Ceramic floor tiles from B&Q

sophie_3-2

I have a long standing dispute with B&Q over some ceramic floor tiles that I purchased last December. Within 5 weeks of them having been laid I found that ten of them had chipped. Two of these were caused by my 6 year old daughter dropping her plastic mug. I can offer no explanation to the rest other than daily use. Yesterday my wife dropped a plate and now I have three more tiles with multiple chips to add to collection. They were sold as suitable for kitchens - they're clearly substandard.

I originally phoned the branch where I purchased them as soon as I discovered the problem (January 2004). They said it was nothing to do with them and that I needed to contact the manufacturer. Sadly, I did. Johnson's requested a sample and from this they simply wrote back saying I had not used sufficient adhesive. How they deduced this is a total mystery and is simply wrong. I have laid many ceramic floors in my life and I know what I'm doing.
I have requested that B&Q arrange a site visit to evaluate properly what the problem is. They refuse to do so and they refuse to request Johnson's do one. I have written many times to them, I have many telephone conversations (on 0870 numbers, I add) and all I get back is 'Johnson's say you have used insufficient adhesive'. It's like banging my head on a brick wall. I have written to the Chief Executive, Rob Cissell, but cannot get past his secretary. I have spoken to Trading Standards who gave very general advice. I have threatened to take B&Q to court, but when I went to the CAB to get advice on how to proceed they suggested that first I get an expert report to prove where the problem lies. Good advice, but having found someone, he wants £750+VAT to do a site visit and prepare the report. Incidentally, CAB wrote to B&Q on my behalf but the response was no different. I tried a solicitor but as it's a 'small claim' she advised me to go it alone.
Here's the money bit. The tiles and adhesive cost less than £250. B&Q have sent me a cheque for £200 (which I refuse to cash) even though I told them not to send it as it is totally inadequate. To put this right will cost at least £1000 in labour and materials. Remove all kitchen units, remove the defective tiles, scrape the floor clean, remove the waste, purchase and lay new tiles and refit the kitchen. That's a good weeks work.
The kitchen is far from finished. There is no point continuing until this is resolved. The wife is naturally sick of having a kitchen that looks like a building site. I am deeply dubious about spending nearly £900 on a report - it should be B&Q's responsibility to prove there either is or is not a problem. I wrote to BBC Watchdog but have had nothing more than an acknowledgement. I have written to three national newspapers and heard nothing from any of them. I do not know what else to do. I am getting to the point where I am going to give up. I have a life to live and a wife who needs a kitchen. But I really don't want to give up. B&Q have nearly bullied me into submission which is what they have been trying to do all along.

Can you suggest any thing more I can do? Any suggestions would be very gratefully received.

tru

My hubby works in flooring, he's at work at the mo but I'll ask him tonight

tru

Is your daughter's mug made of melamine? That and plates can chip the tiles.

Are they chips or cracks? It's difficult to say what the problem is with seeing the tiles :-/

Did B&Q say exactly what the £200 was for?

If hubby's firm supplied faulty flooring and they replace the carpet, they're only responsible for the carpet and refitting it, they're not responsible for removal and refitting any furniture that's been built on top of it, eg. fitted wardrobes.

MarkyMarkD

elf

I don't agree with your view regarding compensation for the costs of removing and refitting furniture.

If your husband supplies faulty flooring and things are built on top, he's liable to put the customer back into the position they would have been were the flooring not faulty.

So that means supply and fit new flooring - and if that requires remove and refit furniture, so be it.

As for the OP, when you have installed the flooring yourself things are obviously harder to prove. I don't agree that it's B&Q's job to prove that you did not install it correctly - it's you making the claim that the goods are defective.

The £750 the "expert" is asking is OTT, IMHO. But if you can't find a cheaper one, you have no choice if you want to go down the small claims route.

Although I would advise NOT bothering with the expert until the case goes to court - if B&Q cave in earlier, the money would be wasted.

tru

elf

I don't agree with your view regarding compensation for the costs of removing and refitting furniture.

If your husband supplies faulty flooring and things are built on top, he's liable to put the customer back into the position they would have been were the flooring not faulty.

So that means supply and fit new flooring - and if that requires remove and refit furniture, so be it.

I don't know what the law is on that, and neither does hubby. When I said 'hubby's firm', I meant the firm he works for, not owns. They've never refitted furniture.

A report from an independant expert shouldn't cost more than £300 + Vat, though as you paid less than £250 for the tiles it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Part of your problem might be that you laid the tiles yourself. B&Q know this and so do Johnson's, they might be using that to their advantage :-/

sophie_3-2

Thankyou all for your comments and interest. Just to clarify a few points - the tiles are not cracked. These are chips in the glaze quite a few of which go through to the brown substrate.
The tiles are solid bedded - there are no voids or hollows beneath them.
As far as responsibility goes, B&Q refuse to investigate and that's what getting up my nose. They are being totally unreasonable. If they send out their expert and he can prove to me that it is caused by something I've done wrong, then I'll learn the lesson and lick my wounds. But that takes co-operation from B&Q and without that an amicable solution is not possible.

The morals from this story to all those reading it are:
1. Never buy anything from B&Q that cannot easily be returned in the event of problems.
2. If you must, pay for it on credit card. Then if you have a problem you can involve the CC company.
3. If B&Q tell you to contact the manufacturer, DON'T. It's their responsibility.

Finally, I'm new to this chatroom stuff. Any ideas on other places where I can warn people not to buy from B&Q would be much appreciated. In the long run, it's far cheaper to pay a little extra and to buy from people who know their products and who actually care about their customers.

tru

The cheaper the tile, the thinner the glaze. So it's more likely to get chipped

Go and cash that cheque ;D