• Report: #559632

Complaint Review: HDB Interiors Inc. Floor Brokers

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  • Submitted: Monday, January 25, 2010
  • Last Posting: Sunday, January 31, 2010
  • Reported By: GagLuc — Toronto Ontario Canada
HDB Interiors Inc. Floor Brokers
1295 Royal Drive Burlington Ontario L7P2G2 United States of America

HDB Interiors Inc. Floor Brokers sold us wood milled in Quebec for $7.25/sqft and switched the wood last minute for cheap Continental Designs wood milled in China which costs less than 50% of what we paid and is horrible quality. HD Burlington, Ontario

*UPDATE by author: HDB Interiors Sucks


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In July 2008 we purchased (and paid for) 1100 sqft of hardwood from HDB Interiors Inc. Flooring Brokers and hired the same company to install this wood.  2 months later, one day before the install the President Tony Hellman came to us to inform us that the wood we purchased was sold to another customer but he had secured a "much better" product that was a different species and size but everything else was the same.  He offered us a $1,000 discount because it was more narrow than we wanted.

Since we were in the middle of a complete renovation on our condo and were supposed to have the wood installed the following day we felt we had no choice but to accept the wood (now we know better).

We have had nothing but problems with this product starting from 6 weeks after it was installed!  It is cracking and has a milky look to the finish.  We were told many times by Tony Hellman that this is normal for all hardwood, however recently we had some water damage and tried to get some more wood to repair the floor and that was when we discovered the extremely low quality of product that was installed.  We have since consulted with several professionals and now know Tony Hellman installed a much lower quality of wood than we paid for and than what was in our written contract with him.

Tony Hellman misrepresented himself as a transparent professional, and has even posted a review of his business using my email address and a fake name on homestars which I have asked them to remove.  Despite confirmation for other flooring professionals that this product is of very low quality Tony Hellman refuses to admit this and has offered no resolution to rectify the issue.

Long story short, Tony Hellman of HDB Interiors Inc. ripped us off.  Until we realized it he seemed extremely helpful but as soon as we confronted him about the wood he has stopped talking to us.  Stay away from HDB Interiors Inc.  If you're looking for cheap wood go directly to his supplier Brampton Hardwood and pay 30% of what Tony wood charge you for the same product.  If you're looking for a high quality hardwood floor don't trust Tony's advice.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 1/25/2010 9:38:54 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/carpet-tile-installers/hdb-interiors-inc-fl/hdb-interiors-inc-floor-broke-723a4.htm.

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#1 Owner of Company

There are Three Truths to every story, your truth, my truth and the truth

AUTHOR: Tony Hellman - Burlington (Canada)

There are three truths to every story,

Your truth, my truth and the truth,

In this story we have a client that wants new floors and is willing to say ANYTHING to get them.

 

The following is my truth, but please do not believe a word I say because it is only based on my interpretation of what really happened.

 

 Yet if you do find that this posting is resonating some truth please email me and I will provide factual evidence on both my company’s credibility, the alleged accusations and the many happy clients that we have happily serviced over the last 4 years.

 

I stand by my companies experience, service, suppliers, installers and products.

 

I have been in the flooring and home décor industry for over 21 years, working with some of the largest and best recognized home décor stores in North America. The one and only thing that clients have ever said about me as a person is that I am very dedicated and professional when it come to helping them make choices that they will live with for years to come. In my 21 years I have recognized that you can not please everyone as much as you give advice and guidance, when someone has a preset idea they will proceed and no matter how much advice is given they will purchase that product and feel buyer’s remorse after a year or two.

 

I am not saying that this is the case at hand.

 

In the case at hand Lucie and Brett Gagnon are determined to get a new floor no matter what. They will say and do what ever it takes to get this floor replaced at anyone’s expense except their own.

 

Please understand I do not blame them or hold any bad feelings towards them. It is human nature to make a choice feel bad about the choice and give your power away by blaming others. “This is a proven fact brought forth by many of the great emotional healers today.”

 

I agreed to mediation with the BBB and Lucie and Brett said no.

 

I have all the emails Lucie and Brett have sent me over the past year. If the floor was a problem in six weeks why did they wait a year to contact me?

 

I have reports and documents from the supplier that confirm:

 (a) Cumuru also known as Brazilian Teak is much harder than Jatoba also known as Brazilian Cherry.

