Don't fight with B&Q. Their customer service is a waste of time. They do not value ANY customers, regardless how long you have shopped with them.

If you have evidence it is faulty, and can perhaps get this backed up by someone, then send them a letter before action insisting on a full refund.

I got laminate flooring in my previous property from Ikea which was much cheaper and fabulous.

After B&Q refused to replace a £10 faulty clip on lamp (where the plastic snapped over time if you had it clipped to anything!! It couldn't stand the stress force of the spring!) I have rarely shopped there since, and have actually saved a lot of money. It may be convenient, but it is rather expensive.

This has now about how appalling their customer services is ive set up a facebook page and if you have experienced the same terrible service share on FB look up B&Q defective flooring and appalling customer service

#BandQshameonyou !!

looking at your FB page it looks like you had forced the boards together and damaged the tounge n groove on them.
I also noticed the gaps and it does not look like it was fitted properly.
I noticed you had the cheap foam roll as an underlay but was your floor completely level underneath it? By the size of one of the gaps I would think it was not.

I damaged a few boards until I'd done a few. If the tongue isn't clicked in properly at an angle, then when you push it down flat, it will leave a gap and damage the tongue/groove which looks like what may have happened here?

I've just had a look at your group and that is the exact same flooring I bought and laid in my new home in October. I agree with the above poster that you have laid it incorrectly.

Don't get me wrong ours wasn't easy, the boards are so solid and thick (which is a good thing) that it was the most difficult flooring I've ever laid. Between myself, OH and BIL we have laid over a dozen floors in our own homes and helping out friends and relatives. Even with time for cuts and angles etc. the most we have taken previously was about four hours. This stuff took all three of us all of one day and just myself and OH finished it of the next morning.

The photos you've put if the little strips that have come off happens when you leave too big a gap from the previous board and when you push it to click it into place it rips the strip off, laid in the correct position and it locks into place properly. Did you use a tapping block with it at all? If we hadn't used one with ours we could never have got the joins flush enough and do have a few areas where we caused the same damage as you so have a slightly raised joint, luckily the surrounding boards hold it in place well enough and almost six months later ours is going well.

ETA: the damage to your won't be helped by the way you have them stacked vertically against the wall, packs of laminate should always be kept flat to avoid this and it's why the shops always stack it flat even though it would give more space to stack vertically.

Facebook group is gone :-(

facebook.com/BQ-defective-flooring-rubbish-customer-services-1452391764795698/

still there

I agree with others that the photos show laminate flooring which has not been fitted or even stored correctly, hence the apparent "damage" and lack of satisfaction. There are instructions included with the product and videos are also available on the company's website providing a step-by-step and useful hints &tips. Staff in branch are also trained to advise. The customer obviously failed to avail himself of any of these prior to "installation".

Even the power of social media will not net a refund or exchange when the customer has clearly not paid any heed..

Complaining about the shop refusing to open a "case" which had no merit in the first place is a waste of time.

Why would a recording of the initial complaint call be of any use? A few sentences earlier the staff were described as "apologetic". Regardless, there is unlikely to be any such recording if the call was to a local branch.

I suppose the retailer might settle just to be rid, but the customer should not count on it. The more likely outcome is that a rep from the manufacturer of the laminate will be despatched to inspect the floor and confirm that it has been poorly fitted. I expect this is the "Third Party" referred to.


I'm thinking this thread should be posted on the "Praise Vents and Warnings" board, as there appears to be no Consumer Rights question in the OP

With a grand total of eight people following !

Did you address it to the correct department as mentioned on their website? And include the relevant fee?


It appears like they are saying it is user error that is the fault, and if you want to take it further you need to commission an independant report to state the flooring is actually faulty and is not a result of poor installation. They are within their rights to do this, so instead of wasting time with Facebook groups that should be your next step. If indeed the product is at fault, you will be reimbursed this cost. If on the other hand it is an installation error, then you are further out of pocket.

I think spending £10 on a SAR would achieve very little in this case. It's doubtful any recording would have been made.

even the damage to the tongue on the board is consistent with improper fitting. If the boards had pulled apart the tongue would be pulled away from the board, their pics clearly show them being pushed towards the board and show they have been forced together.

There may well be a recording as the OP said they called customer service (by which I'm assuming they mean a central call centre rather than branch, but it's just an assumption) but I completely agree with you that it would achieve little.

I was more pointing out to the OP that there is a proper way of requesting such information should it exist, and it usually has to be addressed to a legal department or likewise as general CS wouldn't have the ability or authority to act on such a request.

Problem is that they are improperly fitted and by taking them up the installation was not available for inspection.


You did everything wrong so in this case B&Q have done nothing wrong. You really should update you FB to state you are withdrawing your complaint due to a botched installation.

I doubt very much anything will be updated by the OP, including this thread!

Happy to be proven wrong...

I agree with the others that from the photos it appears the floor has been installed incorrectly rather than it being faulty.

If the OP still believes it is genuinely faulty, then they are wasting their time trying to escalate this with B&Q. They need to get an EXPERT (floor fitter) to verify and write a statement stating the floor has been installed correctly and is faulty then send a letter before action.

B&Q are the masters of fobbing people off until you give up!

All done properly I got a friend who's a professional to come check that I was fitting it correctly, he confirmed and faulty boards.

Done all this before contacting customer service.

Treatment by them since has been appalling, they keep telling me that they are closing my complaint at every opportunity. They do not know how to treat customers!!

But your profession floor fitting friend didn't even know that the boards shouldn't be stacked vertically?

Really now 100% that is fitting error and like I said I can completely understand how it has happened because I really do have the exact same flooring and really struggled with laying it despite knowing what I'm doing.

Yes, because they have judged the fault to be yours, not the products. That is their final position so what would be the point in them escalating the complaint? Their response won't change.

As has been said, you now need to disprove that by getting a professional report to back you up.

what did your friend say the fault was?
was every board faulty?