David from Bogota, Columbia ordered 1*20GP vinyl floor at an impossible price with a Hehan floor manufacturer in 2009.
Two months later he received one full container of defective floors, only to find his we-chat messages to the factory were rejected.
While stories are quite different now. My customer from California overpaid 14000 USD by mistake in the balance payment in late 2020, our accountant sent the payment back the other day the payment was received. Such cases happen a lot in international business. But I want to remind all the flooring distributors or wholesalers always to be careful with your order and payment. Here I collect 5 big mistakes many vinyl floor distributors have made when dealing with Chinese floor factories.
NO.5 Loading SPC floor containers without inspection
If David had arranged a countable third party to inspect his vinyl floor, he wouldn’t have had such trouble. Inspection is the key to ensure you get quality and expected vinyl flooring. You will have an idea of what will be shipped to you at least. If the inspection result is not satisfying, you have a chance to demand the flooring factory to revise. In case you received the container with some quality problems, you have all the rights to demand compensation from the factory. However, if you don’t want to spend extra money for inspection, you could place orders with Alibaba. Alibaba will help you to do an inspection at minimum cost. Besides, you may also ask the flooring factory to do an inspection by themselves, then send you pictures and videos. Below is the inspection report I prepared for my customer. There are total of 8 pages, if you would like to see more, please email us with the key word” Inspection Report“. Here are some popular third-party inspection companies for your reference.
https://www.intertek.com.cn/service/Inspection
https://www.qima.cn/quality-control-services
NO.4 Place orders of SPC floor without samples
Normally customers will require a sample to check the quality before making any decisions. This is very smart. First, samples can be used as an important reference, making sure what you could expect from the flooring factory. Second, samples can be legal proof when you find your floor is different from samples. So I strongly suggest you request a sample from the supplier, and check it very carefully , including the floor design variation, texture, click system, UV coating, bevel edge, core strength, etc. Then take records and keep the sample in a right place. You may need it after you receive your container.
NO.3 Communicating with SPC floor supplier by Instant app,like Wechat, Whatsapp.
Currently, WeChat is the most famous instant chatting app for Chinese suppliers. In order to have more convenient and faster communication with suppliers, many distributors choose to chat on WeChat or WhatsApp. However, email is more preferable. Emails can be traceable. It allows you to locate all the messages that suppliers have confirmed you, especially order details and quality guarantee. At the same time, email is legal proof when a quality problem or contradiction occurs. Sino Insurance, which is the biggest insurance company for international business, claimed that WhatsApp or WeChat messages couldn’t be used as proof, but emails. So please use more emails, especially for key details confirmation.
NO.2 Ask for cheapest SPC floor
You can never find the cheapest price, even if you do find one, I promise you will hate it. Because its quality and service will be far away from your expectation. It will surely be an awful experience. Nearly all the vinyl floor manufacturers share the same cost of raw materials and labor. So the price gap is mainly from the quality and extra service. As for extra service, it’s easy to imagine. In a small floor factory, one person has to talk with 10 different customers. While in a big factory, 10 salespeople serve one customer. “What do you mean by service?” Service includes offering free samples, prompt replies, and feedback, patient with different requests, vinyl floor high-resolution pictures, positive feedback on production and inspection, positive compensation, etc.
NO.1 Work with unprofessional SPC floor manufacturers
To an experienced vinyl floor buyer, Changzhou is a very well-known city. There are more than 200 big and small factories here, producing laminate flooring, vinyl flooring, and moldings. 70% of exported flooring is from Changzhou. Many highly trained and professional workers in the hot pressing and slotting process are gathering here, who make Changzhou a well-known brand in vinyl floor and laminate floor production. But how to choose a professional from 200 factories is a new problem.