Sur La Table — Local services in Madison

Went there with my sister for a mortar and pestle to crush pills for my father in his end of days. It was around 6 pm during Xmas shopping prime time and the store had no shoppers…no wonder why no shoppers now I can tell why. An employee (by the name of Aaron) was at the top of a ladder started talking in a very disrespectful tone and nasty belligerent inflection. I asked him why is he talking in such a manner. He went berserk and started yelling at us and told us “I can talk the way I want in my store and told us to get out of his store”. Then he said he is calling security which he did but anyways we were stepping outside. I asked him to speak to the manager and he replied that “I am the manager”. The only thing I can think about that triggered such an attitude is prejudice since he listened to us talking with accent while checking the item. So if you are person of color, Asian, Latino, or got foreign accent avoid this place. It appears that Sur La Table doesn’t do due diligence screening who they hire. Never again. A horrible humiliating experience. UPDATE: Over 2 weeks have passed since this racist incident and Sur La Table still haven’t contacted me. Right after the incident that night immediately I called Sur La Table customer service and waited for almost an hour for a representative to answer. The representative took the details of the incident and my information too. She said I will get a follow up call in 2-3 days. Sur La Table didn’t call and now it’s over 2 weeks. