May 23: At 10am decided to call National Floors Direct to talk about what the next steps were. Dave told me that they had to customize the floor boards and when they had them done they would call me to schedule a day. He kept going on and on how on average these jobs take three days and I need to be patient. I calmly was trying to tell him it's only taking three days because of lack of communication on their part and because they ran out of wood and they tried to walk away without doing the closets, taking off all the glue and cleaning up. He kept arguing I need to be patient and these guys are working the hardest they can to keep me happy. I asked to speak to his supervisor.
His supervisor is Aaron, he is the customer service manager. I was told he was at the bank and I left a message. At 2pm I still hadn't heard from Aaron, so I called back. The woman asked me my name and put me on hold. She came back and said he wasn't working today and would be in in the evening. I was pissed and let her know that he is working. At 3pm Aaron called me. I told him all the complains - the fact it's taking three days, the fact that yesterday they could have cleaned up all the glue and wood chips at least, the fact that the boards weren't put down in the best manner, and boards that were damaged were laid. I also told him how they didnt actually move my furniture, but they worked around it. Which means my $1000 coach is covered in wood dust, my entertainment system that isn't meant to be moved after being assembled is now lose and wobbling, and how they put my elliptical machine back on top of all the wood chips/dust without cleaning up. Aaron said he would come by my apartment in the evneing to look at everything.
Evening: Aaron came over to see everything. He measured the closets. I showed him the lose corner rounding by the front door, the nail or staple sticking out of the threshold in the kitchen that could have hurt me, all the wood chips/dust, and the scratches/dents/imperfect boards. He agreed to have the rounding nailed down, the threshold replaced. He said there was nothing that could be done about the scratches/dents. For the mess he brought over a Bruche Floor Care Kit (a $30 value) and said it was my job to clean up. However, remember when I called all the referrals they stated clean up was included and their houses were left spick-and-span. He agreed to let Robert know everything. He agreed to pay for my couch to be cleaned and to take $200 off the bill since it was taking so long.
Here is the shady part: I asked him who his supervisor was and he said he didn't have one. So asked him who he reports to and he said the corporation. When I asked him what that means, he said he didn't know who that was...he never met them. So asked him who hired him, and he wouldnt answer me. Definitely shady when someone won't tell you who their boss is!!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Day TWO
May 22, 2007:
It's 10am and I haven't heard from anyone. I called National Floors Direct. Dave wasn't around so I spoke to Marshelle. She said someone will call me shortly and I mentioned to her about the closets and she said she will make sure i will get done.
At 11:30am I get a call from my building that the men are there so I give them permission to enter. Remember, no one got in touch with me about what time they were going to show up at.
At 12:30 I got a call from Robert, he seems to be the boss of the two Portuguese men doing work in my apartment. From my understanding, National Floors Direct signs work from people like me and then they get outside contractors to whom they sell the contract to, or if not sell the contract, these contractors do the work for a cut I'm paying. But these contractors are another business that also do their own stuff and don't work for just National Floors Direct.
Anyways, so Robert called and in broken English said his men were done and were waiting for me to sign their contract. I asked him they had cleaned up and were completely done. He said yes and asked me how long it would take for me to get home. I said 20 minutes and he told me to rush because his guys had to go to another job.
I got back to my apartment at 1pm and the men were still working. And the closets hadn't been done. I called Dave, he had no idea what I was talking about and said he would call me back. The men kept working. At 1:30 Robert called me to tell me to sign the contract. I said his men weren't done and neither were the closets. Dave called me back and said they will come back to do the closets, because the pieces had to be custom made. Finally at 2:15pm the men were done and ready to go. Robert called for me to sign the contract and I explained to him to talk to Dave since the closets weren't done. They finally left at 2:30pm...an hour and half after they were supposedly done.
It's 10am and I haven't heard from anyone. I called National Floors Direct. Dave wasn't around so I spoke to Marshelle. She said someone will call me shortly and I mentioned to her about the closets and she said she will make sure i will get done.
At 11:30am I get a call from my building that the men are there so I give them permission to enter. Remember, no one got in touch with me about what time they were going to show up at.
At 12:30 I got a call from Robert, he seems to be the boss of the two Portuguese men doing work in my apartment. From my understanding, National Floors Direct signs work from people like me and then they get outside contractors to whom they sell the contract to, or if not sell the contract, these contractors do the work for a cut I'm paying. But these contractors are another business that also do their own stuff and don't work for just National Floors Direct.
