Williams-Sonoma — Attraction in Palo Alto

Horrible customer service at the Palo Alto store. I usually buy from the Valley fair store, but this time they didn’t have it, so drove all the way to Palo Alto to pick up a gift item which I had already paid for on the phone and specially mentioned I wanted a gift receipt and gift wrap done. They agreed. But when I reach the store, Peggy refused to gift wrap saying that WS is CUTTING COSTS, so we cannot give u the gift box or the wrapping paper. When I insisted, she put it in a box and gave it. I said I have bought this gift item multiple times before and WS always beautifully gift wraps it. She made a huge fuss and handed over the wrapping paper to me saying we do not do this anymore and that I could wrap it myself!!??? The store wasn’t busy either. And then I asked her about the kids cooking summer camps they have, and she was like check it outline. Whaat? With this attitude at the front desk, the stores will soon close and what stays is just online shopping. At the exit, I told Chrissy that the item didn't even get wrapped and she said she will wrap it up. She finally did good but it was so disappointing to encounter such attitude from Peggy in the front desk. I could have easily bought this item online and have it delivered to my doorstep for free, instead I chose to pick it up at a store to have it gift wrapped and get humiliated??!! Next time, I'm buying online, not stepping...

I am extremely disappointed with my experience at William Sonoma regarding a refund issue that has been unresolved since December 19, 2024. After returning knives that didn’t work for me, following customer service instructions, and purchasing replacements at the Stevens Creek store, I am still waiting for my refund over two months later.

I’ve called customer service multiple times, each call lasting 25-40 minutes, and was repeatedly told my refund would arrive in “3-5 business days.” To make matters worse, the customer service I received was highly unprofessional. Some representatives were difficult to understand, either due to unclear speech or a heavy accent, while others spoke so quietly that I could barely hear them. One representative gave me clear answers, but the issue was still not resolved. Another refused to escalate my call to a supervisor, leaving me stuck without any resolution.

This has been an incredibly frustrating and time-consuming experience, far below the standard I expected from a company of William...

Avoid buying from Williams Sonoma because they have changed their return policy to be extremely unfriendly to consumers. They used to be very open to returns especially if never used and even if only 10 days after the purchase. Unfortunately they bizarrely changed their return policy.

I bought a very expensive Traeger grill from Williams Sonoma, along with a separate Pellet Sensor accessory costing $80. They refused to accept as a return the brand new, unused Pellet Sensor accessory. Very bizarre.

Recommend to buy from Sur la Table or from a BBQ shop instead. If Williams Sonoma improves their Refund policy, I'll update my review here.

Update as of 3/7/22: no representative from Williams Sonoma has reached regarding my poor 1-star review on Google or Yelp. This is a confirmation that they really don’t care what their customers think of them....