My post disappeared so I will try to type what I wrote.

I was told by a store with a letter for proof that BR-111 did not pay Triangulo and Indusparquet that used to manufacture lines for BR-111 but have now branched out on their own due to a lawsuit trying to get what was due to them. This is only what I was told.

I have BR-111 5" wide Triangulo Engineered Wood floors that came with nice Reducers (needed this since I have Linoleum in the kitchen floor) from Truehardwoods.com from 2009. I had decided to install tile in my kitchen (due to no decent T-Molding and my dog dying the day BR-111 on 12-30-11 sent me scratched, chipped and warped T-Moldings .... not the quality from the past.... the project has not been done.)

I showed BR-11 pictures of the damaged product that had no packing inside the long boxes so the two T-Moldings banged into one another. They sent me new T-Moldings packed better that were still scratched and warped and not the right species or color. I thought I would spread them out on the spare bedroom carpet with wide open windows to see if they would darken but now after almost 1.5 years, they still are warped, scratched and the wrong species and have not darkened.

Hence, BR-111 selling directly now is not making me happy despite good prices. Hope this helps your decision as I feel Triangulo and Indusparquet both have nice hardwood floors and have since branched on their own and had been making these floors for years for the BR-111 that had a reputation in the past for top exotic flooring.

Hoping BR-111 learned something in the last almost 1.5 years since I dealt with them and is shipping floors with better quality control. I am still angry at them and myself for not contacting them again instead of eating the cost but I had way too much on my platter at the time and I feel they helped contribute to my dog's death as I was in a rush an maybe could have saved him from his seizure at the time if I had not spent the few hours upset about the delivery. I should have complained after they send me replacement boards of another species in bad shape. I lost money as I could not use the T-Moldings and I was too busy with grieving for my little dog that died that day and trying to get work done and I was hoping the boards would darken up and look more like Brazilian Cherry but I am sure they are another species that does not look like my floor when it was even newer and lighter. I am very disappointed in BR-111. I would be more than happy to buy from the two companies that branched on their own.

P.S. I am looking for new floors since I had water damage if you see posts by me looking.....

P.S.S. Sorry for repeating myself but your question and the store's letter from Triangulo brought up memories from the past and why I am not buying directly from BR-111 for my new floors.

http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/editors/blog/default.aspx?id=906

11
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
BR-111 Ordered to Pay Triangulo Nearly $1.56 Million
A U.S. District judge in Florida on Jan. 5 ordered BR-111 Imports & Exports Inc. (Medley, Fla.) to pay Triangulo Flooring and Panels (Curitiba, Brazil) nearly $1.56 million as part of an arbitration settlement reached in September 2010.

The arbitration award comprises about $1 million for unpaid invoices, $250,280 for interest on those invoices, and $300,472 for Triangulo's attorneys' fees and a portion of arbitration costs. The award also stipulates that Triangulo must pay BR-111 $42,596 for outstanding warranty claims and interest on those claims.

The dispute started in October 2008. Until then, Triangulo was a private label supplier of engineered wood flooring for BR-111. In a Dec. 15, 2010, press release, BR-111 said that after the two companies severed ties, BR-111 ceased distributing any product under the Triangulo trademark. However, Doug Leigh, Triangulo's director of operations in North America, has said that even after the two companies split, BR-111 continued branding product as "Triangulo Engineered" but sourced it from other manufacturers. Leigh said this product was the one for which customers were submitting warranty claims.

In addition to the payment, the final award, issued by Judge William Hoeveler of Florida's southern district, determined that Triangulo is the rightful owner of the trademark "Triangulo Engineered" and that BR-111 has no right to use the mark.

A final award in the dispute was arbitrated and then entered Sept. 27, 2010. Triangulo took court action to enforce the arbitration award, but on Dec. 9, 2010, BR-111 asked the court to vacate the award, claiming it was denied due process during the arbitration proceeding. Hoeveler heard final arguments from both parties on Dec. 7. "BR-111 has failed to demonstrate any basis for vacating the Final Award," Hoeveler wrote.

"We are pleased with the result, especially because an arbitration tribunal and now the courts have both agreed that Triangulo owns our brand of Triangulo Engineered products," said Doug Leigh, Triangulo's director of operations in North America. "While the outstanding receivables were also a point of the arbitration and also upheld, we are most excited that our brand, Triangulo Engineered, can again be associated with quality products."

BR-111 President Ricardo Moraes said his company has already filed an appeal of the court's latest decision. To file an appeal in Florida's southern district, an appeal bond of 110% of the judgment must be posted, which in this case is about $1.7 million. Moraes declined to comment further. To date, Florida's southern district court has not received BR-111's appeal.