Anyways, so Robert called and in broken English said his men were done and were waiting for me to sign their contract. I asked him they had cleaned up and were completely done. He said yes and asked me how long it would take for me to get home. I said 20 minutes and he told me to rush because his guys had to go to another job.
I got back to my apartment at 1pm and the men were still working. And the closets hadn't been done. I called Dave, he had no idea what I was talking about and said he would call me back. The men kept working. At 1:30 Robert called me to tell me to sign the contract. I said his men weren't done and neither were the closets. Dave called me back and said they will come back to do the closets, because the pieces had to be custom made. Finally at 2:15pm the men were done and ready to go. Robert called for me to sign the contract and I explained to him to talk to Dave since the closets weren't done. They finally left at 2:30pm...an hour and half after they were supposedly done.
Yay for new floors!
May 21: There was no scheduled time that the installers were to arrive. I was told they would just call when they were on their way. So I took the day off from work and expected them at 8am since I expected them to finish it in a day. My living room is only 270 square feet, how hard could that be right? I got a call at 8:30am from a man who I could barely make out. He definitely wasn't fluent in English. He said his men were on their way and would be there in 30 minutes.
Fast forward - it is now 11am and no word from anyone. I called National Floors Direct and spoke to Dave, the installation manager who had talked to my building manager and had called me Friday to confirm everything. He told me to relax and not stress out. Five hours would be plenty of time for them to finish my job. Finally at noon the men arrived. They spoke no English. They surveyed the living room and finally got down to ripping up my carpet at 1pm. I tried to tell them to lay the tarp outside my apartment but they kept saying yes, yes with no tarp. So I called Dave again, who told in a condescending tone told me that is a stupid rule and the men wouldn't have that much tarp in their truck. I was pissed, especially if they damaged anything.
I let the men work without bothering them. I was working in my bedroom and only came out to check on them and offer them water and food. Around 5pm I went to tell they had to be out of my building by 5:30, those were the rules. They looked so surprised, as if Dave hadn't mentioned that to them. I was surprised they could understand me now! I guess when you say stop, its universally understood. I found out that they were calling it a day anyways because they were out of wood boards. It seems Chris the sales person didn't measure my apartment correctly and there wasn't enough wood floors to finish. So they said they would clean up and someone would call me about them coming back tomorrow. I also asked them before they left about my closets, since they hadn't replaced the transition boards from the dark brown oak that had come with my condo to the new natural wood color. They nodded as if they understood.
At 6pm when they left I called National Floors Direct to leave a message for Dave...I told him they didn't finish and I couldn't take another day from work so I would give them access to my apartment. I also mentioned the closets to him.
Wow my apartment is full of wood dust!! My allergies are flaring up. I can't even sleep, the wood dust has gotten into my bedroom and sheets, since they were cutting the wood right outside my bedroom door after they had taken the transition piece out so there as a wide gap between the bottom of my door and the floor. ugh!
Fast forward - it is now 11am and no word from anyone. I called National Floors Direct and spoke to Dave, the installation manager who had talked to my building manager and had called me Friday to confirm everything. He told me to relax and not stress out. Five hours would be plenty of time for them to finish my job. Finally at noon the men arrived. They spoke no English. They surveyed the living room and finally got down to ripping up my carpet at 1pm. I tried to tell them to lay the tarp outside my apartment but they kept saying yes, yes with no tarp. So I called Dave again, who told in a condescending tone told me that is a stupid rule and the men wouldn't have that much tarp in their truck. I was pissed, especially if they damaged anything.
I let the men work without bothering them. I was working in my bedroom and only came out to check on them and offer them water and food. Around 5pm I went to tell they had to be out of my building by 5:30, those were the rules. They looked so surprised, as if Dave hadn't mentioned that to them. I was surprised they could understand me now! I guess when you say stop, its universally understood. I found out that they were calling it a day anyways because they were out of wood boards. It seems Chris the sales person didn't measure my apartment correctly and there wasn't enough wood floors to finish. So they said they would clean up and someone would call me about them coming back tomorrow. I also asked them before they left about my closets, since they hadn't replaced the transition boards from the dark brown oak that had come with my condo to the new natural wood color. They nodded as if they understood.
