FCA Flooring Specialists 2

Good. Person taking measurements was professional and knowledgeable.

Brian took the order and scheduled the installation of kitchen floor tile and carpeting in our hallway. He was very easy going and helpful which we liked. Not pushy. Sergio and his partner installed the floor and did an excellent job. The lines are completely straight and we LOVE our new floor. They had to install it over an old asbestos floor which had to be skim-coated first. Butch installed the carpeting with enthusiasm - like he really loves his job! I appreciated that. He even came back the next day to problem-solve and install metal stripping between the tile and wood floor. Excellent work FCA. THANKS!

Two men came for the install. English was not their first language, but one spoke English fairly well. They were punctual & stayed in contact regarding their arrival time. I do not usually give A's!

Salesman personable 7 knowledgeable installers prompt,tidy & did a great job!.

Workers were perfect. Polite and professional.

Guys showed up on time and worked very hard. There was lots of prep work to be done on subfloor, before cork could be installed. Prep was done well and so was installation of cork and floor baseboards.

The installers were excellent on time, Polite & Professional.

We had used them previously for carpet installation. We were happy with that. That was the reason we went back to them. They actually had examples of work of the tile guy when we made the contract for the job in their store which was good. But the people who actually installed it were young kids who clearly were not as experienced. The main guy was there but not there for the whole time. We were not completely satisfied with the end results of the tile installation and it was too late to fix it.

The sale associate wasn't very helpful, but we were able to get a price for what we needed. The price was very high. We decided to look elsewhere.

I am really disappointed with the outcome of the kitchen backsplash by FCA. We recently remodel our entire kitchen with Home Depot and are very satisfied, I wish we would have used Home Depot for the backsplash tile as well. The FCA team that installed our tile were very polite and came back four times to try to get it right, however the tile surrounding the kitchen window still looks awful, uneven tiles, bulging tiles, metal around the window poorly placed with sharp edges sticking out at the ends and uneven. After the fours times, I did not bother calling them back again, but instead I called other installers for opinions and both teams pointed out that the drywall was not completely level and the team from FCA should have addressed that issue prior to installing the backsplash tile. We would have gladly paid for the additional labor and materials for the wall to be level, had FCA mentioned it. Unfortunately now we have to remove the tile, level the wall and reorder new tile and pay for additional labor for the install.

The sales rep was very informative and did her job well as far as knowing product choices and customer service. However, her measurements resulted in us having two full, unopened boxes of flooring left over. When we contacted FCA about returning the materials for cash or credit, we were told us it could not be done. Two full boxes was a lot of overage, and we did not buy cheap flooring. We do understand you should plan for installation mistakes or poor product quality, but two full boxes of flooring was excessive for the total amount of flooring purchased for the size of the room. Further, the quality of the product is not what we expected. The laminate scratches more easily than I expected and smudging is a problem that we did anticipate. Although we thought we did our homework about laminate flooring pros and cons, the product we purchased is a disappointment and not being able to return the two excess boxes of flooring for cash or credit does not seem to be a good business practice.

