*RESOLVED* Scammed by Brampton Hardwood Flooring WITH PICTURES!

[gatts01]

*UPDATE*

Brampton Hardwood Flooring has stepped up to resolve the issue even though it was the manufacturer who casued the issue.

I just wanted share my experience with Brampton Hardwood Flooring and help other shoppers avoid the same issues I've had. This could have been avoided if only I was not as naive and believed everything the manager at Brampton Hardwood Flooring fed me. Please read and learn. It is a bit of a long story but I assure you its pretty entertaining. Not for me though, it just sucks but it is very interesting. So interesting that Brampton Hardwood Flooring actually threatened to sue another website for having this review up. Im not sure how much of a backbone Smart Canucks has but the other website immediately took down my thread and deleted all my attempts to repost. Thats how interesting this story is. So sit back, relax and enjoy the BRAMPTON HARDWOOD EXPERIENCE!

I purchased around $10 000 in teak hardwood flooring from Brampton Hardwood Flooring. They had about half the order in stock and told me they would be getting more in 2 weeks. That sounded reasonable so I went ahead and took delivery of the wood. I waited a week for the wood to climatize in my house before installing. At this point I have half my house done in teak flooing and half straight ply wood. 2 weeks go by and nothing from Brampton Hardwood Flooring. I call them and they say they don't make that flooring anymore, come in and we will discuss.

I go to the store and talk to Vince, the manager. He tells me there is no solution except to try and match up some birch flooring. I tell him first of all, I didn't pay 10 grand to have 2 different woods in my house. 2nd of all, they don't even look the same. Vince gives me the business card of the bigger boss, Joe, and tells me to leave. Now Im pretty upset and reiterate that I have spent a large sum of money and demand what I was promised. Vince looks at me and repeatedly says "goodbye". No other words, just "Goodbye".

I call Joe and he tells me theres been a mistake, they just need to ship it in from Burma. Months go by, 360 days to be exact. After constant harassing, Joe finally tells me that the wood is ready and will be shipped. I inspected the shipment of wood and it looked a bit weird, felt a bit weird and was light as hell...in fact...it looked a little like...BIRCH.

I look carefully at the boxes of wood and this is what I see






I take the the wood into a exotic wood specialist along with a piece of my original teak flooring and they confirm that it is birch. The word birch was cut out and replaced with a sticker on that says teak. In addition, the exotic wood specialist announced that the "Burma" teak I originally bought was not Burmese and most likely plantation teak from Trinidad.

I call Joe and he says "oh....Ill call you back". A week later he calls me and informs me that the boxes were unaltered from the manufacturer saying thats how it came we had nothing to do with it.

Weeks go by again and Joe tells me that the new wood is in but they are having trouble putting the stain on it to match. Eventually they get it to a satisfactory match and send it to me. And once again...it looked a little weird and felt a little weird so I brought it in to the exotic wood specialist and they say its not the same species but this time they have no idea what it is. In order to determine the species of wood I would need to send it off to the University of Guelph and have it tested which will cost a couple of hundred bucks and not worth the trouble since the colour looks pretty similar and if I send it back it'll probably be another 360 days before I get anything delivered. On top of that Ill have a lengthy court battle which will not be cheap and Ill still be sleeping on ply wood.

Now this part is my fault so get ready for a laugh. The wood gets installed...looks pretty similar, pretty good...until I step back and look at from a distance and...its a different lustre. The original flooring has a semi gloss finish and the new mystery wood has a satin finish. I didn't notice looking at each individual piece or even when I was standing in the room but at a distance it looks funny. I would assume Brampton Hardwood Flooring had the specs on the product but I guess Im wrong. Here is a pic for a good laugh








I was taking the pic with my phone so not really the greatest resolution. Notice the reflection is more blurry inside the room. The original flooring stops at the doorway. Its not that big of a deal and you probably won't notice if you're just passing by I didn't pay for a different lustre.

So to wrap it all up...I paid nearly $10000 for 2 different types of wood in my house of 2 different lustres. Got a shipment of Birch with the word Birch cut out and a Teak sticker put on it AND i waited 360 days for it! WITH NO COMPENSATION! I did ask about compensation and Joe said "yes its unreasonable to wait 360 days. Lets concentrate on getting your wood and we will discuss it later." Now that I have the wood installed it is deemed acceptable and I have no recourse.