(b) The Product is grown cut and formed in BRAZIL AND FINISHED IN CANADA

 

I am truly sorry that the Gagnon’s feel that water damage caused by a leek in the laundry room, and over dryness in the condo have caused damage to this floor. The water damage is an insurance claim.

 

I contact my supplier on the Gagnon’s behalf before Lucie decided to contact them directly, and had as an act of good faith to my company they had agreed to replace the damaged boards and supply at a charge to the Gagnon’s the boxes needed to replace the water damage on the second floor.

 

This was not acceptable. They want a new floor free of charge.

 

HDB Interiors is a small company in a tough economical time and down sized last year because we had to. For over 21 years I have based my reputation on excellent customer relations and superior service.

 

As I said in the beginning of my rebuttal please do not take my word for it, I have clients that will gladly tell you about HDB, I also have all the documents to prove my truth in this alleged “RIP OFF”

 

tony@hdbfloors.com

 

Re a mass emailing, being a small company I rely on customer referrals we do not have an advertising budget and are working on growing the business. So I email all my clients asking for referrals and yes I am human and not technical so I do send the email addresses of all my clients to my other clients. I have since learned how not to do that anymore.

 

“please remember that in this great country people can write what ever they want and without limits, no matter how much damage it can possibly do to another human being, and all based on hear say. Why not live in love of all things and everyone.”

 

Namaste

Anthony Hellman

 

I look forward to your calls and emails and also to The Gagnon’s response…we all have something to say.

 

Sincerely,

 

Anthony Hellman

President and Founder HDB Interiors Inc.

 


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#2 Update By Author

Inaccurate measurements in their favour

AUTHOR: GagLuc - Toronto (Canada)

Yesterday we had another installer measure our floorspace and found out we only have 864sqft (this includes waste and a power room we added this time that Tony did not measure).  Tony charged us for 1100sqft, so an additional 236+sqft.

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#3 Update By Author

Tony your "story" keeps getting better and better

AUTHOR: GagLuc - Toronto (Canada)

Your "truth" changes on a daily basis.  We were never offered to have the cracked boards replaced and your "supplier" doesn't even carry this wood anymore (you are referring to the Cumaru 3 5/8 which you should know is not what you installed or can you not remember since you pulled the old switch-a-roo at the last moment?).  Furthermore, what do you suggest we do about the milky finish through the floor, or is that the quality of product you stand behind?  Is that something your customers should be expected to live with if they hire you?  Because it's not something we are willing to live with, especially not for the price we paid you....

You stand by your product, you provide excellent service?  Why is it that I could not get a reply to my emails and the only way to get your attention was to go public and then immediately you went into damage control with all your various "stories" (all of which are different and all of which I have a record of).

Don't worry Tony I'm not getting a "free" floor by voicing my opinion about your company (which I will continue to do). 

In my situation what you did is you purchased cheap hardwood from Brampton Hardwood and sold this to us as "best on the market" for a minimum 50% mark-up.  You then "miscalculate" our floor space to further overcharge us and when we brought up our issues of cracking planks 6 weeks after installation you informed us that these were regular issues with hardwood and then dragged your feet and pretend to be helpful until enough time has passed by that you could say "if there was a problem why did you wait a year to address it"?

The water damage is not my concern, as you stated that is an insurance issue - my concern is the overall quality (or lack of quality in this case) of the floor that you installed.

Your deceptive sales tactics worked on me, but if I can prevent even one more person from being deceived by you my job will be done.

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#4 Owner of Company

Thre truths to evry story...you be the judge.

AUTHOR: Tony Hellman - Burlington (Canada)

We tried to come to a resolution with this client and offered to replace the cracked boards, even though we were not responsible for the cracking. We attempted to resolve it through the BBB. Unfortunately, in this case, we couldn’t come to a reasonable settlement.

 

We have a letter from our supplier stating that the floor is not from China.We stand by our products, our suppliers, our craftsmanship and our great customer service practices. 

We are dedicated to being a great company with a lot of heart dedicated to our client’s satisfaction, exceeding customer service excellence.

 

 We respect and appreciate all our clients as they also respect and appreciate all that we do for them as reflected in the other reviews and ones to follow.

 

 Namaste

 

Tony Hellman

 

 President and Founder HDB Interiors Inc.


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#5 Update By Author

HDB Interiors Sucks

AUTHOR: GagLuc - Toronto (Canada)

If you would like more details about HDB Interiors or Tony Hellman we are blogging about it on this site.  http://www.hdbsucks.com/ feel free to contact us with any questions you many have.

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