GENNETT LUMBER CO INC

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Being new to the area, we were unfamiliar with Gennett Lumber, but were told it was a long-standing family business. Their pricing was fairly competitive with Lowes, and my wife and I have always been supportive of family-owned businesses. So we opted to order the flooring through Gennett. The delivery took place a few days later. After the driver and his helper unloaded the fifty-seven boxes of flooring into our house, the driver handed me the delivery ticket which stated that there were no returns on pre-finished flooring. (The flooring was purchased via credit card over the phone, so there was no invoice or delivery ticket until the actual delivery. And there was no prior notification of the return policy.) At this point, I was on the horns of a dilemma. Do I not accept the order and have the driver and his helper load everything back onto the truck, and postpone the workmen I have slated to begin the job the following day, thereby pushing back the delivery day for the movers to deliver our house full of furniture? Or do I accept delivery and hope that there won?t be much left over (as the carpenters assured me they only allowed for five percent waste)? I opted for the latter as we were already paying the moving company for storage on our belongings and could not afford a delay of potentially weeks. The carpenters actually ended up with less than their projected five percent loss. We had five complete, unopened boxes left over. I called Gennett the day after the installation and asked if we could return the unused material, totaling about four hundred dollars. I was told their policy was that there were no returns on pre-finished flooring. The material was not special ordered as I was told it was in already stock when it was ordered. The irony here is that if I?d purchased the material from Lowes, there would have been absolutely no problem with returning any unopened merchandise. When I'd spoken to Phil Gennett, he told me that their policy was this way because in the past, customers would return material that had been nailed then resealed in the boxes. He then told me I'd purchased the material at a good price ($3.50 per square foot), and the current price was now $3.92 per square foot. and that he couldn't be expected to accept a return at a higher price. I never even raised the issue. How and why would I expect to return material at a price greater than I'd paid for it? His irrelevance just reinforced his obstinance, and I realized at this point it would be futile to continue the conversation. The company is bad news. Buy the stuff from Lowes. You'll be able to return it if it's unopened. No questions asked. Response to the Provider Response: The carpenters gave us estimates for which included an additional two hundred square feet for the kitchen which we opted not to do at the outset. The thirteen hundred square feet was never ordered from Gennett. It was only mentioned as part of an estimate. Mr. Gennett's irrelevance is glaring. The carpenters did a better job than the five percent waste they'd anticipated. Mr. Gennett is essentially penalizing them (and us) for being more frugal. How was I supposed to question Gennett's (return) policy if I wasn't made aware of it until the delivery ticket was given to me AFTER the (fifty-seven heavy boxes of) product was unloaded into my house? No prior mention of the return policy was presented to me until the delivery ticket was handed to me. Obviously, Mr. Gennett doesn't understand the ramifications of everything I'd stated previously. If I didn't accept the order, it would have delayed the installation (and our subsequent move of our belongings) by weeks. Gennett Lumber is not a family business I would ever want to deal with again, nor recommend.

I'd moved out for a month for house repairs. First a General Contractor was responsible for mold remediation and house repairs, to be followed by new hardwood installation. I was staying in the country (beyond daily phone reception), so I told the Gennett rep to contact the GC (whom he knew and had his phone #.) Two men installed the floors, without supervision. The GC and I were there one morning just in time to see that the trim placed around the fireplace was uneven on both sides, and luckily could be changed. The man who installed it did not speak English. The refridgerator and stove had been pulled out of their places by the GC and were in the house. The two men put the fridge out on the unprotected porch, and left it there in the weather, instead of calling the GC. It is new and quite heavy and had to be lifted down a step. For whatever reason, the fridge is not the same, and now rattles. The original GC and crew had tightly taped up all kitchen drawers, cabinets, and pantry to keep any dust from entering them. The floor installers tore all of this plastic protection off. Consequently, vast amounts of saw dust (from cutting the boards) and other construction debris entered every nook and cranny. It took me weeks to clean out my kitchen, washing every individual item, etc. Huge hassle. The floors looked beautiful at first. Then I heard the sickening sound of pop, pop, pop as the boards popped up in every room. Then they started to cup. I called the Gennett rep who said I should buy a dehumidifier, which I did. He did not bother to look at this MAJOR issue (1/2 mile from his office). Dehumidifier has been running for months, but still no change. I now have very expensive, wavy, cupped oak floors. Also, instead of using a lock box, the men were given a key to my house, so I had the expense of having my locks changed.

I will do all my lumber purchases there!

Everything was fantastic. They were wonderful from start to finish. They knew what they were doing and accomplished what they said they would. There was no hesitation and everything went very smoothly; the way it's supposed to go.