The Container Store — Attraction in Bellevue

I had an appointment to customize several closets with the Elfa system today. The appointment went fine, at the end of the appointment when the associate (this is not a smear campaign so I will not name names) told me the price, I said "Does that include the $200 off for my project being over $2,000?" There were signs everywhere that said Elfa was 30% off and if your purchase was over $2,000 that you would receive an additional $200 off. The associate looked at me and said, "No, I'm sure that ended on Monday (two days ago)." Nowhere on the posted flyers were there expiration dates regarding the 30% off or the extra $200 off, I looked at the fine print as well. I stated "well the sign doesn't say the promotion ends Jan. 20" She curtly responded, "No that ended on Monday." I pointed out numerous signs that all said the same thing. She then walked around and picked up the 5 posted signs that stated you received an extra $200 off of purchases over $2,000. I thought, well I'm not going to make a scene, I'll just call customer service after I leave the store. At no time did the associate apologize for the mix up or show me any documentation showing that part of the Elfa sale ended Jan. 20 - she was just very curt regarding it ending on Monday. After I left the store, I called the customer service number and mentioned to the gentleman what had happened. He could really have cared less about my experience. He did nothing to try to resolve the issue, again didn't offer any apology about the store falsely advertising a promotion. At that point I just politely asked him to cancel my order. He was happy to oblige. When I receive bad customer service, it makes me wonder about future support if there is a problem with my order. What if there is a mistake or there is something missing in my order? My $2,900 order cancellation isn't going to put a dent in the Container Store's revenue. However, I will not do business with companies that do not stand behind posted sales and promotions, and/or have poor customer service. If there is an issue with my order, I want to be a respected customer who receives the support I need. My experience led me to believe I may not receive that. I'm not interested in testing...

So disappointed! I left my house planning on spending a ton on money. I was unable to get any of the big items that I wanted from this location. I have three closets that I wanted drawers/organizers for. When I arrived at the parking that they suggested (it was behind/below the store) I couldn't get in. The arm would not raise, no matter what I pushed, and there was no answer to the call help button. I ended up having to park at the mall. No big deal you say. Wrong! To get to the store I had to walk thru the parking garage, over a raised walkway, thru a full on mall, down some stairs and then across a busy road. There was no way that I could get any of my desired drawers and storage items, because of the bulk there was no way that I could get them back to my car had I made my purchases. I was so sad! I had driven an hour for nothing. I took pictures of the items that I liked, and was going to just come home and order them online, but I realized that this would just be ridiculous. Consequently I ended up going to a "competitor " where I could take my (2) carts to my car and easily load them. I love the Container Store, and was truely disappointed that they would put a store in such an...

I ordered their Avera custom closet and got it installed beautifully last Friday. I love the closet, not cheap though, lol. Long story short, I saw an Avera promotion during the weekend on their website and thought I didn't get any promotion during my purchase, so even I learned there's time period for price matching for most merchandise, I left some low rating to express my mixed feeling about the entire process (mostly the sales part).

I am the type of person barely write reviews (if I need to, mostly bad ones. :P), but I am quite amazed about the speed and care the team has that they reached out to me in 2 days after my "mixed" review. Evelyn (store manager) called me and explained my purchase price has already reflected the promotion during that time (different from the weekend one), and I didn't know that until she pointed out and shared some screenshots. Her prompt action immediately resolved my mixed feeling, now I am 100% happy about my Avera experience, hence 5 stars!

If you are purchasing their expensive custom closets, make sure you have asked/been told explicitly if your pricing has included discounts or not, as the current invoice system doesn't reflect in a super obvious...