Husbands choosing tiles must have note from wife!

What happens if a customer comes into your store with the complaint that the tiles they selected in-store aren't the ones delivered to site? 

Firstly, do check the tiles against your stock first, but chances are the customer is perceiving the tiles differently at home vs. in store. Lighting is the key factor. Time of day, time of year, atmospheric conditions, angle to the light, adjacent surface colours like painted walls or even a painting or a couch can all affect the colour a tile is perceived to be by human eyes.

If a tile is being installed in a new construction or addition to a house this is even more of a risk as the customer will inevitably be choosing the tile before the room is completed. The ceiling and floors may be raw concrete and windows may not have been installed yet. These factors will have a huge effect on what the tile sample looks like.

The images below give a graphic illustration of what the difference can be!

The photo on the left shows the tile at home under natural sunlight coming in through curtains. The photo on the right was taken in-store under fairly harsh fluorescent lighting.

Secondly, each batch of tiles that are produced tend to be a different shade to the ones that were last made. The final kiln temperature, slight changes in glaze mix, and dozens of other variables can affect the final appearance.This is referred to as 'tonality'. This variation is an inherent characteristic of ceramic tiles which is why it is important to select all the tiles for a particular job with the same batch number.

So, it is quite possible that the tile that was selected in the showroom could really be a different shade to the tile supplied when ordered or delivered. This is more likely as the time between selection and delivery to site increases. It is important for the customer to check the tiles on site before they are laid in case the shade is not acceptable.

All the above is why a tile company in Canada felt the need to place the following sign outside.


Naturally, once the tiles have been installed, the supplier cannot be responsible for any variation in shade to the original selection.

All the best,
The Link International team, KREM tiles.