January 2013. [redacted] initially promised to email it to my husband and then back-peddled saying it was "wrong" and now refuses to provide it.

If the manufacturer has truly concluded it was my fault, why can't I see the letter from [redacted]? Furthermore, why would Country Carpet repeatedly mislead me and tell me the problem was due to manufacturer defect beginning in early 2012 only to change their tune and now claim I am responsible for everything? I feel as if I've been misled and that they are attempting to blame me instead of correcting the issue. I only know that I bought a bamboo floor from Country Carpets and have maintained the flooring exactly as instructed since it was installed, all the way down to continuing to use the Bona floor cleaning system they initially provided AND getting a whole house humidifier installed after being told this would help. How could this be my fault?

Regards,