ComplaintsforHallmark Floors, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Our Hallmark floors were purchased in 2015. We noticed a number of planks have defects which would fall under warranty specifications however after numerous attempts to contact Hallmark our attempts to receive a callback are falling upon deaf ears. Weve found other complaints regarding this manufacturer with the same complaints about splintering and finish failing. Whats the point of claiming you have a warranty if you cant stand behind it or the product. Im happy to begin a campaign to reach members of the ******************** of **** Builders so production builders stay clear of Hallmark products.

  Business response

  06/10/2024

  Hallmark has provided guidance in order to file the claim as the retailer was no longer in business.  She was successful in following my guidance and was able to get the claim filed by the distributor on her behalf. As we did not sell the flooring direct to the end user, we sold the flooring to the distributor.  Once Hallmark received the claim, we did our due diligence and hired an independent third-party inspection to determine the cause of her concerns, the inspection revealed that this was not a manufacturing related issue.   Therefor the claim was denied.  I have attached all correspondence including a copy of the 3rd Party Independent inspection.  This was a site related issue, not installation or manufacturing caused issue.

• Initial Complaint

  09/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased Hallmark engineered floor -Novellas ******** Maple at the local dealer and it was installed in April 2022 . In July 2022, I noticed that the floor started having splits/ checks n many areas , the company sent a representative -Compass Flooring Distributors to investigate . The representative sent me a letter after stating that the Hallmark warranty does not cover it. I paid $4,800 but the floor is in a bad condition. I called Hallmark Customer Service but they do not return phone calls. It is very frustrating, Hallmark product is low quality and they refuse to address this issue. Please help

  Business response

  09/27/2022

  The claim was denied as we specifically state for the Wood Characteristics of the Novella Collection that it contains checks/splits, which does not affect the structural integrity of the flooring.   See below:

  
  

  Here is the link for the excerpt below:   https://hallmarkfloors.com/product/williams-maple/

  
  

  Wood Charactersitics

  • Fumed aging on oak products
  • Multiple species with details ranging from large to small filled knots
  • Splits & checks
  • Tannin stains
  • Heartwood & sapwood (light to dark)

  Learn more about natural wood characteristics.

  We have had no other claims against this run of material.  

  I have viewed the claim photos, again these splits/checks do not affect the structural integrity of the floors.  She was not contacted back right away because I was out of town for a National Wood Flooring Inspection School that was Monday - Friday 8 am to 5 pm so I called her on Monday, which I have not received a response yet.   My outbound message clearly stated that i would return all calls on 8/26/22 and was out of pocket the week prior and unable to return calls.  I left a voicemail for **** at 11:31 am on 9/26/22.  Since we only sell to distributors(Compass Flooring) I typically do not speak directly with the homeowner, however i did attempt in this case as she left a message for me.  The photos of the flooring do not indicate a floor that is considered to be in bad shape in any way.  I have attached photos.  I would have spoken with her but I never received the chance.  I will be glad to send her some touch up kits to do future repairs at no charge.  Boards that may have indicated damage due to the cracks could have been culled during the install if they felt they were unacceptable. There is an industry standard allowance of up to 5% for defective material, which in this case is not defective, and clearly indicated as acceptable.  Please refer to photo International 7 which clearly does not indicate a badly damaged floor when viewing from a standing position.   The installation is deemed acceptable.

  Excerpt from our installation instructions:(Page 3)

  https://hallmarkfloors.com/pdfs/Installation-Instructions-Eng-Wood-WEB.pdf

  Owner/Installer Responsibility

  1.Inspect the hardwood flooring in well lighted conditions to ensure proper identification of any potential problems. Carefully inspect the flooring for grade, (see Hallmark Floors grading standards at www.hallmarkfloors.com) for color, finish, and quality. If the flooring is not acceptable, contact the local Hallmark Floors retailer and/or distributor to arrange shipment of replacement material. Defective product will be replaced. Material that is subjectively viewed as unacceptable but falls within Hallmark Floors’ grading norms will not be replaced.

  I hope this offers some clarification.

