I used to work for the Laminate Store International, also offering the in home service in Florida known as the Laminate Home store, with a bundle service for 4.44
If that's the price you see in your add, don't call them up, ever.
I worked at the call center, my job was to know everything about the product and answer every question, sortof. I knew most of the information, but their policy on the inside was, "The fewer answers we provide, the fewer questions they will ask." I was actually told this by one of my superiors.
You will find it odd that every number that the Laminate Store provides to you directs you to the call center in Tampa, even for the stores in Texas. No matter who you talk to, you can never get the stores directly.
Not only that, but if you ever ask any real questions about price, they tell you the only place to get your answer is the store. This is a LIE. I know the prices, I can tell you most of them right here, they just don't WANT us to tell you.
If you DO go to the store and pay 5000$ on your brand new laminate, odds are they won't have something you need in stock. Then they tell you it's no big deal, they'll bring it in from one of their other warehouses.By the way, we only ship on weekends, so come back next saturday. Then you call the next weekend to find out if your merchandise is in yet, you get the "We don't have access to inventories here at the call center Sir/Ma'am."
So, ask to speak with someone at the store?"We're sorry, the stores don't have direct lines in. Let me take your name and number, someone will call YOU back."
Yea sure, only one or two of the really decent employees would keep track of their customers to bother to find out if they ever got an answer.
The idea here is that they really don't care about you once they have your check in hand, their support system is TERRIBLE.
They also lie about their product. They'll tell you "they buy from the same manufacturers that name brands get their stock, yet they cut out the middle man to keep prices low."
Let me tell you, Pergo manufactures their OWN product, and most other name brands import European Pine from Germany, which is fairly high quality. The Laminate Store buys most of their stock from French Canada, and some from China. Perhaps they have one or two German Woods, they would never tell you which if you asked, the answer would be vague at best.
Truth is, they buy from the lowest bidder, and the quality shows in their product.
Furthermore, the Home Store is a major rip off. They will tell you it's great, and in theory it is, because the customer "never has to do anything". However, in practice it's nothing but chaos. The call center is CONSTANTLY having to put out fires every single day because truthefully, TLS doesn't keep up their end of the bargain.
Firstly, they overcharge you if they can, they always try to over estimate the floorspace, and not just to allow for mistakes, they OVER overestimate.
4 out of five customers will be left with $400 worth of merchandise they will never need, and can't return.
2 out of five customers will discover that their rep never shows up, or is quite late.
Once the customer DOES select their product, sign and pay, they will find that the delivery company fails to bring the product on time 3 out of five times. Since they only ship on weekends, you are constantly having to sacrifice your time to wait up for THEIR mistakes.
Once the wood finally arrives, 1 in 10 installations is poor, or goes wrong.
Not only that, but I've already mentioned that it's a cheap product to begin with.
If you want a laminate floor, go with a REAL company such as Pergo or Willsonart. Someone who knows the business and does things right.
Take this from an employee that was on the INSIDE and knows.
The Laminate Store is a cheap RIPOFF
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