west elm — Local services in Contiguous United States

I paid over $400/stool for four "contract grade" counter stools that the website promised were "designed to last for years ahead with strong performance", because I abhor throw-away culture and go out of my way to buy things that will not need to be replaced for a very long time (ideally never). The backs came completely loose on two of them, and nearly fell clean off, within less than a year. I pulled back the bottom cloth covering on one of them to assess the situation and try to repair it, only to discover that the reason that it was coming loose was because the stool seat was made from such cheap composite wood that screws had literally fallen out of it. I have since been on a seemingly never-ending journey with the hellscape that is the West Elm customer service system to either get a refund or have the stools repaired with different seats. I've either called or chatted with six different reps so far, most of whom have been nice, however it's clear that West Elm does not empower their customer service reps to actually solve problems. The CS reps never seem to know what's going on, don't communicate with each other, and I have to speak to a different rep and re-explain the situation every time. The first rep I spoke to told me that they had to have a supervisor approve my request. Then, a few days later, someone called me back (left a voicemail) and said they would issue me a refund. I then called the customer service line and spoke with someone who confirmed this, told me they were processing the refund, and scheduled a time to have folks come out to pick up the returned stools. A few days went by and I hadn't received the refund and nobody had come to get the stools. So, I called back and they said the request was never approved by a supervisor and they had cancelled the refund. So, they submitted for the first time or re-submitted (who knows) the request for refund and the whole process seemingly started over... tl;dr. West Elm will say anything to take your money and customer service will tell you anything to try to make you go away when something goes wrong. Be prepared to hire a lawyer, if you ever...

I would imagine this is what getting catfished feels like. Everything looks pretty on the surface but when I decided to engage, I was shocked at what I found. I expect this type of service from a hole in the wall store or a used car dealership or being mugged in a dark parking garage. NOT a store in Downtown Summerlin!

So we bought a table and bench for a little less than $2k. At the last possible moment during checkout, we were told that there is a mandatory $400 “white glove delivery” charge. It was Black Friday, we were tired of shopping, and their nasty tactic worked.

Well as we discussed our decision overnight, we changed our minds. It did not make sense to me that we were paying a quarter of the product in shipping. The table and bench had not shipped yet, they were contacting us to find a good time to ship.

We decided to cancel, and when I called the store to ask for a cancellation, I was told that they can refund everything but the $400 delivery fee.

Me: “So I’m literally just handing you $400 for nothing?”

Assistant Store Manager (I won’t name her to save her humiliation): “Yes. We’ve already moved the items from one warehouse to another.”

I could tell she either didn’t have the intelligence to understand why her response was nonsense, or she didn’t have enough business acumen to take care of a customer to save the brand image for a longer term impact, or she just plainly doesn’t care for people.

I called their corporate number repeatedly until I found someone with common sense and compassion who was able to cancel and give us a full refund.

Terrible experience. Learn from the hours I wasted on this place. Don’t waste your time. Go chop your own tree down and make your own furniture if you have to, but do not buy from...

I ordered 3 counter stools and 4 chairs, totaling $2500. When I made the order, I specifically asked if these items are available and when I can expect to pick them up, the saleswoman insisted that they would be no more than 6 weeks; the chairs needed to just be shipped from a warehouse in California to the Las Vegas branch. The counter stools came in super quick, but the matching chairs kept getting delayed every time I checked up. Every day, the order would add another week, and now we won't get our chairs for another 6 months, mind you we ordered a matching set. The chairs say they are available online, there is no mention of a back order, and at the time of our purchase, we were specifically told that "the chairs ARE available." So keep in mind that these people will tell you anything to simply make a sale. There have been no updates despite me calling and talking to sales reps multiple times and they even tell me they will call back, but they never do.

I will happily change my review if anything changes, but I doubt that it will. Do yourself a favor and go next door to crate and barrel, they aren't pretending to be a high-end store, they actually are...