Never felt the need to come online and lay out my experience with a particular vendor before but since I seem to recall that I found this vendor through a suggestion from this site, I thought I'd take a moment or two and outline a troublesome vendor experience I recently had.

www.tilestoreonline.com was a site recommended to me (I think on this forum). I ordered several samples (10 to be exact) a few weeks ago. Well, actually 9 samples and one single square foot sheet of a tile that they didn't seem to offer in a sample form (at least not as far as I could tell from their website). The samples were $3-4 each and the one square foot sheet was $17-18 but I really wanted to see it and figured better $17 than order a bunch of it and find out I hated it. When I received the shipment it had been split and some of the samples had come directly from the manufacturer. I got sample chips of three tiles, one of which was the tile I had had to order the full sheet of. This was curious to me. Since the packing slip made no mention of drop shipment or backordering, I called to confirm that the other 7 samples were on their way. While on the phone I inquired about the "sample" I had been sent of the full sheet variety and was told that it had been available the whole time in sample form if I had only called. Well, ok. So this conversation left me expecting to receive another box with 7 little samples and the one full sheet I had ordered. Their rep saw the same thing in terms of what had been ordered and billed. A few days later, a box arrived. 7 little samples. No full sheet. One of the 7 samples I had selected was a clear glass tile but instead they had sent me a frosted variety. That's the second mistake on this order. I really liked the frosted variety and decided on it for my backsplash detail so it's ok, but that's another story. Since I had received the little sample chip of the tile I had ordered the full sheet of, it didn't initially occur to me that the full sheet was missing from the order. Several days later, it hit me that I had paid $17-18 for a full sheet that I had not received. At this point, I had decided on an accent tile from the samples (the mistakenly shipped frosted lovely) and had ordered 8 square feet of it for my backsplash stripe. I called their offices and inquired about a credit for the unreceived 1 square foot sheet and was told that they would inquire with their shipping department and get back with me. Several days pass and no call back. I called again to check on the shipment date anticipated for the backsplash order and inquired at the same time about the progress on the credit for the 1 foot sheet. Again, I was told it would be looked into and I would be contacted back. That was about 1 1/2 weeks ago. My backsplash tiles arrived several days ago. In the box there were only 7 square feet. Not the eight that I had ordered. I have yet to hear back from them about the credit for the sheet of sample that I never received. No phone call, no email, no communication whatsoever! I expect that I would get the same service concerning the missing 8th square foot of my backsplash tile as well. They seem to doubt that I can account for what I ordered and the quantity I requested and it's a "he said - she said" situation about what actually made it into the box. Oh well.

At any rate, just a word to the wise. Be very careful about orders with this company and double and triple check invoices and shipment quantities as well as selections to make sure you get the type and quantity you ordered and that you are billed correctly.

Since their customer service has been so shoddy during my encounter, I have simply decided to write them off as a lesson learned. I will not shop with them again. I will find the tile I need elsewhere. It seems I have been billed for the full sample sheet that I never recieved and that I have not received the full quantity of the backsplash tile that I ordered either(but was billed for it as well). Live and learn. Online vendors can't all be great.

If this is the worst I encounter, I am a lucky person. I made a very small order so it's not a huge deal but for someone looking at a larger quantity of something very particular, I would caution you to be VERY careful if you decide to give this company a go.

Just my .02 cents worth.