I had a friend who experienced the exact same thing. She said that her neighbor had a designer who ordered everything (and a lot of it!) and was treated really well, no problems. So she thought she would order the same tile but just for her bathroom.....she said she never felt so insignificant as having to beg for any sort of attention and service. Makes me mad because normally I would pay for things like Ann Sachs and Walker-Zanger and high end things, but if they treat me poorly, I'll go find an alternate. Why pay more AND get treated badly? So sorry to hear your news.

But, I would love to see a picture of the tile you picked :) Unfortunately, I do love their tile....

Oh no! My two top contenders for backsplash tiles are from Ann Sacks. That is ridiculous that any customer...any one for that matter...should have to beg for service. Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to be doing all of our ordering...not a designer. It's something to keep in mind when choosing where to spend one's dollars.

Sorry to hear that. I have heard that some people go to Ann Sacks to get Heath Ceramics and if it is Heath you are after, you can always buy directly from them. We purchased all our Heath tile from Heath and that was quite straightforward (although, we picked it up at the Sausalito factory store).

Here is a link that might be useful: Heath

Worst customer service ever is relative, but it would be helpful to give specifics on why you are so upset. You said it was your duty to share your nightmare, so tell what happened.

ditto re: specifics a box dropped to the ground off a 767 by FedEx is not A.Sacks' fault. Not processing your order for 3 weeks is. Telling you there is large variation in tiles and then you complaining you don't like the shading, color, texture isn't their prob. Sending you mint green when you ordered white is.

N.B. Ann Sacks is pretty much set up "to the trade"

I'm not excusing bad service , but "to the trade" places are not really geared to handle public sales. It's still their fault for not telling no thanks we don't really want your business unless you have a designer and stringing you along though.

Why don't you write a letter to Ms. Sacks and cc. Kohler. She is still very involved in the firm and Kohler while diversified is still closely held and cares about their rep.

I'm so sorry to heard you had a bad experience!!

My experience was completely different. I live in Canada so I phoned the hotline and was referred to the Ann Sacks in Troy, Michigan. Both via email and phone, the rep I dealt with was extremely helpful and nice. She sent me two samples to Canada at no charge. She gave me tips on what to think about when installing a handmade tile. We didn't have a huge order or anything, nor was it one of their pricier tiles - it was for Heath Ceramics 2x8 tile for our backsplash.

My experience was as follows:

I called Ann Sacks and asked for some samples for my backsplash. Six weeks passed and I had not received the samples. I called back several times and on the third call, he finally sent my samples, overnight.

I said I was ready to place my order about a month after I received the samples and the sales person never called me back, didn't ask the right questions. I spoke to the Manager of the store in Georgetown and he was apologetic, but even his follow up was awful. I placed my order, yet needed more items--follow up was awful. I left several messages for the Manager and he never even bothered to call me back. When I received my order for 6 bullnose pieces, there were only 4 pieces in there.

Again, in this economy, I'm ASTOUNDED by poor customer service. My $800 order may not have meant enough to them to provide outstanding customer service. I loved the tiles, and wanted to give an American made product my business, but you cannot excuse poor customer service. Even the manager's voice mail says he'll call you back at "his earliest convenience". Apparently, his earliest convenience is never, because I had to call their corporate office this morning in order to get him on the phone--four days after I left him a message.

I don't ask for a lot, but follow through and good customer service are essential!

So, yes, their customer service is the worst ever. And I wanted to spread the word.

I was dealing with tile stores, not a particular line's storefront. Very significant quantities of tile and money at both. I made up a rule for dealing with tile:

They all lie.

I didn't have bad service, per se, as in rudeness or anything. But the factory for the floor tile started making one of the sizes on the day they were supposed to have arrived. Knocked back the whole schedule a month. Then the other place said the counter tiles would take a month. I asked if they were sure because it was a large and complicated order. They said yes. No joy. About 2.5 months. And then there were the colors that were wrong....

I also learned that my GC doesn't like to start a job until all the tiles are in hand because of this. We had to, because the order depended on knowing the outcome of construction. It's not just you and your small order. Your neighbor lucked out.

They all lie.

Send in the most striking young lady you know to charm them into hopping to for you if they're men. I don't know.

And I do agree with Antss that getting service from to the trade places can be especially difficult. In my experience, however, the ones that post that they're open to the public will give good service once the job is on their desks, and it's just getting the initial service that's so hard. Unless we're talking about tile.

They all lie.

I am sorry to hear that you had a less than stellar experience with Ann Sacks! I have Ann Sacks calacatta marble tile backsplash and I had a very different experience. I worked with someone at the Georgetown store in DC and couldn't have been happier. She was very helpful, came up with 3 different shipping scenarios/costs, and communicated easily and quickly via email. I have referred several people to her and all were happy with the service provided.

I ordered my tile on line and had it 48 hours later. Find a different vendor.

I think it's just a thing with the GT location. Maybe they are closing, maybe staff is turning over maybe someone's mom is dying, maybe they just suck. WHo knows? Thanks for the scoop.

Natascha - agree - you barely got passable service let alone top quality. Seriously , write Ann Sacks.

Also, this is a little off topic, but another good reason to buy directly from Heath---if you purchase tile from them this weekend (through the 17th, I think?) they are donating 25 percent of sales to Architecture for Humanity's Haiti relief efforts. Plus, there's also free shipping this weekend. (We're using them for our wedding registry so I got a little email about it this morning.)

Absolutely agree worse customer service ever. Get everything in writing because they will change quotes on you.

Very different for us-actually one of the best customer services I ever encountered. Probably depends on what branch you go to and who works there. We're in OC, CA..the experience was top-notch, from the beginning to the end. There was just one (tile and stone) store except Ann Sacks that impressed me that much...needless to say very high end too.

Can't recommend them enough. If you're in our area..