5 stars for the tile, mixed stars for the service, 1 star for packaging for shipping.
They have an enormous selection of some lovely tile... if you can get anybody to even acknowledge you. We wandered around the store for a good 15 minutes, with employees whizzing by but refusing to make eye contact. We walked back to the front of the store, halfway between the main desk and the front door, looking around helplessly. I finally made eye contact with someone who was rushing by to... get herself a cup of coffee. She poured herself a cup and just stared at me, and at this point I walked right out the front door. I swore I would never come back... but I did, because after looking at every other store in the Seattle area, they had the perfect tile that nobody else carried.
We came back a second time and found someone to actually help us and was friendly, and she gave us some samples to take home so we could determine the perfect shade.
When we finally came back, I knew what I wanted and wanted to place my order. I ended up dealing with the woman who ignored me the first time. After an awkward and uncomfortable encounter where she couldn't really figure out what she was supposed to do to make the order happen, she told me to call back and speak with Colin.
Which was the best thing that could have happened, because he was incredibly helpful, very prompt, and would actually follow up like he said he would. I can't say enough good things about him. My interactions with him were pleasant and flawless.
Finally, we picked up our tile at the Portland instead of having it shipped. The guy who helped us load it seemed disgruntled, because apparently when they packed the tile, they didn't know it was getting picked up vs shipped, and I guess would have packed it differently. But holy cow, am I glad they did not ship it, because there was only a single layer of bubble wrap between layers, and NO cushioning around the edges! I couldn't believe it! I've had lots of experience shipping glass and ceramics and those shipments would not have survived.
But... the tile is installed now, and is BEAUTIFUL. So all's well that ends well, I suppose. read more