We were recommended to this company. I had seen their work and had the confidence that they would do a great job. We have red pine plank floors. Mike the Sales Rep came out to the house 30 days prior to the work being done. I walked Mike to four water stains on our hardwood floor. Asking him if each stain could be sanded out. With every water stain MIke's response was, "yes this will come out." The estimate was done and the date was set. The first day, Chris and Dan showed up on time to sand and apply one coat. This is when I realized Mike hadn't done a great job explaining my options of finishes. I told Chris we were having the gymnasium finish (high gloss). Your having an oil based finish, Chris asked me? While Chris and Dan were sanding I started googling. There are two different types of finishes oil and water. Oil has more of a smell, has better durability then water finishes. Do your research to make an informative decision. Chris and Dan recommended oil. Mike hadn't given me a choice or discussed my options. Instead Mike had written down a water based finish. The next morning we walked on the hardwood floors and none of the water stains had been removed. Samantha the office Manager was called. I was told it was not written under "Special Notes" on the estimate. Therefore, it was not included in the contract. Make sure you get everything in writing. Mike was more concerned with us removing the furniture and having ample power under special notes. Mike was on holiday and wasn't available the week our floors were being done. Instead, Samantha arranged to have Ceasar the Foreman come to our home on the second day. Ceasar suggested applying bleach to lighten the stain. If we were told by Mike a month earlier he couldn't guarantee the stains would be removed; we would have looked at different options. Such as flipping the board or replacing the board. (all pine eventually becomes an amber colour). Time wasn't on our side. Our Daughter was away at camp and we didn't want her breathing the fumes. We had made arrangements to have the rooms cleaned, painted and the movers to move back in. We were very disappointed this expectation had not been met. We lost trust in Higgins Flooring. The water stains did lighten slightly overnight, given more time, we would have had better results. Two days later the final coat was being applied. The night before I received a call from Samantha, the cheque must be ready before the final coat is down. I felt this was unfair. How as a customer am I to know if the work has been completed to my satisfaction? If I pay in full will they come back if there are problems? I wrote a post dated cheque for four business days later along with a letter of explanation. Felt this was a fair compromise to allow me to walk the hardwood floors to see if there were any areas that needed to be corrected. I had a less then friendly phone call with Samantha. Samantha demanded the cheque's date be changed. During the same day (Friday), I spoke with Tammy one of the owner's. Tammy listened to my reasons and complaints. At the end of the conversation I came away feeling that I had been told by Tammy that Mike would never have said the water stains could be removed. Tammy would not believe Mike would have said this. I was made to feel like I was distorting the truth. Tammy repeatedly asked me if we would have done things differently. Of course we would have! Samantha arranged for Mike to come to our home at 9:00 am Monday to walk the floor and receive a new cheque. This time I had my Husband present. Yes, Mike did admit to both of us, that he told me the stains could be removed. No compensation or discount. Asked me the same questions Tammy asked, would you have done things differently? Seems to be a Higgins line when they have client dissatisfaction. We withheld 25% of the amount owing. Mike felt it should have been 5%, I pointed out to Mike, why would you come back for $50 outstanding? Mike assured me Higgins would be there. There were four areas that needed correction. The landing had one coat only and needed to have three more coats. The door ways all had pooling. This time I had Mike put this in writing before I wrote a cheque. The first visit took care of the pooling in the door ways. The landing required a second visit. Ken who did the coats felt a second visit wasn't necessary. We did not agree. The office was agreeable to having Ken come out the next day. The work was completed. We love the look of the hardwood floors, we felt we should have been given the truth about the water stains and looked at a better solution then bleaching. The water stains and the demand for payment in full prior to the job being completed. Not being allowed to walk the floors to inspect them after completion is why I cannot recommend this company. There is no warranty with the hardwood floors. I felt there should have been written material with aftercare intructions. We moved our furniture in two days later. We already have scratch marks in three areas and Higgins solution was to re sand the floors. On the first day of us moving in we have less then perfect floors. This would have happened with any company. You have to wait two weeks for the floors to cure, if you don't want to cause any scratches or dents in your floors. Hope this helps anyone thinking of using Higgins Flooring.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,300.00