Anonymous
map-marker Washington, District Of Columbia

Good quality, horrible service

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I ordered a few small things from West Elm a while back and they arrived within a couple weeks with no issue. Alas it came time to drop some big bucks on this coffee table I'd had my eye on for several months. And then I waited. And waited.

3 weeks went by before I heard anything, receiving an email saying it had been delivered. A few days later I got a phone call to schedule my delivery, so I scheduled a day I could *** of work to be at home. I waited all day and around 6 PM I got impatient and made a phone call. Come to find out, the coffee table had failed quality control inspection and would not be delivered. The nice lady on the other end said they'd send me another one as quick as possible. I assumed because they'd screwed up the first delivery that they would rush another one out to replace it. I was ignorant.

After 2 more weeks of waiting, I sent a strong worded email to West Elm. I was informed that my coffee table was on back order till December. DECEMBER. I originally placed this order mid-September when I was told there was plenty of stock. I cancelled it, so I could get my money back (of course they kept it when they shipped it the first time). Oh and thanks, again, for updating me about this after keeping me waiting.

I still want my **** coffee table, even if I do have to wait longer for it. But rest assured it'll be the last thing I by from this company.

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Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Price reduction

Anonymous
map-marker Boston, Massachusetts

West Elm Delivery Service Review

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I ordered a bed from West Elm On line. Several days after I Placed the order I was informed that item was out of stock; it would be several weeks late.In home Delivery was promised for today. Drivers refused to leave their truck; asked my husband to come take all of the bed parts, then they drove away. Now I cannot reach customer service on phone.
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Reason of review:
Problem with delivery
Anonymous
map-marker Grand Rapids, Michigan

Failing Customer Service/Inaccurate Order Cancellation/Slow Delivery

I had purchased the Bliss Down-Filled Chair from the West Elm store in Birmingham, MI some weeks ago. After reviewing the website numerous times in excitement to receive our product, which was forced to be a ship-to-store since they do not have anything on hand, I had noticed the pricing had changed to reflect some sort of sale amount. I quickly ordered the same chair and matching ottoman with the thought that I would return the original one we had purchased upon receipt. After calling into the customer service line to have my questions answered about the purchase and return policy, we had discussed that they do not have that item under the price in which I had purchased it for on the website that morning. They then requested I send proof of my "shopping cart" in a screenshot, which I provided with a kind e-mail explaining how I expect to receive the products I had ordered, and letting them know that if this is an accident that they are welcome for my reporting it. I asked to have our conversation followed up with an explanation of our moving forward, and was referred to a one Shane Landrum in Corporate, to which he has still not replied to my messages. That evening, I received an e-mail stating something along the lines of "we are sorry, but we will be canceling both of your orders and refunding your money." A follow up message offering 20% a particular item was also sent, with the stipulations that "not all items are included and it goes on a store by store basis." All the while I am still waiting on my original chair, which was ordered now three weeks ago and after multiple calls and re-direction from Customer Service to actual store employees, we still do not have any idea where my item is and when we can pick it up from the store. After reviewing the constant complaints in similar fashion, I will not be purchasing anything further from this brand, and would highly encourage them to focus more on customer experience if you want to promote your brand loyalty to build your name.
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Loss:
$700
Reason of review:
Delivery, Customer Service, Internal Accuracy/Billing issues

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

1 comment
Guest

I purchased a Henry sofa on November 8 and one month later is has not been delivered, the item was in stock should not take so long to deliver. The cost is high at $120.00 dollars for one sofa and I would expect better service,

Anonymous
map-marker Denver, Colorado

West Elm Manager Review

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West Elm drapes clearly state they are able to be dry cleaned. We dry cleaned them and now my 108" drapes are anywhere from 105 - 104". I talked to customer service and my local store manager. Both advised me even though it clearly states you may dry clean, they are made of cotton and should not have been dry cleaned. They suggest I speak with my dry cleaner.
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Reason of review:
Bad quality
Anonymous
map-marker Brooklyn, New York

