Postponed before it began

My first floor refresh project idea all started with a new paint color. I wanted to paint the walls of my whole first floor to lighten things up, but I knew with the amount of windows, and that I wanted to paint the trim as well, I would need a professional.

Then, one of my BFFs suggested wallpaper for the dining room. And then lighting went on sale.

Then a transition from my current laminate flooring broke, and I decided to do the floors. I wanted this to be done professionally, too.

Well, turns out floors should be installed before paint. And all the pretty accents after that.

This started in about February. With the pandemic still raging and only healthcare professionals getting vaccines, I naturally wanted to wait. I had a couple of days off in May and my hectic schedule slowed down then, so I decided on May delivery and installation.

So, while I waited for a break in the pandemic, I put together a complete design scheme with phases included, with floors from a certain big box store.

This is going to be a rant, so fair warning!!

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Initially, I felt like this store had things under control. True, they’ve never gotten their phone customer service down, so telling me to come in was probably a good idea because they suck over the phone. And this is for ALL of these stores at this company, btw. None of these store people have good phone skills, and their phone routing system is abysmal. It always has been like this, probably because it was never a priority for them. But in a pandemic when people weren’t coming into the store if they didn’t have to, they needed to change their priorities.

As an avid HGTV show watcher (and from the experience of owning a home that has needed repairs), I know that contractors don’t always get things done on time. Sometimes a contractor will order the wrong thing so your project gets delayed. I’ve also seen contractors have to special-order something (a door, some specialty flooring, custom cabinets, etc.) and it take several weeks for that specialty item to be made and shipped.

That’s not what’s happening here. These are regular, normally in-stock products that I ordered. And considering I ordered them 3 weeks before they were to be delivered, that’s more than enough time for them to be here and even installed by now. Never have I seen a supplier not have a normally in-stock item be delayed for over a month and a half after ordering.

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Here’s how it all broke down:

1. Ordered in store 4/17 for delivery 5/8
2. Order actually placed 5/3, I found out later (while this may be standard procedure for your normal in-stock item, that should not have happened here. Why it did is beyond me.)
3. Text sent from Big box Installation services saying my order wasn’t ready. Well since it was going to be delivered 5/8 I thought that makes since, why are you texting?
4. 5/7 text from Big Box’s Delivery department confirming my time window on delivery. Yes! (False hope.😒)
5. On 5/8, I got a text from Big Box Delivery department saying a delivery driver was in my area. No delivery driver came.
6. I called the customer service number for the delivery drivers and their 1st estimated date of order completion 5/14. Yes, they sent out a text saying something was arriving that wasn’t even ready to be delivered. 🤯
   1. They then connected me with the store. My order was missing quarter round and flooring transitions. (You know the thing that broke that caused me to undergo this flooring thing in the first place?) The flooring person did not know what quarter round was (FYI: This is shoe moulding/trim, and it is commonly in-stock. I know this without HGTV help. As a flooring person, you should know this, too.) She did know that quarter round was hard to keep in stock, though. Hmm. Probably should be some kind of indicator. Right? 🥱
7. I called again 5/20 after 2 texts from Installation services saying my order wasn’t ready. Second estimated date of order completion 5/23 (this call was to Big Box’s Installation customer service. I stopped talking to the store.)
8. Order still hasn’t been received by the date of this post (5/28)👿💲

While I’ve only been supply-chain adjacent in most of my career, I know a little about how supply chain works. If a store has something that runs low often, then they should probably tell the customer when ordering this is now a specialty item. Even if it wasn’t before. Also, they should probably put their order in when they place the order, instead of the week of delivery like they would normally do for an in-stock item. BECAUSE IT ISN’T AN IN-STOCK ITEM AT THIS POINT.

Yep, this is a pandemic, but this store has been open the whole time, and they should have an idea of stock levels and orders by now. Especially since more people did home projects because they were stuck at home. 🙄

I went with this store, because I heard complaints from a trusted source and fellow DIY-er about another big box store’s flooring installation service. They had a bad installation experience. I thought this store would do better.

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No, I will not say the name of the BIG BOX STORE, since I have yet to ask for my money back for the product I haven’t gotten. I will be getting it back soon, though! TRUST me on that! (Still won’t say the name, though). But I will most likely be going elsewhere for these floors.

RANT OVER. 😁⛏🛠

So, in the end my first floor refresh is on hold. In the meantime, I’ve redesigned my #WeekendDIYGirl site and added a YouTube channel. I’ll still bring you my small DIY projects I have in the works and even some video content while my major project is on hold. Have an awesome weekend!