Total Floors Inc

[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]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Total Floors has not agreed to repay the
$475 we had to pay out of pocket directly due to their faulty installation of
flooring in our home.  
Given Total Floors response, I will provide more detail regarding the
transaction to provide a clearer picture of their breach of contract, as well
as to correct overt misrepresentations in their response.  My version of
events is supported by several months of email correspondence, which is
attached to this email.  I have divided my response to Total Floors in two
sections: first, a summary of events and, two, our response to Total Floors. 
Summary
of Events:  In January 2014, due to the winter freeze, we
had a pipe burst in our home which flooded the entire main level and
basement.  After obtaining quotes and
consultations from several contractors, we entered into a contract with Total
Floors on February 8, 2014.  
Only after we had already paid a 40%
deposit of $2900, Total Floors informed us their supplier did not have enough
wood to complete our floors.  We asked what our options were, and they
said (insisted even) they had a different brand name wood that was the exact
same in quality and color.  We relied on this representation and agreed to
proceed with the installation.  The installation began on February 26,
2014.  However, midway through the
installation when we viewed the substitute wood, we could tell clearly
that the substitute wood was different a different color and quality from the rest
of the wood (we also found out later that there was a different warranty on the
wood due to the lower quality).  We asked them not to install the substitute
wood, which resulted in a partial installation. 
  
