Costen Floors

it went great

Very well. The floors look great.

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I had contacted Costen for an estimate back in October 2009, but decided to hold off in purchasing. When I called again in April 2010, I was able to speak to the same sales rep, Kara Stephens. Kara is not only knowledgeable & professional, she is also friendly. This time I was able to get a better price due to a 10% coupon. Even though Kara still had the measurements from the previous visit, she returned to my home to re-measure and discuss my installation options due my existing floor. I chose the least expensive option (being on a tight budget), which would've showed a flooring separation (seam) between the living room and foyer. When the installer arrived, he suggested, because I have an open floor plan the flooring to be installed in the family room would look much better if flowing directly with the existing floor. This was the more expensive option that Kara explained to me, which also required removing and replacing some of the existing planks. The installer assured me we had enough planks to do it the best way and not to worry about additional cost. He also replaced the worn threshold at my entrance door at no extra cost. I must say that the service I received from beginning to end was exceptional. I did get several estimates before choosing Costen, some lower, some higher. I decided to go with the company who has a great reputation.

End product looks great, but the service was horrible. I called the shop for an estimate and they promptly sent a sales person over the next day. After the initial consult and subsequent deposit, I never saw or heard from the sales person again. Trying to coordinate scheduling with the office was impossible. No one would answer the phone and repeated messages were never returned. The workers would show up whenever they wanted, routinely four or five hours early or late depending on the day. As long as you don't mind the uncooperative nature of the office personnel and have the ability to sit around all day waiting for workers that may or may not show up, the end product was decent.

After a runaround between The Flooring Center & the contactor, where each blamed the other for false starts, we ran over to Costen for immediate attention and sale. Got it! qucik ,easy, done right, quickly, & on time. Myhusband will not deal with anyone but Costen for future flooring needs.

I was very satisfied from the estimate through project completion. Kara arrived right on time for the estimate and was knowledgeable and efficient. She took care to respond to all of my questions, both during the estimate and subsequent follow-up calls from me. Daryl was the lead installer who showed up five minutes early, explained each step of the process prior to beginning. Daryl listened well and asked me appropriate questions to ensure my satisfaction. The job was completed earlier than estimated. The crew cleaned up nicely afterward. Kara treated me like a "new" customer two weeks later when I stopped in to ask a question. Great customer service throughout the entire process. Kara was easy to work with, and there were no surprizes. I will definitely return in a customer capacity and ask for Daryl for future installations.

Did a great job matching wood to our existing wood in the dining room & hallway. We have hectic schedules during the week, so the saleswoman from Costen actually came to our house on a Sunday after she went to church to take the measurements in our home! Very professional, knowledgeable and helpful. Workers were punctual & completed job on time. Work was beautifully done, we haven't found anything wrong with the work. Final cost was right in line with estimate. They may have been a bit higher priced than other companies - but I did find it worth it. I would highly recommend them.

