Why can't your tile guy just cut/pull the tiles off the mesh and then lay them in the herringbone pattern? Your tile store guy sounds like he doesn't know his product. If you want the herringbone, stick with that.

He told me that they are stuck to the mesh pretty good and that many of them might break in the process. This is the store guy talking, not my installer. He might tell me no big deal. Just haven't talked to him yet.

Just cut them mesh and all into individual tiles. NO?

I agree. If the store is telling you you HAVE to do it their way, I'd say it's time to find a different store. If they're that unimaginative that they can't figure a way around the mesh mounting (which isn't all that difficult as you've seen just from the replies here), then they can't be all that interested in the work.

SSSSSSSSEEYA!!

Next!!

I like the cut the mesh idea - maybe you can offer to cut it since it would be time consuming. Listen to BILL!