We contracted Livingston Carpets to perform hardwood flooring for our entire house. The total cost was $21,500 of which we were asked to pay a down payment of $6500.
According to our agreement, the delivery of the hardwood was to be done on July 21st, with the work commencing on July 25th.
On July 21st, no one called to coordinate a time so we contacted them and left a message. Gary from Livingston called back a few hours later to now advise that the project was delayed by 1 day and that the delivery of the wood would now be July 25th, with the project commencing July 26th.
On July 25th, once again, no one called to coordinate a time for delivery so I called the store and got voice mail. I left a message. I then called the home number that had been provided by Bernie, the owner who had handled the deal with us personally, and left a message with the person who answered the phone. She said she would pass along the message to Bernie. No one called back.
On July 26th, my husband drove down to the store at 5PM, prior to 7PM (store closing) and discovered it was closed, at which point we contacted Visa to explore our recourse.
I opted to give them a few more days to respond.
On the evening of July 26th, I went to the website to learn that it now displayed that they were moving (no new address was noted) and I sent them a message via their "contact us" webmail.
As no-one responded, I thought it best to proceed with a Visa dispute as I had no confidence that the merchant had any intention to deliver on this contract.
Shame on you for trying to swindle honest people! Lesson learnt here is to contract out your projects to big reputable companies and pay with credit card. Thank you for the inconvenience and aggravation. Fortunately, Visa settled the dispute and our $6500 was reimbursed.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $21,500.00