I wouldn't set tile before my tops were in if I could avoid it.

Staying tuned to see how they handle this; I hope to order from them in the future.

That is going to be stunning! good luck with them...

Yesterday she first told me it shouldn't take the original full lead time of 6-7 weeks but a "few weeks" to which I said that is unacceptable and I have my tile installation scheduled to start June 7. She gave me a line about it being hand painted which obviously I'm fully aware they are hand painted but we're talking 4 tiles, not a huge order. She then said she would have to follow up with production and get back to me in the AM. They are west coast time and I am east coast, so I gave it until 4pm est and called. It went to the voicemail of my CS rep. I then received this message from her.

I really need the answer to be...."we are re-making the tile TODAY and will expedite the shipment to you as soon as it's fired." I get it, it's hand made, but it's 4 tile that according to their "how we make our hand painted tile" video- should take all of 30 minutes for someone to wax press and squirt the colors on. The CS rep seemed shocked and almost like she did not believe that I received tiles painted in error. Then she looked at my photos and seemed like she didn't know what to say. So is this that much of a rarity? Their website gives no guarantees on lead times and leaves open the possibility that your order could take longer than even they tell you, but no where on their website does it say anything about- if we send you the wrong tile we will......
They reference breakage in shipping but not errors made by them. I am giving her until tomorrow morning to give me a clear cut time frame and if it is not immediately, I will escalate. If they absolutely refuse to correct their mistake within in a timely manner, I will expect compensation.

I wouldn't set tile before my tops were in if I could avoid it.

Joe- countertops are going in on Friday, June 2, tile is scheduled for June 7.

Take a deep breath. It'll be fine! You are dealing with Fireclay and they will make it right.

That tile is absolutely beautiful. I can understand why you're upset over the four tiles being wrong.

Is there any chance you can delay tile setting? June 7 is only 6 days away. Even if they put a rush on your tile, what if it takes 8 or 10 days instead? What if, horror of horrors, something happens to the tile during shipment?

Stuff happens. It would be good to have a backup schedule just in case. The tile is too beautiful not to allow it all to arrive.

I agree with Linelle..I also don't believe many people would be able to sit through a probably much longer video about how they glaze the tile and dry the tile and whatever else they need to do to have a finished tile..:)

It's probably like a big kitchen there: "I need that kiln(or the press or whatever) right now!"-"no, I'm using the kiln!! I'm first in line!!" It's, like, all places of work just probably still better organized than most.

Don't worry..I know it's upsetting mistake like these when you put so much money and energy and wait for so long..but it will be solved, the tile will arrive, and it will be amazing.

Lack of a splash is an inconvenience, but it hardly stops the job. You could have a perfectly fine functional kitchen and have this tile installed six months from now. Let's keep perspective here, please.

Pretty tile! I guess I'm not understanding what the problem is to wait for the correct tile? Yes it's sucks it happened but if it were me and I wanted it bad enough I'd wait til Christmas if I need to! ;) maybe you are disappointed because you had a big home event planned? I always ask myself "how bad do you want it?" That will help ... then you will either wait or plan B. Good luck! Love your choices. Very classy.

I'm re-evaluating how I'm laying out the tile and if I rework it, I may not need the extra tiles. They can refund me the $200. No response from Fireclay today as of now.

I realize no backsplash is just an inconvenience yet there are several reasons why I am frustrated. I put money down to reserve the tile layer for next week. If I don't use him then, he has no opening in the schedule until the fall. I could try to find someone else but there is no guarantee anyone could do it in a short timeframe and I've already spent much time finding someone qualified. We are hosting multiple parties and guests this summer and my plan was to have the kitchen complete. I was in frequent communication with Fireclay regarding the processing times to ensure I would receive it timely. And lastly and most frustrating is that our kitchen is scheduled to be photographed as a feature in a local home magazine which features home remodels and local companies. Not sure what will happen with this. Hopefully my new layout will work out.

The best laid plans...

