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Lumber Liquidators

Lumber Liquidators review: customer service 14

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11:53 am EDT
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The customer service at the Charlotte NC Lumber Liquidator's is horrible. I went with my mom and dad to look at flooring on a Friday. Both are in their mid-70's and my dad is a veteran, they decided to purchase closeout hardwood flooring. They also ordered all the molding and stair treads. They placed the ordered with the manager, Ryan Lemke, he asked when we were going to pick it up and we initially said Saturday, the next day. My dad spoke up and said he couldn't on Saturday so we made a pickup day with Mr. Lemke for the following Tuesday. Mr. Lemke told us that he would pull the order and it would be ready when we arrived. This to me, implied that everything was in stock and it would be ready for loading when we arrived. At no time did Mr. Lemke tell us that he had to order any items nor does it say it on our paperwork. When we left on Friday, my mom, told me "if she owned that store she would fire Mr. Lemke because she thought he was rude and didn't feel that he wanted to bother with them as customers". When we arrived on Tuesday our order had not been pulled and some items were not in. I asked the salesman how much is not in and his reply was "a lot". If we had of known that we would have waited for pickup until everything was in because we came from South Carolina. I asked Mr. Lemke why he didn't tell us that items were on order and all our order wouldn't be available. His reply to me was "you didn't ask". We went back and forth for a few minutes and I got agitated with him and I told him " you are the manager, we are the customer, it's your job to tell us." My dad told him to cancel the order, he put on his credit card, but Mr Lemke said no because the flooring was a closeout item and there policy was no returns on closeout items. My answer to that was "we didn't pick it up so we're not returning anything". He also said it would be a 20% restocking fee. How can that be if you haven't pulled anything out of stock? Needless to say he didn't cancel the order and we didn't pick anything up. I've called and disputed the charge on the credit card, called LL Customer service, we'll see what happens.

I'm starting to build my dream house and was about to order 1500 Sq. Ft of Bella Flooring and trim from them, no way will I ever do business with LL again. If they treat our senior citizens and veterans like this they don't need my business. As for Mr Lemke, in my opinion, they need to send him to customer service school.

Update by Beebuck
Apr 26, 2010 2:08 pm EDT

My mom and dad did receive a credit from the company but I would like to take this time to set the record straight concerning the company’s response to our initial complaint.

First of all, the customer care representative was excellent to work with; very professional and responsive to our problem. He told us he would end the entire order to my parent’s home free of charge if we still wanted the order. Unfortunately with our experience at the Charlotte store we did not want to do business with them. He said that crediting the account was not a problem and it was done with 72 hours.

As for the order, it was not ready for pickup. The salesman we spoke with when we arrived to pick it up had to piece our order together and as I said before when I asked him how much was not in stock he responded with "a lot", not just stair treads. It wasn't until later when everyone was already irritated and we had already told them to cancel our order that we were told only the stair treads weren't available and they would be shipped to my parent’s home. I attribute this to poor management and customer service.

Additionally, WE did not request to have our order staged upon our arrival. The manager said he would have it staged. When we left on Friday, my mom told me "if she owned that store she would fire Mr. Lemke because she thought he was rude and didn't feel that he wanted to bother with them as customers". If that was a good experience in purchasing, then what would be a bad experience? Now that being said my wife and I did have a good experience with Mr. Lemke about a month prior to this. We were looking at Bella Wood and hand scraped for our dream home. Mr. Lemke took the time to explain all the different choices and his recommendations when I asked. He also told us about a new product which allows solid hardwood to be laid in a basement. I appreciate his time he took for this.

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

14 comments
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Do Wonders Ever Cease?
Chester, US
Jan 16, 2009 7:24 am EST

After purchasing, paying for in-full and picking up our flooring at a local retail store - the flooring went on sale for 30cents less a square foot w/in a couple of days. We made numerous phone calls and e-mails to the corporate office to try and get a pricing adjustment/credit, to basically get blown-off by them. After 48days, we received a letter in the mail from them stating that the claim had been denied, the price we had purchased the flooring for stood, no credit, no adjustment. We found that totally amazing that in today's economy they were willing to lose a customer over a simple pricing adjustment. Too bad for them!

