...Delighted with the actual slate product, however the elderly woman who owns it was extremely rude and became insulting with me on the phone (and even hung up on me) all because I informed her that I only receive ONE PIECE of red and ONE piece of black slate in a 10ft by 10foot box of "multi-color" slate.
As you can image, only one of those important colors and every other piece grey, made matching the new slate pattern to my existing floor not possible (which was the primary point in getting the slate).
I wasn't asking for a refund, in my initial voice mail I was only asking to have them send me a few more red and black tiles before my workmen showed up on Monday to lay the floor and for her to change the description of the tile contents to alert future customers that in an entire box of expensive "multi colored" slate, they might only receive ONE RED and ONE BLACK piece of slate time.
When I didn't hear anything from her that Monday, and my workers made the decision to lay the floor as best they could and try to make a pattern that would sort of work, this same elderly owner of the business was rude and defensive with me on the telephone. Instead of being apologetic and understand, she had the nerve to tell me that in 50+ years she's owned the business, no other customer EVER complained about anything (I wasn't complaining). She told me she would not change the description, did not care if her description indicated "more than one piece" of each color would be in the contents because everyone else she ever sold slate to in decades and decades loved what they received, and finally she had the audacity to tell me not to do business with them anymore and hung up on me!
I have been raised and always give elderly people 100% respect and I did that with her. I am 55 years old myself, but she was insulting, condescending, and when I asked to speak the the "young lady" that had called me back to help me finalize my original order (as the elderly owner had messed that up also) the owner said to me, "I will not have you talk to her! She is my granddaughter and I would never have you speak to her!" Like I was a criminal or something!!!
It is obvious that she is having "difficulties" managing the orders and that is why after leaving several messages the granddaughter called me back and got everything sorted out earlier on in the process. The granddaughter is very professional and I totally get that they are "keeping grandma around the place" as they should, but when a customer who paid contractors a premium rate to install expensive "multi colored" slate tile to an existing slate floor (which I sent pictures to them prior to ordering their product) and there is only ONE RED and ONE BLACK piece of slate in an entire box that covers a 10 square foot by 10 square foot area of floor and you are at work and the workers are putting that tile down and you have no choice but to "get what you get" and then you point the problem out to the owner and she insults the customer from every conceivable angle and hangs up you--this is NOT OKAY. read more