If you like the new layout as much as or more than the old one, then it's a good move. Otherwise, you'll be living with it a long time.

Without the 4 tiles, do you have just enough to complete the design? Will any cuts need to be made? Any contingency for "oops, lady, I just dropped a tile, and I'm so sorry"?

It doesn't help with the other frustrations; but if your tile person moves up other jobs, you get the spot open that the "moved-up" jobs had. You will not have to wait until fall for an opening. That is done all the time in the trades.

My kitchen was finished just before last Thanksgiving and I'm still without a backsplash. It took me forever to pick a tile, then there was an 8 week lead time. The kitchen has functioned just fine without it, though to me it looks unfinished. It will finally go in at the end of this month!

I know I'm not typical, but I'd use the 2 tiles with the inverted colors the same way that Amish quilts contain an intentional error. I'd place them carefully not to hide them but I would not center either error.

thank you for the suggestion rantontoo- I have talked with him and he is seeing what he could do, at the moment it's not looking like it could be before August.

lisaam- I actually considered this but I laid them all out today and the error is so obvious and not the look I'm going for. Thank you for thinking of a solution!

I do actually like the new idea I'm considering, I'm waiting to hear back from my cabinet maker regarding some corbels and trim. This plan actually solves two problems. If I go with this layout, I will have 1 extra tile and no tiles will need to be cut. So barring one being dropped, they shouldn't get damaged.

Fireclay did not get in touch with me today via phone or email which adds to my frustration. Yesterday, after telling me this is a top priority for her, she said she would be in touch with me today with "more specific news". Absolutely unacceptable for someone to not follow up with me at all.

kooopons - I just now studied your 'correct coloring' image - YIKES what a difference!

Can the kitchen photography be moved out? That would be my first phone call.

Big breath, please - yes, you would like everything completed now for X event(s), but .... a year from now, everyone can come back and compliment you on how wonderful everything looks. You selected Fireclay for a reason, please give them the time to address the production issue you've identified.

I'm assuming the company is reeling - um - addressing the recent move away from glass tiles, so that may well be the reason for the lack of response. Rosa was my consultant too (this forum (ahem, EAMS)) helped more than she did, to be honest. Still, I found her very responsive.

I know you're very good at photoshopping, but if I can help... glad to. (Away this weekend, though).

I had to study Koopons tile picture for a long time before I could spot the differences between the right and wrong tiles. Maybe the differences are more obvious in person?

Thanks OB2B. Not sure on the photography. They have already been here once to take progress photos. This is for November issue and there are three kitchens being featured. I believe they have to have everything done by sometime in July as they work months ahead. I left a message but their office is closed until next week.

She is confusing, had practically zero guidance on coloring, patterns or layout. She was so dumb struck when I called regarding their error that she didn't even know what to say or do. And don't tell me this is a top priority and you will get back to me on a specific day and then not do it. Not impressed at all with them or their customer service. This is a shame as we're planning our master bath and I was going to redo a fireplace surround.

Mtnmom9- it's blaringly, blatantly obvious in person

Gotcha, I figured there was more behind your rant. I would be frustrated too :( sorry that happened. I saw the difference right away in your pics. It definitely needs to be corrected. She didn't call...you call her. Today! Explain the situation nicely (maybe not the parties part, but I would mention the magazine feature especially if there company name will be mentioned!) and if you don't get dates for the redo in the time you expect by pass Rosa and ask to speak to her manager. Be persistent. Is there another company that sells an off the shelf version or another company that could get it done quick? I would explore those options too. It will all work out :) Let us know what you come up with.

She probably took the day/week off. Everything is on hold until she gets back. She has no back up person to fill in for her. That would be my assumption as to why she hasn't gotten back with you. Frustrating!

It is unfortunate that someone's first and last name is mentioned here along with her phone number. Would you consider editing to remove this personal information? We have no idea what's going on at the company. She is an employee not an executive or owner.

I am not sure if this is an option but maybe you can proceed with the installation date. If the new ones don't arrive in time, use the incorrect tiles and just double tape them in place instead of thin setting them?