Regarding the $42,596 BR-111 was awarded for warranty claims and interest, Hoeveler wrote, "BR-111 presumably presented full support during the arbitration process as to each of the warranty claims it advanced."
Posted By HWF Editors At 12:18 PM • Comments (13)

Serves them right. First, BR111 abandoned their distributors and then made nice with retailers. They were happy to sell displays to retailers like me. Then they abandoned ship again and decided to sell directly to consumers. Now they sold tons of displays and retailers can't make a penny off of them. They're a scared and panicked company and their brand image will continue to decline.
Comment By Lou Buono At 1/18/2012 1:38 PM

We suggested to them to offer the products to the public at a higher price and leave room for the retailers, that makes sense. Either way they get the order and keep the retailers happy but to undercut your own customers is just plain suicide and stupid. No clue who's bright idea that was but obviously not working out too well.
Comment By Another pissed off retailer At 1/18/2012 1:51 PM

It is to bad that a company with the name and product line of BR111 to find themselfs in this position is awful. But they got what was comming to them. I had to fight to get paid commissions owed. If Ricardo spent more time on sales and less time trying to cheat people they may have been in a better position.

Once a theft always a theft.
Comment By Joe Byrnes Allied Flooring Group, LLC At 1/18/2012 1:58 PM

Sounds like, someone got greedy for a quick dollar, and did not think long term.
One thing I do know, floor retailers and distributors have long memories.
Comment By slt At 1/18/2012 2:16 PM

Br111 has always turned down their claims and hired irreputable independant inspectors to write bogus reports blaming the installer.They should not have been awarded anything
Comment By Norman At 1/18/2012 2:28 PM

BR111 is only an importer.They have never Manufactured anything. There really is no reason for them to continue
Comment By Roger At 1/18/2012 2:50 PM

Just another manufacturer that has done nothing to right their wrongs. I hope they fold. Ricardo is as honest as a gypsy.
Comment By Distribution Representative At 1/18/2012 3:23 PM

Instant Karma's Going To Get You
Comment By Hulk At 1/18/2012 3:27 PM

Dealers have every right to be upset. Sounds like Ricardo is doing whatever it takes to keep the doors open and by selling direct - has shut a lot of doors and financially hurt the same dealers that supported his product for so many years. I don't take much stock in what Doug Leigh says, he was fired from BR-111 and sounds like he is just being unprofessionally bitter. (by the way, the comment above where they hired 'irreputable independant inspectors'(spelling Norman - spelling) is bull - keep the comments to what you really know and keep the others in the industry out of it)
Comment By Someone out there At 1/19/2012 5:20 AM

It's a shame they use to be a excellent company. I know I worked for them when they were in Maryland. They would pay claims that were not there responsibility. As an independent inspector I also did a lot of work for them and they never questioned a report and stood behind there product 100%.
Comment By Jon Sands Hard Surface Consulting At 1/19/2012 6:24 AM

Truth be told - the product's veneer split and cracked in hundreds of installed jobs - BR-111 paid out thousands of dollars in claims trying to support the product while the manufacturer stated that it was either the installers fault or environmental concerns (I think we've all heard that before). We can all be mad but there is a lot more we don't see behind the scenes.
Comment By dealer At 1/19/2012 7:20 AM

Someone is way out there.Now when an Importer hires the same inspector to turn down all their claims he is hardly independant and may as well be an employee of that Importer.It does not take a genius or any knowledge of this Industry to have common sense.
Comment By Nornan At 1/19/2012 3:10 PM

Every one talk, but realistic BR111 its the best company in EUA for exotic hardwood flooring. They are a guys and they gone survive.
Comment By Tom At 2/9/2012 5:43 PM

Here is a link that might be useful: BR-111 ordered to pay Triangulo Nearly 1.56 Million

Joyintx, I am ready to finally redo my floors downstairs from the water damage from the pipe on my water heater exploding from the pressure regulator failing. I have since replaced the water heart, the pressure regulator and all water lines in the house.

Did you end up getting samples of the Indusparquet wood? Did you buy it and are you happy?

I am trying to decided between three engineered wood Brazilian Cherry floors. I wish I could go with solid but I live on a slab. I had 5" but I want to go with 3.25" to 4" this time since not so much floor is showing in my home office and I want more color variation.

First there is the expensive 3.5" wide Valenza Collection with 4 MM sawn cut wood on top that has an amazing scratch resistant coating and is 5/8th thick but it is made in Tiawon/China now so I am not sure if I can trust it for not outgassing.

Then there is the Indusparquet 3.25" but only 3/8th thick floor with a sawn cut of 3 MM of wood on top. I have seen the solid wood and it is beautiful but I am going with the engineered wood version as I am floating my floor again.

Then there is Triangulo which I have now I the 5" wide but I would be going with the 3.25" wide 3/8th thick sawn cut 3 MM of wood on top of the plywood.

I still like the Brazilian Cherry enough that I want to stay with this floor.

Any opinions and any pictures?

Whatever you do please look up BR-111 reviews before you buy from this company. This company sold us defective hardwood, promised a refund, and never issued it. They are unfortunately a company that does not stand by their product and will offer you every excuse under the sun just to sell you the product. Buyers please beware.

