What began as an exciting home renovation became a painful conflict for an Ontario family who said the engineered hardwood installed in their home bore little resemblance to the sample they saw in the store.
Here's what to know
In the r/Flooring subreddit, the OP said they had already tried to have the store swap the flooring out. Rather than be accommodating, the store instead relied on the fine print of its contract, which said all sales were final and allowed for "defect tolerance not exceeding 5%."
"To me the defect is like over 80%!" objected the OP.
After seeing the photos and reading the account, many Redditors concluded that the boards installed at the OP's mom's house seemed less like a normal variation of the floor sample and more like the wrong product altogether.
The installed product had much coarser grain compared to the sample product, as well as vertical dents.
"That's gotta be defective," one commenter said.
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Other Redditors went even further.
"This doesn't fall under 'defect tolerance', this falls under misrepresentation of product offered," said one. "This is no different than being bait and switched or receiving something different than what was purchased. Kinda convenient it was discounted product, huh?"
More Background
Even commenters who claimed to work in the industry disagreed on whether the OP's mom received the wrong product.
One commenter who said their company makes the top layer of the flooring wrote, "This isn't a 'defect' it's the completely wrong SKU."
However, another commenter, identifying themself as a flooring store owner in Ontario, disagreed with that explanation.
They said it was "most certainly the same engineered hickory hardwood" but "clearly over sawn, and probably a 'seconds' batch."
What can be done?
Practical suggestions included documenting the problem by photographing the sample alongside the delivered planks and checking the backs for any style numbers or product codes.
Others recommended making the complaint in writing, particularly if language barriers made an in-person argument more difficult. The original poster said, "I'm thinking it might be more effective to email and call the company directly and if they don't respond then ask the credit card company for money back or legal action if that doesn't work."
Later, the original poster thanked people for weighing in, saying it was "good to hear confirmation since the sales people there told my mom repeatedly that they are the same thing and there's no difference!"
Where can I learn more?
For more on product claims, wood-industry oversight, and retail labeling disputes, these stories explore some of the same consumer trust issues at play here. They cover Canada's product-claim rules, a pollution case tied to a wood-treatment facility, and labeling complaints involving major chains.
• In Canada, companies now face strict new rules when making product claims.
• At a wood-treatment facility, investigators uncovered yearslong pollution problems with human health impacts.
• On TikTok, an expert showed the natural way to clean wood without warping it.
• At Lowe's, shoppers said deceitful product tags misled buyers about which plants were native.
• In a Lowe's garden center, conservationists found invasive plant species still being sold.
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