ComplaintsforWorld Flooring & More, Co.

• Initial Complaint

  08/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  World Flooring falsely claimed that they are experts in epoxy work. They didn't have the skill to complete this work and should not have taken on an epoxy project. It appears they may have subcontracted this work but did not disclose this information to us despite us asking. Working with ***** was extremely challenging. There was poor communication throughout the project. He ignored and didn't respond to my emails, texts and calls on multiple occasions. We asked to see samples and techniques of the epoxy work before and during the work and he didn't provide it. There were ********************* and bubbles throughout the floors. There was sharp debris, hair, dust, and dirt embedded in the epoxy. There were cut and trip hazards throughout. The design and technique had poor quality. He left the project for 2 weeks for vacations and other jobs and we had our pets, kids, and elderly parents living in a hazardous construction zone for a month. He also ruined the stair work that we hired him for and the returned after 2 weeks to fix it after I had to stress the urgency multiple times. I had to constantly call and text to get him to respond and finish work. I had to chase him down multiple times with no response to even sign the basic contract. He missed the planned completion and delivery date by 4 weeks. He didn't show up on the days or times he said else would and I waited over 11hrs for him over two days. On top of all of the extremely poor communication, poor craftsmanship, and delays, he never once admitted that the project was delivered with poor quality and never offered to fix at no cost. He tried to sell me a new floor as a new project and disregarded the bad epoxy job. He made it seem like he was giving a discount but still quoted a significant amount for fixing his mess. He only seemed interested in responding to us when he knew he was going to make more money from it.They over committed, underdelivered and should never have taken on this work.

  Business response

  09/02/2022

  I'm 17 years in business working every day. On this project I was there every day working on basement floor with my employee that work for me for last 6 years and 2 more professional epoxy floor installers from ************* (our suppler) both with over 10 years experience. On estimate I explained to the customer that we recommend to use flak system for uneven basement floor and our imitation of natural stone will not be perfect and she might see paint brush and roller marks because the floor will be done by humans not nature. Every day I spoke with the owner and and explain the progress and next step on next day. After receiving 2 pictures and sketch for epoxy floor we agreed that we will try to copy the pictures and sketch provided by the owner as close as we can. ********* ask if she can help applying the design and I agreed ti that idea. On the day of application she can not make it, but I was sanding her pictures as we go. The next day she told me that she like the floor but her husband don't like the black accent on the floor. I saw them the next day and they ask me how much it would cost to change the design for something much lighter like the kitchen countertop, which they didn't show me before. The basement floor wasn't finish and we still have to install thresholds and shoe moldings. After few minutes of talking they told me wait with finishing, we need some time to think about this and what to do with the floor. I told them that I'm going on vacation for a week and after I'm back we will finish. They move in already and I suggest that I will bring all of the furniture inside the basement free of charge after we are done with the floor. They called and emailed me several times and they decide to install completely new floor Luxury Vinyl Planks. 2 days after i came back I broth them new floor samples. Together we agreed we will split the difference of new floor. I can install new floor for free and they pay only for material. We install brand new floor on second floor floor that they like. We install new steps and raisers, but because a family emergency of 1 of my employees we couldn't finish, but I told them we can be there the next day and finish everything in 1 day. The hardwood floor is White *** but steps are Red *** to match existing steps and that is also in contract. I'm trying to make the customers happy and offer them free installation on new floor plus almost $2,000 discount. I can't afford anything more.           
  

  Customer response

  09/06/2022

   
  Complaint: 17734157
  
  We cannot accept this response from World Flooring because it does not resolve the damage World Floorings contractors have caused to our basement and stairs. We did not get what we paid for and agreed on, which is why we had to fire World Flooring prior to project completion. Mr. ****** lack of responses and lack of responsibility has impacted our time, money and even our familys health.
  
  Below is a breakdown of our interaction with World Flooring during this project.
  
  - 7/12/2022- ************** arrived at ************************************************************ to provide quotes and discussed the flooring projects. ************** explained their epoxy process. He claimed they have professionals to sketch out the epoxy floor design to our liking and will show samples. He stated we can share photos and sketches for inspiration. ************************************** explained our idea to have the flooring resemble a marble granite texture and that we would be sharing a rough sketch on where they are open for dark and light area.
  
