I went into the Scarborough location of Hardwood Giant and purchased about 750 sq. ft. of laminate flooring from a sales manager. I believe his name is Mahmoud. He told me how much extra material I should purchase to cover wastage and informed me "Whatever you don't use, you can bring back for a refund."
So I placed my order and it was delivered on the requested day about a week later. The product was excellent quality and looks amazing.
After finishing the job, I had 5 unopened boxes of flooring and one unopened roll of underlayment remaining. I returned to the store with these items to return them.
At this time, I'm informed that I will only get a full refund on 2 boxes and the other 3 will be subject to a 35% restocking fee. Then Mahmoud tells me that they do not accept returns of underlayment AT ALL. I explain that neither of these conditions were ever explained to me, to which he responds "It's company policy." He then suggests that I could sell the underlayment on Kijiji... like gimme a break.
He should have explained the restocking fee and the policy about not refunding underlayment when the sale was being discussed in the first place. I was shown my original invoice, with a full page legal disclaimer on the back which states that they can charge a restocking fee of up to 65%, at the discretion of the store. There is nothing about not accepting returns of underlayment.
I really feel like he intentionally omitted the details about returns when making the sale. This un-mentioned restocking fee policy must be a cash cow for them. I really felt had by it.
While I was in the store, two more customers arrived behind me. Both had major complaints and within minutes, Mahmoud was in a full out yelling match with an unhappy customer who had ordered some custom stair pieces.
Fortunately, another sales person named Shaik got me sorted out with a reduced restocking fee and eventually accepted my roll of underlayment. He was far more reasonable and helpful.
You try to help out the local companies for this kind of stuff.. and you're rewarded with sneaky tactics to make money. I won't be going back, which is a shame for Hardwood Giant as I'll be doing the floors in my parents' 2200 sq ft house this fall.