Express Flooring

Please be advised that Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company whose utmost goal is always customer satisfaction.  It is always unfortunate and uncomfortable to be in this type of situation with a customer.  While we understand and sympathize with [redacted]...

frustration, we maintain that all actions taken our behalf are well within the agreement we entered into with [redacted] at the onset of our relationship.  In short, [redacted] placed an order with our company on 1/10/15.  They supplied us with a deposit in the amount of $4188.14 which covered the cost of their order.  Our contract allows for a 3 business day rescission period in which a customer can cancel their order and receive a full refund.  1/10/15 was a Saturday, so in actuality, [redacted] had 4 full days to reconsider her decision and cancel this order with no financial impact.  However, [redacted] did not cancel her order during this time frame.  We naturally moved forward with filling this order.  Your average consumer usually does realize the high cost in processing an order of this nature.  Numerous employees and/or departments are all involved in processing, sizing, and creating this order.  You also have to factor in the costs of the actual goods, the customizing of those goods, and the time and man hours in regards to preparing and storing those goods.  As with any contractor, there are terms and conditions of our agreement that protect both our customers and ourselves.  We allow for a reasonable time frame for a customer to reconsider their purchase.  But after that time frame is up, due to the expenses involved, we do notify our customer at the onset our relationship that if they cancel outside of the applicable cancellation period, than they are subject to a 25% restocking fee.  We understand that in this complaint, [redacted] claims to have not signed this policy, however she is mis-understanding the contract she signed on this point.  If you refer to our contract with this customer which is attached, you will on the front page, roughly 2 inches above [redacted] signature, there is a statement that reads:"I have read the contract including the terms and conditions on the reverse side and agree to be bound by them."The reverse side of that document is also attached.  The very bottom of the page covers our cancellation policy.  As you will clearly see, that notice reads very clearly on how a customer is to cancel their order.  It states that a customer must mail a certified notice to our office stating they do not want the goods or services they purchased.  Our address is provided as well.  The reality of the situation is that [redacted] did not contact us to cancel her order until 1/18/15, which is over a week after the order was placed.  This is why 25% of the contract price of this order was retained.  We fully understand that no customer is ever happy when a fee of this nature is assessed.  However, your average consumer understands that when they sign a contract, both parties have certain responsibilities they are expected to live up to.  With that aside, the reality is that we have an unhappy customer on our hands, and this is a situation we never want to be in.  We regretfully did invest a significant amount of monies into the processing of this order, but we do want to resolve this complaint and give this matter some closure.  In the name of good customer relations, we are willing to refund [redacted] an additional $300.00.  We are a reasonable company and we always want to do everything we can to resolve matters of this nature.  Please allow 1-2 weeks for this refund to be processed.   We are very sorry that things did not work out exactly as either our customer nor we would have ideally liked and we hope this customer and the Revdex.com know that we are always here to work through any issues our customers have.  Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact us if you require any further assistance on this matter.

Please allow us to begin by expressing our most sincere apologies to Mrs. [redacted].  We are in the business of creating and keeping happy customers and we never want to hear of a customer being anything less than 100% satisfied with their experience.  With this being said, we...

feel it is important this customer, and any customer for that matter, understand the products they are purchasing and realize exactly what they are in control over and what we, as a retailer, are in control of as well. 

Before we get ahead of ourselves, the issue regarding the a loose transition and the padding issue was reported to our office roughly 8 months ago.  This matter was addressed.  An appointment with a service tech was scheduled.  And upon the repairs being completed, Mrs. [redacted] signed off on that work indicating her service was completed to her complete satisfaction.  We are not sure if she is bringing up this old issue of if something new has developed, but should any service work be needed, we are more than happy, as we always have been, to address any issues for her. 

