EXPO DESIGN CTR

I visited Home Expo and was told if I purchased a $750.00 multi-room agreement I would have the help of a designer and upon buying items at the store totaling $5,000.00 the $750 would become part of the $5,000. I met with the designer and she and the contractor came to my home took measurements, pictures, etc. As they left I asked "What is our next move?" to which Paula, the designer, said she would go back get some ideas together, the contractor would make an estimate. She would give me a call and we would all meet at the store for a presentation. 9 weeks passed and no word. I checked the small print on the agreement and saw I had to purchase my bathroom items within 3 months. I called Robin, the person who sold me the agreement and asked "What's going on?". She put me on hold and contacted Paula who "just happened" to be in a meeting. Robin asked what she could do to make things right. I said "cancel the agreement and reimburse me." Which she did. Horrible business ethics!

They kept having delays. We had to pay them up front after they had already jacked up their initial estimate. We called them several times, but they were unresponsive. This should have been done in 6 weeks rather than 18 months. We never had an apology from them. We did complain and finally did get a little of our money back. Another bad thing is that our drain is off center.

The salespeople at Expo were excellent to work with. They let us take home the sample books and made suggestions to help save money. They man who measured the windows came early (called 1st), and did the job well including advising on some options for other windows. The problems were with the ordering process which has to go through the Atland HQ of Home Depot. We had the order placed and cancelled and then mis-ordered the next time with a total of about 12 calls from the local store and the HQ to reconcile the differences. We were amazed when the right blinds actually came in.

Our experience with the installation process was a nightmare. Expo tried to use a sub-contractor who was not qualified for the job, which made the experience several weeks longer than it should have been (over 4 weeks to get everything done) and caused us to be without appliances and also to miss a lot of work having to meet various people at our house, visit the store and make calls. It also does not help that the process is managed out of Atlanta and no one at the local store where the purchase was made seemed to have any power or interest in getting involved. We had to contact regional management and the corporate office in Atlanta to get resolution. This is the second time we have had this experience, the first was with granite installation and a whole different set of contractors. That was 2 years ago and the process has not improved, so lesson learned, it was definitely our last time to use them for any type of service.

I used EXPO because they were the cheapest soapstone provider I could find that sold and installed. From the onset, their salespeople were unfamiliar with this product. For example, I purchased a soapstone sink that I saw in store literature, and had to insist to the sales person I dealt that this was and option. The contractor they sent out to measure my countertops initially insisted on using a 1 1/4 in. overhang, which was too much given that my cabinet doors were inset. Luckily my cabinet man was at the house and noticed this and corrected him. The installer presumed a square back splash based on measuring one side of my kitchen. Given that I live in an older home (which isn't square) I have visible gaps where the back splash meets my windows. The installer didn't seem familiar with the product. They were sloppy in applying resin to cover their seams and had to be called back out to repair. They also didn't caulk where the countertop meets the walls or cabinets.

Expo Design Center was great! They did their work in a timely manner and were very professional. They gave us some estimates that were close to the actual cost, so that was also a plus. I'll be using them again for other work.

Expo Design is a good company. They came in and did the job in a short time. They are professional and courteous. They left my kitchen as clean as it was before they arrived. I was not inconvenienced at all.

I had no problems whatsoever with Expo Design. They were timely and did an excellent job. I would refer them to others.

Expo Design Center did an excellent job in everything they did. The designer took a lot of care. They chose selections to fit our needs. We are extremely happy with Expo.

Expo Design gave us a nightmare experience. There was an incredibly long delay. The product itself was fine, however, it was sent to Texas causing the delay in installation. Compensation resulted in a discount and a gift certificate. I would not use them again.