Import Tile Company

Buyer beware!!! No returns to buyer!!! Deceptive business practices! They claim to have a return policy but they really don’t! Sneaky! Stinky! Nice staff, showroom and selection but when ordering tile the rule is to order a little more than needed (to account for variations and broken tiles). Import Tile Co.‘s receipt said «No returns after 60 days. 20% Restock charge on all returned materials.» Ok I understand /​accept that — sounds reasonable. But on the back of the receipt, in light print, it says «Returned goods purchased under contractors account are credited to the contractors account for future purchase. This includes goods that were paid for by their client’s funds.» They give the contractor a credit with your money. Why not credit the person who paid for it?

We had a fantastic experience working with Billie Mendoza at Import Tile. We walked in and Billie greeted us right away. Our contractor had recommended that we take a look at Walker Zanger and Import Tile. We started at Walker Zanger and it was a completely unimpressive visit. The sales people barely greeted us and it was difficult to look at tiles that were mounted on boards.
Import Tile was a totally different experience. The selection was incredible and it was fun to walk through the showroom. The tiles were easy to view and they had boards that came off the wall so you could see how floors would coordinate with walls. You could also bring tile samples home so you could see how they would look. We had very vague ideas about what we were looking for and Billie spent so much time with us, making recommendations and honing in on our likes to build rooms that would work well throughout our entire house. Billie truly cared about our project and pointed out pros and cons of selections and how they worked together. We are ecstatic about all of the tile purchases for our new home that we made from Import Tile. Billie is the best!!!

Very friendly and professional service by Stacey who helped us work out how many tiles we needed for our kitchen. A great selection of Mexican tiles and ideas on patterns to create. We were welcomed as soon as we walked in, and that is so different than our experience at Walker Zanger. We were never even acknowledged, not a hello or even to tell us they sell only to the trade. Guess we weren’t wearing the right designer clothing. Shop at Import Tile — they are nice, helpful, and have a fabulous selection.

Excellent place for tile. Great selection, great quality and service. We are developers and these are our go to guys.

Really truly the best selection

I had outstanding help from Maricela Espino at Import Tile! She helped me elaborate my basic kitchen remodel ideas and gave me great suggestions for improvement. I also was surprised to get a good price for beautiful Italian tile that they had in stock. No waiting for weeks. Very happy!

If i could give 0 star rating i would! Had 2 bathrooms gutted and remodeled in 2012. Selected the white subway tile. There are cracks all over the tiles now and have to re do the showers again with brand new tile that I have to pay for! Import tile said it is considered «crazing» which they said was disclosed on the receipt so they will NOT take responsibility. This has been a complete nightmare! almost 3 years later and still trying to work with my contractor to get the work done! Stay away!

Excellent place for tile. A great selection, friendly and helpful staff.
This is true even for small orders.
I only needed two 16×20 tiles, they had a selection of 20×20s. A hard to find size. They let me use their tile saw to cut them down, with no charge. Lesson and loaner goggles included. Ain’t gonna happen at the megabox stores, which didn’t have the size to begin with.
Definitely would put them at the top of the list. Good to find this kind of service.

I hardly write a review but my experience at the store warrants One. I Stopped by to get a some metal trims for some of my bathroom tiles. The young woman works in the counter was not only rude but so incapable. She is so stupid that she has no knowledge when I ask about the different trims available. All she did was put the sample of the trims that were attached on a board in front of me and asked me which one I want. May be that is why she has a low paying job as a cashier with a terrible attitude. If I am the owner, I would have fired her… she is bad for the business.

It’s very sad when just one less-​than-​stellar employee can ruin a company’s reputation (almost!). We’ve ordered tile from them before and it has always been a great experience… but not during our most recent attempt. The sales lady seemed to «pre-​qualify» us as NOT worthy of her time and sent us home without taking our order. Not the way to treat customers.

I have always been impressed with the quality and selection of natural stone and ceramic tiles. I have shopped there for 22 years. But… MARICELA WAS AMAZING!!!
I came in with a rough sketch of a kitchen counter and rough ideas for a master bath remodel.
It was as though she could read my mind and pointed me to exquisite materials that were perfect for my application.
I felt she was my partner in helping me solve every issue with style and budget in mind.
I will NEVER go anywhere else!