Well played Brampton Hardwood Flooring...well played. *slow clap*

Theres nothing I can do to help my situation and have accepted the loss. Congratulations Brampton Hardwood Flooring. They are the self proclaimed "million dollar company," who "don't need to steal your money to make a living". That really is their tag line, other people have mentioned them using that line!

I was actually contacted by Brampton Hardwood Flooring after posting this story on other review sites and they offered me a whopping...$500...yes I'm serious. I rejected that offer and the manager promptly threatened with litigation if I continued to share my experience on the internet. This story is completely true so I have no fear of going to court.

[Darth Penguin]

Intereastingly..this poster has had similar threads removed from a competitor's site....

[Sally888]

its ok, its in reviews.

[mulock]

File an official complaint with the BBB and definitely consider legal action.

[Shwa Girl]

I purchased around $10 000 in teak hardwood flooring from Brampton Hardwood Flooring. They had about half the order in stock and told me they would be getting more in 2 weeks. That sounded reasonable so I went ahead and took delivery of the wood.

You gave me a good tip - only pay for what is available and what is delivered. I will remember this.

[krysta lynne]

what an awful experience. i cannot believe how badly they handled all of this. BBB should definitely be involved

[addismom]

I am sorry for your flooring nightmare.. I went through one at my home in Brantford, an insurance claim and the company they use. Within 3 mnths it was obvious the floor had to be ripped outand replaced. The treatment I was given was disgusting, being I am a single woman who owns the house, I was subjected to real bunch of idiots in my home. It was nothing to be screamed at by one of there workers. It took over a year to get my money back and the insurance company to give me more than what the floor company was offering. This is a company that is a family buisness,been around for years. I havent heard one good thing about this company either since. When the new company that I hired to replace the flooring came in, they found alot more screw ups then we originally expected. The subfloor the other company was put in with drywall screws?! Anyways, flooring is an expensive thing to replace, be very careful of who you hire. I spent 5000 more than what I was given back from the insurer but I have nice,durable, good quality flooring and the company who installed it are great! If you are getting flooring in Brantford,I will gladly tell you where to go and where to run from..

[matrix82]

I agree with going to the BBB. Also learned a lesson from your experience, make sure the material is in stock before paying.

BTW, I know it isn't the floor you wanted and not the same, but from the little pictures it is gorgeous still. Hope you can get some resolution on this matter.

Is there a difference in price between the original flooring and this replacement product?

[gatts01]

Intereastingly..this poster has had similar threads removed from a competitor's site....

Yes apparently Brampton Hardwood threatened to sue that website if they didnt remove my negative review of them. LOL what good is a consumer review site if you cant post negative reviews.The original flooring is gorgeous. Cant complain at all. The mystery flooring is not quite so nice. Its not bad but everything about it is not as good. The edges are not rounded, the lustre doesnt match, the stain doesnt quite match, the wood grain looks fake, it just looks and feels like a cheap product. The issue I have is that I paid for teak flooring. I dont know what that wood is but it is not teak. I brought it in to an exotic wood specialist and they verified that it is in fact not teak. On the stained side it looks similar but the back is totally different. Resurfacing the wood is no longer an option I have down the road. I really just want what I paid for. Unfortunately thats not the kind of business Brampton Hardwood runs.

[Purdee]

definitely report to BBB and i'd take another step and report it to your local TV station trouble shooter like CTV. I had problem with a car dealership once and they ignored us until i contacted both and got some reimbursement back.

[salady]

Time to contact "Holmes on Homes"!

[marstec]

Time to contact "Holmes on Homes"!

This is a supplier issue, Holmes on Holmes deals with construction/contractor problems.

OP, is the teak already installed? What would be the best solution? To return all the product for full refund, or some money back to compensate for your trouble? It was very underhanded of them to pass off inferior goods as the original, that's for sure.

[gatts01]

Yes the teak was installed a year ago. The rest of the wood came in this April and it looks similar enough so we had it installed as well. After waiting a year for wood we decided it looks close enough ad didn't want to risk waiting another year for god knows what.

I actually got a call from an even bigger boss of Brampton Hardwood. Now he wants to re open talks about compensation. They know the second batch of wood isnt teak. He said he can't get the original wood so that's out of the question.

[mulock]

Wow, seems the forum is working if the even bigger boss has called. No doubt the negative publicity is getting around. This would still be a great story for your local CTV news to pick up and report on.

[Stacy23]

File an official complaint with the BBB and definitely consider legal action.