  -7/19/22 - ****************** emailed World Flooring to get a confirmed start and end date. We emphasized the needing to complete the project by 8/1 to accommodate our move in date.
  
  - 7/20/22 - ************** emailed us and said they can start the projects on Monday, 7/25/22 and should be done within 5-6 days. But with a day or two for overlapping for installing the threshold and shoe molding. We all agreed to these terms. The contractors started removing the carpets on Friday, 7/22 and we scheduled Wednesday, 8/3/22 for the move in. By 8/3/22 the basement epoxy floor was not move in ready. The stairs along with the 3 stair raisers were also not completed by 8/3/22.
  
  -7/21/22- ************** picked up the first payment check, and we discussed to be fully involved with the projects and see samples in person. ************* claimed samples of the basement floor will be ready by 7/23-7/24. And we also asked if they subcontract, and they said they do not. We arrived onsite on 7/23-7/24 and not only was there no samples of the epoxy flooring shown prior to epoxy flooring design. World Flooring failed to share the stairs stain sample on the first staining attempt on the steps. In addition, World Floor subcontracted the epoxy floor design to ************* without the LEsteves consent. (Ms. ********** parents as witnesses on this discussion.)
  
  -7/26/22- Ms. ********* texted ************** the marble granite design and along with her rough sketch. In her note she stated they wanted the design to have a lot of veins and textures like the marble granite photos provided and use the rough sketch as a guide to show contrasts. ************** failed to share any professional samples prior to beginning application on basement flooring and the design completely missed the **** on mimicking a marble granite floor texture.
  
  -7/29/22 - We noticed the basement stair color was too dark and did not match the current stair color. Mr. ****** response was that the steps are a different type of wood and the basement shades which is why it appears darker. The contractors ended up having to redo and sand the stairs 8/15/22-8/16/22. And re-staining 8/17/22 and 8/19/22.
  
  -8/2/22 - World Flooring began applications of epoxy flooring design without our present. 8/2/22 is also the day before moving day. Even knowing this ************* failed to inform us to be present during the epoxy design application.************** sent us photos of the application via text messages. Noticing the roller ****s and skip ****s. Ms. ********* texted ************** right away to address the problems. Unable to get a response from **************. Ms. ********* tried calling but ************** did not pickup. Not knowing if the flooring was completed,we waited for the following day (moving day 8/3/22) to see in person.
  
  -8/3/22 - after moving in on 8/3/22 evening we inspected the epoxy flooring in-person and noticed serious design and craftsmanship issues throughout the floor. In addition to the design not resembling marble granite textures. Roller smudges, skip ****s and bubbles left from the spikes throughout the floor. Sharp bits of debris, hairs and dust were embedded into the floor. The transition level between the bathrooms and kitchen tiles are also potential trip hazards as well. Again, ************** failed to notify us any of these issues until after the fact the application is applied. This has made us question World Flooring expertise on custom epoxy flooring.
  
  -8/4/22 - ****************** texted ************** to meet in person first thing in the morning to address the issues above and rather or not the flooring is completed. ************** went over the cause of embedded dusts,hair and bubbles is due of the drying time of the epoxy and any things that land on the application will stay there. If we had known this in advance, we would not have moved forward with the epoxy project. ************** said the epoxy flooring is completed and the design is irreversible and would need to be redone completely to fix or add any additional design.
  
  He then quoted us $7k for new epoxy design with $1k discount. And said they can show us samples on the second go around.  This was not helpful as this will cost us more money. We said with the smell and odor it would be very difficult for us to go through the epoxy process while living in the house. ************** then suggested Luxury Vinyl as an alternative and would cost about the same and then send us a few samples via text. 
  
  We told ************** we will need to think about it and get back to him. Since he was going on vacation, we asked him to finish up the stairs while he was out. He agreed on this term. The stairs contractors did not arrive until Monday, 8/15/22 the day of ************** return from vacation.
  
  8/7/22 - After thinking over the weekend, the proposed options did not sit well with us. It did not make sense for the customer to repay for another ******************** project for errors of the contractors. We wrote to ************** stating that we will not be paying anything additional as this is not what we signed up for.
  