Questionable inventory/information

Yesterday they had a one day deal for 30% off poufs. I happened to spot one a few days earlier so I jumped at this new deal but they didn't have my color even though the item was listed as new. I called some stores which didn't even carry the item and inquired with their customer service number to see if I could track down my desired product at another location. I even asked if they were out of stock with my color when would it be next available? The only answer I got was that they were unsure but as a new item it should be in stock again at some point especially if it's sold out. The system wouldn't allow them to search for the item in the color I wanted. I decided to wait it out for another sale. Today I looked up my pouf and lo and behold....the color I wanted has magically appeared online! So West Elm, if you were having a one day promo for an item why couldnt you make sure you had the proper inventory to fulfill the demand for the promo. I'm disappointed and feel like it was a sneaky tactic to not sell out of an item they predict would sell fast. Shame!
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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Westford, Massachusetts

WEST ELM - Worst Online buying experience!

I have ordered many items online and have yet to see anything even close to this... I ordered 2 duvets and 2 shams for a guest room. Seems simple enough. I paid for them with my credit card and awaited the package. After about 10 days I became concerned that I had not received my order. I check the tracking number and much to my surprise I found out the items were out of stock. No notification from West Elm via email or phone - nothing. I called and was told I was one of the unfortunate 3 percent that experience this problem with their inventory online. I expressed my disappointment that I had to figure this out on my own rather than being contacted to let me know they screwed up! I was assigned a customer service rep. who apologized up and down and assured me she would see the whole thing through and promptly issued me a $40.00 merchandise credit for the screw up. I assumed I was done. Until... I got a phone call last week telling me by some stroke of luck that the items were now suddenly available and they had gone ahead and shipped them and charged my credit card again without my permission! I contacted West Elm and let them know that I STILL did not want the merchandise and they assured me they would re-route the items back to them at no cost to me. Well, today the package arrived and I was told that I would have to prepare the packages to be returned before I would receive my refund AGAIN! Now remember this is for something I was told was no longer available and that i explicitly told the Rep. I no longer wanted. This is the most confused group I have every dealt with. I will never purchase anything from West Elm online again. It is hardly worth the this amount of effort and aggrevation. They need to get it together or they simply shouldn't do business online. Simple as that. I have never written something like this before but I am so irritated and I would like to help others avoid similar frustration. Do yourself a favor and shop elsewhere online!
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Reason of review:
Problem with delivery
Anonymous
map-marker New Malden, England

Review from New Malden, England

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Worst service I've received in years. Ordered a rug online, delivery people delivered the wrong rug and had disappeared before we had time to notice. When we called customer service they told us the rug isn't in stock and won't ever be again (despite me pointing out you can still order it online). They refused to refund until they collect the incorrect rug and insist on a weekday pick up meaning we have to take another day of work to correct their mistake. The value of the wrong rug is far below what we ordered which again I pointed out to them and that holding our money as a deposit for rug that is cheaper and unwanted is outrageous. Generally terrible customer service on the phone, little apology and what's worse very little effort to correct their mistake
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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker New York, New York

SOFA TO ARRIVE 3 MONTHS LATE

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I ordered a sectional sofa on August 3, 2014. I ordered the specific color and style because it was supposed to be available the earliest. I spoke to 3 different customer service representatives who told me that this was a common order and that I could get the sofa earlier. The sofa was to arrive between September 23, 2014 and October 7, 2014. I didn't hear from West Elm on September 23, so I called them, only to find out that the sofa would be delayed by 2-3 months. I was told it would arrive by "Thanksgiving" or maybe "Christmas." No apology. No discount. No explanation. This is a simple Henry sofa in performance velvet dove grey -- their most popular sofa -- and it is not a work of art. It is a basic sofa. And it takes 5 months for it to arrive. I am moving in 8 months, so there's basically no point in ordering the sofa. The worst part was, the customer service people were awful and unhelpful and unprofessional. I will never order anything from this horrible place again.
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1 comment
Guest

My wife and I ordered the exact same sofa and loveseat, but in a different fabric that their website claims as a 'Quick Ship' and available in 1-3 weeks. The love seat arrived 2 weeks after ordering but 6 weeks later we are still waiting on the sofa.