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Eric Slezak
Hickman, US
Jul 16, 2009 12:57 pm EDT

Ordered 1300 sq.ft. of bamboo flooring PRBAMSTC from lumber liquidators. After a few weeks I picked up material to save money. Got home and realized it was the wrong stuff in the correct box. Waited another 5-6 weeks for the correct finish. They said that they had got the correct flooring in and sorted it to make sure. They delivered and it was from 3 lot numbers and the colors within the same lot did not match. We are trying to return and get a refund, but they want us to deliver back to the store 60 miles away. All during this process we have been lied to several times and calls have not been return. This is the worst company that I have dealt with in 25 years of manufacturing experiece.

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HHI Customer
Hilton Head Island, US
Dec 04, 2009 9:44 pm EST
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When my 84 boxes arrived, 48 were from one lot and 36 from another. They were not close to a match. It took two days of arguing with the Savannah GA store. It was not until the installer recommended by LL stepped in on my side that action was taken. Is rudeness and arguing taught to LL managers?

LL participates in a program called uPromise. They contribute 1% of your purchase price to a uPromise college account when you use a credit card registered with uPromise. It has been two months since they charged my credit card for my wood and the funds have not been credited to my daughter's account. They have however, issued a credit against her account for my return of two boxes of wood and one bucket of glue. Two months plus to pay me but only a couple of weeks to pull funds back. It looks like I will be paying LL more than I expected for the joy of dealing with poor customer service. It has now been six months since my dealings with LL. They still refuse to deposit to uPromise. Their new excuse is that the credit card was not registered with uPromise. They did not have a problem seeking a credit against my account when I returned unused product. This is not an honest company.

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C Crouthamel
Port Orange, US
Jun 30, 2011 8:35 pm EDT

VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
I ordered ( 5) 5 gal of the Bostik MVP4 moisture barrier on 6/07/2011 and was told by the saleman that the order would take less than two weeks. After two weeks and no product received they have one excuse after another why the product is delayed.
Called corporate office and was told it would be at least 7/07/2011 for it to arrive due to back orders and they do not guarantee dates of delivery.

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garnet54
, US
Jun 07, 2012 4:15 pm EDT

It is a good thing I found this complaint site. I was abut to order 17, 000 worth of wood and labor from Lumber Liquidators. Thanks to all who posted their complaint and experience with the company here. It sure saved me from a huge headache.
Lubbock. Texas

Martin W Godell
Martin W Godell
Palm City, US
Mar 22, 2012 7:27 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

You probably need to hire a independant inspector.

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Lumber Liquidators Customer Care
Toano, US
Jul 08, 2011 7:41 pm EDT

LL Response

Based on the local stores demand, availability can vary and we clearly state this on the invoice. We're sorry this caused any delays, but the store can take other actions to expedite product in critical need situations. Products like this are dated so we do what we can to make sure what you receive is current and ready for application. Thanks for your understanding.

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Lumber Liquidators Customer Care
Toano, US
Apr 14, 2010 11:14 am EDT

LL Response to customer experience in one of our N.C. stores:

