Valspar - Guardsman

Valspar - Guardsman

I am having a problem with a company called Valspar and I don’t know where to turn. I was hoping you might be able to help me. Here is what happened: I purchased Valspars Guardsman Protection product from Grand Home Furnishing in Winchester Virginia for every piece of furniture I bought for my bedroom set: Date, Kincaid Product, Furniture Price, Guardsman Cost 09/05/01, Bed, Price: $892.50, Guardsman Cost: $89.95 02/06/02, Armoire & 2 Night Stands, Price: $1618.20 & $1359.90, Guardsman Cost: $199.95

08/28/02, Govenors Clothing Center, Price: $2240.55, Guardsman Cost: $199.95

09/03, Dresser, Price: ~$2000.00, Guardsman Cost: $124.95 On July 2004 I contacted Valspar and explained that my Kincaid Armoire had been damaged (this was the first and only time I have used this protection plan). During the week of August 16, 2004 I received a call from Express Leather Care saying that they were contacted by Valspar and would be coming out to repair my furniture. I immediately contacted Valspar because I was concerned that this was not a piece of furniture that had any leather on it, it was a wood piece of furniture. I was told that Express Leather Care knew how to “repair” wood. On August 20, 2004 the technician from Express Leather Care arrived and tried to fix the problem. Not only did he NOT fix the problem, he made it worse. I sent photos to Valspar detailing the damage done to my armoire by the Valspar representative. Valspar sent another technician out to repair my armoire. His name is Albert Ibrahim and he does ONLY wood repairs. He informed me that the previous person damaged my furniture further. He said, had he been called originally, he could have repaired it in my home to my satisfaction. Now, he would need to have the piece brought to his shop to be repaired properly. He told me he would need to get authorization from Valspar before he could properly repair the furniture. I was contacted by Valspar stating that they would not repair the furniture and I could have the piece replaced. The problem is, that piece is no longer made by Kincaid. I asked how much it would cost to repair the piece and I was told approximately $700 for the repair and $200 for shipping to/from the repair shop. Valspar said it was not feasible to repair the piece for approximately $900. Since the piece is no longer made, I was given 2 options: 1. $1618.20 Grand Store Credit and relinquish damaged armoire, or

2. $485.00 cash to cancel the policy I am not satisfied with either option. Since this piece is part of a set and cannot be replaced, I don’t want some other piece of furniture. I want my Armoire repaired. I feel that Express Leather Care, a representative of Valspar is responsible for the additional damage done to my furniture. I should not have to get a different piece of furniture since it was damaged more severely by a Valspar representative. I even voiced my concern to Valspar about having Express Leather Care repair my wood piece and was assured that they knew what they were doing (obviously not). I have been in contact with Grand Home Furnishings and they told me they agree with me. Grand was even trying to work this out with their Valspar representative for the store. I was told on January 24, 2005, by Valspar Customer Service that I have until February 28, 2005 to decide which option I want. Again, I don’t want either option – I just want my Armoire repaired. I feel that since Valspar sent a technician to repair the furniture and that technician damaged the furniture that Valspar should be held responsible for repairing the furniture. I have written the Vice President of Valspar, I have written the President of Grand Home Furnishings to no avail. On January 25, 2005 I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. The following is information that the BBB has on Valspar: Valspar Corporation

4999 - 36TH Street, S.E.

Grand Rapids, MI 49512

Nature of Business

This company offers manufacturing of fabric protection & after-market auto products.

Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unresolved complaint(s).

Our file contains a pattern of complaints in which consumers allege that the company failed to honor their warranty on damaged furniture. The company has responded to all complaints by either arranging for repair or replacement if the claim is eligible under the warranty, or explaining why the request is not eligible under the warranty. In many cases when the request is not eligible for repair or replacement, the company provided a refund for the cost of the warranty coverage.

The Bureau processed 175 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. 97 of those were closed in the last 12 months. These complaints concerned advertising issues, repair or service issues, guarantee or warranty issues, contract issues, customer service issues and credit or billing issues. Of these complaints, 119 were closed as resolved, 15 were closed as unresolved. 41 were closed when the company addressed the disputed issues and exhibited a good faith effort to resolve the complaint. When evaluating complaint information, please consider the company's size and volume of business. The number of complaints filed against the company may not be as important as the type of complaints and how the company handled them.

Report as of 01/26/2005 As you can see by reading this, that I am not the first person to have this problem with Valspar. I just feel like this company is taking advantage of not only myself, but others as well. I wish there was a way to inform people that buying this “protection plan” is no protection at all. I should have listened to my father when he told me never to by the “extra” warranties on any products. I don’t know if there is anything you can do, but I thought I would give you a try. I know you have helped other people with consumer issues and thought maybe you could help me too. Thank you,

Karen H

Ashburn, VA 20147

Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: Email User Consumer

Comment On This

I am having a problem with Guardsman also......

We purchased our plan when we purchased a full $4500.00 bedroom set..After finding a piece of broken wood one day while vaccuuming the bedroom...I called Guardsman and they told me because I did not report it within one week of finding it that they will not cover it....

Wow!! what customer service!!!!! i will do eveything possible to make consumers aware of this issue...

Comment On This

HI,

I am also having a problem with Valspar's Guardsman serivce. I have never been through such a ridiculous process in my entire life. I also bought the protection plan for an entire furniture purchase. (Over $8,000 in furniture, including a leather sectional. We had a problem where the leather skirting had pulled away from the couch. I also told the rep on the phone that when you sat on the cushion above the skirting that you sank down and that there was something wrong. She told me that they don't cover cushion flattening and I told her that was fine but I didn't think that is what the problem was. I proceeded to fill out 3 forms and mail them to the company. They would not accept an emailed form or a fax. It had to be mailed, so it took 2 weeks before I even had a technician call me to repair. When he did call he couldn't give me a definite appointment time. He said he would call me when he had a cancellation. Well, I work a full time job, my husband runs his own business, adn we have 2 kids involved in several sports. So, we're not able to just drop everything when the technician gets a cancellation. Of course, when he gets here he tells me that there is underlying structural damage and that wasn't on the work order he has, so he can't fix anything. So, I have to go through the entire process again and waste more of my time. I have already wasted so much time on this with no results. I have never encountered a more ridiculous process. The technician couldn't fix the skirting on my couch beacause of the underlying reason that it pulled away in the first place. How can you fix a problem without fixing what caused it to happen in the first place. He said I should have told the woman on the phone everything that was wrong with the couch. I told him that I don't do furniture repair in my free time, so I wasn't really aware of everything that was wrong with the couch. I told her that when you sit down it sinks down and I thought that somehting was wrong with it. I don't know how a consumer is supposed to know exactly what is wrong with something that they can't see inside of. So, just thought I'd share my ridiculous story with you. I am planning on calling them Monday (of course no one is there to take your call when the technician is actually here)and complaining, not that it will probably do any good. I also plan on filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as well, although I don't know that that will get my couch fixed either. Hope you get your issue resoved.