Paint from B&Q not fit for purpose- they only offer partial refund

[daliwanu]

Hi!

 

I purchased two 5L tins of B&Q's Valspar Premium 'super scrub formula, maximum durability' paint (£69.95) for my walls. I applied the paint as instructed on the tin. A week later I rested a clothes airer against the wall, as I had done for years previously without problem, and when I moved it the paint stuck to it and came away from the wall. I tried moving it to another spot and the same thing happened. I wrote to B&Q asking for a refund as the paint was not fit for purpose. After 4 months of chasing them up for responses, answering (and reanswering) their questions, being fobbed off to the manufacturer, answering the manufacturer's lengthy questionnaire and chasing them up some more they finally offered me a £25 gift voucher as a final offer. I had requested that all communication be made in writing, either by post or by e-mail. They said that carrying out the investigation would be difficult if the could not speak with me. Their offer would just cover the cost of purchasing a small tin of the same paint that would cover one coat on the walls.

 

I wrote back saying that I would not accept their offer, but would accept £50 to cover the additional costs of travelling to pick up the paint, time to reapply the paint and the considerable inconvenience that the whole incident has caused me, on the proviso that if the same thing happens again I will get a full refund. I requested that if that was not acceptable, I'd like the name and mailing address of someone at head office who I could write to about the matter.

 

They did not respond so I wrote back asking again for a contact at head office.

 

They wrote back reiterating their £25 offer and supplying me with the contact details.

 

At this point, I feel like asking for a full refund and being done with them.

 

Do I have a leg to stand on?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/support.

[andydd]

I expect most people like me are a bit puzzled, what extra benefits does the 'super scrub' paint claim to have and are you saying that it hadn't dried properally after a week ?

 

You say you feeling like asking for a full refund ?. Did you not ask for this initially and why do you think asking for a full refund will be anymore successful; ?

 

Andy

[daliwanu]

I expect most people like me are a bit puzzled, what extra benefits does the 'super scrub' paint claim to have and are you saying that it hadn't dried properally after a week ?

 

You say you feeling like asking for a full refund ?. Did you not ask for this initially and why do you think asking for a full refund will be anymore successful; ?

 

Andy

 

Hi!

 

'Valspar Premium Matt is an advanced formula emulsion that offers state-of-the-art colour and coverage...... plus the super scrub formulation stands up to tough daily living.' Those are the benefits it claims to have. By the manufacturer's description, the paint should be virtually indestructible and quite clearly it isn't. I would hardly call leaning a clothes airer against the wall 'tough daily living' and it didn't even stand up to that. I don't know if the paint dried properly after a week. It looked dry. It felt dry. It should have been dry. I'm no paint technician so I don't know what aspect of it is faulty. What I do know is that my clothes airer has been leant against the same painted wall when not in use for over 7 years and I've never had any issues with the paint from the wall sticking to it. Now, I paint the walls with B&Q's all singing and dancing 'premium' paint and whenever I lean my airer against the wall, the paint sticks to it. It shouldn't. I should be able to lean things against the wall without the paint coming away.

 

Yes, I did ask for a full refund initially. I was prepared, though, to negotiate for the sake of hopefully coming to a mutually agreeable solution. I never meant I thought asking for a full refund would be more successfull. Just that I don't feel that negotiating will get me anywhere.

 

Cheers

[andydd]

The fact you said the paint stuck to it make it sounmd like the paint was still wet in some way as opposed to the paint chipping or becoming marked.

 

I've no real idea on how you can take this further, perhaps find out if others have had similar problems ?...Contact manufacturer of paint ? There is of course the legal avenue but I dont think you'd be gaurenteed of success.

 

Andy

[akalias]

Hi daliwanu,

 

I work in the paint department at B&Q head office, and I am really intrigued to find out what went wrong with the Valspar paint you purchased on this occasion, as the premium paint you purchased is of exceptional quality, and should perform better than many other paints on the market, which is clearly not your experience. I am unable to send you a private message as my post count is not high enough, and I fear you may have the same issue, but if you can find some way of getting me your email address, we can continue the conversation in private, and hopefully reach a resolution.

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

[locutus]

Dan, do you officially represent B&Q? If so email admin@consumeractiongroup.co.uk where they will validate you and afford you the title "representative". If not, it's probably best that you leave things to official channels.

[akalias]

Dan, do you officially represent B&Q? If so email admin at consumeractiongroup.co.uk where they will validate you and afford you the title "representative". If not, it's probably best that you leave things to official channels.

 

I do not officially represent B&Q, but this is the kind of feedback that would never normally get through to my team, or the account managers we deal with at Valspar, when dealt with solely through the "official channels". I have made a genuine offer of help to the OP, which will also benefit me if we can establish what fault, if any, lies with the paint. If I am able to help, then procedure and bureaucracy should not stand in the way. My first and main priority will always be the customer.

[locutus]

You agree to the forum rules when registering an account. Making contact off forum is forbidden for business purposes, as you could be anybody.

