apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Great recommendation! I made the trip up from Manhattan yesterday (take 2 to Allerton Ave), and found a block-long showroom with a good amount of stuff in-stock. They seemed understaffed and slightly disorganized, but the people I talked to were friendly, helpful, and willing to negotiate on price. They even offer free delivery if the order is big enough.

I was there last year; it's a bit of a trek but, I think, worth it. As noted above, the staff is a bit frazzled (lots of customers, few salespeople), and while not happy-chatty (a good thing, actually), they answered questions, gave an estimate, and allowed me to take samples home. Definitely worth the savings.

I took note of this listing and finally made the trek "north" to check it out. Understaffed and disorganized is an understatement! I probably made a mistake going on a Saturday... but I made an even bigger mistake by going as a single woman. I spent over an hour attempting to get service, alternately standing beside the counter or trailing behind one of the salemen who were taking some couple around the store and answering their every question. I was finally assigned an indifferent young assistant who tried to tell me the size tile I wanted didn't exist (when at least one example of it was sitting right there on the floor in front of me, but I expected to see a bit of a selection). I finally just picked up the tiles off the floor myself and managed to get someone to ring them up and take my cash, but no one seemed to care that I couldn't walk out carrying a stack of loose tiles and head home on the subway. I wound up snatching a nearby empty box and breaking it down, grabbing a roll of tape off the counter, and packaging up the tiles right there on the counter while the entire staff worked obliviously around me. The only other single woman in the place was also not getting waited on... and she said this was her second trip there, in an attempt to get what she needed! I have a big kitchen renovation coming up and am looking to tile a backsplash... and I will certainly NOT be going back to Quality Tile for it!! A nightnare, to put it mildly...

I recently visited Quality Tile in the Bronx. There was a huge selection in the block-long showroom and all the material was in stock for immediate delivery. Along with the free delivery, when I compared the prices to other tile stores, I saved at least 20 percent. There was a friendly staff willing to answer any of my questions, and always had an answer. I highly reccomend Quality Tile if your looking for better tile with great savings.

I would NOT use this shop - although the prices are reasonable. My entire dealings with them lasted for ovr 4 weeks and I never received any of the products I ordered - and actually had issues having my deposit returned. I can honestly say this is the worst cutomer service I have ever received anywhere and its worth paying a little extra in order not to have to call them daily to chase them up. Note that in the four week period they didnt call me once - although eveery time they called they promised they would. The reason they had to return my calls was because EVERY TIME I called they were too busy to talk to me - unbelievably. Very frustrating and stressful - and put our kitchen behind schedule. A BIG NO!!

I must agree with Jeff, customer service is terrible! After my delivery never arrived, I had to call them to find out what was going on. I won't bore you with the details, but after many heated conversations, I was promised that 5% of my order would be credited to my card. Of course, it wasn't. Unfortunately for them, I'm a journalist who's writing a story about my home renovation process using NYC businesses. Definitely A BIG NO!

I found them to be disorganized to say the least. They miscalculated and under ordered our tile. They were unable to provide the trim tile despite 3 trips to the store. They misordered other missing tile causing delays in our contractors schedule. They were downright rude on the phone. Under no circumstances would I reccommend this company despite any monetary savings.

If you value your sanity and well-being, don't shop at Quality Tile. Dealing with this company is horrific. Prices are cheap, but you more than pay for it with stress. They don't return telephone calls, they underorder materials, the staff is utterly incompetent and owner doesn't care!

I recently bought tile from Quality Tile because i heard the prices were great. i wouldnt care how much i saved i wouldnt go back to that place for all the free tile in the world. Nevermind the store being completely chaotic, i was quoted a price, paid and then when i picked up the tile and brought it home, it was only enough for half the bathroom. They argue that is what i ordered even though i showed my orginal quote and the square footage they told me i was getting. I also ordered marble mosaic floor tiles. Even though the accent color at Quality Tile was LIGHT BLUE, the tile i got was BLACK, with hints if lime green instead of white--they tell me thats what was in stock and it was the same stone just different cut--i still took it to make everything easy--but it was not what i thought i was buying and they didnt care. The weave between the mosaic was extra tight--hardly any room for grout--and the mats themself were so poorly made that they werent identicle in shape so the mats were impossible to puzzle togther. Quality tile sells crap, they are rude, they are theves and completely disorganized. i would suggest staying far away and spend a little more. Forget it completely if you are a woman as you will be ripped off and taken advantage of.

