Renga Brother Interiors

We are in receipt of the complaint submitted by our client, ***We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to share our side of the storyIt is with great disappointment that we were unable to satisfy this customerWe have been in business for almost years and have never had a complaint nor a customer or situation that we weren't able to end on a good noteWe have included correspondence documentation to support our claimsUnfortunately, ***decided to mop and clean her floors with waterShe had all the appropriate information we had provided, manufacturer phone number and web siteI will include copies of the emails that outline the customer indicating that she had received the proper information so they could properly care for their flooringHer exact words in her email dated 11-11-were “The floor has been cleaned exactly as noted on the DM flooring paperwork that was provide to us when the floor was originally installed.” Michael Renga Flooring cannot find any instruction on the DM flooring paperwork that states to clean your floors with waterThen in the email dated 11-30-14, ***indicated “It appeared that all the inspector cared about that I was not using the floor cleaner that the manufacturer recommendedFrom the time the floor was installed and we were moved back in, around November 1, 2013, through July of this year, I cleaned the floors with waterThat is it.” So with all that being said, MRF Incknew what caused the staining and failure of the wood finishWe want every single client to leave us with a positive experienceThis client had some other unusual situations as wellWhen the installers began the job, she came home and did not like the color that she had previously approvedQuite a bit had already been installed, but we immediately stopped the jobWe explained that we'd contact the manufacturer and we could switch her into something else(We went to the job with her sample and the sample matched and was within guidelines.) She decided to have the installers continue and advised us of suchThen the following day we had them return and that day she did the same thingWe explained that she would need to discontinue work, in order for us to resolve her concernShe accepted the wood and said she wanted to continueThis has never happened before so we were a bit uneasyShe was also unhappy with the knots in the wood so had the installers go thru the boxes and remove certain boardsWe tried our best to be helpful and complied with her requestwhen she had less left over for her second phase, she was not happySo when we had completed everything, job was completed, clean up done, trims onCustomer and her husband came into our showroom quite unhappyThey expressed how unhappy they were and they didn't like the color...they requested for us to sand and refinish all the hardwood we had just installed in their houseI explained that this would void their warranty from the Manufacturer since they purchased a pre-finished floor, not to mention they requested and approved the work moving forwardThis was something we were not willing to doWe felt their request was unfair and we were very uncomfortable at this point: So, in an effort to move forward, we offered a $2,discount off their job to try and end on a positive noteThis was the first time we have ever done such a thing, but we didn't know what else to doUnfortunately, the problems referred to in this complaint, had absolutely nothing to do with our communication, timeliness, service, the wood ordered or our installationThe client indicated in her complaint that we didn't apply any finish...this is a pre finished floorWe are not supposed to apply a finishThere was a factory finish when we installed the floor but it was damaged by her cleaning with waterWe had supplied ***with the Manufacturers paper work which had a recommended cleaner and she chose to not use it

Thank you for your assistance in facilitating thisI have to start by saying I was taken aback by Leslie's comment stating we are using this as an advertisement...? Secondly, I feel we need to comment regarding Leslie's statement “I made the decision to live with the floor that was not representative of what she had been sampled on.” We ordered actual cartons of the wood and had them in our showroom for her viewing and approvalWe loose installed them out on our showroom floors for her viewingShe approved them and we orderedWe got the same lot that she viewed in our showroom, in fact we installed the actual wood she approvedWhen we installed them, she didn't like the color or knotsPlease refer back to my previous letter explaining where she canceled and re started the job times over a day period and passed over our offer to stop work and try to find something elseThen upon completion she asked us to sand down the whole floor and re-stain and finish itI'm not trying to be redundant, I'm just trying to paint a clear picture of what this process was likeThe letter and emails I had sent previously show the client did in fact, have the information she neededThe customer indicated in the previously attached emails that she had received the proper information so they could properly care for their flooringNow her latest correspondence she is contradicting herselfTo quote her in the email dated 11-11-14, “The floor has been cleaned exactly as noted on the DM Flooring paperwork that was provided to us when the floor was originally installed.” The DM Flooring website is very user friendly and has a tab for maintenance requirementsThese were available then and the client had many interactions with the DM Flooring company before her job was ever finished due to her other concerns...She had contacted them and had their contact and web site informationAs previously mentioned, we did deduct a $ 2,customer accommodation, in an effort to end on a positive noteThis is something we have never needed to do beforeOur commitment to customer satisfaction has always been our number one priorityWe are confident that we have done everything possible to try and make this client happyUnfortunately, we feel this situation has become impossible to remedyOn a final note, it is unfortunate that Leslie assumed she could mop the floors with water and overlooked the information that was availableIf she was having difficulty finding the proper information, all she had to do was askSincerely, Lisa M Renga Executive Vice President

