Yowza, that's awful.

Make it very clear that you will sue them. You should. Keep the samples if you still have them, as well as the bad mix.

This is as bad as it gets. One of the most inexpensive things you can get, but one that can be costly to fix.

My DS once refinished her floors with a can (don't remember the brand name)of what was suppose to be a satin finish and it was mislabeled and it was gloss! All she received back was the price of the product. Many items like this often will say that they are only liable for the cost of the item and not the labor etc.

I have heard just because something like that is stated on an item, it doesn't necessarily release a company from liability (I'm sure enough people would take that as absoulute and not persue it any further). Hopefully one of the lawyers on GW might direct you as to the next best step.

Good luck.

I wish you the best.

I am surprised the floor guy didn't know something was wrong by the name? Was he not aware of what it was supposed to be?

I was thinking the same thing... Seems like the floor guy would have noticed. I hope the store will step up.

I am so sorry coastal. Geez, do you have to practically do all the work yourself to make sure it's right? The only way you could have prevented this was to stand over the floor guy's shoulder when he took the first brushstroke. No one would have done that, given all the care you had already taken. This story is scary.

You should be able to get compensation more than the cost of the stain. Ask them in writing for what you think you are entitled to. They may surprise you. Sometimes it's easier for them to pay than to fight about it and possibly get bad publicity.

Good luck!

I cannot believe this happened to you. That completely stinks, but it seems that the store gave you the sample, representing the color. I would absolutely be asking them to refinish your floors.

I don't have any genius ideas, but want to wish you good luck in resolving the situation to YOUR satisfaction.

Oh no. This is terrible.
I'm wishing you the best. But I have no ideas to handle this
:0(

I think you have to baby-step your way through this. It seems the paint store is tentatively being helpful and responsive. I'd very gingerly nurture that responsibility. Don't yell or scream, stay quiet and baleful! You say you've used them for years; obviously they have a reputation in the community that matters to them. If you don't tip them toward defensiveness or embarrassment, it seems there's a good chance they'll do the right thing and stick by you and their error. Meaning, make it right, all right, one way or another.

I'd try asking them open questions: "what would you do", "what do you think", "do you work with someone who can help fix this". etc. I'm not sure what-all is necessary to fix the problem, but if it requires extensive labor, as it may well might, they're more likely to pay "their" guy than "yours". Keep trying to keep a dialogue open. As marcolo says, you can always sue them. And you can present them with your stipulations. But neither of these steps precludes a preliminary, gentle feeling of your way through; there's a possibility still - every likelihood from what I've read of your relationship and their response, really, that you can negotiate your way through to an acceptable end.

What you want is the floor the way you planned it, at the rate you budgeted already. But how you get there can be negotiable.

I'm so sorry! But let's just hold our breath and wait ... it could be you'll wind up with an even better color than you'd ever anticipated. Stranger things have happened.

I cannot believe it! I feel so badly that this happened to you. I think I would have had a coronary on the spot if that happened to me. Orange is a horrible floor color.

I wish I had more advice to give you other than to stay calm. Keep working towards a positive resolution with the store. Don't accept the floor unless it's as perfect as you want it to be.

Stay strong sista! This will work out.

Thanks for your support everyone! I guess in the grand scheme of things it may sound like I am whining over a floor when there are sick children in the world. But the but the floor is crap. So I said prayer sending my strength and hope to the children and cleared my head. Aliris- I have been cool, quiet, and "baleful" with them so far. They know I am upset and will not accept the wrong color due to the whole house being planned decorated and paid for. We have a good "neighborly" relationship, they are our customers as well. I have not blamed them for anything just sat patiently while they studied the samples/mixes.

We are so behind schedule And the only thing I am pushing for is a quick resolution because my floor guy has this week free to redo the job. And he (floor guy) really didnt have a clue what the final decision color was because I did all the leg work to make sure there was no errors!! Wow did that backfire. My DH won't move forward until they "come up with the answer". But he is fuming through the ears and wants an answer yesterday! I don't want him involved because he sees them more often and was not part of this transaction. I guess we wait and see. My furniture and appliances were supposed to be delivered this week :( and the kids are out of school in a couple of days. Looks like we won't be in for the fourth, but I dont care I just want my floor right.