  8/8/22 - ************** responded that they can split the cost and install LVP for $4k
  
  8/9/22 *************, Mr and ****************** had a call to discuss details and clarified that he would need to do better than $4k. And upon settling on an agreement, we would need to see real sample of the **** And stairs need to be completed asap. Once again ************** agreed on the call.
  
  8/15/22 -8/17/22 - the stairs contractors worked on sanding and staining the stairs.
  
  8/16/22 - ************** arrived with samples of LVP and laminate flooring. However, he did not bring the samples he had shared via text from 8/4/22. ************** said it would cost more and we said we would like to see it as part of the discussion. He agrees to bring it 8/17 or 8/18. 8/18 had passed and we havent seen an updated samples since.
  
  Basement Stairs
  
  -8/18/22 - The stair contractor was a no show and the LEsteve emphasis the stairs need to be completed by Friday, 8/19/2022
  
  8/19/22. We also pointed out the wall and side white trimming was stained, and the stairs case has a soft spot flaking off. ************** agreed to paint the stair sides and wall and nail back in the soft area. On Friday, the contractor finished staining the stairs but did not fix the stair siding and walls. The imperfections of the stairs were still noticeable.
  
  After many frustrating conversations and lack of communication and poor commitment on ************** part we had decided to fire World Flooring and hired new flooring contractors to finish the basement. The re-done of the basement flooring has cost us $7,300 for Luxury Vinyl Plank. (Proof of contract and receipt available upon request) 
  
  We also had stairs contractors to evaluate and quote on repairing/completing the stairs. The contractors mentioned replacement of correct wood use for stain trimming and proper tools will need to be used to amend the stairs. The quote came out to be $3,600.  (Proof of contract available upon request)
  
  Additionally, due to the major delays of more than 20 days, 5 of my family members including my three-year-old toddler have been experiencing respiratory illness from inhalation of chemicals, dust, debris. One of my dogs has also developed a respiratory cough and has had to be on antibiotics for over 2 weeks. (Proof of receipt and doctors note available upon request) World flooring failed to commit to their agreement that the project would be completed on time. We would need compensation of around $4000 for the delays.In total, we are seeing ~$14,000 out of the $32,400 that we have contractually committed to pay World Flooring. 
  
  Overall, we are extremely disappointed with World Flooring lack of professionalism and the fact that he is continuing to skew the facts in the last email. This includes Mr.  ***** stating he was on site everyday with his contractors. When in fact he only showed up a few hours a day and sometime no show. Ms. ********** parent can witness that, and we have camera to proof as well. Also ************** was not at constant daily communication with us.He would only answer whenever and whatever he like and sometime no answer days at a time. (Proof of text and email communication available upon request) The epoxy work was not done professionally. As we consulted several epoxy experts.One had mentioned not to use white as it shows a lot of imperfections, and another said World Flooring has used good quality epoxy but however the technique was executed poorly, and the cement was not prepped properly. If the professional floor installers have **** years of epoxy experience, then there should be no hair and debris embedded into the floors as a finished deliverable. Debris and imperfections would have mentioned prior started of the project not after all is set and done. If they have the experience, then they should have been able to easily furnish sample pictures, and reviews of their epoxy work which we kept asking for. This was never provided to us, and World Flooring simply proceeded with the project once we made the first payment.World flooring never mentioned that there might be paint and roller ****s. If we had known this, we would have never proceeded with this work. This was never communicated to us. We requested to be involved in the project and World Flooring blocked off the basement and concealed the work from us. When they sent a picture, we responded immediately telling them we had concerns. They never responded and then they mentioned the work is done and the design cannot be changed. We hired another company to complete the work including the installation of thresholds and shoe moldings. We had a hard deadline to move in and could not delay our move in. Our agreement with World Flooring included moving and assembly of furniture in the basement. This was also not completed by World Flooring since they left the job for multiple weeks and never finished the work. While the owner was on vacation, he promised to send his team to continue the stair work. That never happened and we lost a week just waiting for them to work on the stairs. He had mentioned they installed new raiser and steps in his previous email. That never happened, the contractors just sanded and re-stain the messed-up steps. We never said we did not like the black accent, and we never asked to change the design. We asked for what we paid for only. We did not receive what we paid for. The countertop was shown to indicate that we expected more natural textures with transitions and veins and not just blotches of paint in random places. We decided to install new vinyl planks because we cannot afford to spend another $12k to completely re-do the epoxy floor with the design that we paid for and expected. We needed something that can be installed quickly and with minimal chemical smells since we have residents in the home. We never agreed on new floors with World Flooring. The owner asked me to pay him over $7000 for the new floors. We paid over $12k for the 2nd floor installation and are not asking for a refund on that. We paid $4,250 for the basement floors and the quality is extremely poor and it had to be re-done twice. We have a new company that will also be re-doing this work. We will be continuing to request a refund and are open to working with World Flooring on a repayment plan if they need time to pay us back what we deserve.
  
