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Report: #424424

Complaint Review: Decorating Connections Inc. - Whitby Ontario

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  • Decorating Connections Inc. 1390 Hopkins Street, Whitby, Ontario Canada

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In April of 2008 we hired Decorating Connections Inc. from Whitby Ontario to install Engineered Hardwood flooring from Shnier, Gesco Limited Partnership. The project took weeks longer than promised. They sent 1 man for most of the work and he worked only 5 hours a day as it was.

After the work was complete, we noted the floor was lifting up and down when walked on. Decorating Connections , after conferring witht the supplier (Shnier) agreed to redo the floor blaming it on warped wood. The floor was partially removed and re-installed. We stopped the 2nd install when we noticed the boards did not match in scheen and color. And many boards were found to be badly warped. They came in cardboard boxes that showed signs of moisture inside.

The installed and the supplier agreed to supply another brand of hardwood (we found out later it was both cheaper and inferior quality). This time both us and the installer carefully checked each board for warpage and rejected dozens of boxes (some pieces would make good crossbows). Despite our objections the floor was finished for the 3rd time in September 2008 (or was it 4th?) and was still unacceptable. The floor still moves when walked on. After all the multiple installations we ended up with damaged walls, damaged furniture, damaged baseboards and mouldings. They lifted up a vanity in the bathroom and ruined the granite top. Their man hooked the hot and water taps backwards when he did it.

Shnier hired a flooring inspector to study the problem, but he did not show up until near end of November 2008. His report casts almost all blame on poor installation. As he never saw all the piles of warped and rejected wood, he keyed on improper floor leveling and improper expansion spaces left along walls. The install manual asks for 1/2' gaps and Decorating Connections only left 1/16", that being 7/16" too little. So the floor literally bounces up and down as humidity changes and folks walk on it.

Despite multiple promises to deal with thsi, Decorating Connections has not returned to fix anything and we have witheld holdback payment. Sadly it will cost them, more money than the holdback to fix the problems, so they are leaving us hanging and unhappy.

This is the worst customer service I have ever seen in my 52 years on earth, 31 of them in the construction business. This company should not be in business and should be forced to do us right!

Anonymous
whitby, Ontario
Canada

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 02/15/2009 04:28 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/decorating-connections-inc/whitby-ontario/decorating-connections-inc-engineered-hardwood-flooring-by-worlds-worst-flooring-contrac-424424. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
2Consumer
1Employee/Owner

#3 Consumer Comment

Why are you both wasting time?

AUTHOR: Albert Vonda - (Canada)

POSTED: Sunday, April 19, 2009

This situation is very intriguing. Obviously the home owner has a serious issue, or why bother? The owner's response talks about the work that they did do that has nothing to do with the homeowners complaints. So it is clear this business did a lot of work for this homeowner. The original complaint has to do with none of the work done right, just what was done wrong. If this is the case, why does the contractor focus on the work done right, and ignore the actual complaint? If this business has made their profits on doing good work, why play "run and hide" on the work done poorly?

If it was me, I would do whatever it takes to mend the relationship and put this to an end. The smart thing for both parties is to compromise on a solution that both can live with and end the unhappiness. Neither side truly wins perhaps, but perhaps then no one loses either? Some pride maybe, but that is by far the better choice and the high road to take.

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#2 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Always two sides to every story

AUTHOR: Donna Price - (Canada)