We researched the concerns raised by the customer to include a conversation with the employees at the store after speaking with the customer. The order was ready for pick up at the store with one exception - the treads (for stairs). The store did not stage the materials for pick up as requested by the customer noting they drove many miles for receipt of the materials, but the material was on hand and available at the store. Apparently there was an exchange of misinformation regarding the amount of material available that created some aggravation, only to later find there was one item missing. The store pointed to the terms and conditions as noted on the invoice based on the customers comments and tone regarding cancellation, but never intended on enforcing the policy based on their experience they simply restated policy based on the customers desire to cancel their order. The customer stated the store offered to send the missing item at our expense, but this action was too late to earn back the customers satisfaction and the company credited the card in full at the customer’s request. They also stated the overall experience was good purchasing the product, but the collection of material did not go well and this led to a negative experience. We regret to hear this happened and Customer Care offered to ship their entire order at our expense, but they refused this offer. While we understand their frustration, there are differences in the two accountings of what actually occurred, but this certainly highlights the benefits of listening to our customers so the expectations are clear throughout the entire transaction, including loading the product. We make every attempt to make the experience a positive one where customers save money while receiving a quality product, and for those rare occurrences when a problem arises, if the customers unhappy with how the store resolves a matter, Customer Care will evaluate the situation and resolve the issue with your satisfaction in mind. Our number is located on the invoice, and on the company website for this reason.

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MrRealtor
Oklahoma City, US
Apr 13, 2010 11:20 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Stick with Lowes or Home Depot.

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HHI Customer
Hilton Head Island, US
Mar 14, 2010 12:04 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I received the same type of response to my issue.

Compensation for my aggravation was never offered by LL.

Human error seems to be a major problem at LL

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LL Customer Care Response
, US
Dec 10, 2009 1:59 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hilton Head Island Customer

Unfortunately errors occur when you move as much product as LL sells and we apologize if mixed mills became an issue. LL managers are there to help and if you were treated rudely this should be reported to Customer Care, or use our email contact information found on our website. We expect proper treatment of all customers and we never tolerate poor treatment at any level within our organization.

The issue regarding credits does not make sense becuase the uPromise program is set up through your card issuer, so if the card used is not a member of the program it cannot be used for a donation. Lumber Liquidators participates in many charitable programs and we would not deny a contribution and the mention that we are not paying an organization due money is incorrect.

Credits for returned products are issued at the time of the return with up to 72 hours for complete processing to occur through the card issuer.

We hope this information helps as we continue to make improvements in our shipping and warehouse areas to avoid mixed mills, but this is why we ask for the customer to conduct a final inpsection as the last safeguard before products installed and deemed accepted. If you have a problem like you described above, please call LL Customer Care.

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LL Customer Care Response
, US
Dec 10, 2009 11:01 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Mr . Slezak,

Bamboo is a popular product and must come in one identical lot as you mentioned to avoid color variances that can sometimes be dramatically off from one lot to the next.

Most transactions go off without a problem and our supply of bamboo today is better suited to meet demands for this style product. I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience and suggest you contact LL Customer Care using the number on your invoice or the website. Ask for the Customer Care Manager mentioning that you're returning my call and I will make this right. Every retailer has it's share of challenges and your experience was certainly not typical of most! I researched your name in the CC system and see no responses to our department directly about this matter. LL Customer Care Manager

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Lumber Liquidators Customer Care
Toano, US
Sep 03, 2009 12:26 pm EDT

Our policies in regards to pricing and items placed on sale are clear and most companies do not match sale items once a purchase has already been concluded. We do value your patronage and if a denial for a credit that does not meet the requirements means you choose to take your business elsewhere, chances are they will have policies in place equal to our own denying such a credit after the sale. You came to Lumber Liquidators to purchase a quality product at an already low price. You did so and made a good deal and we can only suggest if saving the extra $.30 is important, sign up for our online deal notifications and purchase within the sale periods for added saving off our already low prices.

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Lumber Liquidators Customer Care
Toano, US
Sep 03, 2009 12:16 pm EDT

Lumber Liquidators offers a wide variety of products and mistakes happen and more so with Bamboo where the color can vary within the same product type. The situation was corrected and that should be what stands out the most. You received an excellent product at a great price with some aggrevation resulting from human error. Some stores have trucks for pick up and deliveries, while others may not. Discounts may be offered from the store for your troubles and there's no mention of that in your posting showing compensation was offered. We are truly sorry for the error and take care of our customers when issues within our control are at fault.