   

   

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  07/27/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 2, 2021 Hallmark Floorings denied a claim for a workmanship and material defect. Con Carpet (the installer) came and made multiple repairs to warping in the wood. During these repairs did a humidity check which fell well within the range of normal. After multiple visits, Con Carpet had the flooring rep come and visually look who also did a different type of humidity check again stating that it fell within normal ranges and that they would get something taken care of. This letter was never sent to myself or my wife, it was only after contacting the installer that we were made aware. Hallmark Flooring denied the claim for "sheer" stating that the lack of a humidification system was a "potential" factor. Again multiple times humidity was checked and found to be within normal by both the installer and manufacture. This is a brand new construction home.

  Business response

  08/10/2021

  ******, please see the attached letter I was given today to address.  We made this determination based on evidence from the claim report provided by ******** Flooring.  This evidence presented is backed up by the NWFA, National Wood Flooring Association which is the leading authority on Wood Flooring products.  We also provide end users the option to obtain a 3^rd Party Inspection which must be completed by a NWFA Certified Inspector if you disagree with our findings.  If the report comes back in the end user’s favor then we reopen the case and honor the claim in the way of a repair.  In this case the material is a Private Label sold to ******** Distributors.  I will be meeting with them on Monday to see what we can do to re-evaluate the claim.  I will not be able to get an answer any sooner than that.  It is worth mentioning on our products if you use anything other than Hallmark products to maintain the flooring it will void the warranty, which they did not, they used Bona, but since this products is branded as WoodHouse Flooring, which is not owned or operated by Hallmark Flooring I don’t know what they recommend using to maintain the flooring. https://www.woodhousefloor.com/product/parkland-hennepin-maple      Either way the issue is consistent with low humidity even though at the time of inspection in may have been in range, but this is only a snapshot of that exact time and not an overall representation of Humidity levels as a whole.  So I don’t know the end result will change.   Please call me with any questions, I can update you next week on what we discussed and any options if available for the end user.

   

   

  Best regards,

   

  ****** ****, CSA

  Customer response

  08/10/2021

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I guess it is easy to just deny someone's claim.  This is a NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION.  I am not the builder, I am the new home owner.  TWICE humidity readings were taken, BOTH within range.  Once by the installer Con Carpet and the second time by the Distributor ******** Flooring.  Never has a reading been out of range.  So denying a claim and then saying the result of those readings (which is the whole reason for denying the claim) is not an indication of the whole picture is a horrible response.  That is like saying the sky is green when its blue and saying but to get green you have to mix blue in.  Clearly this company just denys claims and is not responsible for their own products failures of which the installer said is a habit of this company.  Instead of taking responsibility, they just deny.  This isnt the matter of contacting a company several years after the fact, this is NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION.  Never has the installer or the distributor said I need a dehumidifier.  There has been issues with the flooring since day one.  Had the distributor said you need a dehumidifier to prevent this from happening, I probably would have spoke to the homebuilder and came up with a solution.  Instead this companies solution is to say, nope not our fault even if the PROOF (the humidity readings say the complete opposite) we are sticking to our guns.  I get it, I'm one customer they will never have and don't care to have.  I thought that was what the purpose of the BBB was for.  Their answer is we don't care what the readings say.  We don't care that the readings came from both the installer AND our distributor, we are still going to deny for what the readings don't say.  As far as using Bona product, that is what the installer recommended we use.  We have no experience with this flooring.  I will be taking this response and forwarding to every single installer in the country along with my proof.  I will spend hours and hours of my time sending information to installers of Hallmark flooring since it will cost me thousands of dollars to rip out their sub standard product, I will make it worth my time.  Installers should know that this company has a history of doing this to customers.  

  
  

  I would love to see this report provided by ******** Flooring that has the humidity reading in it since that individual that came to my house told me to my face that it was NOT a humidity issue and that our humidity reading was within range.  The installer from Con Carpet was there and took a picture of her reading.  

  Business response

  08/16/2021

  We have agreed to a 3rd party Inspection with the ******** Flooring(Distributor) as this their private label product.  The distributor (******** Flooring) has agreed to set up the inspection.  A 3rd Party independent inspector will be in touch with the homeowner for scheduling within the next week or so.  Once we receive the results of the independent inspection we will respond accordingly.  

  
  

  Sincerely,

  
  ****** M.

  Hallmark Claims Dept.

  Hallmark Flooring, Inc.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