Contracts, like warranties are useless in Thailand

[AdrianBerry]

It seems that everyone would rather just for this story to go away and not be discussed or dealt with, so it must be worthy of some putting it under the spotlight... I have gone to government agencies and to lawyers and nobody is interested in helping me out.  It seems the only way to get things done here in Thailand is via social media.

 

I bought a couple of condos off the plan several years ago.  Being a project Manager, I made sure that I had a robust contract in place and that I had bought from a reputable Thai-owned company (so I was told). The builder that was originally contracted to do the work failed to get past the foundation work so they hired a new contractor - not a surprise but the condo was late in the delivery... not to worry, I thought I have late penalties built into the contract that will cover me for my losses.

 

For months prior to my first inspection in April, I was trying to get a accurate date when the unit would be ready - No communication at all from the builders, no timeline at all.  The inspection was a mess,  the hallways and exterior were still a construction zone, yet I was being asked to pay up the remainder of the purchase fees.  I was shocked to see just how poorly they delivered the product - only passing resemblance to the showroom but they said that they would have it ready the next week.  I wrote them a 2 page letter to get some action and raise some of the contractual points. Slow forward, 3 months later I did another inspection - most of the issues remained when I did the second inspection in August.  I reminded them that I had the contractual right to cancel my 2 units or to only take one of them.  They have been busy for the past few months having one more go at making the units contractually correct.

 

I have asked them on many occasions for them to respond in writing to me - The only response that they have given me was in regard to the late penalties - they have offered 100K against the current owing of over 260K baht.

 

I have asked for the Thai Office of Consumer Protection to step up and help me, they have not responded to any of my queries (looking this morning, it looks like they have closed the office and taken down the website).  Lawyers that I have spoken to laugh at me and tell me to just pay the money and get the chanote in my hand.  Pattaya City Hall was not helpful at all - they did put me in touch with the condo sales manager that I have been having all the issues with... uggh. 

 

What a system, lure all these rich farang here, sell them a piece of paradise and then abandon them - why don't they just ask for our wallets once we land here and tell us to get back on the plane?

 

I just got an email this morning saying that the unit are ready again and that they want to transfer before the end of the month (so much for the registered letter and 30 days).  I can only imagine what state it is in now.

 

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, AdrianBerry said:

What a system, lure all these rich farang here, sell them a piece of paradise and then abandon them - why don't they just ask for our wallets once we land here and tell us to get back on the plane?

 

Just about sums it up, I think.

 

One thing that I have learned in Thailand is to never pay anyone (of any nationality) anything until they have done whatever it is you want them to do to your complete satisfaction. And even then you need to count your change and also count how many fingers remain on the hand you used to pay them with.

 

Promises here arent worth the hot air they are made of.

[trogers]

At least you get to see a chanote. Many are still clinging to brochures...

[AdrianBerry]

1 minute ago, trogers said:

At least you get to see a chanote. Many are still clinging to brochures...

 

I am still not done fighting this.  At least I was at least able to get in touch with someone at OCPB (phone 1166) that spoke English and was willing to at least look for the emails that I sent them and pass them on to an officer.  Some progress... next stop, City Hall.

[Familyonthemove]

If you've not done this already - it can be worth getting your emails translated into Thai?  The authorities can help - but they may not respond to correspondence in English?

 

Some of the Thai team in the office had a similar issue with condos bought off plan - and it was sorted .... eventually.

[Seizetheday]

Buying condos off the plan in Thailand is fraught with danger, even Blind Freddy can see that.

 

You took a businees risk buying the condos off the plan because they were cheaper / better than existing condos.

 

Move on.

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, AdrianBerry said:

At least I was at least able to get in touch with someone at OCPB (phone 1166) that spoke English and was willing to at least look for the emails that I sent them and pass them on to an officer.  Some progress... next stop, City Hall.

 

Other people have found the OCPB to be helpful so I would pursue that. I think a personal visit is more effective than phone or email communication in Thailand, as in many instances they just dont respond to emails at all and phone calls can be quickly forgotten which probably explains why they all seem to be on the phone 24/7.

[BlindMagician]

Yep, welcome to Thailand. Despite all the easily accessible warnings and horror stories, the Falang keep getting in a pickle.

You have two choices. Either continue with your approach, or let out a sigh of defeat and pay up for the poor quality, and move on.