At 6pm when they left I called National Floors Direct to leave a message for Dave...I told him they didn't finish and I couldn't take another day from work so I would give them access to my apartment. I also mentioned the closets to him.
Wow my apartment is full of wood dust!! My allergies are flaring up. I can't even sleep, the wood dust has gotten into my bedroom and sheets, since they were cutting the wood right outside my bedroom door after they had taken the transition piece out so there as a wide gap between the bottom of my door and the floor. ugh!
Let the fun begin...
May 14, 2007 I signed the contract with Chris of National Floors Direct to have Armstrong Engineered Hardwood installed in my apartment. It was called Paradise Natural.
May 15-17, 2007: I had three days to cancel the contract, so I was hard at work doing my res arch about National Floors Direct and the wood choice. The people who answer the phone when you call National Floors Direct at 1-888-400-FLOOR don't know anything about the merchandise they sell. When I called them to set up the initial home visit by the sales person and asked them what types of wood they sell (so I wouldn't waste the sales persons time if it was bad quality) they said they didn't know and it would be something to ask the sales person.
I started by googling National Floors Direct, as mentioned I could only find them on the BBB website. I thought to myself, they've been in business for 6 months and 4 complaints, that isn't bad. I also got in touch with the Office Manager at National Floors Direct and got four references. Of course, the lag time was 5 days so by the time I got the references it was too late to cancel. However, all four references could only rave about the service and product they got. They were all elated and said I would be happy. Before moving on, a word about the Office Manager. Her name is Marshelle, and a word of warning, don't expect her to return your calls or take your messages. I signed my contract on May 14. May 15 I called National Floors Direct to let them know they needed to speak with my building manager to go over some rules and regulations before entering my building. This was just to let them know that they need to tarp the path from the freight elevator to apartment as not to damage anything, that they can only work between 8am and 5:30pm, and that they can't nail the wood it must be glued down.
I had to stay on top of Marshelle and call her every day to see if she had spoken to my building manager. My installation was scheduled for May 21st (Monday). May 18th (Friday) at 5pm is when she finally made an attempt to call my building and luckily the building manager was still on site. I also had asked her for the exact name of the wood and model number because I couldn't find it on armstrong.com. She never got back to me and it actually slipped my mind with everything else going on. I did ask her about it 2 weeks ago. More on that later.
May 20th, I cleared out my living room. I put all the chairs in my bedroom, the ottoman, the side tables, the bookshelf, the newspaper rack, all my personal stuff (picture frames, TV, VCR, etc) away. They only items I left for the installers to move was my dining room table, entertainment system, couch, and elliptical machine.
May 15-17, 2007: I had three days to cancel the contract, so I was hard at work doing my res arch about National Floors Direct and the wood choice. The people who answer the phone when you call National Floors Direct at 1-888-400-FLOOR don't know anything about the merchandise they sell. When I called them to set up the initial home visit by the sales person and asked them what types of wood they sell (so I wouldn't waste the sales persons time if it was bad quality) they said they didn't know and it would be something to ask the sales person.
I started by googling National Floors Direct, as mentioned I could only find them on the BBB website. I thought to myself, they've been in business for 6 months and 4 complaints, that isn't bad. I also got in touch with the Office Manager at National Floors Direct and got four references. Of course, the lag time was 5 days so by the time I got the references it was too late to cancel. However, all four references could only rave about the service and product they got. They were all elated and said I would be happy. Before moving on, a word about the Office Manager. Her name is Marshelle, and a word of warning, don't expect her to return your calls or take your messages. I signed my contract on May 14. May 15 I called National Floors Direct to let them know they needed to speak with my building manager to go over some rules and regulations before entering my building. This was just to let them know that they need to tarp the path from the freight elevator to apartment as not to damage anything, that they can only work between 8am and 5:30pm, and that they can't nail the wood it must be glued down.
I had to stay on top of Marshelle and call her every day to see if she had spoken to my building manager. My installation was scheduled for May 21st (Monday). May 18th (Friday) at 5pm is when she finally made an attempt to call my building and luckily the building manager was still on site. I also had asked her for the exact name of the wood and model number because I couldn't find it on armstrong.com. She never got back to me and it actually slipped my mind with everything else going on. I did ask her about it 2 weeks ago. More on that later.
