How this company continues to win customers or clients (perhaps it doesn't?), I have no idea. I contacted the company about a small scale bathroom tile project I was embarking on. Initially, the customer service was second to none, fast response and helpful advice, perhaps if anything a little overpowering. I requested tile samples and the owner of the business was happy to provide, with no mention of 'not working with the general public' or 'not accepting private clients'. I started to receive calls multiple times during the working day, (to "check if my samples arrived safely") but when I politely demarcated my working hours and availability, the CEO (who appears to also be the chief salesperson and marketeer...) began to try aggressive pressure-selling tactics to force me to make a decision on tile choice within 2 or 3 days of the samples arriving. He told me strange things like, 'we don't normally work with the public, only trade' and 'if you don't order by tonight my accounts department will return and will not allow you to place an order as a private client' - to which I think, why are your accounts team running the business and if you don't work with private clients, you should say this immediately instead of leading them down the garden path. Perhaps others think this is a reasonable sales technique, and indeed it is ok to expect your customers to order quickly (I only needed about 5 days, because I was quite busy with work at the time). I became less and less comfortable about placing an order as the CEO dropped strange and agressive, or rude comments in his emails. I began to think about what would happen if there was a problem with the order. The products (tiles) they sell are not cheap, but I was prepared to place an order in the region of £2000-3000. I was close to ordering, when the CEO began to throw up mysteriously overpriced charges for shipping (more than £400 to deliver to a UK mainland address) which revealed that none of the tiles on offer were actually in stock here in the UK, it became apparent I was buying and paying for shipping from China, (even then the shipping was overpriced). In the end, after I pulled out of the order due to alarm bells and reading reviews that others fell victim to his pressurised sales tactics, I received verbal abuse (for example, the CEO called me 'a pathetic waste of time') and all sorts of bizarre claims. He lied about things as odd as company turnover (claiming millions in turnover, however companies house tells a different story...) and promised I would be blacklisted (from who or what, I still don't know). I have worked with incredible professionals on Houzz, and consider this particular company to be doing places like Houzz a disservice. I ended up buying beautiful tiles from a different UK stockist, and recommend Louisa Maybury for her knowledge, relaxed approach, great customer service, and above all the most beautiful tiles I have ever seen! (Search: Louisa Maybury Designs on Houzz)
Meanwhile, I sincerely hope others treat this agressive and misguided pushy salesman (Jonathan Kern) with the caution that he deserves.
[Disclaimer: As you can see I didn't make a purchase, though I did interact extensively with Shellshock and experienced their service and products firsthand. My review is based upon that alone. Who knows, once you give him loads of money, maybe the CEO becomes a pleasure to deal with and is great at resolving any problems. Somehow, I doubt it]
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