[AdrianBerry]

3 hours ago, Familyonthemove said:

If you've not done this already - it can be worth getting your emails translated into Thai?  The authorities can help - but they may not respond to correspondence in English?

 

Some of the Thai team in the office had a similar issue with condos bought off plan - and it was sorted .... eventually.

 

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Other people have found the OCPB to be helpful so I would pursue that. I think a personal visit is more effective than phone or email communication in Thailand, as in many instances they just dont respond to emails at all and phone calls can be quickly forgotten which probably explains why they all seem to be on the phone 24/7.

 

I did do that for the second message that I sent OCPB - Google translate does a passable job of translating from English to Thai.

 

I did manage to get to speak to someone at the OCPB today - I think that it is a case of them just not reading or allocating the file from the email inbox.  He said that he would get an officer to get back to me... I will not hold my breath too long.

 

On a positive note, my trip to City Hall was quite fruitful... I spoke to a consumer protection lawyer that is attached to the Mayor's office - His reaction was "they can't do that!" so he was quite keen on coming with me to do the inspection next week - I will get him to bring his building and fire inspectors as well so I can outline all of the non-conformance issues while I am there.

[Global Guy]

After years of researching the business landscape in Thailand, the investment group I lead and I decided to pass on investing in Thailand. There is zero rule of law for Thais and less than zero rule of law for foreigners.

 

Contracts are useless. Everyone, and I mean everyone from lawyers, builders, contractors, and anyone else you can think of will try and screw you over. Their word means nothing, their contracts mean nothing, laws mean nothing, and anything else....all zero.

 

You don't "invest" in Thailand, you gamble at best and more like it, you just piss your money away. Sure, you can go into the bar business and be one of the 1 in 100 moderately successful guys who can pay the bills but the entire business landscape is just one scam after another. Plus, we aren't into the bar business.

 

There are exceptions, but it's not worth it.

 

Sorry about your situation.

[Familyonthemove]

Sounds promising.  Hope they help you get things sorted out.  But I wouldn't recommend Google Translate - it tends to produce unintelligible Thai.  Worth getting it translated by a person.

[elgordo38]

5 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Just about sums it up, I think.

 

One thing that I have learned in Thailand is to never pay anyone (of any nationality) anything until they have done whatever it is you want them to do to your complete satisfaction. And even then you need to count your change and also count how many fingers remain on the hand you used to pay them with.

 

Promises here arent worth the hot air they are made of.

Thailand 101. Buying condos off of a plan has been discussed here many times with the same sad results. You may think you have all the bases covered but there is always a glitch. Going to the Thai office of consumer protection is another waste of time especially for a foreigner. Yes they want tourists and expats here to spend their money but do not make waves. This is Disneyworld and your Mickey Mouse. 

[1FinickyOne]

"why don't they just ask for our wallets once we land here and tell us to get back on the plane?"

 

I think they probably have learned that not too many will fall for that. 

 

That said, the issue with contracts all over the world is the cost and aggravation involved in collecting if others are in violation. Then you have to hope they have the money. I actually thought it was pretty good that they offered you 100,000 baht back. I might have taken that and done anything I could to get as much of my deposit back and move on. This does not sound like it will ever be completed to a respectable quality. 

 

It seems you did some due diligence but as you se from the comments above, off plan and even new finished builds often have problems. Management companies often collect fees, do no maintenance then disappear. 

 

Good luck - this is why many people on this forum wisely recommend renting, at least for a year. 

 

 

[blackcab]

9 hours ago, AdrianBerry said:

Google translate does a passable job of translating from English to Thai.

 

Is your Thai good enough to make that judgement? Try typing a sentence in English and translating it into Thai. Copy the Thai output, and ask Google to translate the output back into English.

 

When I start with the sentence:

 

"Google translate does a passable job of translating from English to Thai."

 

I end up with:

 

"Google translate is not enough work to be translated from English into Thailand."

[AdrianBerry]

Here is an update of what has happened the last couple of weeks:

 

7 weeks after I originally submitted my complaint to the OCPD I was finally able to pester them into giving me a case number so that I could at least reference it in the future... the woman I spoke to said that they would be sending my documents to the Pattaya sub-committee for action (the guy in City Hall that I had been speaking to.  Great, I tried to call him about a dozen times over the last week and have never been able to have a real conversation with him (waiting for his secretary to find the file...) and would never call me back... kind of getting sick of one sided text message conversations, know he just does not answer my phone calls at all - I guess that I will be back to just showing up at the office and waiting for him.

 

The developer sent me a letter at the beginning of September saying that if I did not inspect the property by the following day (they sent the letter a little late) and pay for the property by the 10th of October that they would deem that I had defaulted on the property and seize it... in truth, my unit was still not ready (4 months after my first inspection) and they told me to ignore the letter.  On October 7th, they finally told me that they had finished the unit and it was ready for inspection but they still were not willing to put the equipment into the unit per the contract.  On the 9th, I realised that they had not formally cancelled they letter sent early in September, so i frantically wrote out a letter to the developer to cancel the contract (since the contract allowed for it as they were more than 1 year late) and faxed it off.  To be safe, since the contract did not specifically allow faxed notices, I travelled to Bangkok to hand deliver a copy of the letter to the developer.  It was kind of an absurd dance trying to get them to stamp my copy of the letter as received - apparently the receptionist and office manager don't have authority to do that!

 

I went into the sales office at the condo the other day to collect my cheque (I knew that they would not have it) only to have the Farang mouthpiece say that it is "now with legal" and that his boss is off in London buying some hotel - do you mean that legal does not know whats in the contract <deleted>?  I made sure to make him aware that since he is the mouthpiece, he is the one that is on the hook for the 100K B fine and/or year in jail should they loose or continue to withhold payment.  He still thinks that I might be persuaded into taking the units in the end... hahahahahaha. 

 

 

 

[JohnC]

Just ask the people that bought of plan in Saun Sawan, seven years later and still a shell! 

[Asiantravel]

I can sympathise with you fully Adrian. Let me tell you an equally horrifying tale.

A few years ago where I was living at the time in Pattaya my European neighbour had contracted (through a company that he had owned for about 12 years) to buy a house here.. Fortunately for him he was extremely methodical and kept every piece of paper, summary of all discussions he had with the developer and even calculations all neatly and chronologically stored  in two or three files.

But like you he also was very unhappy with the finished house and over a period of  four or five years engaged in litigation to sue for compensation and  breach of contract using a Bangkok lawyer.

There were several phases to this litigation and several court appearances and many had occurred before I had even arrived in Thailand myself. There were some vague attempts at settlement but   my neighbour thought they were grossly inadequate. When it got closer to the end of the 4 or 5 year litigation saga, he invited me and another European that lived in the same building to accompany him to the court case at the court building on Pratamnak Hill in Pattaya.

The defendant (developer) didn’t attend the court case and initially I don’t think any of us attributed much importance to that.

But the thing that was astonishing was that after hearing the Bangkok lawyer present his case on behalf of my neighbour, the judge asked the lawyers if everybody could assemble in an adjoining room outside. None of us really understood the significance of moving but when we got into the room the judge spoke to the lawyers in Thai and advised them that the developer was known to be a dangerous man if he was pushed too far and that off the record it would be far better for my neighbour (the plaintiff) to settle the matter out of court! Naturally I was gobsmacked that a judge could be saying all  this. And it is always left an indelible impression on me never ever to rely on the so-called justice system in this country.

[swissie]

I don't remember if it was my Daddy or Warren Buffet that said this:

- Before sitting down in a toilet, make sure there is toilet paper within reach or a working  Bum-Gun present.

AND:

- Especially as a Foreigner, don't invest in a country that does not offer  LEGAL CERTAINTY.
Cheers.

 

[trogers]

10 hours ago, swissie said:

I don't remember if it was my Daddy or Warren Buffet that said this:

- Before sitting down in a toilet, make sure there is toilet paper within reach or a working  Bum-Gun present.

AND:

- Especially as a Foreigner, don't invest in a country that does not offer  LEGAL CERTAINTY.
Cheers.

 

 

You need LEGAL CERTAINTY when you contract under a promise for a promise. That's what buying off plan is about.

 

I prefer to buy off the rack. It's called shopping. That's what buying from the secondary market is about. Minimize any LEGAL UNCERTAINTY.

[impulse]

From the OP:  I bought a couple of condos off the plan several years ago. 

