Be careful if you deal with this company! On 14 Jan I visited The Laminate Store in Tampa Florida to purchase Laminate to replace my damaged hardwood floor. I picked out what I wanted and provided the room measurements to the Salesman. He calculated that the 16ftX16ft room would need 279 square feet. This came to 19 boxes of the laminate I had chosen at just about $44 a box ($2.98 a square foot). Add to this the underlayer and moisture layer and all the moulding pieces plus installation it came to just under $1900.00. Quite a bit for a small 16ftX16ft room but I wanted it done right so I paid for it in CASH. (First mistake!). I loaded my car with the laminate and all the accessory pieces and the Installation Manager said I could pick any day to have it installed since his work force had very little work. I asked him to send the installers over on Wednesday the 17th of Jan. The Installation Manager told me they would be at my home between 8 and 9 A.M. On the 17th. That night (14 Jan) I removed my old hardwood floor and prepared the concrete foundation for the new laminate floor. The installers arrived on the morning of the 17th and installed the floor in about two and a half hours.
Here is where the problem arose. The installers cut quite a bit of the laminate when they installed it so it would be "staggered" which is proper. This resulted in not enough laminate to FINISH the floor. There was about ten feet of floor left to cover ONE BOARD WIDTH wide. Here is where it gets interesting.in order to FINISH the job I had to purchase another box of laminate at $44.00 plus tax AND pay the SAME installers $150.00 to come back and FINISH the job that they messed up to start with. I contacted the Installation Manager at The Laminate Store and he tells me that the installers will take care of it at NO COST and that the installers will call me when they can drop by to finish the job. This was on Monday the 15th of January when I spoke with the Installation Manager.
The Installation Manager said they would finish the job. I stayed home on the 15th waiting for the installers. No phone call, no installers. Tuesday through Friday I called the Installation Manager every morning and he assured me the installers would call me and finish the job. He ASSURED me of this EVERY DAY and EVERY DAY he said they would be out THAT day to finish it. No show. No phone call. On 20 Jan (Saturday) I drive to The Laminate Store and purchase the additional box of laminate so I can finish the job. I know by now they have NO INTENTION of finishing what I paid almost $2000.00 for. I see the Installation Manager at the counter and we talk pleasantly. He tells me I did not have to come pick up the laminate because his installers would bring it to my house and finish the job (he did say I would have to pay for the laminate and nothing else). I told him I didn't mind picking it up since I had nothing else to do that afternoon and The Laminate Store is only about 8 miles from my home. The Installation manager tells me his installers will be out one day next week to finish the job and that the installers would call me. Sound familiar? Right.
Now comes Sunday the 21st of January around 3:30 P.M. I get a phone call from "The Laminate Store's Customer Service" agent asking me if I was happy with the installation. I told her it wasn't finished and explained to her what had transpired over the past week. She said she would speak with the Installation Manager and see what she could do. About three minutes pass and the Installation Manager calls me and berates me on the phone for telling the Customer Service person about the problems that had transpired. He was angry and abusive on the phone and told me he WOULD get the job done next week and that the installers would call me when they could come by to finish the job. He also told me not to call him and to give him and his installers a chance to finish the job next week. So I didn't call him or the installers (I have BOTH of their phone numbers) and figure I will do the floor myself if they don't get it done that week (22 Jan to 26 Jan). No phone calls from anyone from The Laminate Store. Not one.
Now comes Saturday the 27th. You guessed it! Customer Service person (same person) called me and asked me if I was satisfied with the installation. I explain the entire scenario to her and also explain to her what transpired with the Installation Manager after her call the previous weekend. I told her I was filing a complaint with the BBB of Tampa/Clearwater and also a complaint with the Florida State Attorney's Office. I told her I did NOT want the Installation Manager to ever call me again and that I would install the rest of the floor myself. She said she would speak with her boss and see what she could do. Twenty five minutes later the Installation Manager calls me. Even after I told her I did NOT want to speak with this abusive jerk again he calls me. He tells me his installers will be at my house in two hours to finish the job and hangs up the phone. Three and one half hours later the installers show up and finish the job in fifteen minutes. The installers tell me they have to charge me $50 for their time. I tell them I am not paying one cent more to their company and suggested they contact the Installation Manager. They call him on their cell phone and ask if they are supposed to charge me. The Installation manager tells them no charge.
The installers are quite upset about this and I speak with them for a few minutes explaining the entire scenario: How the salesman quoted the materials too low, how their boss promised me over and over that he would get it done at no additional cost, how I paid THEM to install the floor professionally so I wouldn't have any problems with the floor and waste the expensive laminate I purchased and how abusive their boss was on the phone with me. The installers then tell me that their boss ALWAYS does this and NEVER pays them for their extra time. They tell me their boss always promises things to customers and never pays them for their extra time. I told them how much I paid their boss for the installation so they would KNOW what I paid for compared to what THEY WERE PAID BY THEIR BOSS to install the floor. I feel for them but this is NOT my problem. Now this is WHERE you see the HIDDEN charges arise! The installers hand me a sign off sheet and on it are the details that if the materials are short and they have to come back that they will charge $75 for the trip and $25 per hour for a 3 hour minimum. So... This is where they get you! You know NOTHING of this B.S. Until they are ready to leave whether or not the job is done. Amazing company, amazing way to do business.
Oh, and I forgot one more thing that is VERY important. Two days after I paid almost $2000.00 for the laminate and installation I get a legal notice in the mail from the Installation Company (LINA) that the subcontractor (s) who install my floor can SUE me and place a LIEN on my home if they are not paid whether or not I PAID LINA IN FULL.in other words, if the sub contractor LINA hires is not paid for the job then the subcontractor (s) can place a LIEN on my home. This is a FLORIDA law that protects the sub contractor (s) and screws the customer! So now if the installers say they were never paid for the job they can place a LIEN on my home. Great. Stay away from THE LAMINATE STORE! I wish I had done my homework before walking into this nightmare and I have a feeling it isn't over yet. Take my advice and the advice of others that have posted here. Stay away from the laminate store and stay away from lina installation services!!
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