Tile Outlet Co

09/21/09

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. DISHONEST.

by mjsteele7 at Citysearch

Do NOT shop at Tile Outlet. The employees are rude, dishonest, and have no clue as to how to run a business. Unfortunately, there is no 0 rating, so I had to give them a 1.

I was referred to the Tile Outlet by our contractor to purchase travertine for our kitchen floor. After selecting our stone, the saleswoman took out her calculator and determined that we would need 29 boxes to complete our job. She said that since we would be laying the stone at an angle, we would need to order some extra stone. Given that I am not a flooring expert, I took the saleswoman's word and placed the order.

After our floor was installed, we had 9 boxes of leftover stone ($50 per box). This is where it gets good. When I went to Tile Outlet to try to return 7 of the leftover boxes, here is the exchange that took place:

Salesman: Can I help you?

Me: Yes, I'd like to return 7 boxes of Travertine. I placed my order based on your recommendation and I have 9 boxes left over (that's almost 50% too much). I'd like to return 7 of them.

Salesman: We don't take returns on natural stone.

The salesman then turns his back on me and walks away from the counter. That was the entire exchange.

Several arguments later, Tile Outlet agreed to give me store credit. Since I don't have any tile jobs in the foreseeable future, store credit is completely useless. At the end of it all, they refused to give me my money back and I am stuck with 9 extra boxes of travertine.

What is truly amazing about this is that Tile Outlet had a simple business decision to make. They could give me a $350 refund and I would be a very happy customer that would recommend their store to everyone or they could refuse to refund my money at keep $350. Unfortunately, Tile Outlet made the wrong decision and I am now a very angry non-customer who will tell everyone NEVER to shop at Tile Outlet. At the end of the day, what Tile Outlet thought was $350 in their pocket will turn out to be thousands of dollars in lost sales. I know a lot of people doing big remodel jobs and I know a few contractors.

01/03/09

Excellent selection but at retail prices, customer service lags

by LakeviewTiler at Citysearch

I do a lot of tiling, and I have spent a lot of money at this establishment over the last 3 years because they are conveniently located and they have a fairly wide selection. My experience is that their customer service is passable in terms of them helping you find what you want efficiently once you have picked it out on your own. However, their effectiveness at establishing customer relations is abysmal due to the passive and dismissive attitude toward clients, inflexible return policy stated on the invoice accompanying every sale, and unwillingness to volunteer their help. I am a 230 lb ex-football player who has no problem moving a ton of tile into the back of my truck. But rendering no assistance to the ladies who I see shopping here? Shame on you guys.

I happily spend my money with competitors (and often do when I have the chance to get outside the city, but at least on the North side these guys do dominate a particular niche). If only someone opened a store across the street from them with the same selection and prices (actually pricing would be easy to beat, and taking a service-oriented approach would be even easier). I'll bet TileOutlet would reanalyze their approach to customers then.

Also, I should add that you will find much better priced grout, thinset, etc... at equivalent quality if you go to somewhere like Menard's. Also, sometimes stores like Home Depot undercuts TileOutlet by a huge margin on particular types of stone and tile. TileOutlet has a wider selection though.

Summary: Great place to look over the range of selection that is typically out there on the market. Buy it here for convenience and typically you will get a competitive retail price ("outlet" is not to be confused with "wholesale"). Shopping around can find you a better deal on some tile and stone, and most grout, thinset and accessories. They show little interest in customer service. Review based on 3 years of experience, most recently in Dec. 2008.

• Pros: selection
• Cons: service, volume business but retail pricing (great business plan but bad for customers)

09/06/08

GOOD pricing, large selection, GOOD customer service (in my experience)

by Raven312 at Citysearch

I had a bathroom project that required a large amount of tile. I had an idea of what I wanted to do and how I wanted it done. I bought my tile between two shops, Tile Outlet and a boutique store with excellent service, a liberal return policy and decent prices. For the selection, they were both on par. However, Tile Outlet's pricing was better on most and their service, while it didn't have the personal touch of the other store (the salesmen remember my name and face), offered very good service, answered all of my questions, and were generally very helpful each time I came into the store. For the type of store it is, I think this is above reproach.

• Pros: Selection, pricing, closeout lots...
• Cons: Sometimes hard to tell who's on the floor to answer questions and service you...