POSTED: Thursday, March 26, 2009

It's unfortunate that we have an unhappy consumer this is definately not our intention. I have been in this business for over 20 years, 10 of them with my own Company. We at Decorating Connections provide quality service, and care about our customers. I have in fact over the years seen jobs done by others that could be classified as the worst in 52 years on earth this is not one of them.
1st - the consumer forgot to mention that they had 2 layers of existing ceramic tile installed in the kitchen with a brand new kitchen on top. Our crew removed two layers of tile without damaging any of the cabinets and re-installed chissled travertine perfectly in the Kitchen.
2nd - there is no mention of the removal of existing tile from the front foyer and a perfect slate flooring installed.
3rd - there is no mention of the custom templated patterned stair runner on a hollywood staircase installed perfectly.
4th - there is no mention of all new baseboards, casings with backbend and new doors supplied and installed perfectly - painted complete. - And the fact that the homeowner praised our installer and would have them back in their home anytime. I believe the words where I love Jack he is so respectful of our home. I love Lonnie and wanted to make sure that I compensated him properly for all the extra time and effort he took when removing the hardwood floor and carefully inspecting the new floor and replacing it.
5th - there is also no mention that we installed a floating engineered hardwood over existing ceramic tile throughout the rest of the main floor with each room full of furniture that we moved at no extra charge to the client.
6th - It was stated that we sent one man to do the work when in fact we had 4 different men on this site. Painter, plumber, ceramic tile installer, hardwood flooring installer, and carpet installer.
7th - The original job was completed in a very timely manner, finished to satisfaction.
It was only after we were done that the client complained that the floor moved up and down when walked on. We attended the home with the supplier who authorized replacement of the wood in question with new boxes. The date was scheduled for us to return with another 80 sq ft to replace the area of concern for the client. At this time the new boxes had a different sheen level and color than the original wood. Therefore the replacement area could not be matched. We again contacted our supplier who inturn authorized a full replacement floor for the consumer who inturn came in and chose their alternative floor (WE DID NOT PROVIDE THEM WITH AN INFERIOR PRODUCT, THE PRODUCT INSTALLED WAS THE ONE CHOSEN BY CLIENT). -- The replacement material was shipped to site -- when opening the boxes our installer noticed to much deflection with the boards that had been shipped. -- Our office was notified and we were on site with the Supplier -- Our supplier recommended us to continue and they would send any extra boxes required to complete the project and had our installer hand inspect every board before it was installed -- At this time our installer carfully inspected each board before it was installed -- 900 sq ft of floating hardwood would normally take 3 - 4 days. It took 16 days due to the fact that every board had to be inspected and any boards set aside to be returned to the supplier that were unacceptable to the client. I have been in this industry over 20 years and I know of no other installer who would take this kind of care. They would simply say I am out of here. -- It was the final day when we were to finish up and install the balance of the trim when we received a call from the homeowner once again that she was not happy with the deflection in the floor. On arriving to the home we found sticky notes all over the floor. The supplier was immediately called and attended the site within 20 minutes. The supplier suggested that an Independent Inspector attend the site to inspect the floor. The inspection report indicates that the flooring and the installation and the hardwood in question is within Industry standards and found no quality issues with the product.
I would be more than happy to try to resolve this matter, the best suggestion would be to remove the hardwood flooring, remove the ceramic from underneath the hardwood and level the floor properly. Unfortunately the homeowner does not want to go through the mess or the expense to have this done. With floating floors there will always be some deflection. To replace this floor again with a floating floor I believe the client would still not be happy. We have not abandoned them and would love to resolve this matter with the client. We are in business to have satisfied customers and have had hundreds over the years.
The fact remains that we have now replaced this floor twice with a floating application, we have leveled the floor underneath with leveling compound to meet the standards for a floating application as best we could with so much furniture in the room.
Again we have not gone anywhere we have tried on several occasions to resolve this matter we believe that we will not be able to solve their issues by replacing this floor with the same type of install.
The client has requested that we completely remove the floor again, have someone come in and completely re-level the ceramics underneath the hardwoodr and supply and install once again their original selection that was removed and disposed of the first time.
We believe to totally make this floor perfectly level with no deflection would cost much more than the original $600.00 that we had incorporated into the price for leveling to meet industry tolerances for a floating floor and still no guarantees that deflection would not be obvious with this application.

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#1 Author of original report

Decorating Connections Inc. Engineered hardwood flooring by world's worst flooring contractor! Whitby Ontario Canada

AUTHOR: Anonymous - (Canada)

POSTED: Monday, February 16, 2009

In April of 2008 we hired Decorating Connections Inc. from Whitby Ontario to install Engineered Hardwood flooring from Shnier, Gesco Limited Partnership. The project took weeks longer than promised. They sent 1 man for most of the work and he worked only 5 hours a day as it was. After the work was complete, we noted the floor was lifting up and down when walked on. Decorating Connections , after conferring witht the supplier (Shnier) agreed to redo the floor blaming it on warped wood. The floor was partially removed and re-installed. We stopped the 2nd install when we noticed the boards did not match in sheen and color. And many boards were found to be badly warped. They came in cardboard boxes that showed signs of moisture inside. The installed and the supplier agreed to supply another brand of hardwood (we found out later it was both cheaper and inferior quality). This time both us and the installer carefully checked each board for warp age and rejected dozens of boxes (some pieces would make good crossbows). Despite our objections the floor was finished for the 3rd time in September 2008 (or was it 4th?) and was still unacceptable. The floor still moves when walked on. After all the multiple installations we ended up with damaged walls, damaged furniture, damaged baseboards and moldings. They lifted up a vanity in the bathroom and ruined the granite top. Their man hooked the hot and water taps backwards when he did it. Shnier hired a flooring inspector to study the problem, but he did not show up until near end of November 2008. His report casts almost all blame on poor installation. As he never saw all the piles of warped and rejected wood, he keyed on improper floor leveling and improper expansion spaces left along walls. The install manual asks for 1/2" gaps and Decorating Connections only left 1/16", that being 7/16" too little. So the floor literally bounces up and down as humidity changes and folks walk on it. Despite multiple promises to deal with this, Decorating Connections has not returned to fix anything and we have withheld hold back payment. Sadly it will cost them more money than the hold back to fix the problems, so they are leaving us hanging and unhappy. This is the worst customer service I have ever seen in my 52 years on earth, 31 of them in the construction business. This company should not be in business and should be forced to do us right! Anonymous Whitby, Ontario
Canada

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