 

Personally, if I'd paid almost £70 for paint I'd want it to apply its self! The main point here is that the paint is not "as described" and providing it has been applied following the instructions, as it obviously does not "stand up to tough daily living" so I'd expect a small claim in the local county court to be successful. Prior to putting myself through the hassle of that, I'd personally email the CEO Martyn.Phillips@b-and-q.co.uk and see if his department is willing to make a better offer.

[natalie]

I would email the ceo too

[daliwanu]

Hi!

 

Thanks so much to everyone who's responded : > Your comments and words of support have really helped. It seems that my next course of action will be to contact the CEO (thanks for the contact details!) to see if he will offer a full refund. I thought I'd say that I would be happy to co-operate in any investigation, as much as I am able, to establish any problem with the paint but in the meantime, I would like a full refund given that the paint is not as described and not fit for purpose. Does anyone have any other words of advice as to what I should say or how I should approach my communication? All constructive input is greatly appreciated!

 

Cheers

[juliand]

I too have suffered the trouble of Valspar paint mixed by B and Q, the worst was the basic white, again it was the premium hard stuff, that costs a fortune and I found that just applying the paint was a nightmare, as you ran your next brush stroke along the wall the previous one came off! The Valspar representative said eventually that you have to apply a grey primer first! What a load of junk, basically this paint is absolute rubbish and a complete rip off, obvously b and q switched to Valspar because they are saving money and the customer is certainly not getting the paint any cheaper than dulux which they used to sell, and the quality is a joke. I have painted with many different types of paint, including the cheapest unbraded white emulsion and have never had this problem, and never need a primer for matt emulsion on a previously painted wall. B and Q have said they will give a full refund, but they should ditch valspar immediately it is useless, and obviously no feedback is going to the people who care. I cannot believe that myself and the previous poster are the only people with this problem. By the way a work colleague had exactly the same problem with a deep red and was told to use primer!!!!

[assisted blonde]

If the original p[aint on your walls had been there for a number of years then I think that you should have used primer, paint deteriorates after a while and the surface can become greasy and even if you use sugar soap first it still isnt ideal, also with primer the coverage is better and you should only need one coat.

It may not be the paint that is at fault but the surface you are putting it on. i would have thought that B&Q should send someone round to test the walls to see what the problem is, it may well be a rougue pot of paint or it could be the surface, there would be no point in applying another coat of paint to the wall as it is as the paint you have put on is obviously not drying/adhereing to the original.

[andydd]

Watchdog did a big feature on paint, apparently many new paints have a different formula, some whites fade into a rather horrid yellow quite quickly but dont think it was the same paint as in this thread.

 

Andy

[rebel11]

Maybe they dilute (not sure what with) it to make it go further.

 

Watchdog did a big feature on paint, apparently many new paints have a different formula, some whites fade into a rather horrid yellow quite quickly but dont think it was the same paint as in this thread.

 

Andy

[juliand]

Maybe they dilute (not sure what with) it to make it go further.

 

That issue was down to changes forced on the paint manufacturers by Bruxelles. This issue is just simply poor paint quality, and a bad mix. Having done more online investigation I have realised that Valspar being American paint has also supplied to a big US DIY chain called Lowes, just search for Valspar paint problems and you find many people in the US with a similar problem in the last year, it is substandard paint, and I just hope someone reads this post before they buy this coloured water and waste hours of time and cash on something that will never work!

[juliand]

If the original p[aint on your walls had been there for a number of years then I think that you should have used primer, paint deteriorates after a while and the surface can become greasy and even if you use sugar soap first it still isnt ideal, also with primer the coverage is better and you should only need one coat.

It may not be the paint that is at fault but the surface you are putting it on. i would have thought that B&Q should send someone round to test the walls to see what the problem is, it may well be a rougue pot of paint or it could be the surface, there would be no point in applying another coat of paint to the wall as it is as the paint you have put on is obviously not drying/adhereing to the original.

 

B and Q gave me more to try, same problem, there is clearly something wrong with the mix, the fact is the guy on the paint counter knows nothing about the paint he's selling, and Valspar guy who called when I said "Well you're not going to say it's cr@p because you sell it" just laughed, read into that what you will! Please note bog standard crown white emulsion was fine for a fraction of the costs. Valspar junk is going back for a refund, which the Valspar rep agreed. It really is rubbish paint, nothing more to say about it.

[Mike666]

I agree the valspar paint from B&Q is appalling, it will not cover, dries all streaky, this is after 2 coats. I will never purchase this paint again. Stick with Dulux or Crown.

[maroondevo52]

It's always better getting paint from a local paint retailer rather than the large DIY stores (IMHO) I always used Valspar years ago when I worked with a Sighnwriter he wouldn't go past it, maybe things have changed over the years.

[dx100uk]

thread rather old guys

 

dx

[maroondevo52]

thread rather old guys

 

dx

 

So am I

 

Still waiting on that paint drying.