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This furniture store is close to BHV in Paris (Metro: Hotel de Ville). They have a lot of cool stuff, but trust me, if you want something that they need to order, you are in for quite a ride. We ordered a sofa that they promised in a few weeks - 4 months later it arrived, completely different from what we ordered. When we tried to change it, they became extremely rude, mysteriously forgot their english and basically told us to get lost. We are now spending another 5000 Euro on a new sofa and have simply had to throw the one delivered by Kaolin in the trash...and I wont get into the describing the rudest treatment we have ever experienced in a shop ! My recommendation: if you're an expat living in Paris, enjoy looking at what they have on display, but do not buy it! You WILL regret it...
While I agree that speaking French in France is an advantage, I do disagree with the comments of CafeLehn. Most of their design objects are obtainable elsewhere in Paris (I have since complemented several of the brands they sell at other establishments in Paris, by the way, without any lingual issues). My comments are mostly regarding the after-sales service and as such meant to guide people living in Paris rather than visitors who typically will carry the product out of the store.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Agree with the above. Lovely things to buy; terrible attitude. Nothing to do with English or French (I speak both.)
The place is diabolically unhelpful.
1) Was told could not have the table I had bought at the time I bought it - after having paid, of course.
2) They wanted to order one instead, despite there being a perfectly good item in front of me.
3) This eventually arrived in the shop, at which point it just sat there. No proposals to get the table to me.
4) On a visit in person to the shop, the owner (the weird one) proposed, as a method of delivery, that I put the table on my small Vespa scooter. He said, however, that if I passed by again, they would lend me a wheeled trolley to take it home.
5) On arrival for the third time, I was told that the above-mentioned trolley was for loan only against a passport or my iPhone as surety. It seems a little odd to be asked to put down a €600 iPhone for a €20 piece of crap on wheels, especially since they already had my credit card number.
At this point, when I expressed some dissatisfaction that no delivery existed, I was told that it did, but that it cost €54 for three roads away. When I phoned my wife from the shop and said the whole situation was a bit ridiculous, the pinhead young sales assistant shouted over me, bellowing "n'importe quoi". Bizarre. These people seem to think that they exist in a kind of arrogant bubble where the customer exists to serve them.
I totally agree as well. I have never in my life experienced such a horrible human interaction. The man that is pictured above is so completely full of hatred, it ruined my evening. I was so excited to go to their store, because I LOVE the stuff that they have inside. I had been admiring it for weeks. But I can't begin to explain the way that this man ran me out of his store. I was very happy to see all of the lovely decor items they had, and I really loved the items in the store. BUT, this man followed me around the store in an incredibly aggressive manner, and even made grunting sounds when I would admire something. When I smiled at him, he very adamantly refused to make eye contact, but insisted on standing 2 feet away from me and staring at me with what seemed to be pure anger as soon as I went back to looking at the items. It really felt like he was actually staring me down with disgust. I promise that I had done nothing but walk through the store in pure admiration, and a few attempted smiles. I really did love the store. But this man's energy was enough to frighten someone. When I felt I should engage him in conversation because he was breathing over my shoulder (I spoke in French and asked what the bottle in question was meant to be used for), he again refused to make eye contact, and refused to answer me. (In fact he made a grand display of sweeping his head to the side as if he was refusing to speak to me). He was acting very bizarrely and almost trying to intimidate me into leaving his store. When I tried to talk to him about why he was ignoring me, he started yelling at me and relished in the possibility of an argument, which I really had no intention of having. I left the store. HORRIBLE, and totally inexplicable given that I was nothing but appreciative for finally being able to see the store in person. I will never return.
Here is the picture...
I totally agree with Silverking (and I'm french).., The guys there are totally crazy and aggressive. I made the mistake of telling them and even though I was carrying my 3 months old son they wanted to get into a fight with me... My father was with me and took a picture is the "boss" following me in the street...
My partner and I pop down to Paris from Stockholm and always make a point to stop by Kaolin. They have some amazing one-of-a-kind high design objects there which are unique and unobtainable in Sweden, the US, the UK or the rest of Paris. As a general rule, if you want good service, you should speak in the language of the country, in this case French in France. I recommend this store to all of my design friends. The fact that one seemingly "English only" speaking person had a problem might have more to do with a lack of effective communication skills. I have had only the best service at this store and find the complaint completely incongruous with my experience with this company.