MASTERS WHOLESALE

The following is the explanation of all our interaction with Masters Wholesale. From January 2014 to April 2014 I investigated LVT products and obtained prices of Tarkett Transcend LVT installed, from 3 different flooring companies. The price I was quoted by Master’s Wholesale salesmen (3 different salesmen on 3 different occasions) was $5.30 sq. ft, $5.50 sq. ft. and later $5.75 sq. ft. The other companies had quoted me a price of $5.25 and $6.50 sq. ft. I thought Masters was a mid-priced offer and it appeared to be a more substantial company than some. Moreover, the salesmen all assured me repeatedly that their LVT installers had more than 20 years experience and were “the best”. Thus, on March 20, 2014 had our contractor call Masters to set up measurements at our property. Jeff Lovelace subsequently came to our property in Incline Village, NV, while we were present, and he took measurements. I told him that the price I had been quoted was $5.75 per square foot and he replied that “the stairs would cost more than the price I was given, because that price was for flat flooring”. I asked him how much more the cost of the stairs would be and he replied his bid would show the price. We have two sets of stairs which I asked Jeff to price separately. I specifically also asked that he price each set of stairs separately because I wasn’t sure I was going to replace the flooring on both sets. When Jeff later called with a “price for the whole job”, he stated that he didn’t price out the sets of stairs separately because he “was giving me a good price for both together, knowing Masters would use scraps from one set of stairs to do the other set”. We were under time constraints so I sent the deposit of $2400 immediately. I expected to receive some subsequent paperwork from Jeff showing the exact square footage and the price breakdown on stairs vs. flat floor install. I also expected to receive paperwork showing the Tarkett lifetime guarantee. I never received any paperwork from Jeff, or the installer or Masters Wholesale, or any further communication about the bid. I was promised the install would take place as soon as possible. The flooring was installed April 6-8. On April 8 Jeff emailed two photos of the flooring (neither one included steps or transitions) and stated “the flooring looks amazing” and that the project was finished and he wanted the final payment. I told Jeff I did not want to make final payment until I saw and approved of the installation. The following weekend we drove to our property and when we saw the installation which he had stated was “finished” and “looked amazing” we were totally appalled and disgusted. All of the stairs were unfinished. There were 1/4-3/8 inch gaps on ALL sides of ALL stairs and there were spaces between the tops of the steps and risers. Our contractor subsequently told us that there should be NO gaps between the stair material and the walls, the stairs should be flush with the walls, and that there should be no spaces left between the top of the steps and the risers. Of the 3 transitions between carpet and LVT, two were cut an inch short of the door frames. Of the two transitions between the tile and the LVT, NEITHER had any transition strip. Of the 4 transitions between the sliding doors and the LVT NONE had transition strips. All had huge gaps. Clearly the job was NOT finished. We took pictures of all these things and immediately sent them to Jeff. I also immediately called him to explain all this and told him that the job was definitely not finished and looked like a mess. He stated that the stairs should not have wide gaps on the sides, the transitions should all be in place and complete and that he would send the installer back to deal with these things. We met with the installer on April 17 and she told us many things explaining why the job was incomplete and the stairs unredeemable. She said (1) Jeff had not ordered the proper materials in the first place and that she had told him so when she got to the job (2) That the sub flooring was also not properly prepared and she had informed Jeff of this when she got to the job and saw the improper preparation of the sub flooring. She said she had called Jeff when she saw these things and he told her to just get on with it and make do however she could. (3) She told him that the stairs could not fit flush to the walls and that she would have to caulk the 1/4-3/8 inch spaces on every stair and that she could NOT get the risers to fit flush with the steps. (4) Further, as I mentioned above, she stated he had not let the materials acclimate long enough when she arrived. (5) She also told us that she usually doesn’t work for Masters Wholesale but for Sand G carpets and that she had never worked with Jeff before. Jeff had assured us, and our contractor, that he was sending an expert installer who had worked for Masters for 25 years. By this time we were losing trust in whatever Jeff said, as there had been so many discrepancies between what he said and what took place. Even so, we called Jeff from the house when the installer was present and had a “conference call” with him. The installer confirmed to Jeff that nothing could be done to fix the stairs except to fill the large gaps with caulking, which she agreed was inadequate and he agreed was inadequate. She then subsequently made the repairs