When the correct ones arrive, pull them off and install the correct ones? That would allow the install to proceed and the tile could be grouted later as grout really only takes an hour/hour and half (at least thats what my showers were when I did them).

This may not work with handmade tiles though, not sure of how exact the sizing is between tiles.

No she was not out of the office, I did call, I left messages and spoke with another CS rep who informed me she was on a call. This was several hours before their business hours ended. They have been open today for 1 hour and still no information.

I looked back at when I ordered a hand painted sample from them. This was a sample where I picked the colors and pattern and they made it to my specifications. I placed my order and had my sample in 2 weeks- not that this fits within my timeline now, but 4 tile is not much different than 1. I would expect their turn around should be no longer than that at maximum.

cleo07- thank you for the suggestion- We have been going over and over the tile layout trying to come up with a way to make it work with what we have. While possibly temporarily using the wrong tile as a place holder could help- if the right tile doesn't come for weeks, it's not really helping with several of my problems. One other hitch in the plan is that the tile setter is on vacation for a few weeks in July so between that and his schedule being full, it's a mess.

Received new tile today, after a shipping error on their part, and 2 of the 4 new tiles are painted wrong. The incompetence from Fireclay is so disappointing.

The original 4 and the 2 new tiles that are colored incorrectly. My tile installer is finished with exception of this wall and was here today and actually hung one of them- which is why it was cut- and noticed the pattern did not match.

We are moving forward with a different layout as I cannot continue to wait on them to do their jobs correctly.

I'm sure the different layout will be beautiful. I'm sorry this has been so poorly handled.

What a disappointment! Sounds like the company has grown too fast and the problem starts at the top with the CEO.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Fireclay-Tile-Reviews-E848900.htm

Mayflowers- I had read those before, interesting. I'm waiting to hear how they are going to compensate me.

The tile is beautiful, but the experience has been frustrating. I'm ending up with a different plan than originally thought and hope it works out. I think we're in plan E. I had to get some border tile from Lowes (can you believe that!) and hope it meshes well. It's going in as I type. This is from right now. One good thing, the color matches nicely with the island. They are putting my walnut island top on last. I have to decide on corbels or no corbels once the tile is in

Omg they screwed it up again?! Unbelievable! You would think they would be overly careful knowing the situation and almost hand delivering the correct ones! Geez! so sorry that happened. I do see the difference in your close up pic above but if it's any consolation the tiles you've had installed look very nice and yes so nice with your island. When we focus on the little details it can make us crazy and almost be consuming. I'm not excusing the incompetence of company ...that's unacceptable. But when you look at your project as a whole it's pretty nice :)

That tile is so beautiful. What a pity.

Your kitchen looks FABULOUS!! What a treat to get a peek at it :) Love the cabinetry and especially the trimwork. I'm so sorry for the problems you've had with the tile, but it looks perfect and I'm dying for a closer look. Do you just stand in front of it and smile goofily? (You should!)

Kooopons, thanks for sharing your tale of woe. I've been considering one of their hand-painted custom tiles as an accent and I'm now reconsidering. I would be a fantastic mess if I was in your shoes.

Nevertheless, your kitchen does look fabulous.

What subway tile did you use (manufacturer and color)?

barncatz- originally I was going to fill more space- from cabinet to cabinet with the decorative. Instead we used subway around it which meant that the top and bottom row needed to be cut a little more than I would have liked so that there would be enough room for subway to run around. When we laid it out without subway above or below and just on the sides, it did not look balanced. Since I wasn't going cabinet to cabinet, I wanted to find a trim piece to frame it out and managed to find something at Lowes that coordinates well enough. Since we confined it to a smaller space- centering the center tile would have meant more limited view of the medallion portions of the tiles as they would have been nearly cut in half on the top and bottom rows so we centered it differently than I originally intended.

These are the trim pieces I found at Lowes.