 

My heart goes out to you, and I wish you the best of luck.  But most stories that start with that statement seem to be horror stories...

 

Please keep posting back as your story unfolds.  It could be helpful to a lot of people, past, present and future.

[AdrianBerry]

36 minutes ago, impulse said:

From the OP:  I bought a couple of condos off the plan several years ago. 

 

My heart goes out to you, and I wish you the best of luck.  But most stories that start with that statement seem to be horror stories...

 

Please keep posting back as your story unfolds.  It could be helpful to a lot of people, past, present and future.

 

Thanks for your thoughts... 

 

It is my intent to do just that - I hope that it has a happy ending for me but I am not necessarily expecting it.

 

It seems that nothing gets done here without some media attention - maybe I should sit out in front of the condo with a big sign looking to start a class action against the developer on behalf of all of the owners that never got paid the late fees - nothing in the contract that says how or when it should be paid - that will make the media and the developer take notice!

[AdrianBerry]

Since it has been nearly a year when I began my fight with the developer, I thought that I would update everyone (and posterity as Thai Visa always comes up on some relevant searches when I am looking for information) as I had promised to do.

Getting the lawyer at Pattaya City Hall to do anything effective for me was a massive waste of my personal time – he did attempt to put both parties in the same room together in order to negotiate but in no way was he an arbitrator – especially if the developer sends someone that is not authorised to speak on their behalf and has no financial / decision making authority to sit at the table.

 

Each time that I wanted to speak with him, I had to ‘pop-in’ to his office and hope that he was there and hope he had time to speak to me – the staff there soon got to know me in the coming weeks as I visited 2-3 times each week with only a 20% success rate.  In the end, after 2 meetings with the developer (one with me present and one without) he said that he could do nothing for me further and that I should just engage a lawyer and take them to Civil Court (I am glad that I did not as then the Office for Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) would not deal with me as I had legal representation already.

 

While the two parties were meeting in late October (maybe I was given the wrong location) I took advantage and took a photo / video record of the units and the common areas for proof that they have still not complied with the terms of the Contracts.  The units were in better shape this time – previously I had complained that they had used the cheapest lighting they could find – the showrooms (long since demolished) had a much better finish.  I had referred to my photos and copies of the sales brochures (which form part of the contract as well) to get them to make changes (they called them extras later).  They never even kept any on the photos and had asked me for mine!

 

My first inspection found a couple of small easy-to-fix electrical faults in my units but my last inspection found some major issues that would take the builder/developer some serious money to rectify and were indeed life-threatening – the building does not meet the Thai Electrical Code!.  As well, they were building some external stairs that day for the Juristic office out of some undersized / too-thin tube steel (it will not last too long that close to the sea).  OK, Thailand does not have a standard for stair design, but I have designed hundreds of them in my days as a Structural Designer, I do know a few things…

 

After being given the brush-off by the Pattaya official, I redoubled my efforts with getting the Bangkok office of the OCPB to take on my case… Emails did not work, faxes did not work – letters, properly translated into Thai (I used Google and that started to get some action.  I found one lady there that I could talk to when I phone to follow-up and she was very helpful in bringing my case to the top of the pile for attention.

 

I finally got a preliminary meeting with a case officer in mid-February to discuss my case and to see if it was worthy of bringing it to the sub-committee – I presented them with copies of the Contracts, the cancellation letter and the relevant information for consideration.

At the end of June, both myself and the developer were summoned to the sub-committee hearing to present our cases and to try and arbitrate a resolution.  I was brought in front of 3 uniformed OCPB officers to make my presentation – the developer never even bothered to show up.  They took my evidence as presented with nothing refuted to the Negotiation Committee and fined the developer 10,000 Baht.

 

Just yesterday, I returned to Bangkok with both parties called to present to the Negotiation Committee – this time there were 15 people facing me including the Chairman of the OCPB, the President of the Thai Lawyers Association and Fraud Police as well as a host of others (including the photographer of course).  I made my presentation (I was much better prepared this time with all of the relevant facts at hand tabled and a copy for the translator) – I had assumed that the developer had not showed up again – but they had sent one of the more junior staff members to take the meeting (no doubt so they would not get fined again).  I don’t think that the Committee even spoke to her as she had no Power of Attorney or remit to negotiate anything – certainly I did not want to try and go down this path again!