What a terrible development. I'm not sure I would have thought about it with stain but I never leave the paint counter without testing my paint against the chip to make sure the colour was mixed right. No help to you but a good lesson for the rest of us. I hope you find a workable solution.

Ack, what an awful shock for you! I hope the paint store makes good. I would be out of my mind over this and I would absolutely let them know I was planning to sue. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good outcome for you!

I agree with aliris -- keep the tone positive. However, at the same time remain insistent that the responsibility for the error is theirs and you expect them to make it right.

We had a somewhat similar situation where the installers for a carpet dealer we have dealt with for years (who had carpeted two whole houses for us) broke our pool table when moving it (against our instructions). They hemmed and hawed for a bit, but ended up paying for the repair. I never had to get nasty or aggressive, but knew they would do the right thing in the end (or lose our business and many referrals.)

Just stick by your guns, and then keep marcolo's suggestion (take them to small claims court) in your back pocket as a last-resort scenario.) Long story short - they promised one thing, delivered another, and caused you damages. Shouldn't be hard to prove if you keep the materials/samples.

I feel so aweful for you and your fuming DH. I agree with aliris - stay calm and negotiate in the beginning. If it looks like they are not going to work with you to solve the problem, then you can call the Attorney General in your state or a TV station that has a public affairs division. It bumps it up a little bit without costing you anything. Bad publicity may be a lot worse for them than making restitution for their mistake. You'll have to weigh the mistake against a lonstanding business relationship. A difficult situation :( Good Luck!!

Omg I feel so bad. One question though- you sampled the stains. Didn't the floor guys notice that the new didn't match what they probably just sanded out?

ugh. I feel so bad. Hold their feet to the fire. But, remember, it is not worth living with something you hate so if worst comes to worst, maybe the floor finishing guys and the paint company can be held responsible? Even if you ended up paying 1/3 it sounds like it would be worth it to you.

Coastal, no advice, but I am so so sorry. I can only imagine your horror when you saw your floors. I know each time we leave our beach place I am scared to death to walk back in to find something that went wrong like warped floors or similar. So far we have had no surprises (knock on wood). I hope you come to an easy and fair resolution.
the only thought that now comes to mind is can you look at a batch # on the can and call Cabot directly to see how old the base was compared to your sample batch? Cabot could confirm for you whether it was their error in the batch # they used. Or perhaps Cabot has had similar complaints and they need to know what is going on with a particular batch they made?

Terrible news. All paint stores I have every been to have always ALWAYS opened the can after mixing and made a sample to be ok'd. If your paint store had done this, they would have seen it was orange and not gray. It is their mistake, big time.

Granted, if your floor guy knew what color you were going to use, he should have called you as well.

Hey, there aren't just sick children in the world there are also people without homes. Since this is your second home, why not donate it to some homeless family - I'm sure they won't mind the color of the floor and you can get a big tax write-off :-)

I just got word from paint store. They think it was an old batch resulting in a thinner mix or something to that effect. HE IS GOING TO PAY!!!!! I hardly had to ask, just mentioned that they already poly'd the floor (he didn't realize this from our first conversation) he said that he would have to take the hit. I an so happy I could scream!!! They are a well known and respected member of the community so it is good that it turned out this way.

I must say Aliris, I'm glad I went with your method. I am not usually passive-aggressive but it helped keep cool heads in this situation. They needed to work out the issue without me accusing them. My floor guy had no clue what color I was going with cause I had a few samples on the floor. I will now micro-manage my GC and every last sub that walks in here!! BIG lesson learned and hope this story helps prevent any future GWer's disaster. What a relief!

Excellent news.

General rule: Use carrots as well as sticks. If everything is resolved to your satisfaction, put up a post here praising them, with their name and geographic area in the title of the post.

I agree with Allison regarding the final test swatch of the can they mixed. Even Wal Mart does that much for you!

Could the paint store have chosen the wrong base. Ravmd brought up the issue of the date on the can too. Most of the places anymore have the mixing computerized (probably for situations just like this). I've also learned that the colorant/tint must be stirred ever so often.

We're all pulling for you!