We were
told that we would receive the additional, correct wood in mid March (I do not
remember the exact date).  When this date
approached, Total Floors informed us the wood would not be produced until April
1, and then a few days before April 1, we were informed the wood would not be
produced until April 9, and then it was moved to May 2.  Total Floors never told us there was a
possibility the wood for our project would take several months to produce. During
this time, we also had an entire wall’s worth of leftover scrap wood, half
empty boxes, and other materials that Total Floors left in our home.  We have pictures that
show this in the attached email correspondences on April 21.   
While we
were waiting for the additional wood, we started to notice significant gapping between
the wood panels of the floor, large enough to see the subflooring in several
places.  (See emailed pictures from [redacted] on May 25.)  We discovered that these gaps
had been there the entire time, but had been covered up with wood filler and the
filler had begun to dissipate. Total Floors had used the wood filler to cover
up their shoddy installation job.  (See emailed pictures from [redacted] on April 21 and May 25.)  We reported this problem to Total Floors.    
After we
complained about the gapping, Bob A[redacted] came to our home to visually inspect the
floor and asserted the problem was with the milling of the wood, i.e. was a
manufacturing defect and not an installation error.  We disagreed with this, and believed the gaps
to be the result of installer error (see
emails from [redacted] dated April 11, 27, 28, and May 13).  Once Total Floors could see the installation
was not proceeding correctly, they should have halted it immediately; instead,
they continued to install the flooring and tried to cover it up with wood
filler.
Our
contract with Total Floors contained a two year installation guarantee.  If the problem was a manufacturing defect
(i.e. a milling problem), Total Floors claimed they were not responsible for the
gapping.  During this visit to our home,
A[redacted] said he would send an inspector from the manufacturer to our house to
identify the source of the problem.  This
statement was reasserted in several email correspondences (see emails from Bob A[redacted] dated April 10, 11, and 28).  
In
subsequent emails, A[redacted] changed course and began to assert the gapping was the
result of temperature and moisture variations in our home (which of course they
never told us was a possibility).  However,
our own visual inspection of the wood led us to believe that this was installer
error.  We could see the corners of the
wood planks were not lined up correctly. 
Our suspicions were confirmed, when the contractor we ultimately hired
to fix our floors used a measuring tape and a laser to show us that the floors
were crooked by at least 2 inches.  (See email from [redacted] dated May 25.)       
Nonetheless,
even after waiting so long to complete what should have been a 2 day project,
we agreed to allow Total Floors to pursue a formal claim process with the wood
manufacturer, which we knew could take several additional weeks, but we were
trying to be as courteous as possible.  The
claim process began in early April.  In
May, the manufacturer ultimately found there was no manufacturing defect with
the wood – which we had asserted from the beginning. 
Moreover,
Total Floors never arranged for an inspector, despite repeated statements that
they would do so.    
It also
bears mentioning that I tried and was unable to secure an inspector from the
distributor, because the transaction was directly with Total Floors so only
they had the ability to send the inspector. 
We would have incurred additional costs to hire our own inspector for a
formal inspection.  However, as stated, the
contractor we ultimately hired to correct our flooring measured the planks were
crooked by at least 2 inches, which is an enormous deviation for flooring.  Even a couple millimeters of deviation can
ruin an installation.  Our second contractor
was stunned by the terrible job Total Floors had done.  I will also note that we have had no problems
with our second flooring installation by this second contractor, which was finally
completed in July – half a year after our nightmare with Total Floors began.
The
contract is attached to this email.  You
will see under the terms and conditions that Total Floors guarantees
installation for 2 years.  The
installation guarantee logically includes full removal and hauling away of the
faulty flooring.   
Total
Floor Response to Our Revdex.com Complaint: 
Each and
every statement made by Total Floors to our Revdex.com complaint is a
misrepresentation or outright lie, which is not surprising given our experience
with them and is a reflection of their business. 
1.  
Total
Floors states they removed wood flooring from our home before they began
installation, and suggest they had no duty to remove the bad floors they
installed because we ended up in the same position as before they began work.  This is both false and irrelevant.   
It’s false because, the
amount of flooring that needed to be removed after their shoddy installation
was significantly more than the amount they removed: 246 sq. feet versus 398
sq. feet.  Both contracts are attached.
(Compare “Total Floors Agreement” Item #4 with “Estimate from BBC Construction”
Item #1). Moreover, Total Floors left rubbish and materials in our home when
they refused to come back to remove the floors and for which we had to pay the second
contractor to haul away.  Pictures are
attached to show this.  (See email from [redacted] on April 21.)  They left us in a
worse position than before they began work in our home.     
In any event, their
assertion is irrelevant.  Whether and how
much flooring they removed before the installation simply has no bearing on the
obligations under an installation guarantee. 
An installation guarantee reasonably includes removal and hauling away
of any flooring and materials that is a direct result of their defective work.      
2.  
Total
Floors claims, “When concerns were brought up about the gaps in the wood, I
followed standard process of submitting a claim to Bruce, which was rejected.
 Bruce's response was that some gapping, specially in wider planks (she
has 5" I believe), is not unusual.” 
This is a brazen misrepresentation by Total Floors.  I have posted the claim denial letter at the end of this email below (due to limited number of allowable attachments, I could not directly attach the correspondence to this email).  The relevant portion states,
“No abnormalities were found within the grain or finish of this product.
Gapping in wood flooring can occur for a variety of reasons, including but not
limited to, subfloor movement, installer error, or seasonal humidity
changes.”  In other words, [redacted] conclusion affirms what we had asserted from
the beginning – that there were no problems relating to the milling or
manufacturing of the wood.  In fact, as
highlighted, the letter lists as one possible explanation “installer error.” 
A[redacted] relies on this
correspondence to suggest to you that the gapping between the wood was “not
unusual.”  First, and significantly, if
Total Floors really believed there was no problem with the installation, there
is no way they would have agreed to refund the $2900 we paid.  They knew that the installation fell well
below standard.    
Moreover, contrary to Total
Floors’ representations, Total Floors did not follow the proper process.  Despite repeated assurances they would send
an inspector from [redacted]/Bruce Flooring, they never did.  And we could not obtain an inspector directly,
because we did not directly contract with [redacted] or Bruce Flooring.  We even called and tried to obtain the
inspector ourselves from [redacted], but they told us they could only deal with
Total Floors.  (See email from [redacted] dated May 12.)   
We believe Total Floors did
not want the inspector to come to our house, because they knew the inspector
would find the gapping was the result of installation error and not “seasonal
humidity changes.”  You will see from the
Mill Claim Report, which requires only basic information, that Total Floors did not include necessary information of
(1) Product Moisture Reading at Install and (2) Subfloor Moisture Reading at
Install.  This is a very basic
requirement of flooring installation, as we later learned, and was also
necessary information for a flooring inspector to compare with the readings
during an inspection.  The fact that they
did not include this basic information, leads me to believe they never took
these readings in the first place.   
3.  
Total
Floors claims I "refused" to allow them to remedy the faulty
installation.  This is an outright lie.  They never offered to remedy the
faulty installation, and cannot point to a single communication in which they
ask, suggest, or even allude to this. 
Not once did they offer to repair the floors which would have required
them to tear out the flooring and reinstall it. 
In fact, the one and only time A[redacted] came to our house after we
complained about the gapping, he indicated that he was not willing to redo the
floors, and that the only solution was to apply more wood filler (!!!). 
Bob A[redacted] absolutely knew
what a bad job his installation team had performed in our home, I could see it
on his face when he saw the floors.  He
never tried to remedy the floors, and in fact told us he was not willing to do
so. 
Moreover, and tellingly,
his assertion that he wasn’t given a chance to fix the floors is inconsistent
with his assertion that nothing was wrong with the floors, which demonstrates
his dishonesty.  His assertion that
nothing was wrong with the floors also conflicts with the Mill Claim Report he
filled in which he wrote there were gaps between the planks, and also conflicts
with his previous attempts to explain the gapping as a milling problem, an then
as a humidity problem, etc.  Not only did
he continue to change his story, these statements also show he recognized there
was a problem with our floors.    
4.  
Total
Floors understood floor removal as an obligation under the 2-year installation
guarantee, which is demonstrated by Total Floors scheduling the removal date
and then cancelling it.  (See email dated May 13 and May 17).  After months of going back and forth with
Total Floors on what should have been a simple two-day project, we were so
relieved that we would finally be able to get our floors finished.  Four days after scheduling the floor removal
date, I received an email from A[redacted] stating that he would be sending a refund
check of the 40% deposit we paid, but would not be removing the flooring
because he “had incurred enough losses.”  
(See email from Bob A[redacted] dated May
17.)  In other words, he felt he had
lost too much money so we’d just have to eat it.  Forgetting the months of stress and worrying
we had gone through with this debacle, A[redacted] was basically saying that we would
have to bear some of the losses.  We were
blown away.  As consumers, we should not
bear monetary losses as a result of their shoddy work.  By scheduling a removal date, A[redacted] understood
the installation guarantee to include floor removal, but then decided he was
out of pocket too much so didn’t want to spend his own income on the removal –
he wanted us to spend ours.    
5.  
Finally,
regarding my [redacted] review, consumers should be warned about this business.  Total Floors posted a response to my review
suggesting that they had a potential legal claim against us (what gall), and also falsely
stated that [redacted]/Bruce concluded that the gapping was due to temperature
and moisture variations.  This is an outright lie that they posted on [redacted], as the
correspondence from [redacted] clearly does not state this at all.  It was this [redacted] response that prompted my
complaint with the Revdex.com to ensure that Total Floors is held
100% accountable for their wrongful acts and so consumers can be put on notice of how Total Floors does business.   
 
