Calico — Local services in Alexandria

Went there this weekend looking for fabric to cover some cushions. The gentleman working was extremely rude and condescending. He emphasized they were an interior design shop, and that everything must be ordered. The gentleman in the back of the store measuring fabric was very helpful and pleasant, but all we saw in the front was this man who felt it was more important for everyone to know about his 12 years of experience and he didn't have time to work with someone who was looking for fabric to "do the job myself". We went in to "Patricks" around the corner, and was told not to ever order anything from Calico corners because all their fabric was seconds and poor quality. I say this because I would have been fine with seconds, but was lead to believe this was the highest quality merchandise and that I didn't belong in this type of store. We spent over an hour in the store and no one ever approached us or offered to help us; thus we didn't know as we were looking at the bolsters of fabric that we wouldn't be able to buy a few yards while we were there until we approached the rude "sales clerk". Very dissapointing compared to the wonderful customer service and pleasantness we experienced in all the other stores in Old...

I have never felt as compelled to provide a review. I had a terrible experience from the start to the finish (I should say some of my issues remain unresolved because I’ve never received a reply despite several emails requesting attention to the installation issues). My fabric was on backorder for months with no communication initiated by calico (I reached out occasionally). Then when I sought a refund the shades were miraculously in production- which I don’t believe to be the case because they weren’t actually delivered until about 16 weeks later (lead time is quoted as 10-12 weeks). They were eventually installed and are wrinkled and puckered. And from the outside they look industrial and unfinished at the top. The cordless mechanism is fussy on all shades. For over $1000 a shade, I am terribly unsatisfied and even less satisfied that nobody from Calico has followed up despite three requests. Save your money and go somewhere that’s cheaper and offers better service.

Additional update: I had also had a window seat cushion quoted for this project- $1200 and 12 weeks were the estimates. I had a nicer cushion with more tufting done on Etsy and it was delivered in 2 weeks for $315. The difference in price is...

Beautiful fabrics. Excellent workmanship. Poor customer service. They rarely answer the phone at this location. And voicemails are ignored, necessitating sometimes multiple trips to the store to try to resolve the simplest of questions. Although there are always staff on hand, they refer all questions to the store manager, refusing to even look up your account information in their system. If the store manager is unavailable, they'll tell you she'll call you back. She doesn't. And when the store manager is there, she promises to follow up with you (always "next Tuesday'") and then doesn't. We've been trying without success to resolve an issue with an order we placed six months ago, finally resorting to calling corporate for help. I've been a loyal repeat customer, spending thousands of dollars at a time at this location. But it's time to take my...