Apparently it has been on back order for some time.

Their website should reflect their inventory. We were comparing different furniture stores and decided to choose West Elm for the very fact that their website and customer service said it would be delivered very quickly. Now, when I call their customer service, they say that their sofas are customer order and they take at least 8 weeks to deliver.

We would cancel my order but we would be stuck buying a different sofa that does not match our love seat. Very shady business.

Anonymous

Oredered a MATTRESS DAYBED COVER, turns out it's not a "mattress daybed cover". Called to return item, got offered a cruise.

West Elm - Oredered a MATTRESS DAYBED COVER, turns out it's not a mattress daybed cover. Called...
First we ordered a daybed. It showed up marred with some poor attempts at repair--most likely with white out. I contacted customer service to exchange and they said it would be 2-4 weeks. When I did get a call from the delivery service to deliver the new one, they put me on hold 5 times and told me they couldn't find the merchandise they'd called about. I'm waiting a few days to call back.....but in the mean time I ordered a MATTRESS DAYBED COVER for the West Elm Daybed I just purchased. When the cover arrived, I thought maybe they'd sent me a box-spring cover by accident because it only had fabric on the sides, not the top. I emailed them to return, thinking they'd made a mistake--they informed me I needed an additional cover for the daybed mattress (no explanation of why this item was called "Mattress Daybed Cover" when it's exactly NOT that). They offered to take it back for $6.50, so I decided to call to ask if I could just return it to the store. Instead of a directory I was told I won a Caribbean Cruise and was given no option talk to a customer service rep--I kept being instructed to wait on the line, but the offer for the cruise was continually repeated with no option to talk to a representative, or do anything other than listen to the offer. After 5 minutes I hung up and called back just in case I got the number wrong. Same deal. I dug up a different number in my email and called that. The woman said I couldn't return the daybed cover because it was a discounted item (it wasn't when I purchased it 2 weeks ago), I told her I'd already received an email stating I could return it and she immediately says "oh yes I see that here". I then asked if I could just return to the store and she goes, " you can but they might not accept it since it's a discounted item" I then remind her that I've already got confirmation via email that West Elm will take it back and she replies, "right ok, let me just write that in your notes".....conclusion--West Elm needs to work on their delivery process and customer experience!!
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Anonymous
map-marker Naples, Florida

Difficult customer service.

Waited 1/2 hour to talk to individual who was THE person that could help.... as promised by the two previous cretins. Then this colleague said --- 'call the store'. I told the person that the store told me 'to call customer service'. Maybe they all work from a different play book. Now the unit has a defective drawer. Will we ever hear from them? My hopes are realistic. They may be the largest on-line player but we know large does not translate to efficient or effective. Perhaps they will find an executive able to correct the many problems. Suspicion: They don't care... because they are so large.
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Reason of review:
Order processing issue
Athanasia Ygt
map-marker Los Angeles, California

Their Couches are Unicorns

West Elm - Their Couches are Unicorns
Updated by user Jul 16, 2014

Oh and btw, that cancellation? That just happened yesterday. So from May to mid July, no delivery.

