I came in during the lunch hour on a weekday and I can only conclude that some nice showroom employee went out to lunch and asked their irritable grandpa to mind the store and pretend he worked there while they were gone. How else to explain the man who, uhhh, "helped" me being so clueless, inattentive, unhelpful, and downright rude?
I was looking for a place to do some bathroom remodeling. I wanted to replace our cheap builder cabinets and counter tops with taller cabinets and nice granite counters. This place seemed to have been around for a while and had a big showroom so I stopped in to see if they could help. The showroom itself seems ok - has several rooms and displays of cabinet doors, etc. That's the only nice thing I can say.
And older man came up to me, while ignoring a woman who walked in a minute before until mumbling "oh I didn't see you there" to her on her way out the door.
He asked why I came in and I told him that we were looking to do some remodeling in two bathrooms - one a full bath and the other a half bath. First he cut me off saying "YOU'RE going to remodel it yourself?" Which was a) rude because he cut me off, b) a stupid assumption because if I wanted to do that I probably would not have been there and c) offensive because it made me feel insecure like I looked like someone who couldn't remodel his way out of a paper bag (which is admittedly true, but still not the reaction I was expecting from someone trying to get my business).
I was taken aback by his question/interruption but perhaps seeing how he could have misconstrued my wording. I said no, we were not doing anything ourselves. So then he responded, apparently relieved, prompting me to continue by saying "ok... so your house has 2 bathrooms." I said, well no, actually it has three but we're only doing something with two of them which really seemed to confound him.
I would expect a normal response from a salesperson in a showroom to be "Oh, that's great, sir, we have a lot of options for you that fit your criteria. What style do you prefer? Let me show you some options..." No, his response was "Well that means you'll need at least contractors working for plumbing, electrical, drywall, tile..." This was not news to me although I did not think we would be doing anything with tile so I said "Well, presumably..." (we would need those contractors). And he shot back "Presumably?!?!" Like how dare I question him. Well, I dare because he said we'd need a tile contractor and we didn't (another quote from another company confirmed this) which he would know if he'd actually listened to me.
I said that my only goal was taller, modern cabinets with granite counters but that I understood some other work would be necessary (e.g. drywall, plumbing). He started pointing me to a couple brochures and vast collections of cabinet doors that I guess he expected me to paw through myself even after telling him the style and color I preferred.
He then asked, out of the blue and as if in shock "are you looking for an estimate?!?!? I can't do anything without measurements!!!". I said I was not looking for an estimate on the spot (while thinking to myself, OF COURSE I want an estimate eventually you moron) but I did indeed already have measurements and would like to see some options that might fit my needs.
He asked where I lived and when I told him he said they'd have to do tile work! (again with the tile - what the heck?). When I said I did not understand how that followed, he said it was because my house had to have been made in the 1950's and the tile most certainly was installed high up on the wall. I said, uhhhh no, my house was constructed 8 years ago! He was taken aback as if this was the most shocking thing he'd ever heard. I told him neither of the bathrooms we were redoing had any tile on, around or near the cabinets/counters being replaced. Yet he suggested we start with tile selection before considering cabinets. I finally played along and said ok, well if we decide we do want tile and choose from what you are suggesting I am concerned this might clash with the existing tile in the shower and floor. He did not really know what to say to that. So he said "I suggest you write down a list of what you want done in each bathroom..." as if I didn't know what I wanted or this was some huge project. I thought, I know the list exactly and I'm telling you the list, buddy, YOU write it down and then try to sell me something!
But I said "I'm sorry this just is not working for me" and went to leave and he said "Yeah, me neither".
This guy was so clueless and rude I can only laugh about it now although I am annoyed that I wasted my time. I hope whoever usually runs the showroom does not get in too much trouble for "presumably" getting their crotchety grandpa to fill in for the read more
