Flooring fracas

COMPLAINT: Annette Cope, Commerce, Mich.

"I hired Lowcost Floors Inc. to install hardwood flooring in my great room to match the existing flooring in my hallway and kitchen, and refinish the existing hardwood flooring. They wanted to be paid $3,000 up front and they were. They brought in very low-grade wood that's three to four levels below what's currently in my house. It doesn't match and now has to be removed. They did a terrible job attempting to refinish the [existing] floors. They caused damage with uneven sanding, burns and wheel marks. The corners still have old stain on them. They also caused additional damage: They scratched my stainless steel fridge and chipped my marble tables.

"They refuse to make it right. They also left plastic covering on my freshly painted walls, which pulled paint off when I took them down. It's now costing me much more than the original estimates to fix the damage to the floor, not to mention the scratch to the fridge and chips to the marble tables. In addition, I've had the inconvenience of not being able to use my house, as they left it in a completely uninhabitable state. More than two weeks ago, they said were going to get the correct wood to fix the problem and never came back! They haven't returned my calls."

DESIRED RESOLUTION: "At the very least, they need to refund the money they took, in addition to paying for the damages - I think $3,500 is a barely acceptable figure."

STATUS: Penalty Box