Original review Jul 16, 2014
We ordered the De Kalb couch in May at the Santa Monica West Elm, we were told it was in stock and should be delivered shortly. Three weeks later, nothing. Four weeks later, still nothing. For some reason, West Elm's delivery updates seem to have the same shroud of mystery as the Twilight Zone. Several times they told us the delivery would be done on X day, one of us stayed at home and what do we get? No couch, no call, no service. Out of frustration, my BF went to the store and asked to actually see the couch. He was led across the street and shown a box, where presumably the De Kalb laid in glorious yet hidden state. Same scenario again with the no show delivery. Finally, he and two other friends took a van to the store to pick it up, and what was the answer? The couch wasn't in yet.. which means that mystery box was what? Apparently air. So we decide to cancel the order. They say they have to charge us $150.00 - as if there wasn't enough salt in the wound. After much arguing and yes, threats that we would do a film expose on their selling practices, they finally said ok, no charge to cancel. I believe they oversell their furniture and part of that is promising unrealistic delivery dates and extremely poor delivery. I don't know how people who work there cope because I'd only lie day in and day out if I was a professional spy.. The cost of this whole experience were numerous days off from work to wait for their NON delivery, as well as having no couch at all - we got rid of the old one in anticipation of the de Kalb coming in from Xanadu. As a test, I contacted them today by chat to ask about the very same mystical couch...I wanted to see what kind of delivery lead time they'd offer. I did tell the customer service person Eryn I was planning to buy two of these, one for an LA house and another for an East Coast house. It's baffling but regardless of where you are, they will quote a standard 3 week lead time to their HUB THEN they say you will be contacted once it's in for delivery to YOU which they then can't say when. That in itself isn't a doozy, but she later states that a) they don't know which hub the de Kalb will ship from, b) they have it available but from which warehouse they don't know, c) they don't know where it's made, d) no, it won't be shipping from overseas though they can't say if it's US or foreign made BUT that e) it IS available for purchase. I'm beginning to wonder if they sell to get your cash then manage their funds around to make product, who knows? In conclusion, I would highly suggest you only buy product you can cart out of the store yourself like RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT. Mind I've had couches custom made before with other companies like Quatrine etc. and patiently waited the 4 month lead time, that's ok if you know that from the get-go and don't waste your time waiting for nothing. But if you think you're going to see your money in couch form any time soon from these jokers, nope. You're more likely to see a unicorn.
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Loss:
$2000
2 comments
Guest

wow these are crazy stories - wish I read them yesterday. I ordered a coffee table online yesterday and they promised delivery on Monday. We shall see.

Athanasia Ygt
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-844695

Yep, I wished the same thing too. But guess what?

We ordered a couch from Restoration Hardware yesterday afternoon, and it's being delivered Friday. Just like that. That means the money we spent was traded for actual goods and not sitting somewhere in limbo being used for who knows what.

And when I asked RH where their couches are made, they were able to tell me immediately the different countries they sourced it from.

LEGALLY, companies are obligated to tell you where what you buy is made. I STILL haven't received an email from West *** telling me where they make the dekalb.

The other thing I'm happy about is that I've read numerous complaints about the quality of their furniture (after the fact) particularly beds which seem to break. Honestly, the last bed I bought was from Living Spaces and it's awesome.

Really wish you luck, Ivana.

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Anonymous
map-marker Houston, Texas

Terrible customer service!!

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Its been twice now! I love their stuff but I hate having to order online if the item is not available at the store. I have now ordered twice and both times it seems like they can't get it quite right and have me wasting my time running around trying to fix my order. The first time I ordered a couple of metallic honeycomb glass pendants. When they arrived the honeycomb pattern was so off one was tiny honeycombs and the other large ones. Now I understand that they may be "hand-made" but I'm sure they could have found two more similar to each other (which is what i had the Dallas store make sure when I phone ordered it from them). I just received the terrace coffee table and it was so unstable!! the delivery guys said it was assembled at the warehouse but managed to find a tool in their truck to fix it. I called customer service and not even a simple apology was given, they told me "oh well just tighten them...thats their job!
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Pros:
  • Merchandise
Cons:
  • Delivery
  • Customer service
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Alayne Swn
map-marker San Francisco, California

Unreliable Delivery Service and Evading Customer Service

West Elm's Customer Service is completely unreliable and they only respond to your requests evasively and don't solve anything or answer any questions. They simply just push you off and dodge the issue.

The delivery lead time that they tack onto the order AFTER purchase is absolutely absurd. Once I read it was going to take an additional 4 weeks for the item to be delivered I asked if I could pay more to put a rush on the delivery. They responded and said I "could" but it would be a difficult process for THEM and it's really much easier for them on their end if I pay for the rush delivery at check out, and they ignored my request after that. (Maybe I would have paid for a rush delivery at check out if they had mentioned the item wouldn't ship to me for over a month.)