May 20th, I cleared out my living room. I put all the chairs in my bedroom, the ottoman, the side tables, the bookshelf, the newspaper rack, all my personal stuff (picture frames, TV, VCR, etc) away. They only items I left for the installers to move was my dining room table, entertainment system, couch, and elliptical machine.
The Purpose....
It all started on March 13, 2007. A drunk kid at my birthday party got out of control and burnt a 4X4 area of my living room carpet. Living in a nice building in the center of Boston, I already knew fixing it was going to be expensive. I had two contractors come through hoping I could just patch up the area but unfortunately not.
I ended up getting quotes from two contractors, Empire Direct, and of course National Floors Direct. The two contractor prices were pretty close to each other, one was $3560 and one quoted $3700 for just my living room. Empire Direct quoted the same as National Floors Direct, but they were charging $60 to move each piece of furniture. While I knew I could move it all on my own, I knew that moving my entertainment system, couch, and my elliptical machine was going to be a struggle. I could get friends to move all of it for me, but when National Floors Direct said that moving furniture was free I was elated.
I also chose National Floors Direct for other reasons. One was the sales person. Chris was very friendly and answered all my questions. Compared to the man from Empire Direct (which actually canceled on me twice) the experience was a lot smoother with Chris. Also, the carpet haul away was included (which on contractor added on a surcharge for that) and as mentioned the furniture moving was included. They were selling me Armstrong wood (or at least that is what the sample they showed me said...more on that later) which after my research proved to be a good wood. Also, with contractors I was afraid that if something went wrong after a few months, what would I do if the contractor bounced town? At least National Floors Direct was an established company or so I thought. I also got quotes from Home Depot and Lowe's but the one problem with them is they would deliver the hardwood floors to my apartment buildings curb and it would be my responsibility to move the floor boards up to my condo on the 24th floor. And then the installer would come on another day to to the installation. WAY to much work!!
Now the purpose of this blog is the document my experience with National Floors Direct and provide you some insight onto their business model. I am a bit late starting this blog, so I'll have everything date in the past. Now I'm not trying to slam National Floors Direct nor slander them, I'm just trying to show their true side....not the side they show on their TV commercials. I will try and not to sound angry and disgruntled, but try and provide a resource for any consumer looking at National Floors Direct to do their flooring. Because I know after I signed the contract with National Floors Direct I went online and searched high and low for reviews and found nothing. The only thing I could find was listed on the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern MA, Maine, and Vermont... http://www.bosbbb.org/reports/reliability_report.asp?FirmId=37103
I ended up getting quotes from two contractors, Empire Direct, and of course National Floors Direct. The two contractor prices were pretty close to each other, one was $3560 and one quoted $3700 for just my living room. Empire Direct quoted the same as National Floors Direct, but they were charging $60 to move each piece of furniture. While I knew I could move it all on my own, I knew that moving my entertainment system, couch, and my elliptical machine was going to be a struggle. I could get friends to move all of it for me, but when National Floors Direct said that moving furniture was free I was elated.
I also chose National Floors Direct for other reasons. One was the sales person. Chris was very friendly and answered all my questions. Compared to the man from Empire Direct (which actually canceled on me twice) the experience was a lot smoother with Chris. Also, the carpet haul away was included (which on contractor added on a surcharge for that) and as mentioned the furniture moving was included. They were selling me Armstrong wood (or at least that is what the sample they showed me said...more on that later) which after my research proved to be a good wood. Also, with contractors I was afraid that if something went wrong after a few months, what would I do if the contractor bounced town? At least National Floors Direct was an established company or so I thought. I also got quotes from Home Depot and Lowe's but the one problem with them is they would deliver the hardwood floors to my apartment buildings curb and it would be my responsibility to move the floor boards up to my condo on the 24th floor. And then the installer would come on another day to to the installation. WAY to much work!!
Now the purpose of this blog is the document my experience with National Floors Direct and provide you some insight onto their business model. I am a bit late starting this blog, so I'll have everything date in the past. Now I'm not trying to slam National Floors Direct nor slander them, I'm just trying to show their true side....not the side they show on their TV commercials. I will try and not to sound angry and disgruntled, but try and provide a resource for any consumer looking at National Floors Direct to do their flooring. Because I know after I signed the contract with National Floors Direct I went online and searched high and low for reviews and found nothing. The only thing I could find was listed on the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern MA, Maine, and Vermont... http://www.bosbbb.org/reports/reliability_report.asp?FirmId=37103
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