Thank you for your assistance in facilitating this.
I have to start by saying I was taken aback by Leslie's comment stating we are using this as an advertisement...?
Secondly, I feel we need to comment regarding Leslie's statement “I made the decision to live with the floor that was not representative of what she had been sampled on.” We ordered actual cartons of the wood and had them in our showroom for her viewing and approval. We loose installed them out on our showroom floors for her viewing. She approved them and we ordered. We got the same lot that she viewed in our showroom, in fact we installed the actual wood she approved. When we installed them, she didn't like the color or knots. Please refer back to my previous letter explaining where she canceled and re started the job 2 times over a 2 day period and passed over our offer to stop work and try to find something else. Then upon completion she asked us to sand down the whole floor and re-stain and finish it. I'm not trying to be redundant, I'm just trying to paint a clear picture of what this process was like.
The letter and emails I had sent previously show the client did in fact, have the information she needed. The customer indicated in the previously attached emails that she had received the proper information so they could properly care for their flooring. Now her latest correspondence she is contradicting herself. To quote her in the email dated 11-11-14, “The floor has been cleaned exactly as noted on the DM Flooring paperwork that was provided to us when the floor was originally installed.”
The DM Flooring website is very user friendly and has a tab for maintenance requirements. These were available then and the client had many interactions with the DM Flooring company before her job was ever finished due to her other concerns...She had contacted them and had their contact and web site information.
As previously mentioned, we did deduct a $ 2,000.00 customer accommodation, in an effort to end on a positive note. This is something we have never needed to do before. Our commitment to customer satisfaction has always been our number one priority. We are confident that we have done everything possible to try and make this client happy. Unfortunately, we feel this situation has become impossible to remedy.
On a final note, it is unfortunate that Leslie assumed she could mop the floors with water and overlooked the information that was available. If she was having difficulty finding the proper information, all she had to do was ask.
Sincerely,  
Lisa M Renga
Executive Vice President

We are in receipt of the complaint submitted by our client, [redacted]. We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to share our side of the story. It is with great disappointment that we were unable to satisfy this customer. We have been in...

business for almost 100 years and have never had a complaint nor a customer or situation that we weren't able to end on a good note. We have included correspondence documentation to support our claims. Unfortunately, [redacted]. decided to mop and clean her floors with water. She had all the appropriate information we had provided, manufacturer phone number and web site. I will include copies of the emails that outline the customer indicating that she had received the proper information so they could properly care for their flooring. Her exact words in her email dated 11-11-14 were “The floor has been cleaned exactly as noted on the DM flooring paperwork that was provide to us when the floor was originally installed.” Michael Renga Flooring cannot find any instruction on the DM flooring paperwork that states to clean your floors with water. Then in the email dated 11-30-14, [redacted]. indicated “It appeared that all the inspector cared about that I was not using the floor cleaner that the manufacturer recommended. From the time the floor was installed and we were moved back in, around November 1, 2013, through July of this year, I cleaned the floors with water. That is it.” So with all that being said, MRF Inc. knew what caused the staining and failure of the wood finish. We want every single client to leave us with a positive experience. This client had some other unusual situations as well. When the installers began the job, she came home and did not like the color that she had previously approved. Quite a bit had already been installed, but we immediately stopped the job. We explained that we'd contact the manufacturer and we could switch her into something else. (We went to the job with her sample and the sample matched and was within guidelines.) She decided to have the installers continue and advised us of such. Then the following day we had them return and that day she did the same thing. We explained that she would need to discontinue work, in order for us to resolve her concern. She accepted the wood and said she wanted to continue. This has never happened before so we were a bit uneasy. She was also unhappy with the knots in the wood so had the installers go thru the boxes and remove certain boards. We tried our best to be helpful and complied with her request... when she had less left over for her second phase, she was not happy. So when we had completed everything, job was completed, clean up done, trims on.... Customer and her husband came into our showroom quite unhappy. They expressed how unhappy they were and they didn't like the color...they requested for us to sand and refinish all the hardwood we had just installed in their house. I explained that this would void their warranty from the Manufacturer since they purchased a pre-finished floor, not to mention they requested and approved the work moving forward. This was something we were not willing to do. We felt their request was unfair and we were very uncomfortable at this point: So, in an effort to move forward, we offered a $2,000.00 discount off their job to try and end on a positive note. This was the first time we have ever done such a thing, but we didn't know what else to do. Unfortunately, the problems referred to in this complaint, had absolutely nothing to do with our communication, timeliness, service, the wood ordered or our installation. The client indicated in her complaint that we didn't apply any finish...this is a pre finished floor. We are not supposed to apply a finish. There was a factory finish when we installed the floor but it was damaged by her cleaning with water. We had supplied [redacted]. with the Manufacturers paper work which had a recommended cleaner and she chose to not use it.

