In the past two years, I’ve done two huge remodels.
The first one I did was my kitchen, powder room and living room. This was in 2008.
Then I did my entire upstairs including my master and guest bathrooms, including tiles.
Both experiences were great, but there was just one minor issue with the tiles during the upstairs bathroom remodels.
I decided to purchase the tiles from a company called Meridian Kitchen and Bath located at 2285 Westwood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064. They are also known as Meridian Design Center and European Design Center, Euro Design Center or European Design Center. I’m not really sure which is their official name.
Around February 11, 2011, I purchased close to $5,000 in tiles with Meridian. Initially, I had no problems with this company. Everyone was really nice, and their employee that I worked with was really helpful and did a great job selecting the tiles. She pretty much did all the work and did an excellent job, but to be fair, I was a pretty easy-going customer. After being in there only 30 minutes, I handed over my credit card without even visiting any other tile stores. I felt we were a great fit.
Over a month later, everything went down hill. On 3/25/11, my contractor who was speaking directly to Meridian on my behalf, left me a voicemail stating that he had been doing some research in regards to possibly returning the left over granite mosiac tiles since the bathrooms were both completed. He stated that he personally checked with our rep at Meridian who we had been dealing with and did a good deal of research to confirm I could return these before he wanted to even call me to let me know. Further, he had our Meridian rep contact the tile company to confirm the tiles were returnable. She stated they were minus a 35% restocking fee. There was approximately 24 square feet left over, which equated to about a $600 refund.
After I got this voicemail, I immediately called my contractor back and told him that of course, I’d like to return them since I didn’t even realize this was an option prior to his call to get $600 back.
The following day, Saturday 3/26/11, I stocked up my car with all of the tiles, about 10 boxes or so, and drove them down to Meridian Kitchen and Bath.
When I arrived at the store, I was told that the woman I had been dealing with was not there. The two guys working that day asked what they could help me with. I told them that I was returning extra tiles per their reps approval and were in my car.
They then stated that the tiles were non-refundable after their rep told me they were. One of the guys then called our rep on the phone and asked her why she would tell me that. After he hung up with our rep, he told me that she would be in contact with me first thing on Monday to figure this out. I then drove home with the tiles and unloaded them in my garage.
A week and a half went by and I heard nothing from my rep. I then emailed her and did not receive a response. The next day, I called and asked for her. They said she was out. Then I asked to speak to the Manager. I told the Manager what had happened and asked what they were going to do about it.
My conversations when on with the manager for a few days over both emails and the phone. The manager talked over me, raised his voice to me and just handled the situation very poorly.
In the end, he asked me to send an email to him of exactly what I was requesting and what would make me happy. I requested to be credited $100. I was supposed to receive $600 and for the time I spent driving over there and dealing with this issue, I felt $100 was more than fair.
The manager then responded to my email with a very rude response stating that if I wrote any reviews about his company, he would take me to court. He could have just wrote “I’m sorry, we can not honor your request; however, here is what we can do for you.” Instead, his email threats to me continued.
I refuse for anyone to make me feel bad or guilty for asking for something that is more than fair. Also, writing reviews online about your experience with a company is not a legal matter. If it was, websites like Yelp.com, BBB, etc would not be online. Further, it’s not slander if you speak the truth of your experience with factual data. Everything I’ve stated about this company is 100% factual and this experience I had with them was my personal experience.
I would really like to just resolve this matter with Meridian Kitchen and Bath. I’m an easy going person, but I don’t like being taken advantage of, which I feel I was.
The manager/owner of Meridian Kitchen should ask their employee, “Did you tell this person that the tiles were refundable/returnable minus a 35% restocking fee?”. The answer will be yes, because if she says anything other than this, A) I have a recorded voicemail from my contractor stating that she said this and B) the day I tried to return the tiles, the manager called this employee and spoke with her on the phone about her telling me this and this employee stated she spoke with a Melissa at the tile company who confirmed they were in fact returnable.
Therefore, since it is not in dispute as to whether it was stated on 3/25/11 that I would be able to return the tiles, I feel it is more than fair for this company to provide a refund. Hey, stuff happens… employees make mistakes, but it’s how you fix them and how you make your clients happy that is all the difference… especially ones that have spent $5,000.
I could have asked for all $600 based on the verbal agreement that this employee made, but instead, I asked for only $100 for my time.
Meridian – make this situation right 
Customer service is always the way to go. Had you handled this better, even though your employee made a mistake, I would have been one of your best referrers. I would have told everyone to use Meridian Kitchen and Bath for their tile needs and how great you dealt with an issue that came up; however, I just feel that the way I was treated was awful and in a time when there is so much competition, customer service is all that’s left where you can actually make a difference.
