Here are the facts:
1) I purchased 4 rooms of hardwood flooring from Abbey Carpet in May and it was installed at that time with the help of a general contractor who coordinated the resources.
2) All precautions were taken to acclimate the wood prior to installation. My house has proper humidity and it was tested by installers, piano tuner and a flooring inspector. The installation was done by installers that Abbey contract and approve.
3) The brand was Arc Flooring aka Premiere
4) After a few weeks I noticed that the wood was shrinking, had a few chips in the finish.
5) By August I had two areas where the finish was bubbling up and lifting.
6) Abbey Carpet offered a free box of the product to fix the two obvious lifting problems. However, they did not address a solution to the shrinking or future finish failures.
7) My independent testing of an extra leftover wood plank from the batch found the finish would begin to bubble with only a quarter size of water on the floor for 30 mins. whether the water was in the middle of the plank, at the beveled edge and basically on any scratch.
8) Abbey, with the agreement of the mfg., employed an "independent" inspector.
9) The report that the inspector produced focused on what happened after the wood arrived at my location ONLY. There was no inquiry with the mfg. as to product quality nor its practices or tests done on uninstalled wood to understand the entire problem. Its conclusion was that I was ENTIRELY AT FAULT for using a steam mop to clean it. It totally discounts the OBVIOUS findings of my simple tests which demonstrated clearly the defects and sub-par performance of the wood flooring. In addition, there were no written care instructions on or in any of the many boxes; nor was there any attempt of verbal instructions.
10) There were areas that a steam mop had never been used, as in the living room. Additionally, the wood itself wasn't bubbling. It was the finish only. And water should make wood expand not contract.
11) Abbey and Arc/Premiere took no responsibility for the defective non-performing product nor the inadequate provision of appropriate care instructions. They blame the GC for the lack of instructions and are TOTALLY SILENT on the POOR PRODUCT QUALITY.
I have worked as a Manufacturer utilizing Sales channels for over 20 years and our Distribution Sales Channels have always exhibited that they are in the business to educate and provide service to end-user customers where manufacturers do not have adequate personnel to provide that service to do so. Moreover, as a manufacturer rep it is critical to get feedback on questionable product performance immediately to rectify any potential issues. It was clear that Abbey sought a scapegoat and had no intention of appropriately following up on this very troubling and expensive problem that they caused my family. Whether it was attributable to Abbey, or the manufacturer, or both, is still uncertain from our end.
Secondly, no investigation was made of the manufacturers practices to insure that their product and this batch maintained standards that would support long-term finish adherence to the wood and would not shrink in a few months, showing gaps EVERYWHERE and wood finish failures.
BUYER BEWARE!!! I would never do business with Abbey Carpet (or Premiere) again for the cost and even more importantly the pain and suffering they caused by their NON-RESPONSIVE customer service behavior through the whole ordeal. They HIDE from issues, drag their feet in responding to customer issues and appear to game the system when called out on legitimate product issues. In addition, they don't seek to educate, assist or support customers or in attempting some sort of customer satisfaction.
I am very disappointed to have chosen to do business, particularly with this inferior Product Manufacturer, with this organization and will be certain to spread the word of how poorly their business serves their "customers" read more