MCSWAIN CARPETS & FLOORS

Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience with McSwain flooring and will never have them or an Armstrong floor in our house again. Be forewarned, neither company will stand behind their flooring and the "lifetime warranty" they sell you is meaningless. We purchased an Armstrong vinyl plank floor (A6899 Luxe Plank) from them for our kitchen. It was supposed to be their top-of-the-line floor and was sold with a lifetime warranty. We recently started a remodel of the kitchen with plans to keep the flooring in place. However, during construction, our contractor noticed that the vinyl planks were separating at the joints. We called McSwain, who in turn sent someone to the house (Paul I believe) and he was extremely rude and condescending. He basically said our issue was "an environmental" issue and they would not honor the warranty claim. With this news we opened a claim with Armstrong in the hopes that they would stand behind their product. Fast forward 5 months later and today they rejected the claim stating, " issue you are having with your flooring is not a warranted issue". No other information provided. Our kitchen is no different from any other kitchen, so their excuse of it being an "environmental" issue does not hold water. Especially given that they can't/won't explain what that even means. Steer clear of both McSwain's and Armstrong!

We were told they could match the color of an adjoining floor almost exactly even though the sheen would be different due to the fact that the 2 floors are of different wood. They did not "custom match" but rather brought in several cans of minwax and stained several small sections to pick the closest one. We, and the crew, decided on one that seemed almost perfect. Final sanding was done and the stain was put down. They had been here a couple of days and that night it was growing late as they tried to finish up. Once the stain was down, we went to see it and it was not close to the color that we had all picked and we had signed off on. The lead stain guy seemed to agree and said he'd contact his boss and discuss it with him. Likely his boss would call or come out the next day. Well that never happened. Poly went down and there we are. The only fix would be to start over, sand it off, and restain. Also, the edges where one floor met the other are not done well at all. They did not get all the way to the edge with their rags. Should have used brushes. So the edge looks curled up due to the difference in color. They "lost" my toe strip for a day or so. They were to paint it with the paint I had given them. They painted it but it was not my paint. Mine was a high gloss white and the paint on the strip was duller and chalky. They were also supposed to stain one piece in espresso that was attached to a cabinet. This they did not do. It was also painted white. The strip was not done really well. Uneven, crooked and not finished (puttying holes). I had to putty and repaint it all. Had to have my wood contractor remove some of it and replace it with pieces that were cut to fit better. I told all this to my sales person. She said she'd have the "boss" come out and look at it all. That was a couple of months ago and no one ever came. This was the same with the "boss" of the stain crew as mentioned above. Point being, if it sounds too good to be true it likely is. Again, the "fix" would be to start over or perhaps an adjustment in cost. I'm sure they don't want to start over and I'd be worried of damage to my now newly stained cabinets and painted and stained toe strips. I don't expect to ever receive a reduction in price either. At this point, I'm stuck with the full cost and a live and learn scenario.

Everything was excellent. Lisa Ryan was my sales associate and she was very good and very easy to contact.

I visited the store one day and the salesman was great. He came to my house when it was convenient for me and he measured all of the rooms. I was concerned about the transition in the hallway to the bedrooms because they were not on the same level. He assured me that the installers could incorporate a gradual slope so that the uneveness would be less apparent. I received a price quote shortly after that and we set up an installation date after the carpet was ordered and received. The installation was to take place over two days, beginning at 8am. This installers showed up some time after 8 the first morning and looked around and got right to work. I could not stay so I asked them to leave me a note to let me know how much was left for the next day. When I got home it appeared that they were done, but there was no note. I waited for them the next day but they never showed up. I had to wait until their office opened to call and find out if they were done or not. By the looks of things they were not, but they said they were. There were several issues that needed attention before I considered them done. They had broken one of the hardwood registers in the great room, done a poor job carpeting around the registers, there were some sloppy areas in general, and the transitions into the bedrooms were horrible. They just cut a 6 inch strip of padding to accommodate for the height difference, which you could visibly see and was also a trip hazard. So, I had to schedule another appointment for another team to come in and fix everything. This meant more time that I had to miss work (going in late since I had to wait for them to show up) - first for one appointment for them to come and assess the situation, and two more for the repairs. In between all this I talked to the salesman and asked if I would be given a customer satisfaction survey, and he said yes. I never did receive this, which is disappointing. The carpet looks OK, and the height difference at the doorways was resolved with some shims. The carpet quality just isn't there. I paid $7000 for about 1500 sq ft and got two different kinds of carpet. I got a more expensive and plush carpet for the bedroms and a standard but nice carpet for the great room and hallways. The standard carpet is inferior and does not hold up well to pets. My cat loves to run around and his claws continually pull out carpet fibers. There are some spots that were especially bad where a lot of the fibers came out. Overall I am glad that I got the carpet, but I will probably hire someone else when it comes time to replace what McSwain installed. They cost me a lot of time and aggravation, and I had to push them to obtain a moderate level of satisfaction.

Installer arrived 4 hours late. He was irritable, ill-tempered, and unprofessional. He got mad anytime I asked a question. Since he arrived so late in the day, he was unable to complete the job in one day so he had to return another day. He rushed the installation, and seams were very visible in both bedrooms. The salesman promised me they would send me their "elite" installer and there would be no visible seams. I called the service manager several times. He never returned my calls. I talked to someone in the service department, and they sent service personnel to my house a few times. They finally took up the carpet, separated the carpet at the seams and re-glued them. But the seams are still very visible. The service person told they had problems with the installer that did my house before. The salesman promised me an "elite" installer, but they sent me a very unprofessional installer. The carpet still looks bad and I regret buying the carpet from McSwain very much.