Thanks OB2B

salex- I am not sure how often they screw up- wouldn't it be something if it was almost never yet have done so multiple times for our order! They not only messed up the tile, but the shipping as well (supposedly shipped but it never updated tracking, days later I inquired and here it never actually shipped).

The subway is Fireclay as well- in Tusk. BUT....I ordered bull nose pieces for the ends and they are colored much more opaquely than the subway. Now that the grout it going in, it is very apparent. This is disappointing as there is no way to vary or mix in random pieces because we had to use the bull nose where we needed the bull nose and they are all opaque where as the regular tiles are all more lightly coated in glaze.

You can see what I mean on these photos. It is most apparent on the 2 ends where the bull nose was used the whole way up. The other 2 spots only use one piece of bull nose at the corners.

That's it. Two days ago, before I had received the wrong tile again, she offered me a 15% refund because of the original error AND the shipping mess up, yet I still haven't received that refund. Now I don't think that is adequate as I received the wrong tile again and this is tile that I've paid for and told them to just forget it and quit trying to make it.

I'm going to send them photos of these bull nose and while I'm going to embrace the coloring difference, I don't think it should be this stark or apparent when there is no way to blend it in. Tusk is supposed to be one of their least variable tiles in terms of coloring consistency.

Geez I think the bullnose and regular tile color mis match is more apparent than the patterned tile error! Can it be taken off after the magazine shoot?

I suppose it could be torn out and re-done. Not sure what is happening with the home magazine. Based on our being unsure if we would be completed in time, they were pursuing other options and could use us in a later issue .

I emailed Fireclay with photos. I can't imagine this is within acceptable variances for color range when every regular tile does not have this opaque of a coloring. I'm wondering if the regular tile was done too lightly or if the bull nose was done too heavily- either way, they were not done the same.

I was looking at photos before grout and while the opaqueness of the bull nose was visible, it seems to have become more obvious with the grout. And a few of the half tiles mixed in were from other halves of the bullnose so they look different too. I'm so emotionally spent from tile. And I thought choosing it was the hardest part :(

Kooopons when I saw the pics of the subway and bullnose tile the first thing I thought was that I would have passed on the the magazine shoot to wait for all matching tiles. Again I don't know all what you have planned, but your kitchen is long term thing. I'm glad there is an option for a later date with the magazine:) If that is true I would slow down and get this right. I'm sure you are at wits end. I'm mad and it's not my kitchen. I would be raging! I'm glad you emailed the co. I would see what they say, but I wouldn't let them off hook which I don't think you will. The tiles need to match. Period. See What are they going to do? Looks like the easiest is take the bullnose off and match the regular subway tiles. Ask if they need you send one of the subway tiles you have to match the bullnose correctly? Whatever it takes. Take a deep breath. It will all work out in time. as far as compensation they need to do something about that! I would figure out what's fair to you and explain you've paid for errors in two different tiles and labor on tiles installed that you thought were correct. Good luck! Keep us posted!

How about this response! My only concern is how are they going to match the bull nose to my field tile. I would prefer sending them the field tile yet he says we will get those into production asap, doubtful that means today and guess I'll discuss tomorrow. My thought is that the field tile was done incorrectly and the bull nose is how it should be. I'm obviously pleased with the response and refund, but this whole experience was disappointing, especially now that this has to be removed and redone.

Perfect and as I would expect. I agree getting them to match could be tricky unless you send one or the other to match. I was just thinking it would be the easiest to just take off the bullnose ends no? But if you don't like the field tile then nows the time to get it right! I actually prefer the bullnose color with your cabinets but really can't say because I'm looking at it on a screen ... get what you want and if it's taking down all the field tile too do it. I think based on what you've been through when you speak to him express again the concern of both matching and maybe suggest at this point you think it might be best to start over and have all field tile and bullnose be reproduced together and inspected together for accuracy prior to shipping. Your doing great! :)

MaWizz- I can't even go through tearing the entire thing out and starting over. I do like the field tile and thesheerness of the glaze makes some of them appear a bit gray which ties in with the gray running through my countertops. I dropped my phone in the pool and it's taking grainy photos now, but you can see a finished corner of backsplash with the countertops.

