The At Home Couple

Hi all! I hope that all of you who were celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend had a fantastic time!  There is nothing better than spending time with family and loved ones, while stuffing your bellies with great food.

Although most of you were giving thanks this past Friday, mine was spent dealing with an unbelievable headache!  I have never in my life experienced such poor customer service . . .

As some of you may or may not know, I am a starving Interior Designer by trade.  My current project is a bathroom remodel that I am doing in my childhood home. (I will post pictures as soon as it is complete.)  The supplier for the floor and vanity is a company located in east end Toronto, called Crystal Bath, located at 2839 Kingston Rd.  I can’t even tell you why things went sour, but what happened on Friday when we went to pick up our product, was surreal.

The owners of the company, at some point, decided that we were “difficult” customers, and took the route of treating us like criminals.  When I asked where all the animosity was coming from, I was told that we asked too many questions.  I have worked in the customer service industry for my entire working career, and I have NEVER penalized a customer for “asking too many questions.”  Isn’t that the whole point of customer service?  Especially when the customer is paying over $ 4000 for their product?

The owner took the initial measurements for the vanity, which was wrong, as she took them before the bathroom was even demolished.  So to avoid them being built at the wrong size, I called to correct her.  When our floor was going down, not only was the installer unprofessional by hitting on me, but he did a lazy job of installing the tile.  We have a very talented general contractor in our family, and even he said that the installer/company took the shortcut in installing the floor.  The threshold they sent was the most insignificant piece of marble I have ever seen, and when they were questioned about it, informed us that we had laid down the incorrect sub-floor.  But where was the information from them regarding the proper preparation for the floor?  There was none.  There were no specifications for anything.  They made no attempt at communicating with us about what was required on their end for the floor to go down correctly.  I have worked in the flooring industry, and we ALWAYS provided the customer with such information and specifics to avoid these problems.  But apparantly, it was our fault.

The kicker was picking up our vanity on Friday.  Not only did they refuse delivery, forcing us to take time out of our day, rent a truck and drive from the west end of  the city to  the east end, but they didn’t even communicate the final payment method.  All of a sudden our cheque wasn’t good enough anymore and she needed either a certified cheque, credit card or cash.  At this point we are in Scarborough with a rented truck and they won’t take our payment.  When we told her that a credit card was out of the question, she insulted us by insinuating that we didn’t have the money to pay and that our credit card was “antique”.  The tension could be cut  with a knife, and in an attempt to be diplomatic and open the dialogue to get to the source of the issue, I asked her what the problem was.  She ROLLED HER EYES AT ME, and basically told me that I know nothing because I worked for IKEA.  In addition, she interuppted me, yelled at me and spoke right over me, I couldn’t get a word in edge wise.  She spoke to me as though I were 12 years old.  I have never been so insulted as a customer, but also as a person.  Not only do I have more design education then her, but I have had other work experience than IKEA.  Let’s not even get into the fact that IKEA is a world reknowned company that makes more money when they’re closed than her dinky operation  . . .

My point is that I have never received such horrific customer service and in all my experience, I have never been witness to such appalling customer service.  This is the way they run their business.  I could not imagine ever treating our customers and clients this way.  I could not even imagine treating another human being this way.  How is it possible to make it in business by insulting your clients?  It makes my blood boil that she thinks this is the way to treat people.  It makes me even more angry that there are probably people who have received this kind of treatment and just accepted it.  It is not right and they need to know it.  I am writing this for all those living in Toronto, avoid Crystal Bath for your bathroom or kitchen renovations.  This company does not recognize the investment required to have these projects done and are not sensitive to the needs of their clients.  Clearly, in their eyes, there is a fine line between being a valued customer and a criminal.

I apologize if it seems I am ranting, but I had to get this off my chest.

-V