To ask the fitters to stop fitting my floor today

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So this situation is absolutely ridiculous and I am perfectly aware that my pregnancy hormones are clouding my judgement here and I'm in an incredibly fortunate position, but I could really be doing with some urgent WWYD advice as I am so stressed over this. I am 33 weeks pregnant and have moved into a complete renovation project (not ideal I realise!). The last few weeks since I got the keys I've had to make a lot of quick (expensive) decisions re the design of the house to allow me to get in to it before the baby's born. I'd thought that would be really fun and exciting, but I'm actually really starting to feel pretty stressed over the whole thing and no longer trust my own judgement. I'm becoming quite teary and doubting every decision I make. One of the major outlays has been flooring. It accounts for a significant lump sum of the budget and the fitters started work yesterday and will complete today. As soon as I saw the flooring down it looked completely different from I had thought it would from when I saw it in the shop. I did immediately mention this to the fitters but they assured me it was the correct one. I'm not blaming anyone else here but me, as I do appreciate flooring looks different in natural/ artificial light etc but I immediately hated it. It really looks nothing like I thought it would. They are about halfway done. Should I call the shop and ask them to stop and at least try to salvage some of the unused packets of flooring? (It's herringbone design and there's a LOT of it as the floor space is massive) or should I let them finish and suck it up and not lose thousands of £?) I'm so angry at myself for making the wrong choice and of course I'm not suggesting that I don't pay for the flooring or wiggle out of fitting fees etc. I also realise this is causing me way more distress than it should- my hormones are all over the place.

I'd call it silver grey, myself. Actual samples are the only guarantee- but there may still be variations, even with artificial floors, though there ought not to be. Real wood is a different animal altogether, and changes a lot with batch and over time.

I think it probably is wrong, because what you wanted and your picture of the shop sample is an oak colour, shop lighting is normally at 6000K, no less than 4000K, most domestic lighting is around 3000K so if it was the same it would look darker, warmer in domestic lighting, a darker yellow not more silvery.

Kronotex isn't the range manufacturer. Bella Cera is.

Yes but it's still sold as a brand in the way that Green&Blacks(Part of Mondelez International is). The Ravello is just a range.

I'm not sponsored by Green&Blacks I promise.

One good thing to come of this thread is that hopefully it'll save some people a lot of money in future. It's just unfortunate that it's probably too late for the OP.

No because coke and Pepsi are different brands in their own right.

Ravello is a made up range by Tapi that they sell the Kronotex brand of flooring under, presumably because they can flog it for more than the RRP under that name.

It's not passing off one brand for another.

It's buying supermarket own brand biscuits and remarketing them/upselling them as special fancy Ravello biscuits in your specialist biscuit shop. As long as you aren't claiming they are are something they are not (e.g homemade) then it's legal.

Thank you everyone for your comments- I have spoken to the store manager- I am going in to store to check the samples against what has been provided in my order- then at least I can make a more informed decision!

Actually, I think what you are describing is ‘reverse passing off’.

But the legal action would have to come from Kronotex.

We bought a part pack of some artificial 'wood effect' flooring to temporarily patch a synthetic floor we're intending to take up (to lay real wood). I wasn't too bothered about the colour, but at a glance thought the stuff we bought would be approximately okay. It was much greyer when we got it home and next to the old floor. Same box, but different lighting in the shop, I think.

I (like others) was quite surprised to see the replies to the MSE thread.

BUT I feel like their is one difference in Ops case that might make a difference? In the mse example they said it was as described because despite it being a different "brand" it was actually as described. However the description for Belstaff specifically says PALE BROWN. So they're describing it as pale brown but selling a silver product?

It's normal to rebrand products especially in the flooring industry.

Passing off would be buying Kronotex and selling it as Karndean.

This is just taking a cheaper brand and calling it a made up name to sell more of it.

Kronotex won't care, they get the sale either way whether it's directly from the customer or via tapi buying it from them at the RRP and selling it on with a price markup in their shops.