I was unhappy with the first sales rep I dealt with. The information he gave me was vague and did not clearly resolve my questions. Although he was promptly on time to measure my room, he failed to send me an estimate. After a week of waiting, I e-mailed him to see what the hold-up was. Instead of answering directly, he had a secretary send me the quote without any explanation or apology for the delay. The quote was unacceptable. It showed a lump figure without the breakdown for each individual charge (e.g. cost of carpet, cost of padding, installation charge, removal charge, etc). The rep had also promised to put the one-year guarantee in writing on the quote, but that didn't happen (I couldn't believe this wasn't standard practice in the first place). The price was very high compared to prices at the "big name" stores (almost 50% higher!), though I've seen higher at other independent retailers. I was about to give up, but since Costen was the only place I found with the color carpet I wanted, I decided to try e-mailing customer service, asking them to pass my concerns on to management. I received a call within 48 hours and was assigned a new POC. That person sent me the quote in the format I had requested and did return my calls and e-mails on time. He was not overly friendly, nor did he go the extra mile for customer satisfaction (e.g. I asked for twist and density figures that I never received), but at least he adequately addressed all my critical concerns. I set up an appointment for installation with a bit of trepidation. Costen does require a 50% deposit prior to the performance of work, which I thought was substantial. The installation was the best part of the whole process, and I was extremely satisfied with the results. A subcontractor performed the actual install, and the two guys that did the job showed up 10 minutes early and were quick, efficient, and exceedingly patient. I'm one of those people who will stand over your shoulder the whole time and ask questions and scrutinize your work with a fine tooth comb. Not only did the installers thoroughly answer every question I asked, but they were also receptive to new techniques I requested they use. For instance, I had read on the Internet that you should tape your padding seams so they don't show up as dark lines in your carpet. Though the installers each had decades of experience and had never heard of such a thing, they readily complied with my request to tape the seams, and inquired if there were other things they could do to make sure I was 100% satisfied with the job (although I did take some good-natured ribbing about all my Internet research!). It's not too often I've hired a contractor who is open to learning something new, especially when he has a lot of experience already, so this was a refreshing surprise. Any time you have carpet installed, you're going to take a bit of damage/scuffing to your baseboards, but I had very minimal damage, and mostly just had to go around with a magic eraser removing scuff marks from my trim. The carpet they installed was white, and they made me nervous every time they came back inside and walked around on it in their boots, but they didn't leave any stains at all. The carpet was power stretched and laid evenly and the finished product is professional in appearance and very beautiful. In typical fashion, Costen did not follow up with me to see if I was happy with the installation, but I certainly would have called them if I had any problems (and still will if the carpet starts to buckle for any reason). All in all, I would say that their customer service department is fair to moderate, but the installation services are outstanding. I will probably go somewhere else next time because Costen's prices are high and they are unwilling to negotiate at all, but I needed a special type of carpet for this job, so my hand was forced. Though it was kind of a pain getting through the whole thing (took several weeks longer than it needed to), ultimately I was happy with the results, and I guess that's the most important element. My advice is to do your research thoroughly, as they're not going to go out of the way to offer you information. Make sure you know how much carpet you need, where the seams are going to be, etc, and don't pay for more than that. It's possible to have a good experience with this company. Just be prepared to take some aspirin during the process!

They are not worth the money, in short. The floor was adequate, although I had to have somebody come back and redo the job to the standard indicated. The workers are primitive, they take liberties with your house.

We are still thinking about this, but so far we like them. We just haven't decided when we are going to do this.

They were excellent, showing up on time and working quickly through the process. When they got to the removal of the kitchen flooring they found a "non-standard installation". We were all surprised to learn there was an older flooring installation that had been nailed every foot and glued to the new installation. Costen worked through this problem with minimal delay. They also had the lowest estimate of the 4 that I obtained.

I really am very happy with the work. Costen Floors is a long time member of the Richmond business community and when I saw other positive comments about them on Angie's List I was assured from the start that I would get quality work. They have a showroom that is a showcase for all their products. It is spacious and I am no expert but it seems no flooring challenge is above them. I was able to visit late on a Saturday afternoon and easily pick out some of the laminate flooring I wanted. A sales representative visited my home early in the week and we finalized the project areas and cost. I asked for their #1 installer and I am convinced I got him. The project was scheduled for three days and it took 2 and a half. My wife and I were treated with respect by the sales representative (Kara Stephens). She promptly kept her appointment and followed up with phone calls and emails. The installation team (led by Dave) treated myself and my home with the utmost respect. My highest endorsement!

They were very good. The work was excellent.

They did a great job and had a reasonable price. We just bought the house and were out of town. We wanted to match the floors on the first floor. They got the key and finished the floors before we arrived. It looks great. They were prompt and reasonable. I would recommend them.

I think they did a great job. I was not impressed with the professionalism of the employees who spent a lot of time hanging around talking on the phone and playing Gameboy, but the work was good. Measure the floor yourself though. They ended up ordering way too much flooring, which I had to pay for even though they didn't use it because I had signed the contract.

The jury is still out for my final opinion of Costen Floors. Some of spots did not come out very well. The worker that I had here just said that there is nothing he can do about it. He just seemed in a hurry to leave. I do now think that sanding the floor first instead of the doing the screening process may have been a better idea. I am not sure that I would use their services again.

Costen Floors replaced our carpet pretty fast. They took a lot longer on the hardwood floors but the work they did was great. I would recommend them to all of my friends and family.

Costen Floors did a good job overall. A small part was not perfect the first time but they were very responsive to my concerns. They came out again right away to correct the problem. I was very pleased about that. It is nice when a company stands behind their work.

I didn t like to give out prices and the cost would depend on the quality of materials you selected and the size of the job. They really did an excellent job and if you wanted a good reputable company for a flooring job than these were your guys to call.