Even among those there is variation, but none as stark as the bull nose tile which stand out very much so here.

Now unfortunately there were half tile used alongside the decorative that were other halves of the bullnose. I know popping off the bullnose should be doable- with possible damage to the drywall, but not sure if I'm just going to leave these halves near the decorative or try to have them replaced too.

I spoke with the Fireclay CEO this morning and they are sending me a shipping label to send them some field tile. It sounds as if he knows what happened and felt confident they could make the bullnose without me shipping some back, but I'm going to do it anyways. He also informed me they are working on process changes within the company and my tales of woe are being used as a case study.

Oh and kitchen is completely done with the exception of electric- which is killing me because I could be actually using it but electricians can't get here until Monday!

I hear you. I like the sheerness of the field tile too now that I see the grey in the counter top. They seem to have more dimension. And from a distance gives a beautiful ever so soft contrast to the cabinet color. I see what you mean about the half tiles by the decorative section but in the pic it only looks like maybe 3 on the left but hard to tell on my screen. If it's possible to take off tiles that are not what you want do it. Otherwise I think it might always bug you. Glad to hear they are listening and working with you now to get it right :) Good for you to be done! Monday will be here before you know it :)

Oh it's never good to be the case study. I'm glad they are willing to man up, as it were, but if replacing the bullnose, having that tile pulled down etc... is not what you want, don't do it. Take some time, think about it, do what's best for you.

I absolutely see the bullnose glaze difference. I don't mind it one bit. I think it looks kind of great, as if it's saying, "entryway here." See how you feel about it in a week. At any rate, it is nice to know you have options.

Oh dear, what a headache but it's so lovely. Are you happy with your medallions? I think they are among the loveliest I've ever seen.

My two cents: I'd wait for lights for sure to decide on the tile next to the medallions, but I'd pull the bullnose by the door if it were my kitchen.

First, your kitchen is gorgeous! And that tusk tile is beautiful! I have looked at that tile for my remodel and I do think I will order it for a bathroom, seeing it in your kitchen.

Second, I am really glad fireclay came through. Reading your experience, I became alarmed, as I am getting ready to order a VERY large amount of fireclay tile (one very large bathroom including walls, one pantry, one kitchen backsplash, 3 guest baths, one fireplace), including custom made colored tile. I was beginning to think this is something to reconsider. I am relieved seeing that they came through in the end.

Thanks for posting your experience.

It's gorgeous.

I'm happy to hear Fireclay intends to do the right thing.

I'd wait too and see whether it bugs you still..you might find your reaction changing to very different as the time goes by

I definitely see the difference..would it bug me? I don't know. Would it bug me to the extent of changing it? Don't know either. Might be not. It's your call..just give it some time

Another thing..it might be that you'd put some jar or whatever with your cooking utensils there anyway..whatever bothers you when you concentrate on it only, fades away when there are other things around.

It'd drive me crazy too, this mess up thing..yet it is still wonderful, in the end of the day.

Always a good idea to send samples of the tiles you have already for when you order more. Actually we were advised by our sales person(wasn't Fireclay though..went with Ann Sacks) to do exactly that..since it's custom..so every time we needed some more( there were several..remodel issues lol)..she always sent one of the tiles to them even though the tile wasn't patterned. I must say she was pretty amazing at her job..I'll always remember her as one of the best sales people I ever dealt with (and other services too..I tend to remember people that highly impress me for years and years, even if I saw them for 10 min total..and she had to bear with us for months and months..))

I just ordered tusk and because of your thread here I’m just going with a Schluter trim. Can you tell me what paint colors and counter you selected? I’ve had a hard time narrowing it down to match my samples

I am SO inspired by your kitchen!!!! Could you post pictures of the final result? What materials are the countertops? Cabinet & island colors? Where do you purchase tusk tips?

Tusk tile?