My god OP you're being massively fked over here.
It's not your pregnancy hormones.

And to the PP who said it's a first world problem, no it isn't. You've paid for something and they've had your eyes out. I'd give them the opportunity to sort it out but I've be taking them to the Small Claims Court or maybe "Large Claims Court" since I'm currently ordering similar flooring to you, OP and I'm not getting much change from £30k.

Please don't let the shop get away with this. It's neither you nor your hormones.

“I would double check it's what you ordered, but if not I would try and live with it.”

Why would the OP want to try and live with flooring different from that which she had chosen? Especially as she could have saved £000s on the different cheaper flooring!

I think both colors are lovely, and I don't find the second one to be silver at all.

Often companies do the reverse and market a branded good as their own for numerous reasons, for example making it cheaper bacause they have purchased in bulk or preventing price matches.

2 examples:

In my youth I worked for Jessops, we would keep say a Canon EOS2Dx, we purchased enough to have the x appended to the EOS2D which meant no one else could price match us, as they didn't actually stock that item.

My supplier Rexel sells Collingwood downlighters under their trade brand Newlec, same product re-branded, and as they bulk buy I get them cheaper, but of course I can resell at whatever price I choose, I pass on the saving, others may not.

In other cases it can simply be brand engineering to a market, Olivetti cash registers are branded Underwood for the US market.

Rebranding something and selling it for more is reverse or inverse passing off.

But if it’s common in the flooring industry it’s entirely possible that Kronotex has agreed the retailer doing this and waived their rights to legal recourse against the the retailer.

Which is crap for the consumer but mutually beneficial for the two companies.

I think 2 is nicer , to me it has the bleached look ,1 is a bit yellowy .
Also i am not a grey everything fan but i really like your floor.

What's the point of you posting this? Do you only every worry about the most crucial of human needs (food, water, shelter)?

I think its lovely. The original is too yellow for me!

You must get the shop people in with samples and show them it is not what you bought

Revello Belstaff IS NOT silver, it is a pale brown. Suppliers even describe it as such, we use this in new builds at work and we haven't had an unbranded silver herringbone box delivered before! Definitely check that they have used the correct flooring by placing a sample next to it.

(supplier description: https://www.tapi.co.uk/laminate/ravello-belstaff)

Good luck! x

Ravello on the quote and Kronotex on the boxes lying around?

Ravello looks to be about 40/sqm on a quick google search and the Kronotex silver herringbone about 25.

so if they are indeed different on the invoice/those boxes then yes, they need to stop work and replace that cheaper version with what you ordered and paid for.

Really dodgy if that's what's happened, and don't let them fob you off.

I have built a house and there is absolutely no love in it when it comes to details like this, no leeway, no 'oh never mind it's done now' - they are trying it on and if you call it off, as any architect would, they don't have a leg to stand on.

It does seem as though they've given you the wrong colour OP. Don't let them gaslight you, if you can see that it's difficult to the sample demand it to be changed.

Hi OP, a friend currently has a court case on a similar, although six figure issue. Check your quote to see if there is a caveat about providing suitable alternatives. She was distracted by caring responsibilities and they carried out the work. Part of the contractors argument is she should have stopped them if she was not happy with the alternative.

Bella Cera looks to be a high end hardwood floor manufacturer in the US, and they have a Ravello range with a colour Belmond (as opposed to Belstaff). Hmmm. So if this is the Kronotex product, rebranded and sold for more, are they deliberately trying to confuse it with the superior Bella Cera product by making the name very similar?

I guarantee it will look completely different once everything is up around it, and you have the lighting you want. These things all look awful until you start to put the whole look together. Our main room’s walls look like milky coffee when the room is bare. Please don’t stress yourself and best wishes for your pregnancy and new home!

Could be harsher lighting washing it out, they don’t look too dissimilar. Good luck in the shop.