DESIGN WORKS

July 6--Emailed pix to Katie at Design Works in Jacksonville that clearly showed tile/stone was from 2 different lots. ?Received no call that day or on Monday, July 9. ?Called at 3:45 pm July 9 & was put on hold for over 4 minutes but no one ever picked up. ?Received no call on July 10. ?Finally, received a call on July 11,Wed, at 4:30 PM from Erin who said Katie had been working on it with the vendor (from Miami) who had agreed to replace the tiles and that Katie was sending me pictures of the replacement tiles.  I needed to let her know if I would accept it. Heard nothing by AM of July 12 & emailed Katie. That afternoon she sent me pix of replacement stone.  I responded that it had the same problem--clearly two different lots and nothing like what I had picked out originally.  My option was to accept it or lose the $665 that the contractor had pd & who, in turn, I pd by charging it to my credit card. There was also the charge of $500 for removing the stone, repairing the wall, purchasing more stone, and reinstalling.  At this point, I was out $1100 for an small accent wall of 37.5 sq ft. On July 17, I contacted Jeffrey Matthews at the Sarasota headquarters for Design Works. I sent him my documentation with pix--pix of what it looked like in the store, what it looked like installed on the wall before and after sealing, and the replacement that was being offered. He called me a couple of days later and INSISTED that Katie had told me the stone could be a different color.  She ABSOLUTELY did not tell me that.  She is the one who chose the stone to match my samples and never mentioned that it could be a different color.  I know nothing about these products.  As far as I knew, it was a manufactured product that was always the same color.   The bigger problem is that it was from two different lots. The 2 boxes did not match at all. He finally offered me a credit but did not specify how much.  On August 2, I sent him an email asking exactly what kind of credit he was offering.  Since he did not respond, I bought a replacement from Lowe's for $150.  As of Aug 23, he has not responded.  Resolution would be a refund of the cost of the mismatched stone--$665.  I will "eat" the $500 labor charge for removing and reinstalling.  I have copies of all emails and all pictures referenced in this review.

UPDATE 10/1/12:

The stone was ordered using what Katie (of Design Works) had written up previously with my name on it, so to say that "she is not our customer" is not totally true. My contractor took the paperwork that DesignWorks gave me with my name on it to place the order.  He paid and I, in turn, repaid him the same day. I explained that in my attempt to settle this with Design Works before contacting Angie's List. For Jeffrey Matthews to say twice in his opening sentence that "she is not our customer" is interesting. Design Works picked out the stone for me when I visited their showroom in person with my husband. I was leaving the store when the man assisting me asked me to wait and got another salesperson to help find a stone that matched my samples. Jeffrey says in his letter that "we always tell people shade variations are inherent in tile and stone material." That is absolutely not true. As I stated before, I would not have purchased it if either salesperson had told me there was a chance it would be another color. After all, Katie (the second salesperson) picked out the stone because it matched my samples. All four of us (my husband and I and Katie and the male salesperson) all made comments about what a perfect match it was. Doesn't it seem that would have been the perfect opportunity to say something like "but understand that what you receive may not be this color"? Besides, two totally different colors on the wall is not a "variation" in the stone. (Look at the attached pictures.)  It came from two different sources/lots/veins/whatever you call it. So they placed the blame on my contractor. However, Jeffrey did offer me a credit over the phone. On August 2nd, I sent him an email to find out exactly how much he was offering. (On the phone, he said it would be several hundred dollars.)  The text from my August 2nd email is pasted below: 

 I have thought about our last conversation. I am still not happy. Katie did NOT ever say a word about the fact that the tile in the showroom could be a different color from what would be ordered. After all, she picked it because it was a great match. You said you would give me a "several hundred dollar credit." I would like to know exactly how much of a credit you are offering me. Thank you.  

After not receiving a response to my email for two weeks, I decided to contact Angie's List. Jeffrey had had two weeks to respond and evidently decided to ignore my email. After all, what proof did I have that he had given me a credit? I wanted it in writing as to the exact amount. I am guessing that now he will deny having ever made that offer to me. Our conversation about the credit went on for a while. I said I didn't have any tile work that needed to be done in the near future but said I guess it was better than nothing. Now it appears that he has forgotten that conversation, changed his story to I'm "not his customer," and has kept my $665 with a clear conscience--and I have nothing to show for it. My pictures are evidence that the product was unacceptable and Design Works is now ignoring me.  I had also asked that he refund the mark-up on the tile so he would really not be out anything.  He said they really don?t have much of a mark-up on stone at all and wishes they didn?t sell it because it often causes problems.  I find it hard to believe that they sell a product for which they make no money.