Rubaroc Canada

Playground surface began deteriorating within months. Only 1" of material when 4" minimum was contracted. Found out when it started to come apart a few months after installation. Did not use enough binding material so it came apart. They requested pictures, then copy of contract, then proof of payment (all provided) then just unwilling to warranty as their contractor is no longer working for them? This is the rubber chips area shown in the photo's, but there is a much larger smooth surface that needs replacement as well. We really got taken by Rubaroc.

Do not use Rubaroc. Their customer service is terrible and they do not stand by their product. Our pool deck has had white stains since shortly after it was installed and despite waiting patiently and politely, they have not followed through on any way of correcting it. The organization does not respond to phone calls or emails. There are many other consumers who have similar complaints about Rubaroc.

Back in Oct. 2017, we were very excited about this service and product. We still believe it is great in concept, but could not recommend this specific Company due to poor execution and customer service so far.

We liked the product as it is not slippery in the winter like Epoxy floors or Epoxy floors with the sand/grip added and because it could be applied vertically to the cement exposed walls in the garage, which Epoxy coatings could not do, which meant that it is easier for us to spray out the garage with a normal water hose or a pressure washer.

We have two main issues relating to product discolouration and the product coming off of the garage floor. We have discolouration issues in both areas, which are the garage & the front porch.

Luckily we have a 5-year warranty on the garage work and a 10-year warranty on the Front Porch work and I’m still hoping that the repair and fix work will be done.

Rubaroc has poor execution and customer service because of the following main reasons. Each of the reasons are elaborated below:
1) Installation not done professionally
2) Administrative Office not organized
3) Customer Service non-existent

1) Installation Day: Although homeowners do not need to be home during installation (as long as the installers have access to the area in question), I wanted to see and talk to the installers before they started their work. I waited until 9:55 am but no one showed up at the 9 am scheduled & expected time. I thought they were running late so I left for work. We left both the garage doors open for them to do the work while we were at work. Mid-morning, I called the Rubaroc office and our assigned Office Representative, Smeakings, was not in the office but his colleague said that she would call him to get an update and that our Office Rep would call us back shortly. I reconfirmed my cell # with her but no one called me back. Upon return home, we were disappointed to see that nothing was done. I did not receive any communication from Rubaroc about the installation needing to be rescheduled. I called Rubaroc again to ask about the installation. They said that they needed to reschedule as the labourers were not available for my scheduled installation. They did apologize and did reschedule the installation date. However, they could not explain why there was no communication about the install not happening on the initially scheduled date. I feel like even if a reschedule was needed, they should have initiated the communication with me and not the other way around.

Also, when the installers did show up on the rescheduled date, they needed me to tell them what exactly was to be done and where even though we were told that no one needed to be home to meet with the installers. The installers told me that all they get is a work order saying something vague like “square footage of X work to be done in the garage and front porch”. To make matters worse for this 1-day job, the installers said that they only had about 85%-90% of the needed materials to finish the job. And they said that it was up to me to contact the Company to figure out when the remaining 10%-15% of the materials would be available and the workers could be rescheduled. They said that they go to the warehouse in the morning to obtain the materials set aside for each job. They said that from experience that they could tell right away that my job did not have enough material, especially the special glue that they use. The 10-15% part of the job was done at a later date. There is a slight colour difference in the materials used between the 1st main portion of the job versus the 2nd smaller portion of the job. I feel that Rubaroc should have provided their installers with the proper amount of materials, if not slightly extra in case of any job site issues. And also, if Rubaroc was short of materials that they should have initiated the communication about the shortage and the reschedule. I do not think that it should be the homeowner finding out from the labourers that the homeowner needs to reach out to Rubaroc to try to reschedule the job to be finished.

We do like our Sales Representative (Holly). She came out and did the quote. Her attitude and communication were good and she gave good suggestions on colour. She tried as much as possible to assist in the installation and scheduling issues that we had. The only thing I would recommend is that Holly and the installers have better communication. For the 1-step in the garage to enter the house, the small vertical area in between the garage doors and the small vertical corners in the garage, Holly recommended that before installation that I box it up with wood to make better complete shapes as that would be better for the installers. However, the installers said the opposite. They said it would have been better for me to leave the wood pieces out for them to cover in the product and after the product was cured then it would have been better for me to insert into those respective areas, especially the corners and the small vertical area between the garage doors.

2) Unorganized Administrative Office: In addition to the communication and scheduling issues stated in the Installation section #1 above, there were multiple examples of an unorganized administrative office. An example related to our final instalment payment which was just under $4,000. The Sales Representative came to our house to collect the final instalment payment cheque. Holly was on her way to the office and said that she would give them the cheque to finalize & close off our project. She did do that as I saw that Rubaroc did cash the cheque and that it successfully cleared my bank account. To my surprise, a couple of weeks after the cheque cleared at the bank I got a call from the Administrative Office asking me to pay the final instalment payment as soon as possible to avoid late fees/penalties and implied that further collections procedures may start if I did not pay. I did not want any negative impact to my credit score so I had to communicate to them that the final cheque payment was already physically given to their Sales Representative and that it had even already cleared the bank several weeks prior.

3) Poor Customer Service: The work was completed mid. Oct. 2017. Within 1-year the product appeared discoloured on the covered front porch and there was a bubble on the garage floor with the product sticking up off the floor. Especially for the discolouring, we were very surprised given that they verbally stated and also shown in their product brochure they gave us that the product is “high quality color-fast rubber granules” and “UV resistant”. Although Rubaroc’s maintenance & cleaning guide says that a simple water hose spray should clean most areas, it did say that a power washer could be used. I initially tried to clean with the hose. Since there was no success, I tried power washing. Assuming the pictures I attached are included in this Homestars review, you will notice the discolouration closest to the door. By the door, the colour is brighter, which is what we like and better matches the rest of our exterior house colour. The discoloured part looks dirty and more whitewashed with white streaks. These pictures are after my cleaning attempts and the colour difference is greater in real life than what the pictures show. The garage was also slightly discoloured but was less noticeable since we chose a dark black-ish colour for the garage floor. The “bubble” sticking up off the garage floor is harder to see in pictures as the black colour of everything blurs together in photos. If Homestars allows the “bubble” photo, hopefully, you can see what I mean.

In Oct. 2018, I contacted our Office Representative, Smeakings, via email and followed up with a voicemail. At that same time, I also submitted the query through Rubaroc website “contact us” section. Unfortunately, there was no response.

In May 2019, I followed-up with our Office Representative again and another submission through the Rubaroc website. No response.

On June 5, 2019, I was able to get an alternative contact at Rubaroc named Doreen. We discussed the issues via phone along with the requested follow-up email with pictures to ensure that we were all on the same page. Rubaroc had various explanations and excuses for not fixing the problems during the 2019 season. Their last 2019 communication in Sept. 2019 was that they were “testing a new procedure to remove the shading on the Rubaroc surfaces” and would get back to me within 1-week. That led me to believe that multiple customers were having discolouration issues. Unfortunately, I heard nothing back.

Jan 2020 - I followed up via email to try to get us scheduled into their calendar first-thing in the 2020 Season. No response.

I understand that in March 2020, we all experienced the unprecedented COVID-19 situation.

May 2020 - I followed-up again via phone & email and spoke to Doreen in May 2020. She stated that they had all the pictures needed and similar to what she told me in 2019, that she would contact the appropriate supervisor again to get our issues resolved.

Currently mid-July 2020 – and no further progress or communication.