Nothing bugs me more than companies who think their time is more important than their customer's time.

It says on the tracking info that it's been sitting in the warehouse in Oakland for a week. They told me they don't have anyone in my area (ten minutes away in San Francisco) for another 4 weeks... That's just ridiculous. That means no one in the city of San Francisco has ordered anything from West Elm that's getting delivered for another 4 weeks...??

So then I offered to go pick the item up myself from the warehouse and they said that's not a possibility either. The fact that they can't figure out a way to get it delivered to an apartment only ten minutes away in less than 4 weeks is absolutely absurd and clearly there is some major disorganization and negligence of planning going on over there.

I don't know any other furniture vendor that does that... Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, CB2, One Kings Lane- They all delivery ASAP and ask when it's convenient for you and work with you if their delivery time doesn't work with your schedule. And everything is clear, up front when you're on their website browsing around. They also offer to make notes on your account for the delivery system to see if they can work around it and update you on the status of the order thoroughly.

This whole experience with West Elm in-home deliveries and customer service has really turned me off from ever buying from this vendor again considering I can get items of this aesthetic and quality from a handful of other vendors. It also amazes me that they post items on their website for sale and then tell you once you're checking out that the item won't be available to shop for another THREE months, then the additional 4-week in-home delivery lead time.

It's truly like this company is run by an 18 year old who just started their first business.

Thank you for listening and good luck with your experience! Hopefully they start taking the numerous reviews like this one into account and change the dynamic of their operations.

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1 comment
Guest

Still waiting for my my purchase to be delivered (bed) - 3 weeks ago placed order - was told "in stock" - was not, then was, different answer every time I call - will call you in a few days to set up deliver - same story - now in warehouse - but have to wait to fill enough orders to substantiate a "delivery". Never never never will purchase another thing from this site - their loss - I am an avid on-line purchaser! I will spread the word!!!

Anonymous

Bait-and-switch at West Elm, a Williams Sonoma brand.

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Surprisingly poor customer service from West Elm. I'd expected better from a Williams Sonoma brand.

So surprisingly poor that one can only guess they have many new and poorly trained cust svc reps for the holidays. If WS is treating other customers the way I was treated this morning, they won't have to worry about being too buried in sales.

7 calls to cust service reps, 2 disconnects, one "fail to answer" and 90 minutes later: Apparently a "memo came out over the weekend" that West Elm would no longer refund the difference between a full price online order and a new sales price for 14 days after the purchase.

I bought this piece of furniture just 5 days ago with the explicit understanding that there would be price protection if the item went on sale within 14 days.

Order cancelled. No more shopping at WS, West Elm, Crate & Barrel.

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Reason of review:
Problems with payment
2 comments
Guest

Oh no, Crate and Barrel is part of a different family. I recently ordered a table and wood stools from CB.

One stool was missing the rubber foot, which the delivery guy claimed that he would forward to the supervisor. Didn't happen! I called a few days later and the shipping supervisor managed this issue like a pro (even called back the same day).

I've never had issues with WS family until West Elm.

Pottery Barn has never let me down. Shipping is expedient and packaged well.

Guest

crate & barrel is not part of the Williams Sonoma brand. pottery barn is their other store.

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Anonymous
map-marker Costa Mesa, California

Wallpaper - beware

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There is no spot on the West Elm site to leave feedback on items. If you are looking at their "handblocked" wallpaper, beware.

It is $300 per roll, which is double to triple what most fantastic designer wallpapers cost. No samples are available. The wallpaper is totally disappointing, not very vivid colors, and doesn't appear to be handblocked. What a waste of money!

This looks like $50 per roll wallpaper at best, and is not returnable! Don't make the same mistake I made!

Use wallpaper that has in person samples and/or can be returned. Now I know why they don't have item reviews on their site :(

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Pros:
  • Their lighting
Cons:
  • Their wallpaper
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