Total Floors and Bob A[redacted] put on a good act, but they are very dishonest.  I am attaching all email
correspondence between myself, my husband Aaron Hernandez, and Total Floors,
and all relevant documents referred to in this correspondence.  Because of the limit on the number of documents I am able to to attach here, I have posted the response from [redacted], finding no manufacturing defect, below.  You will see all these documents support my version of
events.  I believe we are entitled to the
$475 we had to pay out of pocket to remove the defective flooring as well as the trash
they left in our home.    
Please
contact me with questions or for more information.       
Regards,
[redacted] 



May 7, 2014
[redacted]
[redacted]
SUBJECT: **. [redacted]
[redacted]
Dear [redacted],




Thank you for submitting the above mentioned claim inspection report. After reviewing
the pictures that were submitted, we have determined this is not a warranted issue. No
manufacturing defects were found.
No abnormalities were found within the grain or finish of this product. Gapping in wood
flooring can occur for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, subfloor movement,
installer error, or seasonal humidity changes.
We appreciate your help in reviewing flooring problems. Since the problem is not
covered under our warranty, we are unable to authorize an adjustment.
Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Customer Relations & Technical Services
[redacted] Floor Products
Ref # [redacted]




[redacted] WORLD INDUSTRIES, INC.
CONSUMER SOLUTION CENTER
[redacted]., LANCASTER, PA 17603
P.O. BOX [redacted] LANCASTER, P[redacted]3 www[redacted]
www[redacted]

The customer was fully refunded all amounts paid to us.  The original floor, when we arrived there, was partially covered with wood, and we removed it for new installation.  When concerns were brought up about the gaps in the wood, I followed standard process of submitting a claim to...

Bruce, which was rejected.  Bruce's response was that some gapping, specially in wider planks (she has 5" I believe), is not unusual.  I forwarded the email response to her.  She refused to let us in to perform any warranty repairs, or let us finish the job, as she said she had lost confidence in us.  I immediately refunded her full amount, despite the fact that we had completely paid for her material and labor and were not going to be reimbursed by anyone.  She wanted us to come and fully remove the floor, even though she would not let us in to repair, AND she had started out with a partially covered floor.  She can not claim installation warranty, since once refunded, there was no transaction to claim warranty against.  To give you an idea what a vulgar and rude individual [redacted] is, please see attached email she sent me, simply because I replied to her long and nasty review on [redacted].  "This message is for Bob A[redacted].  I just saw your response on [redacted] to my 100% accurate review of the half year long nightmare your [redacted] company caused me and my husband.   Consider yourself lucky we did not file a lawsuit in small claims court to recover the money you essentially stole from us - we decided to just let it go so we didn't have to deal with you people anymore.  Any suggestion that you had a legal claim against us is laughable, we are both lawyers.  You are crooks, acted like you did us a favor by returning our deposit after you fked up our house, didn't fulfill the warranty, stole money from us, and then left all your crap at our home.  You are CROOKS, and that is your reality to live with."