west elm — Local services in Birmingham

Details on how to cancel your order below -

First - I wish I would have trusted my gut when my husband and I walked into this location in December. We roamed around the store with no one to help us and ended up pulling fabric samples out ourself. Had a question and had to walk to the front desk and they told us the man sitting in the chair 6 feet from us was a worker who could help us. This man did not help us once. I'm not sure if it is because we are in our late 20's, we weren't dressed up, or what. The man begrudgingly helped us and we decided to take our purchase online because it was easier and we weren't a fan of the store.

Ordering - was easy enough. 6 weeks to ship (normal). Then the delays. First it was 6 more weeks, then it was 6 more weeks, then another. As of today our order was supposed to be shipped out in July (but the item on the website currently says October so I'm doubtful it would have arrived).

I called customer service to request a cancellation because it clearly was not in production. 2 weeks ago a representative online said she would "check on it for me" and would call me back 4/14, no call. I called today and a rep rudely cut me off and told me I cannot cancel and there is nothing I can do and I should have read the website. I was wondering if there was an exception due to my order not even being in production. She wouldn't even let me answer until I had to cut her off and just ask her if there was ever an answer on the "request" the last rep put through. Sit on hold and she comes back and says "nope - we aren't even allowed to put service requests in to cancel custom orders. Not sure why she didn't update it, it was never submitted."

Because I'm persistent and don't want to sit on my floor until July maybe later, I looked up legality.

Turns out this is illegal. I suggest Googling "FTC Selling on the Internet: Prompt Delivery Rules." If an online vendor cannot fulfill an order they need to let you know and give you the option to cancel. Caveat is, if you don't respond it is you "accepting" the delay. If they delay it more than 1x though, they must get my consent to the delay. They didn't.

Went on the online chatbot. First they told me no and I reiterated and sent them the FTC notice from the .gov site and it took about 15 minutes to cancel.

Hope this helps someone else. I cannot comment on West Elm's quality but the Birmingham location's customer service, the company's service, and the attempt at now allowing customers to cancel means I will never recommend West Elm to...

Note that this review applies to an online purchase, not in-store. First-time customer. I placed an order for a 9x12 rug on 9/25/20. My card was debited the next day. The order tracking estimated delivery to my home by 10/16/20. Going into the purchase, I was very aware of possible shipping delays given the pandemic, but at no point during my order was I told to expect delays. As the estimated delivery date approached and the tracking info showed the order had yet to ship, I reached out to customer service to inquire and they told me I was misunderstanding the tracking, and that the 10/16/20 delivery estimate referred to when the order would arrive at my local delivery center, at which point they would reach out to me to schedule the home delivery. I rechecked the order email I'd gotten and it most certainly estimated delivery to my home by 10/16/20, not to their delivery center. I was a bit annoyed considering the only delivery option they offered for this item was in-home delivery costing $150. But I was really interested in this rug, so I tried to tough it out. Over the next few weeks I contacted them a few more times, and, to be fair, they did offer to reduce the shipping cost. But at that point it wasn't about saving a few bucks, it was about getting my order. On 10/29/20, my order tracking showed that my order finally shipped from their warehouse in NJ. Fast forward to 11/18/20 and there's no further tracking update...so somehow the order hasn't made it from NJ to MI in 20 days. At that point I contacted them for a refund. They told me they couldn't refund me until the order arrived at their delivery center. I decided to dispute the charge with my credit card company. Only after telling West Elm that I was disputing the charge did they offer to refund my order. And it's a shame, because the item was exactly what I'd been...

IF I could give this company 0 stars I WOULD! it was probably the worst experience ever! My husband and I first ordered couches for our home one came in on time and the other one stated it was in stock. Not only was it delayed 5 months but they kept charging my husbands card. we ended up just canceling the couch. THEN I DONT KNOW WHY i took a second chance and gave them the benefit of the doubt I am expecting this next month and ordered a Crib and and Changing table/dresser. My order was delayed 4 months. On top of that they had agreed to give me a price match for the dresser because it was cheaper on pottery barn kids. The lady specifically told me I will not be charged until all items have been shipped. I had double checked and asked her because of our first time mishap. After 5 phone calls and many back and forths they were finally ready to ship my items. The day everything came my dresser had not. THEY DIDNT KNOW IT WAS IN TWO PIECES THEY KEPT TELLING ME EVERYTHING WAS SHIPPED. FINALLY when I did receive everything turns out they charged me back in November when the lady clearly told me they wouldnt until they ship out my items BUT I was charged every MONTH THREE different interest charged that equaled to a total of $254 and when i called to ask if they can do anything about the charges the lady told me to contact my bank! If I hadnt been presistent about the charges and to speak to a supervisor after another hour on the phone I finally was able to get it back! SAVE YOUR SELF THE TROUBLE and DO NOT shop with any of these companies your better off going to buybuy baby or target which is more occommodating and CHEAPER. No one knows what they are doing and scheduling has employed people with attitudes. please again save your...