Here is a case that made my blood boil. A retail flooring dealer sold a hardwood installation to a customer who questioned the amount of material installed. According to the consumer’s calculations the dealer sold him 150-ft. more than he should have had. This amounted to, according to his calculations, an excess charge to him of over $1,300 plus tax, and which included the charge for the glue used to install the material.

The homeowner felt the dealer mis-measured and overcharged for the floor he received. The kicker here is that the consumer went to the state board of standards and got it involved. Its calculations confirmed his figures. But, here’s the part that really made me crazy, the director of the bureau of standards was none other than the complaining consumer.

A hosin’ if there ever was one was being attempted. The dealer supplied us with a very detailed floor plan with calculations for each room. He provided the invoices for the product and all the other information we requested. We went to two professional layout firms, one of which does take-offs for major corporations and government projects, to check to see how much wood flooring material was actually required.

We also calculated, based on how the wood was packaged, how many boxes would be required to complete the job. The biggest surprise came when both layout firms came up with slightly more material required than the dealer had provided. If the consumer’s calculations were used, taking into consideration waste and culling bad boards, the job would have been short.

In every analysis of the installation more wood would have been needed than was actually installed by the dealer. All of the dispute and calculation checking by the end user came after the installation, not before to check the validity. What this suggests, and not subtly, is that this person is trying to scam the retailer and use his position of influence to do so.

Even though, at this point, this guy is no longer the director of the bureau of standards, he just recently vacated the position. So, now he’s trying to use that position as influence to intimidate the storeowner. This is appalling and downright devious. There is no way in the world the dealer should cave to the requests of this despicable act of coercion which, in fact, it is.

This consumer has exhibited the lowest form of behavior by trying to bully a refund from the retailer. He’s wrong, he’s been proven wrong and he should be admonished, at the very least, for trying to shaft the storeowner. What is the lesson here? Can human beings be trusted? It would be a shame if we couldn’t place some trust in our customers or any person in general, for that matter.

The lesson is that when a job is measured, you and the consumer have to sit down and go over every aspect to show her how you arrived at the figures. She must understand how you got the figures based on the material being used and where it is going. You must clearly explain why you did it this way as well as the fact that there will be waste because some boards may be bad and will have to be culled from the lot.

Once this has been understood, questions answered and alternatives discussed, have the end-user sign off on the job. This way both parties know exactly what is going to take place, why, how much it is going to cost in total and there will be no surprises from either of you. If trust can’t be counted on then agreements must be in writing to avoid situations that instigated this article and claim.

The dealer, in this case, may not want to pursue the consumer because it may cost more to do so, unless it is a matter of principle. At the very least he should report this guy to the state ethics committee for reprimand so he will have been formally notified of his abuse of position which, in fact, this was. Never let yourself be put in this position.

Go over the particulars of every job, assume nothing, get an agreement from your customer and have the work signed for. This will keep you out of trouble and it will build trust and confidence with your customers. In the end they will feel comfortable and at ease knowing exactly what’s going to happen and it will prevent anyone from being taken advantage of.