  We are completely frustrated. Which is why we are looking toward BBB, Business Affairs and Consumer and **************************** of the ******** Attorney General to help properly settle this fraudulent and deceptive business exchange and to help us obtain justice. We have text, email, camera, proof to show that we are presenting the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** and ********* L'******

  Business response

  09/08/2022

  Hello,

  I'm sorry for the troubles and misunderstanding.

  Unfortunately many of the accusations are not true. When I met Mrs. ********* for estimate I told her that the basement floor in uneven and I recommended a different type of epoxy floor finish "flakes". I ask her for a picture and sketch of a floor she like and we will try to copy it. I never told them that we will do any epoxy samples. it will take 3 days to make a sample with 3 coats and each coat takes about 1 day to dry. I explained that we are only humans and she will definitely see paint brush and rollers marks, because we will be using them. After we finish the design she told me she like it, but there is to much black in it (we did exactly what we saw on picture and sketch) and now they like to make it gray in ***** of black. After explaining that we will have to start everything from beginning, because they change the colors i have to charge them again. At this time they didn't say anything about any imperfections. They didn't want to spend that kind of money. They ask me about the other options and what I think about LVT vinyl. I told them that I will do it for free if they buy or pay for material (around $4,000.00 for materials). I told them that the small imperfection on the basement floor can be easily buff out and we will get rid of them with a final coat, but them didn't want to finish it, because they were thinking about changing the floor completely anyway. I told them All of that could be done in 1 day.
  

   

  I spoke with them every day even when I was on vacation and keep sending me emails and 11pm. I told them I will bring them samples and I did. I left them all the samples and they told me they like gray one. Next day, Mr *** ask me for more samples and I told him that floor will cost more then $4,000, but we still can use it because he is paying for material and we are providing the installation for free.

   

  On Proposal and estimate I told them that the solid hardwood floor is White *** and the steps are Red *** that's way you see a darker stain on the steps, this is the reason we use Red *** for basement steps and that is in contract to.

   

  We didn't make any dust after they move in and I promise them help with moving furniture inside the basement after we are done with basement floor.

   

  We had a few days delay because the weather and only a few furniture go to the basement. Most of the delay was because the customers couldn't decide on basement floor. 

   

  Customers still didn't pay me $1,870 with only 1 day of work left

   

  I'm really sorry that you didn't like the floor we did, but is not far for me to pay for a completely new floor. We are using top of the line products and de didn't use any subcontractors, that day they where working for me as my company. I spoke with the costumer and I told him that nobody would do a better job with design with the information we had, pictures and sketch form the customer. If like like the epoxy, but you didn't like the finish why did you hire a new contractor to do a LVT vinyl and now I have to pay for it?

   

  We can still finish the steps and paint the walls and bring the furniture back to the basement for free.

   

  The website didn't allow me to put more pictures, but I still have them with all the text messages

   

  Thank you
  

   

   

  Customer response

  09/20/2022

   
  Complaint: 17734157
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  Hello, Sorry for our delayed response, we have been gathering our evidence to include in our response and this took some time. Here is our response. We kindly request to please reopen this case. Thank You for your kind consideration. I did not see a way to respond on the BBB ******************** portal so I am including our response here. Here is our response with proof attached:

  
  

  We cannot accept World Floorings (WF) responses. Attached are the proof of our communication with WF. We think it is best if we let the evidence speak the truth.