Milar, What month and year did this occur and was it BR-111 Direct that did this to you or Indusparquet that has separated from BR-111. The former BR-111 probably before I bought the wood in July 2009 had Triangulo and Indusparquet manufacturer their hardwood flooring and engineered hardwood flooring. They BR-111 was not paying and there was a lawsuit, BR-111 set up a separate company called BR-111 DIRECT and is now manufacturing their own products. From my experience, what they sent me twice was not acceptable and I lost out on good money. From my experiences in December 2009 and early January 2010, I would not order from them despite their beautiful website. First they sent me very damaged with poor packing Brazilian Cherry T-Moldings. Then after wasting hours taking pictures and sending them the pictures, they sent me new T-Moldings damaged but packed well of a different species that after a few years has not darkened still. I put off my floors when I was ready to do the kitchen tile at the end of 2011 due to no acceptable T-Moldings and then when my little doggie, Skeeter died on 12-30-11, the day I got the first set of damaged wood, I could not deal with them after the 2nd set came damaged. I cut my losses and used January to mourn for my little Maltese Furson. What a shame they had to do this to their suppliers as BR-111 was well respected in the hardwood industry before they started their new business BR-111 Direct.

Thank you Milar for sharing your bad experience with this new BR-111 Direct Company to warn others that this is not the same BR-111 that others in the past have been happy with. We all need to share so no one buys from them and they get many lawsuits against them if they do not give refunds for selling inferior products with false advertising. So sorry that you also had to deal with this company that is so greedy that I can't see how they can stay in business once the word gets around. They are riding on the company they had with a similar name and hoping that is how they will get business, along with their great advertising.

Thank you lynn2006 for responding as well. We are doing our job to educate those that are looking to buy flooring that BR-111 is not a company to stand by their product or their word. It really is quite unbelievable. We will let our architect, who works both in Canada and the USA for a large firm know to advise their group of the perils of working with BR-111, as well we are privileged to be related to one of the top architects in a top firm who works on large scale stadiums around the world and he has let his group know of the experience so that they do not consider using this company in the future. This company is underestimating the power of "word of mouth" over the world wide web. Unfortunately they do not have the foresight to see that operating a company on dishonesty will only lead to demise.

This post was edited by milar on Tue, May 20, 14 at 7:11

A little over a year ago we renovated our family room and installed a 3/4" x 6 1/2" solid brazilian cherry Indusparquet floor. I was very hesitant at the time since I could find very little information about the company and we needed to make a decision rather quickly as this particular width was being discontinued. Long story short, the floor is stunning and I could not be more pleased!! We have 3 kids and a dog so we don't baby the floor at all, and so far no scratching or other issues with the finish. It has gotten a little darker and somewhat "redder", as I was expecting. Even the installer we hired commented on what beautiful flooring it is, and how few unusable boards there were in the 20 boxes we bought. We love it so much we're putting it down in the rest of the house. I'll post pics of the floor newly installed and currently, if I can figure out how lol.

Christnrn, Thank you for letting us know that Indusparquet is quality now that they went on their own and it is BR-111 direct that we have seen problems with. Your floor is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

Christnrn, I would love to know the gloss level of your floor. It is beautiful!

I feel both Triangulo and Indusparquet are very good companies now that they separated from BR-111. The lawsuit started in 2007 and ended in 2009. Both these companies used to make the wood for BR-111 when BR-111 was considered quality. Both are now selling directly to stores while BR-111 is selling directly to the public as BR-111 Direct which is not buying from these two quality manufacturers anymore.

We purchased 1,050 sq feet of IndusParquet Brazilian Chestnut engineered flooring froma local flooring company (supporting my local small business). We paid our own contractor to install it. The flooring store recommended the underlayment to use. We live in NJ and have a steam humidifier which keeps the house at 35% humidity. The cases of wood were in our home starting around the 1st of November. The installation occurred during the first 2 weeks of December 2014, right in time for Christmas. By mid-February 2015 (2 months post installation) we had 4 boards start to delaminate and just found 2 more. Most are just peeling up on the corner but one came off completely. That one we have applied wood glue and placed weights from a weight machine on it and after a week of drying, they were removed and the glue seems to be holding. I called the floor company to request a formal complaint with Indusparquet but haven't heard anything yet. He said they will contact me. That being said, we looked at flooring for months before we found this. It was 7.50 sq/ ft versus the 14.90 sq/ft for solid. I am still in love with the floor. It is gorgeous and very durable (no scratches yet). I just hope that the delamination stays limited to the few boards where we have it. 2 cases were labelled BR-111 and the other 32 were labeled IndusParquet.

I am looking to buying engineered brazilian walnut from Triangul0 5 inch wide, any experience with the product, any photos would be etxremely helpful. Thanks for the information

Hi ketki_sfo, Did you buy Triangulo ? I am planning to buy Triangulo 71/2 brazillian cherry. Would be great to hear your feedback/experience on this