I have a 2.7m x 1.5m French polished table which has in the past been very slightly heat damaged. When I saw Coloron Ring Remover in my local Homebase my immediate thought was, great, I can remove the ring. I purchased the product at a price of over £6. Expensive for one ring but acceptable if the table was brought back to it's previously pristine condition.
I read the instructions which conclude with the advice that the finish can be brought back using Coloron finishing products. Being a prudent person I checked first with Coloron Customer services that the product was suitable for use on a French polished table. After checking the young man I spoke to advised me that the product was suitable for use with French polish.
I then asked about the advice on the tin which suggests the use of steel wool on the surface and was told that this is to break up the surface but that a soft cloth may be adequate. I then checked on the advice on the tin that the finish may need to be rebuilt with another Coloron product. I was advised that this was the case and that Coloron sell a French polish. I asked whether I would need to do only the area damaged by the repair or the whole table and was advised that I would need to make that decision once the first application of the second product had been made.
The attitude of the customer services person was entirely polite but quite surprising. When I asked for more exact advice I was basically told that I'd had the advice and it was up to to me to decide. I suggested that I would rather be speaking to Coloron about the problem but if he preferred I would refer it to my local consumer advice service. I was told that was my choice.
I suggested that the advice on the product was inadequate and asked to speak to a manager which I was told was not possible. I then decided to look for further advice on the web which is when I found the Coloron website. Interestingly, the headline on the Google link described the product as a "Professional painting tool".
I then called a couple of French polishers to ask whether this was a suitable treatment and both, without hesitation told me that the one guarantee they would give is that use of any turpentine based product would setroy the French polish and result in complete repolishing of the whole surface.
My loss is time and a few pounds it could have been hundreds of pounds.
I read the instructions which conclude with the advice that the finish can be brought back using Coloron finishing products. Being a prudent person I checked first with Coloron Customer services that the product was suitable for use on a French polished table. After checking the young man I spoke to advised me that the product was suitable for use with French polish.
I then asked about the advice on the tin which suggests the use of steel wool on the surface and was told that this is to break up the surface but that a soft cloth may be adequate. I then checked on the advice on the tin that the finish may need to be rebuilt with another Coloron product. I was advised that this was the case and that Coloron sell a French polish. I asked whether I would need to do only the area damaged by the repair or the whole table and was advised that I would need to make that decision once the first application of the second product had been made.
The attitude of the customer services person was entirely polite but quite surprising. When I asked for more exact advice I was basically told that I'd had the advice and it was up to to me to decide. I suggested that I would rather be speaking to Coloron about the problem but if he preferred I would refer it to my local consumer advice service. I was told that was my choice.
I suggested that the advice on the product was inadequate and asked to speak to a manager which I was told was not possible. I then decided to look for further advice on the web which is when I found the Coloron website. Interestingly, the headline on the Google link described the product as a "Professional painting tool".
I then called a couple of French polishers to ask whether this was a suitable treatment and both, without hesitation told me that the one guarantee they would give is that use of any turpentine based product would setroy the French polish and result in complete repolishing of the whole surface.
My loss is time and a few pounds it could have been hundreds of pounds.