 

From here, it gets bumped up a level.  For those who do not know, the courts are multi-levelled with the lowest-level ones simply negotiation bodies, they are there to attempt to get a suitable resolution before it gets to a ‘trial’.  That means for me, the next level is that my case goes before the Selection Committee to see if the OCPB will represent my case in a Civil action – I have been put on the docket for the March hearing, some 6 months from now.

 

In the meantime, I will put to the readers a couple of questions:

 

1.            I have made it clear that I wish to cancel the units nearly a year ago.  They (in theory and as they had threatened a year ago) could have put my units back on the market and sold them out from under me.  Could I place a Caveat on the units pending an outcome of the trial?  Is this easily done by myself?

 

2.            One of the things that the Selection Committee is looking at is ‘wrongful fraud’ (i.e. Civil fraud) and they would be representing my case for me without cost but they will not be forthcoming in pursuing a legal case in charging them with ‘criminal fraud’ – that is something that I could start now (concurrently) with the Civil case.  I do have emails that show that they have purposely withheld late fees and interest on investors and (through inaction) refused to pay my money back – is that enough?  Maybe it is something that I could address to put more pressure on them… Thoughts?

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, AdrianBerry said:

I have made it clear that I wish to cancel the units nearly a year ago.  They (in theory and as they had threatened a year ago) could have put my units back on the market and sold them out from under me.

 

It seems unlikely that they would be able to sell the units easily in the current climate.

 

As for the general situation, well done in having got the thing moving forward. But was the Pattaya City Hall lawyer part of the Pattaya OCPB? If so, strange that he should be less effective than the Bangkok office. Maybe envelopes are involved.

 

Some people I know got help from the OCPB in getting late delivery penalty payments paid, so I dont understand why they cant help with that in your case.

[AdrianBerry]

17 hours ago, KittenKong said:

It seems unlikely that they would be able to sell the units easily in the current climate.

I do agree, but they could logically offload them at a discount rate as I have already paid off 55% of the total price - everyone likes a value and these units are very well-located.

 

17 hours ago, KittenKong said:

As for the general situation, well done in having got the thing moving forward. But was the Pattaya City Hall lawyer part of the Pattaya OCPB? If so, strange that he should be less effective than the Bangkok office. Maybe envelopes are involved.

 

As far as I understand it, he is the local contact for the OCPB but in no way is he employed by them as he acts as the lawyer for City Hall and all of their dealings - like the lady last year that was charging too much at her somtum shop in Nakula last year.  He is a busy guy I am sure, certainly not one that was looking an envelope.

 

What does scare me is if the OCPB does represent me in a trial, I assume he would be the one that would represent me - As the contract was signed in Pattaya, the case would be heard here in Pattaya, the staff at OCPB mentioned City Hall on a couple of occasions - at least it is air conditioned, unlike the court house :-)

 

16 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Some people I know got help from the OCPB in getting late delivery penalty payments paid, so I dont understand why they cant help with that in your case.

The developers did not want to discuss them at all right from the onset... the trouble is that there were so many issues that I found in inspecting the units and the staff was so completely ineffective in dealing and tracking the issues that I think that they just dug their heals in hoping that I would go away. 

 

They did spend a lot of money on doing rework on the units - nothing was done that was outside of the contract - but they thought, that it was good enough for the other 250 units it should be good enough for me.  I counter that they should have delivered it according to the Contract, not what their builder wanted to give them.  I had warned them that I was a professional and I was going to be discerning before I first inspected them.  In the end, they felt entitled to claim my late fees so as to recover the money spent on the rework.

 

 

[funandsuninbangkok]

On 10/22/2016 at 3:29 PM, Asiantravel said:

I can sympathise with you fully Adrian. Let me tell you an equally horrifying tale.

A few years ago where I was living at the time in Pattaya my European neighbour had contracted (through a company that he had owned for about 12 years) to buy a house here.. Fortunately for him he was extremely methodical and kept every piece of paper, summary of all discussions he had with the developer and even calculations all neatly and chronologically stored  in two or three files.

But like you he also was very unhappy with the finished house and over a period of  four or five years engaged in litigation to sue for compensation and  breach of contract using a Bangkok lawyer.

