dottigirl
TF
I've been surfing various tile websites for the last month, and have noticed several things:
There are some really, really poor and dysfunctional websites out there. In an environment where there's so much choice, they're losing customers.
Even some of the best ones still don't work terribly well (on Walls and Floors' site, view all or sorting doesn't work at all, and it crashes if you spend too much time on there).
Some take days to respond to messages (Tons of Tiles average over 48 hours, and two weeks for samples).
Some are great sending samples (TileMountain) but don't have anything you want.
Some are lacking basic, functional filters (TilesDirect; TileGiant).
Some of them just smell like a scam (TileMonkey - no samples ever arrived, no response to messages, ever).
Some blitz you with spam (BCT; Tons of Tiles, again)
Some are just ouchy-expensive (Topps).
Some have weird navigation (Target Tiles).
Some appear to have massive reductions from 'RRP', but you'll find the same tile cheaper elsewhere.
Some appear cheap...but then you add on postage and the bargain ain't a bargain anymore (Victorian; many others).
(Therefore, I'm probably ordering through my local tile shop who certainly aren't cheap at first glance, but will deliver for free, and were honest enough with me to show a tile I'd selected online (Craven Dunnill Ludlow) had problems with the glaze.)
I've also noticed there's often a more pricey, 'designer' tile (Laura Ashley, Rhian)...but if you look hard enough, there will be a cheaper version, which is almost identical (no names, 'cos).
That said, how do you tell if a tile is of decent quality? Any tips please?
There are some really, really poor and dysfunctional websites out there. In an environment where there's so much choice, they're losing customers.
Even some of the best ones still don't work terribly well (on Walls and Floors' site, view all or sorting doesn't work at all, and it crashes if you spend too much time on there).
Some take days to respond to messages (Tons of Tiles average over 48 hours, and two weeks for samples).
Some are great sending samples (TileMountain) but don't have anything you want.
Some are lacking basic, functional filters (TilesDirect; TileGiant).
Some of them just smell like a scam (TileMonkey - no samples ever arrived, no response to messages, ever).
Some blitz you with spam (BCT; Tons of Tiles, again)
Some are just ouchy-expensive (Topps).
Some have weird navigation (Target Tiles).
Some appear to have massive reductions from 'RRP', but you'll find the same tile cheaper elsewhere.
Some appear cheap...but then you add on postage and the bargain ain't a bargain anymore (Victorian; many others).
(Therefore, I'm probably ordering through my local tile shop who certainly aren't cheap at first glance, but will deliver for free, and were honest enough with me to show a tile I'd selected online (Craven Dunnill Ludlow) had problems with the glaze.)
I've also noticed there's often a more pricey, 'designer' tile (Laura Ashley, Rhian)...but if you look hard enough, there will be a cheaper version, which is almost identical (no names, 'cos).
That said, how do you tell if a tile is of decent quality? Any tips please?