She wrote on the evaluation card that she was pleased with the product, and in the layout with the direction that we requested. March 20 Tuesday evening about four hours after the installers left we were eating supper in the living room, when I asked my wife to look at the floor with me. There were eight to ten humps in the floor, some as large as a quarter. Upon further inspection these humps, which through internet research at Capitol adhesives web site, were appropriately called bubbles were prominent throughout the perimeter of the kitchen and dominant in the hallway. Also, the SM7021 was not adhered where the hallway met the kitchen, the lack of levelling was extremely noticeable, and two wrinkles were pronounced at the east side of the hallway kitchen transition. Research on the internet stated the main cause of this was the adhesive was flashing off; however, we also noticed these bubbles seemed to line up in the drywall screw locations. March 21 I called Capitol Adhesives about 9:00 AM Wednesday morning to inquire about the issue of bubbles appearing in the SM7021 flooring. The technical support person, Mr John Bagby informed me relative to the reasons why bubbles would appear. The causes for bubbles are as follows: non-acclimation to the home environment, improper tooling to apply adhesive a 1/16x1/16x1/16 trowel is required, since product was cut outside the backing was not cleaned prior to glue down. Additionally the adhesive was not installed in a manner that allowed for a releasable installation. To be releasable the material must be allowed to become tacky and there is no product transfer to finger touch. Installed wet the installation is permanent. Mr Bagby explained that they sell a product called bubble glue, but it would not accommodate the volume of bubbles that I referenced to him. A second call was placed to Stain Master by my wife. Their technical support person told her the only tested adhesive to work with our flooring was Mannington MT711 and the only seam sealer to be used with the SM7021 was Mannington MLG33. The appropriate patch leveller was Mannington MVP 2023. They also addressed the lack of acclimation issue. Finally she was informed that perimeter adhesion was not correct. A full lay adhesion was the proper and approved method. Incidentally, we paid for a full lay installation, and even if the floor had not failed we would not have received what we paid for. They stated that these issues should be taken up with the installers or their agent, namely FCA. March 23 My wife was marking the bubbles on the floor with pennies until she ran out of them. That morning we noticed the hallway seam was raising and becoming very visible. We never touched the seam as Jason instructed for fear of causing damage to the vinyl. We had spent far too much time on research, phone calls, and aggravation. The bubbles, wrinkles, and now the seam failure was the last draw so we drove out to the Merrillville FCA store. Tayona saw us arrive, and as she approached us I asked if we could see the store manager. She seemed surprised and said the only manager was the office manager, this was contrary to the OUR Promise page of your web site. Since a store manager was either not available on non-existent we registered our concerns and complaints with her.Everything we addressed with her is referenced within the context of this document beginning March 19. She asked my wife why the good evaluation card, why concerns now. I questioned the adhesive used, she stated the same adhesive is used on all vinyl products, and was specially ordered for us. I asked to see the adhesive or the requisition used to purchase the adhesive for verification purposes. She could not produce either request. When I told her the installers were apparently not certified and were from Wheatfield, Indiana and not Naperville, Illinois she responded in the following manner: We had a store meeting with the owner, and I impressed upon him that it was necessary to get your floor installed as you had been waiting a long period of time. The Shorewood and Naperville installers were booked. The local installer with vinyl installation experience was on a big job and would not be available for weeks, so the owner knew of Jason and that he had worked personally for him, and he was contracted by FCA to do our install. Tayona set up an appointment for Keith to come to our home on Tuesday, March 27 to review the flooring installation and address the issues that we were having with the floor. March 24 Late Friday afternoon Tony Lavicka called our home and asked if he could come out Saturday, March 24 between 9 and 10 AM. He informed me that he was Keith’s boss,and Saturday’s visit would help clarify our concerns. As promised Tony arrived Saturday, we showed him the issue that we had with the flooring installation;He took numerous photos and was very professional and diplomatic in his comments. Before leaving our house he said he wanted to talk to the installers, and that he would contact me Monday. When Tony called Monday he told me that the entire install would have to be removed, and that he was expediting the replacement SM7021. March 27 Tony called to set up removal and install appointment for Saturday, April 7 April 3 Tony called to inform us that the SM7021 was received. He stated that removal and floor install would be a one day project. Additionally, he stated that he and a very experienced vinyl flooring installer would arrive as scheduled on April 7 As promised, Tony and the installers showed up at 8AM. These installers were professional, experienced, and had the correct tools to remove the previously installed underlayment and flooring. Unfortunately, they cut the kitchen SM 7021 incorrectly requiring yet a 3rd install. Prior to Tony's departure from our home I gave him this letter for the owner's, Mr Hill's attention. April 13 The installers arrived with new SM 7021 to finally give us a correct install. April 18 thru May 30- 5 calls were made regarding my letter status and request for installation refund. Finally, Mr Hill answered the phone and blamed my impatience and intimidation for what transpired.. His final comment was did you not get what you paid for Recap and Expectations We promptly paid the required amounts for flooring and professional installation. Admittedly it was not FCA’s fault that the manufacturer, Stain Master, did not have our flooring in stock. Tayona knew before we called her on February 25 that the product was not available, why did she not convey this to us? When the product did not arrive on days she promised, why were we not notified by her? We were told by her that the product would arrive on March 9th, using this date as a guideline 29 days later we are still waiting for a professional certified flooring installation. We ordered on February 15 based on the date of this letter we have been waiting 51 days for a floor. The initial flooring installation dated March 19th and 20th was totally botched by non-certified installers using hammers, dry wall screws, a plastic taping knife, electrical tape, an improper seam sealer, not following manufacturers installation protocols relative to underlayment and SM7021. Certainly the tooling they used, techniques of installation, and special training were not in compliance with statement 4 on your OUR Promise web page, and they were definitely not certified. I showed Tony the new appliances and 10 boxes of cabinets waiting for installation. Twice I have had to cancel these install projects. Again they are paid for but cannot be used. My wife continues to cook on a hot plate, or in the microwave. Dishes, utensils, pots and pans continue to be washed in the bathroom sink, all because of poor customer service on FCA’s behalf. Our paid in full order met with unreasonable delays relative to product delivery and installation! The massive clean up caused by the installer’s incessant pounding with their hammers has finally been cleaned up. The computer had to be taken apart and other electronic equipment blown out. Papers, books, and other documents needed to be individually shaken out. Our weight lifting machine was covered with residual of the hammer pounding. Floors, desks, fans, I could go on and on all needed thorough cleaning. We expended at least 15 hours of our time to clean up after the initial installation. Our traditional Easter family dinner had to be moved elsewhere. A 30 year tradition interrupted by using improper installation personnel This flooring installation has by far been the most stressful aspect of our entire kitchen renovation. March 19th and 20th was the epitome of stress and aggravation for me and my wife. Quite frankly if you were here those two days I’m sure you would feel exactly as we do. In view of all that has been detailed on the previous pages I am requesting at least a full refund of all installation charges that I have paid for. Total labor cost for installation equates to $925.00.This request is reasonable based on the aforementioned documentation. The delays, poor workmanship, rescheduling, and the inability to use our kitchen has numerous cost implication for me and my wife. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this document and complying with our refund request! As stated earlier I called Tony on 4 separate occasions 4/18, 4/25, 5/9 and 5/25 , as he had requested me to relative to my letter to the FCA owner Mr Hill. On 4/6/2012 Tony said the company was going to do something for us relative to the install issues. Each time he said he brought it up to Mr Hill he was to busy to address the issue. Finally he gave me a corporate number and 3 calls latter Mr Hill finally answered. He said I was impatient and intimidating and what was my problem "Did I not get what I paid for" He was condescending and totally indifferent to the issue after all he said I got what I paid for!

Everything was fine, and I had no problems with the work.

I had to pay $35 for an estimate which I thought was a little unusual. When I chose the company the money was taken off the order. The carpet installers were not very professional, spoke little English and seemed to be confused on the exact type/color of carpet to install. After that was settled they got to work and installed the carpet well.

THE CORK FLOOR LOOKS GREAT. TO BE HONEST, I DIDN'T KNOW IF I WAS GOING TO LIKE IT WHEN THEY FIRST STARTED, BUT THE FINISHED PRODUCT LOOKS REALLY NICE. THEY ARE A VERY TALENTED GROUP OF PEOPLE.