Kohler Signature Store by Studio41

The Kohler Studio 41 showroom and outlet in Naperville are quite impressive. Yet, after our recent experience, one wonders how this store can stay in business. The one thing successful businesses have in common is having a strong customer focus. Unfortunately, many companies lose sight of those who matter most: their customers. We experienced not only a sufficient lack of product knowledge and design expertise but also the inability to put the customer first. We received nebulous responses (especially concerning when orders were to be delivered, if ever). Initially, we sought information on our bathroom remodel which was addressed succinctly by the salesman. Therefore, we set an appointment to talk further about all the details before we ordered. On that day, we were perplexed to learn that he had apparently forgotten about the appointment and was instead helping others. After waiting patiently for him to finish, we had an unproductive meeting which was continually interrupted by phones ringing and other customers with concerns. No wonder the salesman was noticeably stressed and befuddled since the showroom had been understaffed to just two people on a Saturday afternoon. After another unproductive meeting, the salesman redirected us to the outlet which also proved to be a waste of our time. Although he promised to provide further information to us the next week, that never materialized. As a result of this debacle, we have decided to take our business and go elsewhere—never to return to Kohler Studio 41 in Naperville.

We decided to renovate our bathroom during spring, 2012. We worked with Kohler on design and ordering materials. The decision to utilize Kohler was a huge mistake. I?m not sure if they are incompetent or dishonest. Maybe it?s a combination of the two. Some of the details:
1.     Materials ordered in early spring and delivered during May. Contractor shows up on June 4 to begin work. It was then that we
learned that they ?forgot? to deliver some parts. But don?t worry. They should be there in a couple of weeks. We need to take the initiative to find the parts and drive to pick them up to allow work to begin on time. The people from Kohler were totally indifferent to whether they were delivered or not. They offer no assistance, even though it is a Kohler part that is missing.
2.    They changed the tub that we ordered without discussion. This resulted in our needing to return the tub delivered. No real
explanation as to why. An indifferent response again.
3.     The wrong tile is ordered. We had selected a deep gray. They delivered French vanilla. Not even close. This time they
apologized. However, ordering the right tile would take 6 weeks since it is on back order. We want the right tile so the contractors are pulled off the job again.
4.     2 months later we receive the right tile. This time they forgot to deliver the trim tile. We learn this when the contractor is
back to install. Now we are faced with the decision to pull them off the job again or go with the wrong tile. We can?t delay any longer (2 week project is now in its 3rd month.) We install the wrong trim, which bothers me every day.
5.    Our little remodeling project is finally completed in October, 4 months after it began. In December I receive a note from Kohler saying they believe they have undercharged us and plan to charge our credit card to make up the difference. No explanation. The total charges above our original agreement would be $2,500, not counting the extra charges from the contractor.
At no time did Kohler take responsibility for this fiasco. The indifference and incompetence is amazing to me. Avoid these idiots at all costs.

Overall, the experience went well. I'm very pleased with the faucet. I like their brand of water faucets. The sales rep had to order this for me, and it took awhile for me to receive any email messages from her. Also, I had to go pick up the faucet from another company.

Love the showroom! They have everything displayed so beautifully. We knew what we wanted, and we got a printout of the entire order in just a few minutes. The only problem was with follow-up - several things needed to be exchanged and it was an effort to get all the lines to connect. However, we will probably go directly to Kohler again if we need products, rather than buying online. It is very nice to be able to see things in context and to talk to a designer about the products.

Horrible customer service! After spending $10,000 in their store, they basically washed their hands of us. We have not gotten one phone call to tell us that a particular product is on back order...and when we call to find out where something is (after receiving an incomplete shipment), we are either put into voice mail (which - when we leave them - are not returned EVER), spoken rude to (our sales representative Stacy told us that she cannot help us find our products, its an administrators job), or told that someone will get back to us and they never do.

We were extremely disappointed with the service. After three meetings, we received only the most basic of floor plans. The design work was done by an intern who never met with us and never seemed to be around to make adjustments. Our primary contact was not organized and repeatedly needed me to remind her what fixtures we wanted. (The three meetings weren't because we were getting thorough assistance, but rather because she was never prepared.) The contractor that we were referred to doesn't even do bathrooms. He referred us to Angie's List, which was the only good part of the entire experience. Basically, we spent $250, which we can apply to overpriced fixtures, and received only the most basic of plans that a contractor could do just as easily. That, in fact, I could do myself just as easily.

We had an excellent experience working with designers at The KOHLER Store. They were extremely knowledgeable and were able to assist us with the complete remodel of our bathroom. We used their design services and then purchased all products through them (toilet, shower, tile, tub, vanity, and mirror). The KOHLER Store offers different types of project support, depending on what you'd like done. We utilized their in-home consultation services and were very pleased with the outcome.