In relation to the tack strip, please know that every carpet installed in any and every setting, that is stretched in over pad (typical residential installation), has tack strips installed around the perimeter of the installation area.  The tack strips are what secure the carpet in place in the areas it is installed and keep the carpet stretched tightly so that it does not develop bubbles and wrinkles.  The tacks are SUPPOSED to stick up into the carpet.  Most people do not walk around the far perimeter of their carpet so they never really have an issue with this, but the reality is that if you look at any carpet installed in just about any home and feel through the carpet at the edges, you will poke your fingers on a tack strip.  That is just the reality of carpeting.  With this being said, naturally the thinner the carpet, the more pronounced the tacks will be, and if Mrs. [redacted] selected a thinner profile product, that certainly is not going to help avoid this type of concern.  But the reality of the matter is that we do not choose a customer's carpeting for them.  We simply show a customer samples of what we have available to us and we allow them to make up their mind on what product they want to purchase, if any at all. 

Again we feel horrible that this customer frustrated.  Her concerns have been expressed to our office and we have been our to her on numerous occasions to help her.  The only thing that can be done is a tech can run a hard object over the areas of the tack strips that are causing Mrs. [redacted]'s concerns.  This will dull the top of the tacks while still allowing the carpet to be secured in place and remain properly installed.  We have attached for you three separate service work orders, all signed off on by Mrs. [redacted] showing that we have addressed her concerns to her complete satisfaction.  While have done nothing wrong, we have still serviced this customer, with a smile on our faces, and done anything she has asked us to do.  And we will continue to do so if she requests that.  In fact, we contacted Mrs. [redacted] upon receiving this complaint and asked her if she wanted to set up a new appointment, but she declined our offer.  But we regretfully cannot just refund this customer her money or simply replace her carpeting.  Like we said, we have made no errors or wronged this customer in any way.  We sincerely hope that Mrs. [redacted] can understand this and should she decide to take us up on our offer to have someone from our organization visit her jobsite again, we are more than happy to do what we can do to take care of her.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

 

Regards,

 

Regarding our phone conversation concerning the above complaint

number previously filed against Express Flooring. We did have a phone

conversation with "Henry" (he did not give his last name). He had

initiated the call regarding our initial complaint. We had signed a contract

for laminate flooring to be installed in our home. However, upon further

research we decided vinyl flooring would be a better choice. Additionally, we

wanted to change the wording as to whom would be responsible for tearing out

the existing flooring in our home (our son would do it as opposed to Express

Flooring).

We requested that a cost adjustment would be necessary for less

labor. The existing contract did not provide a breakdown of material cost and

labor cost. We were told by the salesman that Express Flooring's software

program did not make that possible. However, he told us we would save $1400.00

by doing our own tear-out. This seemed like a low figure. A conversation with

the [redacted] General Manager for Express Flooring, Collin Kaufman, quoted a

savings of $2800.00 on labor.

At this point, it seemed to us that Express Flooring was just

"spit-balling" dollar figures. Could it be they really did not

know the true cost of labor? Thus our desire to cancel the contract.

At this

point, we have purchased flooring material from another source and had it

installed. We were able to install a quality product and with professional

results for much less money than what Express Flooring was going to cost.

Thinking about this experience, having sent a certified letter to

Express Flooring, and copying to Revdex.com, we thought we should

have a written response from Express Flooring stating the contract to be null

and void and absolving us of any further responsibility (as stated by

"Henry"). The $500.00 down payment we paid is forfeited by us.
Ms. [redacted], we would greatly appreciate your organization

forwarding this to Express Flooring, with the understanding, on our part, that

the Revdex.com cannot enforce any resolution.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear belowI understand that I selected the product, but I could not determine the thickness of the carpet from the sample on the board.  We showed the sales person the carpet that was in the living room before.  I did state, I would like a short but thicker carpet with upgraded padding.  I was told no problem that is what I was getting.  I feel that Express Flooring has not provided a satisfactory product that will work in my home without additional costs or adding items to taper off the height difference. The product comparison is clearly defined in picture 091925.  I do have an issue with adding "carpet ramps" or "carpet shims".  If I can have carpet installed without using these items, why would I have them "put in" to fix a product that does not work in my home.  I am a Disabled Veteran, why would I add something to my carpet that could cause more tripping hazards.  Because of the exposed edges, I have to be very careful when I come into the living room.  You can clearly see the edges and the poor quality of the carpet that was installed in the attached pictures - 091408 kitchen nook entrance. 091712 dining room entrance & 091435 kitchen nook exposed edges.

