I really liked working with their designer Rob, he's fast, patient, professional and offered me a very competitive price. He altered the design several times to meet my specific needs which I really appreciated. The installer was really friendly too, so at that point I was still 100% satisfied with Royal.
When I got home on the day of installation I found everything perfect. The only thing was that there were some boards in my adjustable shelves weren't necessarily fit the size of the shelves. They stayed ok on the shelf, but there were very obvious gaps between the edge of the boards and the shelf itself, and when you push them gently, they shake.
It wasn't a big deal, because the shelf was useable and everything else were good. But considering it's a brand new product which you paid for full price, and the fact that those boards that don't fit were all intentionally put on the lower level of the shelves so that they were not so obvious makes me feel a bit more uncomfortable.
So I called Lisa who has scheduled the installation on the next day and sent her a picture to see if there was anything can be done. I was impressed that Lisa told me she would print out the picture to show her boss and contact me with an answer the next day morning. But the fact was that, she never called. So I called back a day after, someone else picked up the phone and took my message. She did not reply until one week after. She could have called or sent me an email telling me that she wasn't able to get back at me at the time promised so I don't have to wait for her call. That's a basic courtesy between people, let alone businesses, I think.
In her email, she said "I showed Sergio the pictures and he said it' s normal to have a small gap. He would like to come and see it. "
Just by agreeing a gap is not a big deal does not mean that I think a small gap should be normal. It could be normal, just depends on what quality standards a company is operating. Moreover, to wait for a week with zero response for just "come and see it" wasn't what I would expect from any business. Therefore I replied telling her that it was a straight forward problem I don't feel it's necessary to just come and see it, because they can simply just do the measurements right and bring new boards over, I can even put them on myself. If they are not willing to replace it I can also understand too and was willing to pay for the service anytime.
And yes, zero response again. I called after a week to pay. Lisa told me that by "come and see" she did mean by replacing. But then why no responses? Lisa told me it was because they were moving for the week so she can't get access to the email. I didn't say anything, but I didn't buy it either. Because at these days I just can't think for any reason any business would leave their emails unread for a week, since reading emails can be done through almost any devices despite of moving. Also, if moving was the reason for not replying this time, I'm curious what reason she would told me for not getting back at me last time.
After all, Lisa asked me to pay first and send the number of boards needed to be replaced through email and they will take care of it. I didn't send it until a few days later, but since I sent it it's been another week. At this point, to be honest, I wouldn't even accept their replacement boards.
As I stated, it was a small problem, even if they said that they can not fix it it won't be a big deal. What makes me feel so upset about this company was their attitude. Everybody was polite and communicated professionally, but was that enough? Attitude means more to me. I personally will avoid any individual or company who makes promises/schedules a call back but never follows up or accomplishes. When issues come up, avoiding wouldn't be the best choice, and when you do choose to avoid, by saying things will be done to stall was certainly the worst avoiding technique. And the fact that they have no problem leaving an issue unfinished but accepting payments makes me understand that it was my bad to make the decision cooperating with them at the first place.
FOLLOW UP-
Including the company response here, I was contacted 3 times by the company after this review's posted. one from Lisa telling me my replacements are ready, the other from Rob to "get your side of the story".
Like I said, I rejected the replacement, if things can not be done properly within a month, I'd rather leave it there.
Among the three times I was contacted, all they do were explaining how the moving was real- yes, at this moment I believe it was real and I apologize for that. But did any of you try to explain why I was promised to be called on the second day instead getting an email a week later? Or can any of you tell me why in one hand you think having a gap is normal but purposely putting them on less obvious levels on the other hand? If any of you want to refer me as "having trust issues", think about who took the first step breaking the trust system between us and didn't even try to remedy that.
You might be a customer focused company like you said, and every other customer might agree with that. unfortunately, that was not how I felt. The reason why I wrote this review was to state the fact so that other people can make fair judgements. If there were really anything Royal feel they need to do, they should start from the inside of the company, not by contacting me repeating meaningless things.
Wording might be straight forward or mean, considering this thing has been made my life in the past month unpleasant and completely ruined my day today, it's better.
