British Ceramic Tiles - They actually want our feedback - TilersForums.com

[Qwerty]

Wow! It seems the power of social media has had some effect!

I try to keep the forum Twitter account ticking over and recently the issue of how bad BCT (British Ceramic Tiles) are for us tilers.

BCT have openly put it out there wanting feedback from us.....

So please either respond to this thread with as much detail as possible and I'm happy to take this forward on your behalf, or respond to the BCT tweet directly.

 

[Boggs]

I supply and install BCT tiles to almost all of my customers and have done for the past few years.
As with everything in life it comes down to price, customers are not that interested in the quality as such as to them a tile is a tile, they are not fitting them.
We get round most of the problems by opening and mixing several boxes at a time and throwing away the really bad ones.
If I start pricing jobs with higher quality but more expensive tiles I won’t get the work and I have a responsibility to the guys who rely on the work I supply.
That said they can be pretty bad with bowing, glazing faults and size difference even in the same box, especially the Willow range which can be terrible.
Let’s hope they do listen and make the changes to production and quality and we can be proud to push BCT products in the future.

 

[Dumbo]

I supply and install BCT tiles to almost all of my customers and have done for the past few years.
As with everything in life it comes down to price, customers are not that interested in the quality as such as to them a tile is a tile, they are not fitting them.
We get round most of the problems by opening and mixing several boxes at a time and throwing away the really bad ones.
If I start pricing jobs with higher quality but more expensive tiles I won’t get the work and I have a responsibility to the guys who rely on the work I supply.
That said they can be pretty bad with bowing, glazing faults and size difference even in the same box, especially the Willow range which can be terrible.
Let’s hope they do listen and make the changes to production and quality and we can be proud to push BCT products in the future.

Do you tell your customers they are getting a second rate product .

 

[Boggs]

No because I don’t believe they are second rate as such, yes there can be size variations and glazing faults but then the price reflects this.
The tiles perform as they should when fitted, it sometimes takes slightly longer fitting them which is our problem not the customers.

 

[Bathfix Bob]

They don't honour their guarantee Boggs.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@Boggs - every time you throw away a tile it increases that ‘price’, the extra time costs you money, the poor glaze WILL come back and bite you especially on their wall/floor tiles that are only sold for bathrooms.
You might as well just buy quality tiles in the first place as this manufacturer is setting the tiling game back decades.

 

[Dumbo]

If they are sizey they will look crap . If the glaze us crap they look crap . So all in all they will look crap and yes they are a second rate product .

 

[Italy]

I remember a few years ago there was also the third choice.
and before that there was the first choice with the words written in red, the second in blue and the third in green. old times

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@antonio - not in England since Minton made 6inch tiles have we had a decent manufacturer of tiles!
They have never got the hang of making large format ceramics and porcelain are not available here.
It was a transformation of our trade when Italian tiles arrived on our shores, but of course they had no spacer lugs or glazed edges so we had to invent plastic tile trim and pegs!!

 

[Italy]

@antonio - not in England since Minton made 6inch tiles have we had a decent manufacturer of tiles!
They have never got the hang of making large format ceramics and porcelain are not available here.
It was a transformation of our trade when Italian tiles arrived on our shores, but of course they had no spacer lugs or glazed edges so we had to invent plastic tile trim and pegs!!

I keep thinking ....
why a bigger brand does not buy bct?
I can not find the answer ....
that is, the answer maybe I know it, but I miss the confirmation.
who wants to answer me?
1 all the machines are to be thrown away and the investment is too high?
2 produce in uk could cost too much import and export and produce
not enough just to uk?
3 lack of raw materials?
all this runs in my head and I think that all questions
They could fit into one answer. YES

 

[dynamictiling]

I supply and install BCT tiles to almost all of my customers and have done for the past few years.
As with everything in life it comes down to price, customers are not that interested in the quality as such as to them a tile is a tile, they are not fitting them.
We get round most of the problems by opening and mixing several boxes at a time and throwing away the really bad ones.
If I start pricing jobs with higher quality but more expensive tiles I won’t get the work and I have a responsibility to the guys who rely on the work I supply.
That said they can be pretty bad with bowing, glazing faults and size difference even in the same box, especially the Willow range which can be terrible.
Let’s hope they do listen and make the changes to production and quality and we can be proud to push BCT products in the future.

Be honest what position do you hold in bct?


Personally my whole companies reputation stands 'our perfect finish'

Yes we charge more than our rivals, however we offer a clean, neat and tidy finish with the right prep work done to ensure that our jobs will last the test of time.

When we are opening boxes of tiles and there is 3-5mm differences in size. How can you possibly offer a perfect job? Yes some clever grouting and joint variations hide some mistakes but patterns on tiles not lining up and cracked tile glazing on tiles! There is some things that even the most skilled tiler can't hide from the naked eye.

Personally I cringe everytime i walk into a job and there is bct onsite. It should be the opposite! Yes bct tiles, nice easy job with great tiles. Bad days when I favour Turkish or Romanian tiles over British tiles. .