In April, right before the second installation, I was outside when the installers arrived.  I was shocked at how thin and poor quality the carpet was.  I asked the installers if that was the carpet going into my home. They responded yes.  I brought the installers in my home and pointed out that the carpet that was installed in January was very thin and the installation was very poor.  I pointed out all the exposed edges.  I immediately called [redacted] and begged him not to re-install the carpet.  I said we are going to have the same issues so what is the point.  [redacted] reassured me that the problems would be fixed. After the installation, I called [redacted] and told him I still had exposed edges and that the carpet was not right for the living room.  The last phone conversation I had with [redacted] was in early May.  I told him I was not happy with the product and I did not want it.  [redacted] said think it over and see if there a way to fix the issues.  He mentioned the shims & ramps again.  I had knee replacement surgery in May and another knee surgery in July. In the company's rebuttal, I am upset with the carpet I selected because the Sales Person said it would work in my home.  Why would I want a company's product in my home, if they cannot complete the job to my satisfaction.I feel that Express Flooring has installed a poor quality product that does not work in my home. If Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company, why can't they install a product in my home that doesn't leave exposed edges? The cost of the poor quality product is double in price compared to other flooring companies. I want the carpet removed from my living room and the entire transaction cancelled due to poor quality, thinness and outrageous cost of the carpet.      Regards,

[redacted]

I have several complaints: number one I was charged in excess of 10600.00 for floor tiles. 2. The installers had to remove a toilet and lift up some carpet to install the tiles .the salesman told me they would reset the toilet and replace the carpet, neither was done I had to hire someone else to do this. 3. Each day they were scheduled to come out and do the work something came up and they had to reschedule, although we set a schedule with the salesman they did not keep it. It had to cancel our plans to accommodate them. When workers were through they left the tile a mess. They mopped and left it streaking getting the dirty mop water on our freshly painted walls.

Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company whose utmost goal is always customer satisfaction.  Naturally we enter into ever relationship with a customer with the idea of them being happy and satisfied with our services and the products they purchase.  The reality of things is...

that our customers are not flooring experts.  That is exactly why they hire us to perform work of this nature.  You can tell the exact same thing to 100 different customers and each one of those customers is going to process and interpret things slight differently.  For whatever reason, this customer was expecting something different than what they received.  What this customer is not telling the Revdex.com is that when they reported this issue to our office, we stopped what we were doing and asked them one simple question. That question was what they needed to resolve the situation and to make them feel comfortable in moving forward.  They responded to us by asking for new carpet padding, one that was better than the one they had purchased.  When we asked what type of padding they wanted, they responded by telling us that they didn't know and told us were the experts and to "figure it out".  Needless to say, how can a customer accuse us of giving them something other than what they purchased when they couldn't even tell us what they wanted?  This being said, we worked through the issue with them.  We agreed to upgrade their padding at no charge.  This is an upgrade worth over $800.00 to them.We are very sorry that this customer is unhappy in any way.  We have taken steps to resolve their issues and they are currently in receipt of better and higher quality goods than they purchased and paid for.  While we feel we have more than compensated them for their issues, resolving complaints of this nature is very important to us.  Regardless of our feelings as to what is right and/or wrong, the fact remains that this customer felt the need to file this complaint.  With that in mind, we will process an additional $200.00 refund to this customer.  Between this and the upgrades they have received, they will be getting more than $1000.00 in compensation on this matter.  We trust that this will more than suffice in resolving this complaint.

I had a great experience with Express Flooring. The price was fantastic, love the product and installation went perfect. No issues what-so-ever. Highly recommend!

Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company whose utmost goal is always customer satisfaction.  We are very sorry to hear that Mrs. [redacted] felt the need to file this complaint.  We are well aware of her situation and while we can certainly understand her frustrations,...

we feel we have been responsive and accommodating to her throughout this process.  Transitions can be tricky.  No two houses are the same and no two types of flooring are exactly the same.  From time to time, you run into a situation that is out of the norm, and you need to be creative to resolve it.  We are pleased to report that the transition pieces have been obtained and installed and Mrs. [redacted]'s project is completed.  We additionally have agreed to refund her a token amount from a customer service standpoint.  This refund has already been processed by our office and Mrs. [redacted] is in receipt of it.  We trust that our actions will suffice in resolving this complaint and please again know that we are very sorry for any stress and/or anxiety this matter caused our valued customer.

Attached are the hard surface care and maintenance instructions from the manufacturer of the flooring this customer purchased.  We are very sorry if there was a disconnect and/or delay on this matter, however our records show this information was mailed out to this customer some time ago....

 If there is any additional information this customer needs, they can feel free to contact us at [redacted] during normal business hours.

Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company whose utmost goal is always customer satisfaction.  We are very sorry that Mrs. [redacted] is unhappy in any way and had known after all this time that that she was still frustrated with the situation, we naturally would have...

been in contact with her.  As Mrs. [redacted] stated in her complaint, some time has certainly passed.  It was roughly a year and a half ago that we addressed this matter for her.  At that time our customer contacted us with concerns over the way her carpet was "wearing".  We in turn arranged for a third party to perform an inspection and evaluation of her carpet.  This inspection was done and the results showed that the carpet was not defective in any way and that some simple changes to the way it was maintained would resolve the issues this customer was having.Based off the statements in this complaint, it is clear that Mrs. [redacted] has completely misinterpreted this report.  We have attached a copy for your viewing.  In her complaint, she indicates that we stated that her vacuum was the reason for her problems.  As you will read, this is NOT the case.  The report states that the vacuum does not have an adjustable beater bar/brush, and that the use of a vacuum that did would be recommended.  Vacuums of different brands are set at different heights.  This particular vacuum, which is not adjustable, does not allow for the brushes on the vacuum to hit and agitate the fibers of the carpet.  Essentially, Mrs. [redacted], who had this carpet installed in August of 2012, had basically never vacuumed her carpet in over a year's time, as of the date of that inspection.  Further, since this inspection took place, Mrs. [redacted] has taken no steps to change this fact.  We contacted her upon receiving this complaint, and she has not changed the vacuum as per the advice on this report, which mind you, was issued by a licensed and certified expert in this field.  We have additionally attached a photo from this inspection.  This photo shows that with the use of a simple hand brush, the inspector was able to restore the pile of this carpet to the point in which it looked almost brand new.  Maintenance is a very important aspect in caring for carpeting to ensure it performs to the best of its ability for as long as it possibly can.  We are a retailer by nature.  We supply and install flooring materials for our customers.  We are not however responsible for the maintenance of these products.  Carpet is just like any other product you purchase; it will be as good you to as you are to it.  It is very unfortunate that we all find ourselves in this situation.  We understand that not every consumer is as schooled on this subject as we are.  We try very hard to educate our customers on the needed maintenance to the products they purchase.  This customer was given care and maintenance instructions when they made their purchase.  We make info of this nature readily available on our website.  We are here to answer any questions our customers' have as well.  And in this particular case, a year and half ago we informed this customer on steps she could take to help fix the problem. Regretfully, these suggestions have not been acted on.  While we can certainly sympathize with this customer, we simply do not know what more could possibly be expected of us.We always want to do everything we can resolve a complaint of this nature.  While we cannot assume the responsibility of the day to day maintenance of this carpeting, we are willing to help Mrs. [redacted] correct some the practices that got her to this point.  From a customer service standpoint, we are willing to reimburse her up to $200.00 towards the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner that has an adjustable beater bar/brush as the inspector recommenced.  Further, we are willing to offer Mrs. Daugherty a 50% discount on a carpet cleaning, which is something she needs to have done at least once a year as per the manufacturer's warranty instructions.  We again are very sorry that this customer is upset or frustrated in any way.  We are here to work with her through these problems and we feel that if she follows the steps we have recommended, that she can drastically improve the appearance and useful life of the carpeting she has purchased.