I'm a single woman and just had my kitchen floor tiled about 2 weeks ago - with beautiful, imported porcelain Italian tile from Quality Tile. YES- the place has cheap tile you'll pay 2x or 3x as much elsewhere for. YES- it gets VERY crowded on weekends. YES- it is VERY understaffed. But this is what I recommend for single women and anyone else. 1. GO IN THE MORNING - WHEN IT FIRST OPENS 2. If you're working with a contractor to lay your tile - BRING HIM (yes, HIM) ALONG - each time I've gone with a contractor - I've gotten a discount. 3. DO SOME PRE-SHOPPING online or in person somewhere else (like Home Depot) to get a feel of what you want (even if you change your mind later). There are SO MANY choices there and it's somewhat disorganized so it helps to be armed with a plan. 4. IF POSSIBLE, BUY SOMETHING THEY ALREADY HAVE IN STOCK OR IN THEIR WHEREHOUSE - try not to even bother with special ordering - they're too busy to get in contact with in the event your order goes haywire. GOOD LUCK. P.S. ARTHOR'S CONTRACTING works well with Quality and does GREAT work: 914-384-9175!

I know Quality and have worked with them a number of times, but the bit about not dealing well with women is right - if you ever want to feel invisible, go there and stand there while there are a bunch of men. Not only that, it's happened that I've been given a quote on something and then gone back to purchase and been given a different figure. Garden State Tile, a huge place in Jersey with a lot of branches, has the same stuff, as cheap, and more in stock.

To all you single ladies ---I am a single woman and I had absolutely no problems. I highly recommend Quality Tile. Yes, the place if very busy, but for a good reason -- great prices, great selection (the best I've seen around, in fact), and yes, great service. Remember ladies, you're not at a spa and maybe you should bring a contractor along with you-- I would never buy a car by myself. I thought the owners were very friendly and polite. You should also realize that colors do differ because stone is natural and will not always be the same as the sample as was my case. Good luck and happy renovating!

Are there any tile stores that people seem to unequivocally rave about? One catch, I need super prices. The thread on Quality Tile sounds very mixed and I think I'll pass. Although I'm as cheap as they come, I hope to be treated as a customer, not an annoyance. I assume the outer boroughs are the place to go. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Yes, they are VERY busy, but once you can get your hands on someone to help you, they are more than helpful. You cannot beat their prices and they selection is great. I would highly recommend!

Unfortunately I have to agree with the many posts on this site telling you to stay away from Quality Tile, especially if you are a little guy. Aside from the chaos and difficulty getting assistance when you walk in, the owner (or is he just the manager), Anthony, could care less about customer satisfication.

When my order (admitedly small) was repeatedly not shipped by the vendor (promised every week for a month and never delivered) my entire renovation schedule and schedule of my contractor were compromised. I do believe the office manager did all she could to work with the vendor and even pursue a discount when I asked but when the vendor refused to cooperate I tried to take my discount request to Anthony expecting prudent customer service would dictate he give me the discount and work it out with the vendor. Without any facts, he got on the phone and jumped down my throat before I could get a word in. He told me my order was too small to get aggravated over, his profit was too small to discount further (you would think if it was that small he would just give it up in the name of customer service) and that I was being completely unreasonable. When I did finally get a chance to speak and tried to be clear that I was just asking for some consideration as a customer he told me to forget about it, he was canceling my order, I could bad mouth him to whomever I want, and he hung up on me. I had to call the office manager to make sure my order was not canceled since it was finally due in the next day (I should add she even apologized for her boss).

I am sucking this one up, but taking Anthony's suggestion on spreading the word. It is your choice, but if customer service matters to you stay away, because here the problem starts at the top.

As a follow-up to my earlier post while shopping for another purchase I found the same tile at Sam's ceramics in Westchester and it was less expensive than Quality Tile. Obviously,customer service was also far superior.