Nothing «Meh» about this store. There were things I loved and things that really annoyed me.
Project:
I did one large bathroom project. This involved 3 visits to the store. The finished product is something I’m very happy with.
Ambiance:
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed just walking around the store and enjoying the beautiful collection of tile. I was first there on a Saturday morning and there was a notable level of chaos at the very busy store. The store is very close to the freeway, so driving there is pretty easy.
Customer Service:
I got very good quality, knowledgeably customer service after a significant wait on that first visit where everything I was interested in was talked over, priced and inventory checked. Later trips to the store yielded wildly different levels of customer service. The only woman at the customer service desk next visit was clearly on the phone with her BF and did not engage me or even ask me to wait a minute, even though I was the only one there. The guy who helped me later on clearly tried to be helpful but needed some updated computer training.
Restocking Fee (mini-​rant):
One of my major dings comes from the fact that they told me I could return extra tile that didn’t get used for the project, so long as it was in pristine condition. The otherwise excellent tile installer that they recommended over estimated the quantity needed, so I had a couple of extra boxes of tiles at the end of the project. What was not clearly spelled out was that they have a 20% restocking fee. It’s a pet peeve. It really that much money, but the idea that I have to pay them ¹⁄₅ the value of tile they sold me only days ago for 5 minutes of their time to drive it back to their storage bay just rubs me the wrong way customer service-​wise. The surprise factor qualified this as a solid con on this point.
Overall:
Overall I’m thrilled with the final product made with their tiles. I haven’t seen exactly what I got anywhere else I’ve been to. If I’d wanted a simpler product, perhaps It wouldn’t be worth a longer drive. The customer service ranged from Excellent and highly skilled to terrible and/​or incompetent in just 3 visits.
One Bit of Advice:
Don’t ever lose the original bid they give you. It has a number on that piece of paper and the less skilled staff can’t seem to help you with anything with our that number. I started out wanting one thing and my final project looked a little different, so I needed to refer to that number multiple times and some staff seemed to be unable to help me without it.

Doing a kitchen remodel requires three things: good
materials, good prices, and good people. After looking
all over the Bay Area, my wife and I found Import
Tile. They had what we needed in all departments.
They have a huge selection of tiles from all over the world
clearly presented in their showroom. Their tiles were
affordably priced and mostly available for immediate pick
up. The staff was the main thing though — they were really
helpful. When I consulted with Jerry, he talked us out of
some choices that would have been mistakes. Tom expedited
our order so it was easy. Bill recommended a guy to
install who did a fine job.
We ended up getting a great countertop that everyone loves.

See that picture with the inset shower box with the Arabesque tiles bordered in turquoise? I wanted that EXACTLY in my shower. Went to Import Tile, asked the kind gal at the counter how to make it a reality, and BOOM. Two months later I have that in my shower. Couldn’t be happier.

Great selection of tiles, employees are really knowledgeable, I recommend this place to anyone doing work in their house.

Very unprofessional-​avoid this store.
I went into the store one morning, with hopes of finding some tile for my bathroom shower. I had in mind a few ideas and was hoping somebody would give me some input and help me make a final decision. I approached the woman at the counter, who was socializing with coworkers, laughing, and drinking coffee. When I asked her if they had anything similar to some photos that I showed her, she’s just looked at me with a blank stare and said «no we don’t». She barely looked at the photos.
I was puzzled how she would have an answer for me so quickly, without giving it any thought, and without really looking at the photos. She did not want to suggest anything similar, and seem to be eager to get back to her other conversation with coworkers. I asked her if she could help me find something similar in the store or something that could be used in our shower. I wanted to take a look at their selection. She just gave me a blank stare, and just gestured with her hand loosely in the direction of another part of the store. She said «you can look over there if you want to.“I asked her if she would come and show me some things that might be right for my shower.
She said «honestly, what you want is not something that we would ever carry.»
This puzzled me as well as I was not looking for anything too far out of the ordinary. The only explanation I could think of is that she wanted to get rid of me quickly so that she could get back to her coffee and chit chat.
No one else seemed interested in helping me either. They were high fiving each other and seemed to be discussing sports.

Needless to say renovating a home can be extremely hectic, especially if its not something that one does for a living, Save yourself a lot of aggravation and go see Tom at import tile in Berkeley, every granite and tile company that I went to was very short rude and seemed like they didn’t need my business, meeting Tom was very refreshing, he took his time and answered every question honestly, he educated me and also patiently answered my wife’s questions in a manner that we could understand, I was relieved surprised and very grateful that I met him, I assure you that in the future if I need anything that is where I’m going and I will tell anyone that will listen. THEY ARE PHENOMENAL…

Terrible customer service. Avoid!
We are in the final planning stages of remodeling two bathrooms. We had heard that Import Tile had a good selection and visited it in the hopes of making a final decision.
I arrived at the store in the morning and the employees were sitting behind the counter drinking coffee with no acknowledgement of my presence at all. Finally, I approached a woman who worked there with a few questions.
She seemed irritated from the get-​go, with a negative and dismissive tone. Instead of helping me with ideas, she basically told me that they did not have what I was looking for, and implied that i should go elsewhere… and that is exactly what I will be doing.
We are lucky to have plenty of home improvement options in the East Bay and Import Tile in Berkeley would do well to realize that.
Not recommended.

To start, the selection and prices here are great. Lots of options, and fair prices. Tom was very helpful and insightful while helping finalize the tile and measurements for my bathroom project.
There was one style of tile that was not in stock, and though it was a somewhat difficult/​annoying process to get the tile from another one of their vendors, everyone at Import Tile was extremely helpful, and worked hard to make sure I got what I needed/​ordered.
To me customer service can make or break a business. Due to the great service Tom and the team gave me I will definitely be back to Import Tile when it’s time for my next project.

My experience with this tile shop was positive. There was two woman and a gentleman that helped me find the perfect marble for my bathroom remodel. This place is certainly not the cheapest but they have a nice selection. I ended up buying my marble from here and it is beautiful!