Back in January of 2014, I set up an appointment to have tile installed by Express Flooring. I must stress that while I'm complaining about the contractors that came out, I am in no way complaining about the tile itself. I am very pleased with the product, but my complaint is with the two contractors that came out. When they were ripping up the tile the first day, they did not bother laying down plastic liner before applying the mortar. Because of this there are some spots of mortar on our carpet now, and it's dirtier from all the dust and debris. My boyfriend at least caught the biggest spot of mortar on the carpet in time, though it did not come out completely. There was also an issue of them using the same outlet for their tools as we use for our mini fridge on our patio. They failed to plug it back in and as a result, we lost a significant amount of food. Overall, I feel while they were in my home they showed very little professionalism and did not respect my property. When they were done they did not even pick up well after themselves. I found shards of tile all over the inside of my house, and the outside where they were cutting.
I have called customer service (a lady by [redacted], specifically) in Tucson several times to complain about this. I also requested a small compensation for the damage to our carpet. They claimed it was forwarded to management but I still have yet to hear anything. I even left a message for management myself about a month and a half ago and never received a call. Because of the poor service I've received I never plan on getting tile with them again. I am hoping to hear from them now that I'm filing a complaint with Revdex.com.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

It is felt that the flooring issue was addressed within the 2 year warranty time period and the $1,465.41 that Express Flooring was asking to install new flooring was unacceptable.  They did offer a $250.00 discount but we felt that too was more than we should be responsible for.  We felt we weren't asking for any more than a company standing behind the product they installed.

A NEW development today:  As of today, June 27, 2014, [redacted], Manager of Installations, called with the offer of $750.00 to replace all the flooring.  We accepted his offer so we can move on.  We will keep detailed records of this new installation and any subsequent repairs need.  Hopefully, there will not be a need for any further negotiations. 

Regards,

We are very sorry to hear that Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] are still frustrated.  If nothing else, we feel that our comments regarding this complaint, and Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] bringing up the fact that we offered to allow them to use the Restocking Fee we did retain towards a future order, shows that we have been trying very hard and have made numerous attempts to try to resolve this complaint with this customer.  Please realize that we are living within the agreements we made with Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] when our relationship started and they placed their order with us.  They filed this complaint in an attempt to avoid their financial responsibility to that contract and to the agreements they made.  We fully understand that this customer would prefer to not have to pay these monies, however we ask that anyone reading this please realize that there are two sides to this matter and that Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] were made fully aware of this policy before they ever placed this order.  This is clearly displayed on the documents we attached to our previous correspondence.  As we stated in our last correspondence on this matter, we do want to resolve this complaint.  We have offered this customer over $1800.00 in savings on this purchase and we have additionally offered to allow them to use the monies in question towards a new purchase.  Neither of these scenarios are ideal for us, but we are willing to make these agreements in the name of good customer relations and to give this matter some closure.  If Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] are unwilling to agree to either option, we are prepared to refund them an additional $200.00 on top of what we have already refunded them.  At this point, we have made four reasonable offers to resolve this complaint which all go well past what our agreement with this customer called for. We sincerely hope that Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] will accept one of these scenarios so that we can all move past this unfortunate situation.  Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact us if you require any further assistance on this matter.

Please be advised that the general manager of our Tucson location visited with Mr. [redacted] earlier this week.  Naturally we always want to address and resolve any and every complaint we ever receive and this situation is no different.  It is our understanding that arrangements are currently...

being made to replace the carpeting in one room of Mr. Davis' home.  We trust us complying with his requests is sufficient in resolving this complaint and naturally both the Revdex.com and Mr. [redacted] may feel free to contact us if we can be of any further assistance.  Thank you for your time and happy new year.

Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company whose utmost goal is always customer satisfaction.  Please be advised that we have reached an agreement with this customer and we are moving forward in resolving their issues.  Please understand that companies naturally change...

their policies and over time and as new products develop warranties do change.  This customer placed their order with us many years ago and was mistaking some of the details of their warranty with some of the recent advertisements they had seen on TV.  This aside, as we stated earlier, the matter is now resolved and we trust that this complaint will closed accordingly.  Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact us if you require any additional assistance.

