Berkeley Design Center

BUYER BEWARE… i ignored previous posted warnings. I wen t in looking for wood appearing tile and told the owener what I planned. He showed me a new italian tile that was being imported by 2 italian americans in santa cruz. He told me I could offset by a third. Once the tile arrived, I learned that it was from India. That was not a problem except that 3 tile setters commented on how warped it was (yes, long plank tile can do that but they all felt it was more than usual for the length. By then I had accepted 3500 square feet as I had not opened 100’s of boxes). By then, Les at the store had said the company recommended off setting by no more than a quarter. No big deal. Except the tile setter I choose explained why he recommended having no offset to minimize lippage. Once he got more into the job, he said the warping was far worse. I am stuck with many many thousands of dollars on tile that was misrepresented as italian tile. Quality was so poor I had to change design of installation. Owner said he was sorry but then started talking about long tiles. The tile setter I am using had set many plank tiles — without the difficulties i have encountered. What seemed like a good buy (not a great one) has turned out to be a very costly one. The owner tried passing the buck and blamed what the tile supplier said… who, of course, also had some excuse.

This is the third project we’ve done with Berkeley Design Centre… all three came out amazing but this last project had even a bigger WOW factor! All of the remodels truly came out beyond our expectations. Sinan’s great sense of design and style truly gave the projects the added assurance of no regrets when they were finished. Kitchen remodles are difficult under the very best of circumstances but when you have trust in Sinan’s design judgment the process becomes easier.

Please beware of this operation! I have been to BDC many times over the years. I do not know when Sinan began handling their work, but I trusted that it was a reputable place and that he was a reputable dealer.
I had BDC/​DEVCO install a very large window, several smaller ones, and a sliding glass door in our home. We had installed windows just like these in other areas of our home before without incident, so did not anticipate any problems. It seemed like a simple, straightforward project.
While we were on vacation, the windows went in. When we returned, to our disbelief, they had completely jerri-​rigged some strange way of installing the windows and they were horrible! I called Sinan. He came over and gave us some far-​fetched reason as to why these windows had to be installed in this manner – differently from all of the others, and why the resolution to the problem would entail removing all of our mouldings, the window sill, and a number of other things that made no sense.
Our painter came in, took one look at the windows and couldn’t believe it. He offered to reinstall the window. I called Sinan. He said to tell the guy that if he thought he could do it to go ahead. The painter removed the windows and the rigging that Sinan had installed and put the window in. No big deal, no need to do all the things that Sinan was telling us we had to do, and the window looks great.
I deducted the amount the painter charged me for the reinstallation from the final amount paid to Sinan. Sinan agreed to the amount. We paid him the full amount less the amount we paid for the reinstallation, even though we still left with the other smaller windows that he installed that have been put in in the same shoddy way.
Today we just received a letter from Sinan threatening us with a Contractor’s Lien if we do not give him the balance of the money. My first read of this experience was that the contractor was sadly incompetent. Now I realize that he is also unscrupulous. Beware!!!

Cannot comment on using this outfit for supplies/​materials only but I would not recommend them for any renovation project as I felt they were way over priced for the quality of work. With a few relatively minor changes to the initial plan the initially quoted price rose by %50. This truly felt like a bait and switch though the bait wasn’t all that attractive to begin with as the initial quote was fairly high for the amount of work involved. I was just expecting high quality work as the showroom suggests. The final price was even more of a slap in the face. Silly me. I knew no better and had no recommendations for them. Lesson learned. You can do better elsewhere… Is it not odd also that there are not more reviews for this business that has been around for many years? It seems suspicious for manipulation, especially after my experience. Let’s see how long this post stays up.

Les is great. I have been into the Berkeley Design Center several times, and she knows me now. She is very knowledgeable and helpful. The design center has a nice selection of floors, tile, and countertops. I especially like their Marmoleum section. There is generally parking out in front. And it is never crowded. Great place to go for a remodeling or refurbishing project.

Amazing experience. Although I haven’t even placed the order yet, I will, and largely due to the amazing assistance of the floor manager, Les. Her extensive experience, knowledge and design sense really helped me through the difficult process of decision-​making. I went EVERYWHERE in the bay area before finding what I needed from BDC. Thanks Les, you’re awesome!