Valspar B & Q cat urine paint smell/odour fiasco!

spadoosh

Id take the redecoration costs.

As for valspar being a new brand its far from it. Its something like the 6th largest paint (coatings) manufacture in the world. New to the UK (although i do believe they tried breaking the market around between the 50s and 70's)

Its not like its a mickey mouse paint, you say you havent used them but you almost have certianly used a product of theirs. Their coatins are used on coca cola cans, john deere tractors yamaha pianos to name a few.

If i was making a deciison to buy a paint, id look at something like supplying coca cola as being a good reason to go for it. 6th largest paint comapny in the world, again its something that should reassure any buyer. Furts analogy with cars is a bit wide of the mark, no one buys a nissan expecting it to not perform as expected.

As for the paint itself, ive used it but think it was just after the problems. (i worked at b&q and i do remember a switch in the base product, they used to have black lids and they switched to white lids) The rooms ive painted dont smell in the slightest, the paint is really weird, id describe it a latexy, you worry as its being applied because it doesnt seem to apply like the brands youre more used to but the finish, coverage and durability is up there with the best paints ive used. Im not a decorator but have used more or less every brand you can get in the uk and id be more than willing to buy again for the right job. Its expensive, mixed paint can be, which ultimately will put me off using it all the time but if ive got a room i want painting and plan to not touch it for 10 years id go with it.

As a side, i no longer work at b&q, i was made redundant so not much in the way of loyalty from me.

To suggest the OP is at fault in any way is ludicrous. They chose a reputable company, a company that has awards for its customer service and the quality of its products in the industry.

My mum recently bought a mercedes. There was a product recall on her car, im guessing she shouldve chose a bentley ay? Riddiculous.

Loubell123

Hi sazmatazz,

I have also been experiencing the same problem. They do not seem to have a complaints procedure and I can not speak to anyone higher than the complaints manager. They have offered me some compensation but are not admitting they are liable and it does not cover the cost of re-decoration. They have assured me that the 2018 batches are now OK, however I am not in agreement with this.
I need to know if anyone has spoke to someone higher than a complaints manager at this company as I have become stuck. Also who is the third party that you complain to outside of Valspar?

Thanks for any help.

NaughtiusMaximus

Loubell123 wrote: »

They have assured me that the 2018 batches are now OK, however I am not in agreement with this.

That's not my experience. We used 5 different colours of Valspar paint bought between March and May this year in the course of redecorating an entire house and didn't detect an unpleasant odour from any of them.

abssorb

:)Found this thread as we've used Valspar last year for exterior and found it amazing, and I was wondering if it's OK for interior now.

A lot of paint brands suffered quality problems when the industry switched from VOC to water-based. Valspar were not alone.

It seems the problem has been fixed though.

NaughtiusMaximus wrote: »

That's not my experience. We used 5 different colours of Valspar paint bought between March and May this year in the course of redecorating an entire house and didn't detect an unpleasant odour from any of them.

Good to know. Thanks.


I know this is old, but in case anyone else is wondering.

Furts wrote: »

... in some ways you also made a mistake, and have to accept a responsibility here.

Only true of the trades. Consumers are protected, and have no responsibility for product choice. Whereas trades need to perform due diligence, consumers do not and the consumer protection laws were introduced to remove the need for expert knowledge in a purchase.

Moomoo22

Omg, at least now l have an answer!! I have suffered this stink in my living room for approx 9ms now and it never even occurred to me that the problem was my painted walls. I'm actually fuming tbh, I've spent £££s on shake n vac, bicarbonate of soda etc thinking its my carpets, my rugs. I can categorically add that it does get worse in the warm weather too. I have had several check ups with the doctor recently, for headaches, forgetfulness and feeling out of sorts, but they can't find anything wrong. After coming across this today I have smelt my walls and can actually smell it, I'm horrified!!! Question is has anyone else become ill from this or even managed to sue the company?

Acheface

Valspar has been around for decades. B&Q and Valspar entered into a deal in 2012 whereby the only place you could purchase Valspar in the UK was via B&Q.

B&Q and Valspar are well aware of the "cat pee" issue and should be telling consumers prior to purchase that extra steps, like applying a sealant may be required. They are not doing this therefore they are preventing consumers from making an informed decision.

The paint is purchased from B&Q therefore the contract is with them. THEY should be resolving the consumers issues when it comes to any type of redress, THEY should then redress their own losses with Valspar.

To suggest that a consumer, entering into a contract with a large, well known company is remiss and ultimately responsible for purchasing dodgy goods is nonsense.

wlc2762

Hi all,

currently going through a claim for this product.

It seems a lot of commentators have little or no experience of consumer law. In fact, I was quite shocked by some of the 'helpful' comments?

Firstly. Yes, Valspar is a huge paint manufacturer, so much so they are sponsoring events on the PGA tour in America. So they are no one-trick pony. It is simply that they have only recently, say the last five years launched the product in the UK.

Our product was the premium matt emulsion, of which I purchased a lot of! I, like many decorators, am a bit of a creature of habit and like my established brands, but these guys seemed good and, at the time of purchase, there was no negative press.

So a year later we began to smell the odor. My dogs got the blame initially, many an hour on my hands and knees sniffing furniture and walls. The dogs looking back quizzically. Then I called out a plumber to check the drains and the downstairs toilet. still no joy.
It wasn't until I was doing my morning scan of the BBC news app that the Valspar odor issue came to light. I had a professional decorator come over to finish the rest of the house and he used Dulux trade emulsion, which was shade-matched to the Valspar colour. This area has never produced the odor. He stated to me that if you needed to block out an odor properly, you needed oil-based paints, as the water-based paints don't do the job. Or simply remove the plaster on the walls and start again. he had done a lot of old smoking rooms and fire damaged properties in his time.
I know a little consumer law, so straight away I went to B&Q, who I believe are the sole distributors in the UK, this is still to be confirmed. They tried to fob me off with contact to Valspar, I replied, that's lovely but you are the point of sale, you are the person I raise my issue with if you have a problem with Valspar take it up with them.
Needless to say, not a lot happened to start with. My mother-in-law has taken up the matter on my behalf now and she doesn't mess about, wrote straight to the chief executive of B&Q. Since then they are time delaying, coming up with a lead to simply covering the cost of the paint and now stating that the only acceptable remedy is to use water-based blocking paint and paint over that. They are asking for all sorts of stuff like the number of the card I used to purchase the products! the numbers on the tins of the paint, I kept a couple of the tins so imagine their shock when I sent photos of the said paint tins with dates of purchase on them!

Anyway the long and short of it is they will stall you. take your issue up with B&Q. If you get tired and feel you have sufficient evidence to prove on the 'balance of probabilities' that you purchased the paint from them; at the time in question and it is that said paint that is causing the smells, then go to the small claims court, you will win. just don't get emotional and don't get too greedy, prepare your evidence chronologically and simply talk normally, a judge is a person too!

CakeCrusader

A painter bought a can of this for my front door but B&Q mixed the wrong shade (think florescent green instead of grass green). I repainted the door but I'm pleased I spotted your thread as I feel better about wasting a can of paint. This stuff's vile (it also destroys paint brushes).