August 2019 by Seanté B.
Really more like 2.5 stars. I want to preface this by saying that at the time of this review, Cielo is a young business and I do believe that they have the opportunity to improve. The husband and wife couple were friendly and like all new businesses are probably still figuring things out which I think is okay and expected. My 2.5 star review is based on lack of communication which resulted in our family missing a deadline due to a day of work wasted. Here's the whole story: On Monday, my mom and I went to look at some tile samples. Monica was really nice and let us take some samples home to help us make our decision. The next day, I returned the samples and brought my dad with me to look around in case he saw something he liked. We agreed that our initial choice was the one we'd go with, however, we needed it quickly. We asked if we could get the tile overnighted. We were told "Yes" and that Monica would call me to confirm the order that afternoon. I never received a call with an update from Monica so I stopped by on Wednesday to get an update. The first time I stopped by (around 10 AM), no one was there. I called and left a message. Monica called me back within 15 minutes and texted me that the tile would be in by 3 PM that day at the latest. I asked for a tracking number and never received a text back. About an hour later (about 11:20 AM), Monica's husband, Eduardo called me. I missed the call but called him back right after and he told me that we was up in Hayward at the tile manufacturer's warehouse and that he had bad news: the tile that we ordered was on-back order and would not be here for 2 weeks. Everyone was out. Here's where communication could have improved- Monica and Eduardo knew that they hadn't confirmed our order by EOD on Tuesday. I would have appreciated a call then so that we could decide if we needed to choose a different type of tile. Instead, I assumed that maybe calling me slipped their mind but that the order was placed. I was on a mission and I believe in exhausting all options and making an effort. If you come up short, at least you made an attempt. So I went to the manufacturer's website and looked up all local distributors that carried their product. I made a list of the places I wanted to visit and hopped in the car. On my second stop, I found out that the size of tile that we asked for was out of stock (12x24) but that the manufacturer had a different size (24x24)available. Why weren't we told this by Eduardo? We weren't even given the option. This was another area where communication could have been better. If we'd waited for delivery for this order, it would come at the end of the day the next day (Thursday) and time wasn't on our side. So I purchased the tile from the distributor, drove up to Hayward from Gilroy, and picked up the tile myself. That trip was 4 hours round trip. We were on a wild goose chase from 10 AM until 5 PM. Because of this lost day, we weren't able to finish our project. Had we had the tile a day before, we would have definitely finished. In addition, I was only charged 2.99 per square foot by the company I purchased from, whereas Cielo was going to charge me $6.50 per square foot for the SAME exact tile (type and size). For consumers: I'd advise you to do your research. For the Cielo Team: Communication is key. I know that starting a new business is challenging and there is a lot to figure out. I'm empathetic about that. BUT, in my opinion, there is no excuse for communication lapses.
