Complaint Review: Beaverfloors

I am writing to share information with you regarding my sordid experience with Beaverfloors since January 2003. I placed an order on January 18, 2003 with an ETA of 2-3 weeks for 1120 sq. ft. of Hickory Silver Trinity and 640 sq. ft. of Maple Timeless Silver Trinity Natural. On the same invoice I also placed an order for Timeless Trinity Red Oak (to be delivered in 6-8 weeks), which was eventually cancelled and not paid for. A telephone verified check paying for the first part of my order for $7646.10 was processed on the same day.

Needless to say, on June 14th, I still had not received a correct order. The series of events between January and now could only be equated with a consumer nightmare. My entire new home construction project has been stalled by the lack of delivery of my product. The amount of interest being removed from my construction loan because of this delay is staggering. In addition my contractor has brought a lawyer into the situation because the delay on the hardwoods has held up his construction calendar and bank draws have been stalled on the project because of the fact that our original hardwood order has never been delivered.

I have been exceedingly patient. I have a journal, started in February that documents hundreds of calls to Beaverfloor and the responses received from Jason W., Neil Martin, D.J. and others. I remained polite and flexible regarding this situation even though I had been hung up on, left on hold for times exceeding 20 minutes and been lied to.

In late March after many phone correspondences I received my "order". When I arrived home from work I knew that the order was incorrect. The hickory product delivered to me (manufactured by Shaw Hardwoods) was inferior to any product sample produced by Beaverfloors. The nominal total thickness on the boards was 5/16". I was promised a product that was going to be 3/4". My contractor and others commented that it was the thinnest hardwood flooring they had ever seen. Upon ordering the wood, I was very clear that my husband was in a wheelchair and the thickness of the wood was a very important aspect of us choosing the beaver product.

The maple that was delivered was a conglomeration of silver timeless trinity, platinum timeless trinity, (some of the boards were thick, some were thick). Some of the boards were 2 1/4" wide and some were 3 1/4" wide. I also received many boxes of silver trinity natural maple 3" wide. There wasn't enough waterwood to complete even one room.

Many of the boxes of maple were mangled, misidentified and secured with duct tape. A few of the boxes were marked "defective" and a few said "All gray" or "All short pieces" on them.

Needless to say I immediately called Beaver and spoke with Jason W. Jason said that Neil had seen the hickory and was upset with the quality before he shipped it. When I spoke with Neil and Jason the day before shipping I was told that the product was ("unbelievable, gorgeous," etc.) Neil said that day that he had purchased the wood from another manufacturer because Beaver wasn't going to be running any hickory for "a long time" (even though they allowed me to order it and took my money).

I spoke with Neil on the day of delivery. He said that he knew it was an inferior product. He thought he could trust the guy who sold it to him and he guessed he could not. He blatantly admitted that the floor probably would only last 5 years and wouldn't even be able to be sanded once. When I asked why he sent me an inferior product, he stated that he was "helping me out and that he had wrote a $5,000. check just to get me the wood. He had bent over backwards to get me my order."

Also, Cole Martin, Larry Rice, Neil Martin and Jason W. all knew that I was buying the trinity product to put on radiant heat floors. Each box of hickory sent to me was clearly labeled within the instructions as "Unsuitable for Radiant Heat Floors/Warranty and stability not guaranteed on radiant heat floors". This put the icing on the cake that this flooring would never be able to be put into my house.

I tried to return my order and get a refund at that time, but Mr. Martin promised me new wood of a higher quality at no additional cost. He said he couldn't estimate when his plants would be running hickory, but he would make up for it in a thicker product. He said that a refund might be "hard to come by", but he could try to make it happen" He said he would immediately pick-up the incorrect order and my new product (1760 sq. ft. of Platinum Maple waterwood) would be delivered to me in about two weeks. Well, that two weeks turned into 10 weeks.

By this time I had discovered this website and others indicating the horror stories of so many consumers. I did not immediately post my woes because I kept holding out hope that Neil Martin would be true to his word.

Unfortunately, after my twice daily calls Mr. Martin gave me a tracking number for my product a few weeks ago. Upon my investigation, the tracking number was invalid, nothing had been shipped to me and Neil later admitted this as an administrative error. I viewed it as an attempt to stop my persistent phone calls. The customer service reps at Beaver know my voice. They have told me that they "feel sorry for me". They additionally said that Neil is the only one I can speak to because mine is a "special order."

I've heard excuses about roof cave ins, end matching machines breaking down, illnesses, Italians needing to come in and fix machines, employee problems, shipping problems and more.

My contractor has blamed delays on the completion of the new house on the non-delivery of the correct hardwoods. After a meeting with his lawyer and ours it was clear that we had to bite the bullet and order new hardwoods from another company, even though Neil Martin insisted that the new floors were on he way.

I tried to give Neil one more chance but after several unreturned phone calls five days in a row, I had to order hardwood locally and needed my money back immediately. The new hardwoods cost $9400.

The original order of hickory and maple that was sent in March was never picked up, although I asked for it to be picked up several times and Mr. Martin and Jason said they would send someone right out to pick it up.

I called and asked Mr. Martin to cancel my order and send me a refund. He said the maple waterwood was ready for shipment and he would rather send it to me than give me a refund. I said that he had promised me an email with shipment information and I never received it. I also said that I had called and left messages for five days straight for Neil to call me or email me with a delivery date and none of the calls were returned.I told Neil that the window of opportunity for delivery of wood from his company had expired. Mr. Martin replied that "as we speak I've got a whack of waterwood ready to ship to you." Well, I had already been forced into purchasing new product so his words of delivery were meaningless.

Mr. Martin said that I could not have a refund until the order from March was returned to stock, then I would receive a refund in 30 days or so. Previously Mr. Martin had told me that I was a special case. He had made me wait so long he would make a refund immediately available. He said that if I wasn't happy with his service, to just say the word and he would return my money immediately. When I insisted on the refund he said that he didnt care how long he had my money, I wouldnt get a refund until he got "his" wood back. I said that he had had three months to pick up the March order and now, I didnt feel comfortable returning the wood based on the lies in the past. I said that he should send someone to pick up the wood and have that same person give me a check for the refund. He said, thats not how he does business.

Additionally he said that he was no longer allowed to handle the accounting end of the business and the final decision would be with the accountant. I asked Neil for an email confirming my request for the refund so that I could present it to the bank, contractor and his lawyer. He said he would send an email out immediately and inform the accounting department about my refund. He did not.

I called Beaverfloors and asked for the accounting department and they gave me the following phone number for their new accountant, (404) 252-3773. I called on June 19th and spoke with Tracy Hollman. I sent her an email about the situation and she wrote back that I needed to give her one-week to determine if my case fell under N.Y. or Georgia for the refund.

I called Ms. Hollmon today and she said that my case fell under the class action suit in N.Y. (Purchases between October 2002 and February 2003) I spoke with the Attorney Generals office in New York today. It is indeed good that I did not return the wood because my refund would not come from Georgia. If I am lucky, I will receive a refund of 83 cents on the dollar. Half this year, then half next year.

It is so disheartening to know that Mr. Martin is still in business, selling flooring and ripping people off.

I thought I had a solid case for a full refund but I guess I was wrong and I should be grateful for any refund that I can get, since the AG's office says that many many people have been waiting 2-4 years for refunds.

I tired checking rhis company out before I purchased. I checked at the BBB under the name Beaverfloors and there were not any complaints. In December I did a search under the name Beaverfloors and didn't find much negative. It was only when I searched under Beaverhome that I found the negative comments. DO NOT BELIEVE NEIL MARTIN!!

Roseann
Mexico, New York
U.S.A.