I've been on the hunt for a tile store that has not only a great selection, but a knowledgable staff, decent prices, and many examples of their tile in use. I walked into the The Tile Shop of Edison thinking I'd found just that. Uh, not quite.
The place is like a giant warehouse of tile with many items on display in a way in which it's easy for the customer to peruse the store. The entire perimeter of the store is lined with actual bathroom examples which was super helpful; I really liked that. As well, they have a selection I've not seen elsewhere and I quickly fell in love with some tile for my bathroom project. I was immediately approached by a young, 20-ish looking sales guy. I quickly dismissed him because I hadn't taken but a step into the store. I made it up a few aisles and noticed another youngish sales girl walking around as well as two older salespeople. The place was pretty empty, despite a huge Labor Day sale they were having.
I had picked out two of the three tile selections when I was approached by on of the older salesmen, who after me telling him I wasn't ready for help yet, was eagerly trying to sell me on in-house grout, caulk, and some kind of shower liner for the bottom of the shower, which I don't need since I'm doing using a RediTile shower pan.It was at that point that he informed me that, "All prices were negotiable." I was wondering why he was telling me that outright, but decided to pocket that information. I even showed him the picture of the shower pan and found it humorous that before showing it to him, he seemed perplexed as to what it was but the moment he saw it he said, "Oh yeah. Very popular product. VERY popular! I'm actually going to use in my next bathroom remodel." He really hadn't a clue as to what it was, and that's fine, but pretending like you do just sends up a red flag. And then he kept trying to sell me on that red liner.
I asked him a bunch of questions including the thickness of the tile I'd already selected (my contractor was requiring I get a thicker tile) and he b.s.'ed me about something completely different and slipped into the conversation that the tile was "a little less than 1/2"," which might not work for me.
I then asked him about contractor discounts. I told him that I know for a fact that at any other tile place (like Standard Tile) the typical discount was *at least* 30% for contractors. He told me that the price that they get is based on the price of the purchase and that the best he could do for me was 25%. This was truly laughable! He then reeled off a bunch of prices saying, "...you know, over $2,000 price we give a better discount..." and so on. I asked him to show me sills and saddles. He said that they don't call them saddles, but rather "thresholds." I check out the selection and then ask to see the sills. He said, "that must be a new product that we don't have." He apparently doesn't know that they're one in the same.
So I proceed to continue checking out floor tile and he tells me that no one these days uses ceramic on floors saying, "Really, ceramic is meant for walls. People these days are going more for marble, travertine. It makes a nicer bathroom." Really truly laughable. Not that I wouldn't want marble or travertine - I hadn't even decided on what I wanted at that point - but he was so transparent in trying to sell me a more expensive product and more additional products that I didn't need or want, that the whole experience left me wanting a shower to wash off the layer of grease from his transparent and repeated sales pitches.
My last question to him was about one of the tiles I'd selected for my shower. I asked if there was any matching bullnose to go with it. I mean, how would I finish off the edges without it? Just then my phone rings. He took the tile sample from me and headed out back behind the showroom into another room just for the salespeople. I went out front to take my call but could see him from the front of the store behind the doors just standing there looking my way the entire time. I ended my call and proceeded to walk towards him and he said, "This is a new product and there is no matching bullnose." I asked if he could show me ANY bullnose, that I hadn't seen any on display at all in the store. He said they, "have to special order from the catalog. We have none on display in the store." At this point, I knew that he was a trained salesman and not a trained tile expert.
Nothing that this "salesman" said added up and in the end, I decided to leave. I'm giving this place two stars *only* for the fact that the store is beautifully laid out, the displays were really suburb and tastefully done, and their selection is quite nice. However, I recommend that they properly train their staff as to the basics of tile and tile installation. Had the store not been as nice, this would be a one-star review. read more