Weissman- This is a forum to seek opinions on kitchen decor. If I had a question about who or what I should pray for I would have asked on the conversations side ;) Maybe you should go there and post a topic telling us what home you've donated and what you do in your personal time! I am curious now. Aw come on, don't be shy!

I stated how upset I was with a particular HOME incident seeking HOME advice. If I needed donation ideas that would have been in the title. I also stated in my unease, I said a prayer knowing there are tragedies in the world other than my little problem. A child I know happened to be in my thoughts at the moment, thus was the topic of my prayer. Is that ok with you? Do I need permission to whom or what I pray for? Pretty sure that you don't know me, or what I do for a living, or what I "give" in my personal time. Thanks for the idea. I can forward you links to plenty of disaster relief blogs and donation sites, that I "know of" if you feel the need to tell people what they should do with their multiple homes and cars and clothes. Do you have kids? Well you know there are people in the world who are waiting to adopt children- why don't you give them one of yours.

Please don't tell me this person is for real? Has anyone else been told to donate their house on this site when talking about a problem? This guy should be booted. What does he know about my personal life other than what I post public here. I have much bigger problems other than floor color hunny, but this is a topic discussion. That was my topic. Let's see to who else he tells to stop complaining and give up their homes!

Sorry - I was just being a little snarky. Your post reminded me of the time Ken Lay's wife was on the Today Show after husband had been arrested, and she was bemoaning the fact that she had to sell their third home.

Because you've clearly taken one too many, apology accepted. But go sleep it off now and you'll feel better in a few hours.

"HE IS GOING TO PAY!!!!!"

this is awesome! what a great business! no wonder they are well known AND respected.

It does of course, benefit them in the end anyway. in several different ways...

do post a new thread praising them in the topic line... AND be sure that your friends, relatives etc ALL know how great they were to work thru this blooper with you.

let your floor guy know also - since he would be one to come in contact with others doing floors.

Thumbs up to those bz owners!

then, of course, there is always someone to throw in a downer. Just ignore those posters...I doubt they are doing much to help the poor thru-out the world themselves. You are 'employing' a number of people in this project and giving them 'job security'. That keeps them out of the unemployment line and gives them a paycheck to feed their family, pay their mtg etc.

be sure to post a pic of this floor when it is done. Soon.

I'm so happy that the store quickly took responsibility and will fix it without arguing. Great news! And can your floor guy finish it this week?

Congrats!!

Yes it will be done by the weekend. Just in time for appliances. I am heading there now to get the "correct" cans. And I will sample the new mix before leaving the store.

And yes, I usually ignore and don't engage, but since I had to remain calm all weekend I couldn't hold back on this one. I got it all out and I am pleased with today's events. Thanks again!

You won on 2 accounts.

1. You will have the floors the way you originally wanted.

2. You felt before that the community was wonderful but now you know first hand how great it is.

That is great news! I was hoping that they would come thru with at least paying for part of the labor....but all of it? Wow...that is a good company. You should really start to sing their praises to everyone you know! Write reviews on Yelp.com , contact AngiesList and see if they pop up on a general Google listing. You can write a review there too.

Congratulations, so happy for the solution! What a relief because it was a tough one!

Congratulations - great news!...You did well with the honey vs. vinegar trick. We look forward to seeing final pictures of your project!

The best possible solution!! I bet your feel the weight of the entire kitchen had been lifted off your shoulders. Yes, please post their info. Everybody makes mistakes but what is great about this is they took responsibility for their actions. Don't see that everyday anymore.

I'm so happy for you! And, I'm super excited that this won't slow you down. The floor guy can finish this week and all can continue as it should. You must be so happy. Now enjoy a glass of wine from all this stress!

As the old saying goes "Two wrongs doesn't make a right", it's comforting to know there are still businesses that do "THE RIGHT" thing. Kudos to the paint and flooring company!!!! And kudos to your handling of the situation, can't wait to see the finished product.

Hi there. So glad your issue was happily resolved. I want to use Coastal Gray as well but I'm nervous and would love to see photos of your floors. In the end did the color turn out as you had hoped? Did you coat them with polyurethane? My floor guy is worried that they'll yellow over time. Please post pics. Thanks!