on all but one of the other transitions, but she still commented that the flooring would have looked better if the subfloor had been properly prepared and she again lamented that she had told this to Jeff prior to her installing. She said Jeff had told her that our contractor was supposed to prepare the sub-flooring, and however it was left, she should just lay the LVT on whatever was there, however inadequate it might be. We went to meet with Jeff on April 18 and asked for the detailed numbers of square footage for the flat LVT flooring, so that we could pay the rest of what we owe Masters for everything except the stairs. Jeff wanted us to look at carpet to replace the LVT on the stairs, but we stated we wanted to see the numbers. Jeff stated that he had those numbers and just needed to go look them up. Then he left us looking at carpet samples for about 10 minutes. When he returned we said again we wanted to see the detailed numbers and he said he could show them to us, but that the cost of the stairs was only $1,000 of the total bill of $9,490 I said that could not possibly be correct and asked again what the square footage of the flat flooring was. He said the flat flooring was “about 900 sq. ft”. We asked for a specific number, and he repeated “about 900 sq. ft.”. “about”???? It seems to us he should have an exact number and we are going to ask our contractor to measure it out the next time he is at our property. I said that I had been quoted a price of $5.75 sq. ft as the highest price I’d been given from a Masters salesman for installed flat lay Tarkett Transcend LVT flooring and that the total for 900 sq. ft. multiplied by $5.75 therefore would be $5175. Thus any other charges must have been related to the stairs for which we were going to pay nothing and Jeff had agreed that we would not have to pay for the stairs. Jeff said “well the stairs wouldn’t have cost $4,000”. I said, well apparently you were previously telling me they did cost at least that much since the total cost you quoted minus the $5175 for flat LVT install equals $4,315. He said he never quoted me a price of $5.75 sq. ft. flat LVT installed. I said that the other salesmen in his store did quote that price and that I had priced it at two other companies and thought that a mid range price. I also said that he was sent in substitution for the salesman who had given me that price and he did not dispute the price when he came to measure. Jeff never stated any other price to us per sq. ft. Indeed when he came to measure and I repeated to him the price I was quoted in the store he had simply said “the price is higher for stairs” and thus when I received his total bid, I had assumed that the extra cost was due to the higher price of stairs. We then asked “what IS the current price you charge for installed flat flooring Tarkett LVT”? He refused to give us ANY price. He stammered around and said something about his only being able to give a total price that included his “margin of profit” etc. We stated that “margin of profit” is assumed to be included in their total “installed LVT price” as is so at EVERY FLOORING STORE. Again we stated he should give us whatever price they were currently quoting per sq. ft to new customers, and it was at that point he called over his “manager” who introduced himself and while we were trying to describe to him the problem, some other guy came over and without introducing himself interrupted us talking over us in a loud voice. At which point I told him that I had not finished explaining to the “manager” what the situation was, and would he please stop interrupting me. He then told me to be quiet or he would have us removed from his store. At that point we said fine, we will leave the store and we did so. We subsequently paid Masters Wholesale for the remainder of the $5175.00 which was owed by us for the flat flooring, however, we still believed it was a shoddy install job. A week later our general contractor saw the job and said it was absolutely the worst flooring install job he had ever seen and that Masters was lucky we paid them anything.

Worked with Rich Williams who was gentle and knowledgeable about appliance. This place is a showroom for custom builders and has lots of high end products. Rich was helpful in selecting the appliance for us. We needed just about everything for our kitchen. He didn't try to push us to buy more expensive brands or models to stay within budget. We actually had to ask for some upgrade options to explore more brands. Anyways, he picked out nice and functional models without all of the unnecessary features that he said nobody uses or can break easily. He educated us who actually makes these products and which brands are actually the same thing as others. He gave us good price and delivered on time. No sales pressure and no pitch on buying extended warranty. One or two pieces didn't come at same time but showed up few days later. We are happy with the selection and our kitchen.

Masters Wholesale is a first-rate company. Their Appliance Sales Manager, Mike LaVerdure, is outstanding. He is extremely knowledgeable, professional, and congenial. His help in choosing the right appliances for our particular kitchen, has been invaluable to us. We are grateful to have discovered Masters Wholesale and Mr. LaVerdure. They will be our first choice for any future purchases.