Complaint: 10753680
I am rejecting this response because: Again Mrs. Renga is being untruthful about the color and finish of our floors.  Unfortunately, I did not go to the showroom when the floors arrived.  It never occurred to me that the floors would be such different color and finish than what I had ordered.  In any case, I took responsibility for not viewing the floor before installation began.  And in exchange for our simply wanting to be done with Renga flooring, we accepted a token $2,000 discount off the flooring. 
The issue with excessive floor staining,  for which again, the Renga's refused to come and see for themselves,  has nothing to do with our settling on a color that was not representative of what we originally ordered. We have grown quite accustomed to the floor color and ordered $6,500 more of the same brand of flooring, in a DIFFERENT color and finish in order to MATCH-UP what was installed.  There have been ZERO staining issues in the new sections of flooring.
At this time, we have all of the paperwork, professional testimony, images, emails, etc. to take legal action in order to be reimbursed for what we had to spend to remove excessive stains from faulty flooring.
Regards,
Leslie Schneiderman

Review: We purchased hand crafted wire brushed European white oak hardwood flooring. It was to be prefinished with w/Klumpp UV Oil that does not need re-oiling. 25 year residential warranty/lifetime structural warranty. We also purchased full prep and installation.Within six months the flooring was terribly stained from water marks and normal wear. We contacted Renga flooring stating that there did not seem to be a protective finish on our floor and that it was staining very badly. We owned hardwood flooring in our previous homes, for 30 years. Renga refused to come out to see the floor that they sold us. We spent over $24,000 on the floor. They sent a representative from the manufacturer. The only question from the rep was if we had a particular floor cleaner in our home. We did not. The rep could see that there was no protective finish on our flooring and that it was very badly stained. Renga still refused to come out to see the floor. We then had two very reputable floor retailers come out to inspect the floor. They both agreed that the floor had no protective finish.No where on any contract from Renga flooring does it state that we had to use a particular cleaner, nor did they try to sell us any. They did not apply any finish to the floor, nor did they leave any finish or cleaner behind for us to use. Up until that time, we had only used water on the floor.We hired a professional hardwood floor installer through a well respected retailer to come out and correct the kitchen, dining room, living room, and sun room floors. This took 2 weeks and we paid $2,100.00. Those areas are now protected. We still need to correct one guest suite and the study. We have the same flooring with a different color finish,ordered and installed through a different Santa Barbara retailer, (for an additional $6,000) and have not had issues with that particular section of the floor.Desired Settlement: We want a reimbursement of $2,100.00 And we want the additional $950.00 it will cost to correct the two remaining areas mentioned above.