There were several phases to this litigation and several court appearances and many had occurred before I had even arrived in Thailand myself. There were some vague attempts at settlement but   my neighbour thought they were grossly inadequate. When it got closer to the end of the 4 or 5 year litigation saga, he invited me and another European that lived in the same building to accompany him to the court case at the court building on Pratamnak Hill in Pattaya.

The defendant (developer) didn’t attend the court case and initially I don’t think any of us attributed much importance to that.

But the thing that was astonishing was that after hearing the Bangkok lawyer present his case on behalf of my neighbour, the judge asked the lawyers if everybody could assemble in an adjoining room outside. None of us really understood the significance of moving but when we got into the room the judge spoke to the lawyers in Thai and advised them that the developer was known to be a dangerous man if he was pushed too far and that off the record it would be far better for my neighbour (the plaintiff) to settle the matter out of court! Naturally I was gobsmacked that a judge could be saying all  this. And it is always left an indelible impression on me never ever to rely on the so-called justice system in this country.

It is illegal to buy landed property using a company in Thailand. Your friend is lucky he did not lose everything 

[KittenKong]

On 01/10/2017 at 8:51 AM, AdrianBerry said:

I do agree, but they could logically offload them at a discount rate as I have already paid off 55% of the total price - everyone likes a value and these units are very well-located.

 

But didnt you want the amount you had already paid to be refunded? I would, and this is part of the cancellation terms for late delivery.

 

 

On 01/10/2017 at 8:51 AM, AdrianBerry said:

They did spend a lot of money on doing rework on the units - nothing was done that was outside of the contract - but they thought, that it was good enough for the other 250 units it should be good enough for me.  I counter that they should have delivered it according to the Contract, not what their builder wanted to give them.  I had warned them that I was a professional and I was going to be discerning before I first inspected them.

 

Hard to find anything that isn't shoddy here. Most businesses here, regardless of who they are run by, seem to have few qualms about selling rubbish that doesnt conform to descriptions or the law. The better places apply a layer of bling to the finished product, but underneath the bling it's still crap.

[JohnLick]

I wouldn't be surprised if units in buildings get completed in two standards

 

- bought off-plan = crap

- waiting for a buyer = good

[AdrianBerry]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

But didnt you want the amount you had already paid to be refunded? I would, and this is part of the cancellation terms for late delivery.

 

That is correct... there is little stopping them in taking the letter (where they threatened to seize my units if I did not pay the outstanding amount by a certain date) as proof that I had been duly warned and just resell the units... apparently there is no such thing as a caveat here in Thailand, so there is no way for me to register my interest in the units on the Chanote with Land Titles.

 

I just spent an hour with a great attorney (worth the 1000B consulting fee for sure) a refreshing change to find a Thai that you can talk to and show the relevant paperwork to (without having it all translated beforehand) AND would represent you in front of the Judge - I have spent too much time and money on farang legal 'agents' who pass off second hand information to their contracted Thai attorneys.  Her recommendation was to have one more go at the negotiation route and be prepared to accept one of the units that I could on-sell later.

 

She also said that it was ridiculous at the amount of time that it has taken to handle the case within the OCPB and that she would be able to approach it in a much more swift manner - I would also have to start over with the negotiation phase / Court but that would only take a couple of months as I know that they will not (certainly have not) negotiate.

 

At 8%, her fees would be far less than what I would expect to lose if I was to take the units and try and resell them!

 

[KittenKong]

3 hours ago, AdrianBerry said:

At 8%, her fees would be far less than what I would expect to lose if I was to take the units and try and resell them!

 

Indeed. Barely more than many estate agents would charge for commission to sell them.

[lkn]

23 hours ago, JohnLick said:

I wouldn't be surprised if units in buildings get completed in two standards

 

- bought off-plan = crap

- waiting for a buyer = good

 

The problem is most likely that the developer just can’t finish the units to the expected standard.

 

OP said they already spent a lot on doing rework on the units, which seems to indicate that the problem is about lacking skills, presumably because they use unskilled labour. Unfortunately, skilled labour when it comes to building Western-style condos in Thailand is in high demand, and the developer might not be willing to pay what this cost.

 

AdrianBerry: How bad is the state of these units? Are we talking about obvious defects or only that the finish is not like what was displayed in the showroom?

 

If it is the latter, I would probably go for a discount and then pay for fixing up the place myself.