to want money back off B&Q for crap laminate flooring?

[katechristie]

We spent around £400 on oak effect laminate from B&Q for our large-ish living room (large-ish by normal 3-bed semi houses). It's only been down a few months and it's actually pretty crap quality. It looks like it's really old, the joins are chapped in places as if they've lifted slightly.

DH left plenty of room at either end as I know it can move about, but it looks quite shabby. would I be ridiculous to go into B&Q to discuss it with the manager? (I'd be quite happy for him to come to the house to look at it).

I don't think it would be ridiculous, no, but I guess the manager will have questions to ask about how heavy the traffic is and so on. Can't hurt to try, though.

we have also had crap laminate flooring. most of it has been pulled up again. it chips, dents lifts. waste of money IMO. never again.

You've got more chance of getting blood out of a stone than a refund from B&Q IME.

My sister had a kitchen supplied and fitted by them last year. They fitted the wrong worktop, 3 drawers wouldn't open properly and one of the doors had a 20cm scratch down the front of it.

It took them 5 mths to replace the door, they refused point blank to do anything about the worktop despite admitting they were wrong. They offered them £25 in vouchers as a "goodwill gesture". The kitchen had cost near on £8k!

ive got this in my hallway , and ive got to agree it is crap. its split , chipped, dented.its been down a couple of years. however i previously had beech effect laminate , also from b&q and it was fine , it got left in old house when we moved.... have heard from ex-neighbour that its still down . its been down 10 years!.
perhaps its just the oak effect?

couldntbebetter - it took them 2 years to finish ours. Yes you did read that correctly!!

We put in numerous complaints and we never got a reply back.

i think b&q may have a get out clause , if they dont fit/install it then the guarentee is void?????. am i right?

katechristie would you mind saying what kind it is?

We are looking at laminate in B&Q just now for our hall.

I have also heard they are not great at dealing with complaints but I reckon it's always worth a try. Could have someone decent in a particular branch.

Is it this one?
www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10617541&fh_view_size=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_sort order=1&fhsortby=pricerrpmin&fhlocation=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fenGB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d% 2fcategories%3c%7b9372028%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372109%7d%2fspecificationsProductType%3dlaminateflo oring&fhrefview=lister&ts=1270050032775&isSearch=false
Please let me know as we were going to lay it very soon!

Perfectly reasonable to complain.

TBH, laminate in general is pretty crap though, you are far better saving and getting real hardwood if you can, and getting someone who knows what they are doing to lay it. The good stuff will last for years as you can sand a bit off the top once it starts to look tatty.

thanks for all the replies! jackstini - I think that might be it, but I thought it was around £14. I've been through all the others though and that one looks the closest. DH is pretty good at complaining, so maybe I'll send him in there and he can give it a go then, thanks. At least now, if we expect nothing, anything will be a bonus!

jackstini thats the stuff i have down in hall .....its rubbish imo. looked lovely , but just doesnt do the job.

That is what I have in my hall. It is not good for heavy traffic and ours bends a bit in the corner! We always get the most expensive quality carpet we can afford but as this was just for the hall we only needed 3 packs we went for the cheaper stuff. Wish I hadn't now. It looks really nice until you look closely.

I sympathise. We have just had Amtico fitted at a cost of over £2,000 and it's been really badly laid. Long story short - we have a refund of £1650 and the floor stays, for the time being at any rate, can't afford to replace it now. The only way a full refund would have been given was if we allowed it all to be ripped up, chucked in a skip on our drive, then a cheque would have been issued. Two things with this, one, I doubt the workmen would have given a flying f* about how the house would have been left and two, in this current climate, I wanted to take what we could and run, before the possibility of this company going under became a reality. Then you get nothing back, as I understand it.

Has really put me off Amtico though, would not recommend.

What have you got to lose? Good luck!

To add my tales of woe of B&Q, I had my old kitchen and bathroom done by them and it was an utter disaster. They laid the tiles for the bathroom in the kitchen, used the wrong grout so all the tiles fell off in a week, dropped things which put holes in my laminate flooring, didn't deliver things they said they had, the list could go on and on. Took 3 months and 5 return visits from various builders to sort out, and it was never worth the money.

Got a £600 refund plus they paid for all the days that I had to take off. Frankly I hope they go bust in the recession.

thanks for the extra replies! - but am sorry you've all had such bad deals too.

Eek! DH and i chose their £14 oak laminate last weekend for our lounge/dining room. I'm glad I saw this thread!

Hi I have just put some wood down and their was 2 packs not the same, i got my wood from B&Q soctwood road newcastle upon tyne andvi have been on the phone 2 them that the person that sold me the wood had give me 2 difftent packs and their said that their could not do anything about it, i dont know wat i can do as i have not got the money 2 replace it cost me £28 a pack

Normally quite B&Q but did the whole living room dining room and hall with the oak effect 12mm, and it’s awful. Creaky, lifting, coming apart. I’ve spend hours and hours lifting and relaying. Don’t buy it. I’m handy but a fellow contractor warned me off it, too late though. Ripping the whole lot up and dumping it (legally)