mandarin stone

[kilty55]

whats tilers opinions on the standard of stone from mandarin? have many worked or used them? i have fixed slate from them once and it was decent quality and am looking to possibly buy copper slate from them

 

[peckers]

I have had some really nice stone from there, but i think the stuff they have on promo all the time is cheaper and possibly a lower grade of stone.

 

[kilty55]

cheers pecker

 

[FacMos]

I will try their promo stuff on my next job a white marble. i let you know.

 

[kilty55]

thanks let me know your thoughts mate

 

[HomeBuilder]

I spent over £6,000 on tiles at Mandarin Stone. One of the batches of stone for my kitchen was very different from what was on display (and very different from a batch of the same stone delivered to me – judge for yourself at Review Mandarin Stone: Awful company to deal with). Unfortunately I work in London and only discovered this once the tiles were laid. I had a couple of condescending ‘lectures’ from Mandarin that I should have checked all the tiles before laying, or that my tiler should have ‘mixed’ the tiles. The tiles were so ugly I ended up tearing them up and re-laying replacements. To ‘help’, they offered a nominal discount on the tiles I had to buy as replacement – wow, nothing like making a further profit out of a problem you have created. When my builder took samples of the tiles from the two batches they delivered, five of the stockyard team immediately recognised the vast difference. However, the director and co-owner, Sam Small, said there was no real difference and it was all within the tolerance for variance in the stone, and said “I don’t care about any difference anyway”. So much for customer care – this cost me around £4,000. I would recommend paying the small amount extra to go to Porcelanosa – their service and follow-up was outstanding.

 

[Dan]

I respect what you're saying and thank you for signing up to the forum.

Stone is stone and can't be guaranteed any certain colour etc. Your tiler should have mixed the tiles, that's a given for any tile type and any tiler.

I believe tile stores should change their display tiles often to match the current batch they have in stock to be honest. Then there would be no misunderstanding as to what customers are getting.

But stone is stone and will change depending on how much time has passed since the display went up, or sample tiles were ordered.

It's perhaps not so fair to say you personally should have checked them before getting them installed. But you and / or your tiler should have perhaps had a sample tile at the location where they were being delivered so they could be checked before pulling them off the pallets / crates.

Always a hard one this and it is just unfortunate. Especially when they've been fixed. So I feel for you.

Are you sticking with them then or have you changed them to porcelanosa tiles? Your review on your blog is very short.

 

[MARBLE_TONY]

I have to say I have just scraped what I was about to write(rant) but havin a look at the two photos they do look like two different limestones would be interested to get a close up of both stones.

On the other hand I find Manderin expensive.

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

They are Tony very expensive, my trav for my wet-room is from them , and its absolutely beautiful stuff,ok there are a few pieces that have flaws /patterns, but you can add them if you like or use them for cut's IMO
i would use them again,even after i had an argument with them over getting a trade price, it was the son of one of the owners ( a twit ) but i avoided him and dealt with a salesman,in the end.

 

[Perry]

i used to use them when i had a shop they were not good on customer service but there rep left and started his own place first class he was think he is still going strong groundwork i think in hull will have a look for a link Groundwork ? Natural Stone Tiles

 

[HomeBuilder]

What was really telling was when my builder went to their main depot in Monmouth and showed two of the tiles to the guys in the yard, they immediately responded "these are from different batches". However, when one of the (arrogant) owners came out, he told my builder "they are exactly the same tile". My builder asked him - "you don't care, do you?". Amazingly he replied "Yes, I don't care".

Good luck to anyone who has anything to do with this company!! It cost me dearly.

I respect what you're saying and thank you for signing up to the forum.

Stone is stone and can't be guaranteed any certain colour etc. Your tiler should have mixed the tiles, that's a given for any tile type and any tiler.

I believe tile stores should change their display tiles often to match the current batch they have in stock to be honest. Then there would be no misunderstanding as to what customers are getting.

But stone is stone and will change depending on how much time has passed since the display went up, or sample tiles were ordered.

It's perhaps not so fair to say you personally should have checked them before getting them installed. But you and / or your tiler should have perhaps had a sample tile at the location where they were being delivered so they could be checked before pulling them off the pallets / crates.

Always a hard one this and it is just unfortunate. Especially when they've been fixed. So I feel for you.

Are you sticking with them then or have you changed them to porcelanosa tiles? Your review on your blog is very short.

 

[DHTiling]

The thing is with stone, is that you can order a container of stone and then when you run out , you order more from same supplier and depending on the stage of the dig at the quarry , then you can get varying degrees of stone shading from light to dark.. this is on an importer scale..

It is a natural product and it is part and parcel with some stones that they shade..

I cannot comment on the attitude of the owner etc having never dealt directly with them myself, just wanted to point out that newer stone batches can be different to store displays.

my stone supplier always alters his displays to match his current stock shading..

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I spent over £6,000 on tiles at Mandarin Stone. One of the batches of stone for my kitchen was very different from what was on display (and very different from a batch of the same stone delivered to me – judge for yourself at Review Mandarin Stone: Awful company to deal with). Unfortunately I work in London and only discovered this once the tiles were laid. I had a couple of condescending ‘lectures’ from Mandarin that I should have checked all the tiles before laying, or that my tiler should have ‘mixed’ the tiles. The tiles were so ugly I ended up tearing them up and re-laying replacements. To ‘help’, they offered a nominal discount on the tiles I had to buy as replacement – wow, nothing like making a further profit out of a problem you have created. When my builder took samples of the tiles from the two batches they delivered, five of the stockyard team immediately recognised the vast difference. However, the director and co-owner, Sam Small, said there was no real difference and it was all within the tolerance for variance in the stone, and said “I don’t care about any difference anyway”. So much for customer care – this cost me around £4,000. I would recommend paying the small amount extra to go to Porcelanosa – their service and follow-up was outstanding.

It would seem that you only added to this thread to make an attack on a company that you have had some dealings with, and even from your own post, I believe it to be vindictive for what is certainly a fault created by your own contractor.
It is one of the first procedures by any experienced tradesman to check the quality and colour of any product, and by fixing it you have accepted the product at that stage is to your liking and as it is clearly stated in all suppliers terms and conditions their 'condescending lectures' are in fact just stating the obvious.
That said, customer relations have never been their strong point and we stopped using them direct some 20+ years ago.