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of the complaint submitted by our client, [redacted]. We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to share our side of the story. It is with great disappointment that we were unable to satisfy this customer. We have been in business for almost 100 years and have never had a complaint nor a customer or situation that we weren't able to end on a good note. We have included correspondence documentation to support our claims. Unfortunately, [redacted]. decided to mop and clean her floors with water. She had all the appropriate information we had provided, manufacturer phone number and web site. I will include copies of the emails that outline the customer indicating that she had received the proper information so they could properly care for their flooring. Her exact words in her email dated 11-11-14 were “The floor has been cleaned exactly as noted on the DM flooring paperwork that was provide to us when the floor was originally installed.” Michael Renga Flooring cannot find any instruction on the DM flooring paperwork that states to clean your floors with water. Then in the email dated 11-30-14, [redacted]. indicated “It appeared that all the inspector cared about that I was not using the floor cleaner that the manufacturer recommended. From the time the floor was installed and we were moved back in, around November 1, 2013, through July of this year, I cleaned the floors with water. That is it.” So with all that being said, MRF Inc. knew what caused the staining and failure of the wood finish. We want every single client to leave us with a positive experience. This client had some other unusual situations as well. When the installers began the job, she came home and did not like the color that she had previously approved. Quite a bit had already been installed, but we immediately stopped the job. We explained that we'd contact the manufacturer and we could switch her into something else. (We went to the job with her sample and the sample matched and was within guidelines.) She decided to have the installers continue and advised us of such. Then the following day we had them return and that day she did the same thing. We explained that she would need to discontinue work, in order for us to resolve her concern. She accepted the wood and said she wanted to continue. This has never happened before so we were a bit uneasy. She was also unhappy with the knots in the wood so had the installers go thru the boxes and remove certain boards. We tried our best to be helpful and complied with her request... when she had less left over for her second phase, she was not happy. So when we had completed everything, job was completed, clean up done, trims on.... Customer and her husband came into our showroom quite unhappy. They expressed how unhappy they were and they didn't like the color...they requested for us to sand and refinish all the hardwood we had just installed in their house. I explained that this would void their warranty from the Manufacturer since they purchased a pre-finished floor, not to mention they requested and approved the work moving forward. This was something we were not willing to do. We felt their request was unfair and we were very uncomfortable at this point: So, in an effort to move forward, we offered a $2,000.00 discount off their job to try and end on a positive note. This was the first time we have ever done such a thing, but we didn't know what else to do. Unfortunately, the problems referred to in this complaint, had absolutely nothing to do with our communication, timeliness, service, the wood ordered or our installation. The client indicated in her complaint that we didn't apply any finish...this is a pre finished floor. We are not supposed to apply a finish. There was a factory finish when we installed the floor but it was damaged by her cleaning with water. We had supplied [redacted]. with the Manufacturers paper work which had a recommended cleaner and she chose to not use it.

Business

Response:

Thank you for your assistance in facilitating this.I have to start by saying I was taken aback by Leslie's comment stating we are using this as an advertisement...?Secondly, I feel we need to comment regarding Leslie's statement “I made the decision to live with the floor that was not representative of what she had been sampled on.” We ordered actual cartons of the wood and had them in our showroom for her viewing and approval. We loose installed them out on our showroom floors for her viewing. She approved them and we ordered. We got the same lot that she viewed in our showroom, in fact we installed the actual wood she approved. When we installed them, she didn't like the color or knots. Please refer back to my previous letter explaining where she canceled and re started the job 2 times over a 2 day period and passed over our offer to stop work and try to find something else. Then upon completion she asked us to sand down the whole floor and re-stain and finish it. I'm not trying to be redundant, I'm just trying to paint a clear picture of what this process was like.The letter and emails I had sent previously show the client did in fact, have the information she needed. The customer indicated in the previously attached emails that she had received the proper information so they could properly care for their flooring. Now her latest correspondence she is contradicting herself. To quote her in the email dated 11-11-14, “The floor has been cleaned exactly as noted on the DM Flooring paperwork that was provided to us when the floor was originally installed.”The DM Flooring website is very user friendly and has a tab for maintenance requirements. These were available then and the client had many interactions with the DM Flooring company before her job was ever finished due to her other concerns...She had contacted them and had their contact and web site information.As previously mentioned, we did deduct a $ 2,000.00 customer accommodation, in an effort to end on a positive note. This is something we have never needed to do before. Our commitment to customer satisfaction has always been our number one priority. We are confident that we have done everything possible to try and make this client happy. Unfortunately, we feel this situation has become impossible to remedy.On a final note, it is unfortunate that Leslie assumed she could mop the floors with water and overlooked the information that was available. If she was having difficulty finding the proper information, all she had to do was ask.Sincerely, Lisa M RengaExecutive Vice President

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10753680

I am rejecting this response because: Again Mrs. Renga is being untruthful about the color and finish of our floors. Unfortunately, I did not go to the showroom when the floors arrived. It never occurred to me that the floors would be such different color and finish than what I had ordered. In any case, I took responsibility for not viewing the floor before installation began. And in exchange for our simply wanting to be done with Renga flooring, we accepted a token $2,000 discount off the flooring.