Parker's Workshop

"I, Lewis Allen Parker, would like to begin by apologizing to the customer regarding this issue. During the majority of the period that the customer was unable to contact me I was on an extended vacation. I apologize for not yet returning the customer’s calls and voicemails; I have been looking into a possible resolution regarding this dispute, which will be detailed later. I would now like to take a brief time to provide background and a timeline in regards to the services purchased by the client, and my attempts to address his issue. The customer initially contacted me March 13th, 2015, a Friday morning at 8:10 am. He had received my contact information from the retailer which he had purchased flooring material. The customer asked about installing hardwood floating flooring which he had already purchased with the intention of having my company deliver it to his residence for acclimation purposes prior to installation. Once this material was on site however, the customer changed his mind and decided to return and select a different brand of flooring. This second material, purchased by the customer, is the one that my company installed. The type of flooring he selected is a solid hardwood 3/4 inch floating floor manufactured by TimberClick out of the United Kingdom. The flooring installation was completed April 18th, 2015. A floating floor is a floor that consists of multiple planks that hook together using a tongue and groove joint. These planks rest on a cushioned moisture barrier and are in no way permanently attached to each other or the existing subfloor or concrete foundation (hence the name ‘floating’). The customer first contacted me regarding the issues he was experiencing with this flooring around the middle of August 2015. This initial issue was that the individual planks of the flooring were bucking in a single area. To address this issue, I sent a worker to the customer’s residence shortly thereafter around the end of August. The buckling issue was addressed by trimming some of the planks on the perimeter of the flooring around the area in question. This solution was successful in resolving the buckling issue. The next time the customer contacted me was approximately one month later. The issue this time was not that the planks were buckling, but that in several areas the seams were coming apart due to the planks contracting, which caused a noticeable gap at the tongue and groove joint. The process of the planks expanding or contracting is an issue much more typical of and associated with floating floors as opposed to a floor that is glued or nailed down. This process is usually not a major issue because it is accounted for by the floor manufacturer. To address this seam issue, I sent workers to the customer’s residence on a couple of occasions with the intent addressing the issue in any way possible. The last time, I accompanied my worker to the customer’s residence to better evaluate the issue. It was at this that I explained to the customer that I had no control over the seams because it is a locking floating floor. I am confident that the flooring was installed correctly, and that the seam issues the customer is experiencing is due to a defect in either or both the design and manufacturing of the product. At this time I would like to detail my proposed solution to this dispute as mentioned previously. I first contacted the manager of the retailer that the flooring was purchased from. It was at this time the manager said that for a product dispute to move forward, a certified floor inspection would have to be conducted by a certified flooring inspector. That inspection would then be sent to the flooring retailer, who would then decide a course of action."