The Container Store — Local services in Arlington

We looked at the reviews before we ordered our Elfa system from this location, and we had hoped that our experience wouldn’t be as rough as others have shared, but unfortunately it was. Believe the critical reviews people have posted about their Elfa experiences at this store.

To be fair, not all the blame for our negative experience falls on Container Store. A bit falls on the installation company, Penmarc, but Container Store did pick them to partner with.

First of all, when we inspected our pieces after picking them up from the store, there were multiple pieces included that we explicitly had not wanted. We were able to return these pieces, but it clearly showed that our Elpha system planner had not fully been listening to our requests. An installation tech named Roberto from Penmarc arrived on April 7, 2024, and he was extremely helpful as we discovered other issues with the pieces of our system. He pointed out that multiple pieces of the system were damaged/chipped, and that several of the shelves were too short. He explained the return process to us, as he had seen multiple people go through it before, and advised us to buy a few extra of each of the pieces we needed in case they came damaged. For a system that came out to over $1000, this seemed like a ridiculous process to have to go through. Nothing over $1000 should be that poor in quality.

After returning the damage pieces and ordering new ones (at this time, the sales person seemed to annoyed that we didn’t just live with the damage pieces as they were) we requested for Roberto to come back to complete our installation. However, we later found out that Roberto wouldn’t be available for another two weeks because of how many other orders he had to fill. We asked if another technician could come finish up the rest of the installation, but they informed us that as part of the deal with the installation company, only the technician who started the installation could finish it if it had to be stopped partway through. We understood that there were other people who had orders that needed to be installed, but as our order was still incomplete a week after our initial installation appointment (and would only take 10 minutes to finish), we had hoped they might be able to squeeze us in. Having worked in the service industry myself, whenever a client had a bad experience, I would try my best to make their follow up experience smoother and more accommodating. This was not the case with Container Store and Penmarc. Container Store suggested that if we were in such a hurry to have the system installed we could just install it ourselves, but when we asked for a partial refund on the installation cost of $250 (as the installation had, again, NOT been completed) they refused. Eventually, Penmarc got in contact and offered to send another technician, but but he was probably one of the worst handyman/installers I’ve ever come in contact with. He arrived 30 minutes late, seemed like he had no idea what he was doing (he kept asking us how we wanted it installed, even though we specifically hired him because WE DIDN’T KNOW how to install it), and started passive aggressively sighing when we asked him to adjust several of the shelves (which he had installed incorrectly). Also, of the replacement pieces we had ordered, many of them were damaged yet again (luckily we had enough intact pieces to complete the installation process). Finally, we got more eye rolls and passive aggressive comments from container store staff when we came back to return our SECOND ROUND of damaged pieces.

Needless to say, we are enough for going back to the location. Y’all have gone...

Writing this review as a warning to anyone potentially considering the Elfa or any custom closest option from The Container Store - my suggestion is to go anywhere else. This store is the bottom of the barrel in terms of customer service and has wasted countless hours of my life. I am writing this review while waiting for their "manager" who I have already spoken to regarding the lack of communication and ability to quote a custom built in around our fireplace.

We initially, met with our designer Larry on 27Mar2024, which was probably my only helpful interaction with this designer and location. He provided us quotes for all the closets via the Elfa system in our condo. We ended up going with one of the designs for the primary bedroom for around $1.6k during a sale. We received the Elfa system via the mail and most of the boxes arrived extremely beat up, which granted is most likely the fault of the shipping company. The issue I have is that several boxes within the shipments had unpacked components and boxes within the shipment looked as if they were opened or used/returns. Still working through the inventory and will need to figure out if anything is missing. Something as consumer I should not have to be doing, but I am spending time on. Another suggestion would be to NOT to use their install process as it is extremely overpriced and from all other comments seems to be contracted out to a third party that is equally as useless as this store.

The real frustration is during the meeting with Larry on 27Mar we were promised a design on our built in within the next few days. It is currently 16May (nearly TWO MONTHS LATER) and we still do not have design to view. My partner and I have both reached out to the designer and this store regarding this quote with no response as to the delay. I am simply at a lost for words for how an organization can ignore a request for business that would generate money for them. We did receive a text image of a design that completely missed the bar and at this point we had even provided him with the other organization’s design of what we wanted that built in to look like. This may come off as harsh, but this store/designer have both been completely useless and should be avoided. Even after giving them hundreds of dollars, they simply can’t get their act together.

We decided to go with Closest by Design located in (Manassas, VA) for the built in and they came in with an extremely competitive price compared to the “tentative” text price we received for the awful design from the Container Store. The experience with Closest by Design has been amazing.

In summary, avoid giving this store and company any business. Their Elfa design is great and extremely affordable – if you must find a solution use it but DO NOT give them additional money for an overpriced install which I can almost guarantee will be poorly managed. Use a contractor or task rabbit – anything else will be better than this store...

This review is concerning Elfa closet design at container store. I booked an appointment early 2020 to have a wardrobe design! I met with the personnel who showed me the final look based on the inaccurate measurements I had. I told her twice during the meeting that I need to give her more precise measurements and she assured me that there will be no need because everything in Elfa can be cut and customized in the room according to the space available (twice I was told that) They had a 30% promotion going on on Elfa so I needed up paying $4000 for a small closet! I had to pay $200 plus tip for handy app to deliver the material And I had to pay $500 for the installer On the day of installation there were no enough shelves and rods because the measurements were not precise and because unlike what the genius who works at Elfa told me can not be cut and customized on the day!!! I was extremely annoyed after paying all this money for mesh racks with some wooden look verniers to have this look at the end with two major empty spaces in the closet!!! Then Covid started and everything was shut down! Last summer I decided I need to pay more money to get the closet looking decent and to make use of the space I have and not use due to the consultation of Elfa representative. To my surprise I had the same woman serve me again She could only fill one space in my closet because of the measurements !!!!!! And then she proceeded to convince me to buy a shelving unit that is not Elfa and does not have the same color of the rest of the shelves in order to miniseries cost and because she is not sure the design she will be working on is going to fit in my remaining space!!! I am an extremely angry customer I went to Elfa and paid all the cash to have the whole thing looking walk-in closet but it did not happen I ended up with two empty spaces in my already small closet and cheap material as a walk in closet I will never recommend this store And I will happily pay for a closet service for measurements and solid wood instead of the cheap Elfa job and design that is on offer at the...