   

  World Floorings response on their inability to show samples does not make any sense. World Flooring had over 9 days to prepare the epoxy (See project timeline on epoxy). That is more than enough time to prepare an epoxy sample. And why would ************** promise again to show an epoxy sample on the second go around when he is unable to deliver the first time (see 8/4 timeline). In addition to the sample, he had promised to have his own design team prepare a final sketch. Neither one was provided. With 17 years of epoxy experience it should not be this difficult for World Flooring to show us samples of his own custom epoxy project till this day. Or even showing samples of the subcontractors technique should not be a problem if they claim to be experts with epoxy. It appears that World Flooring has never attempted custom epoxy and used our basement as an experimental project. This is unacceptable to us. We simply wanted an epoxy flooring done professionally in the timeframe we had all agreed on before our move in date. This is the main factor why we could not have World Flooring attempt another round of epoxy. We just cannot trust World Flooring with epoxy. 

   

  And no, Ms. ********* never said she liked the design but appreciated World Flooring for copying her rough sketch and completely ignored the directions she had provided on 7/27/22 (see text communication). Which is again, showing A LOT of veins and textures like the marble granite photos provided and using the rough sketch as a guide to show contrasts. The final result completely missed the **** on mimicking **************** floor texture. The directions also included adding subtle light gray veins in the white area as well. Adding gray is nothing new. All these directions were provided to ************* on 7/27/22 prior to the design application date 8/2/22 (see 7/27/22 text). It does not make sense for us to keep paying for something we did not receive and agreed on. Even on the application date, 8/2/22, we had addressed the same issue but World Flooring ignored our feedback and went rogue with the basement design (see 8/2/22 text and missed call). 

   

  We believe World Flooring practices wrongful fraudulent business and practices unethical businesses.    The following red flags are as follows:

   

  • Never once did World Flooring address the following issues of the roller smudges, skip ****s and bubbles left from the spikes throughout the floor. Sharp bits of debris, hairs and dust were embedded into the floor. The transition level between the bathrooms and kitchen tiles are also potential trip hazards as well. ****************** solution to buff it out will not remove the roller smudges, skip ****s and bubbles. And it will not fix the trip hazard zone and uneven flooring transition by the kitchen and bathroom tiles.
  • World Flooring failed to stick to the contract and proposed timeline which forced us to work against our move in date.
  • WF failed to notify us to be present during the design and staining application process as we had originally requested.
  • World Floor never clarified why they did not follow our design direction as provided.
  • World Flooring used subcontractors in our property without our consent. Even bringing subcontractors directly or indirectly is still subcontracting. ************** went against his words in the last two statements that he brought two installers from ************* to come on site but then switched his words that they work for him that day.
  • World Flooring did not explain why there was a week delay on working on the stairs. When we keep asking them numerous times to fix it asap.
  • World Flooring did not explain why it takes over 5 days to fix the stairs when ************** mentioned it will only take 2-3 days, and yet it is still incomplete and looks worse than our 6-year-old staircase. 
  • In addition to the basement and stair, World Floor failed to complete securing the 3 risers on the upper level as mentioned on the contract.
  • Biggest red flag is World Floor failed to provide any proof to back up any of their accusations. Whereas we can provide proof to back up ours. 

   

  We only contact ************** during business hours. How and when he decides to spend his time responding to his businesses is his problem.

   

  We did not agree on the gray LVP. As mentioned in the previous timeline 8/16 we asked to see the white LVP sample in person and ************** promised again to delivered in the next two days but again never did (see 8/16 text)

   

  There is no delay on our end. We knew we wanted to fix the basement with white LVP and avoid the epoxy smell while living in the house. The only delay is World Flooring's lack of commitment and continuing deception to fix the basement and stairs. The 2 weeks prolonged flooring projects to fix World Flooring mess up makes it difficult to continue to trust them with our flooring projects repeatedly, which is why we fired World Flooring and hired new contractors.

   

  We do not owe World Flooring any additional money as of 8/19 we have cut off any additional work and payment with World Flooring (see text/email proof last direct communication) We are asking World Flooring to reimburse us the cost of flooring to compensate for the delay and fixes on the poor craftsmanship for the basement and stairs that they had cost us. 

   

  
  

  Thank You

  
  

  Sincerely

   *** and ********

  
  

  --
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Ron C. L'Esteve | T: +773.704.0386 | ******************** 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** L'******

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