Please be advised that Mr. [redacted]'s refund has been processed and a check is on its way to him via the postal service.  We understand that things did not happen as quickly as our customer would have liked, and we ask that you please understand that things did transpire here as quickly as we...

would have liked either.  As with any business, at certain times of the year business picks up.  Other times things are a little slower than normal.  It's very rare that any business has it's workload evenly distributed throughout any day, week, month, or year.  When things get busy, its only natural that things take a little longer to do than normal.  When times are a little slower, than naturally processes such as this happen more quickly.  We are not making any excuses here and again we are very sorry this customer is frustrated.  We have no interest in any monies we are not due nor any monies we did not earn.   With this being said, we do outline a time frame on our contracts with our customers in relation to refunds of this nature and we we feel it is prudent to point out that this refund was processed well within that policy.  Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact us if we can be of any further assistance.

Express Flooring is a reputable and professional company whose utmost goal is always customer satisfaction.  We are very sorry to hear that this customer is frustrated and please know that reached out to him upon receiving this complaint.  Regretfully, we could not get to far into the...

details with this customer as he was at work and his time was limited.  At this point we have an appointment to meet with him this weekend to review his claims/concerns.  We will naturally address and resolve any and all legitimate issues our customer has, if any so exist.  Thank you for your time and considerations and please feel free to contact us if you require any further assistance on this matter.

In response to Mrs. [redacted]s most recent correspondence.  We feel she has a misconception of what "carpet shims" and "carpet ramps" are and what they are used for.  They do not cause tripping hazards.  They exist specifically to eliminate those!  For whatever reason, she has refused this offer, which is a easy and quick fix for this entire situation.  As for the carpeting, as Mrs. [redacted] says, she did pick out the carpet, and despite her comments, she picked that product off a sample of the actual goods she received.  The "board" she speaks of has a large 2 foot by 3 foot swatch of the carpet on it.  She got to hold, touch, and feel a sample of the actual carpet she received before she ever decided to purchase it.  We disagree with her statements that the carpet is poor quality, as that statement is simply not true.  Mrs. [redacted] may have her opinions on it, but her simply saying she does not like her carpeting does not justify her request to receive over $1,500.00 worth of flooring for free.The bottom line here is that our customer is unhappy with the product she purchased.  No matter where that issue stems from, it is still an issue and we do want to resolve it for this customer. We made offers in our last response to provide the carpet shims to this customer at no charge.  We are still willing to do this if she so desires.  We also made an offer to donate free labor if she wanted the carpet replaced.  This is also an offer we are still willing to live up to.  If Mrs. [redacted] does not want to take us up on either of these offers, we simply cannot just refund her the monies she has paid on this purchase, however we would be willing to offer her a 10% refund on her purchase price as a gesture of good customer relations if it will suffice in giving her some closure on this matter.  We feel we are being more than reasonable with this customer under the circumstances and we sincerely hope she is open to accepting of the numerous offers we have made in order to resolve this complaint.

Please be advised that we have contacted Mrs. [redacted] regarding this matter and we have an appointment set for an inspector to review her flooring next week.  Express Flooring is a reputable company who prides itself on our warranties.  We can assure this customer and the Revdex.com that any...

and all legitimate installation issues will be addressed and repaired promptly.  We are very sorry if this matter has not been handled as our customer ideally would have liked but again we assure her that any legitimate issues will be taken care of.

Please be advised that our operations manager spoke to Mrs. [redacted] last week.  As we have explained, the tacks strips are in place for a reason and while we understand that this customer is unhappy, we cannot change the fact that this is how carpet is installed and the only thing that can be done is this customer selecting a new, thicker product.  Mrs. [redacted] understands that she is responsible for the costs involved in any new products being installed, but we have agreed to work with her on those costs and will do what we can to make things work for her.  It is our utmost desire to resolve this matter and we hope that things will be sorted out here very soon for our customer.