$3K Awarded in Paint Yellowing
A British homeowner has taken paint maker Dulux to task after its brilliant white paint turned yellow on his walls just weeks after application.
John Margerison, 72, of Leeds, England, successfully sued the paint company in small-claims court and has been awarded £2,010 (about $3,222 USD) in compensation by the judge, reports say.
A Yellowing Paint Job
Margerison said he had painted interior surfaces throughout his house with Dulux’s brilliant white gloss. After a few weeks, he and his wife, Pauline, started to notice a yellow appearance to the coated surfaces, prompting Margerison to repaint them.
“But again, we noticed the yellowing reappearing,” the homeowner told media outlets. "If we wanted yellow, we would have bought it."
Margerison was not alone. Other Dulux customers also complained that the company’s oil-based paint turned a creamy yellow color over time, according to the reports.
Watered Down
Dulux reportedly admitted in 2012 that the problem was caused by 2010 EU regulations that forced it to “water down solvent levels in paint.” The reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) resulted in a loss of brilliancy in its white paint color; however, the company said it had reformulated its products in 2011 to solve the problem.
“Dulux offered amounts like £100 or £250, but I refused it,” Margerison said. “They offered to have my house decorated, but I carried on with my claim.”
Parent Company Comments
Dulux is headquartered in Slough, England. The AkzoNobel paint brand is available in 26 countries on four continents. The products are marketed to both DIY-users and professional painters.
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A spokesman for AkzoNobel, Dulux's parent company, said the firm took all customer issues "very seriously." |
A spokesman for AkzoNobel told members of the media: “AkzoNobel takes all issues of customer satisfaction very seriously.
“In this case, we endeavored to resolve Mr. Margerison’s complaint, which related to paint manufactured a number of years ago, by offering to repaint areas complained of, at our cost. We are disappointed that this case had to proceed to a court hearing.”
Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, AkzoNobel has 55,000 employees working in 80 countries worldwide.
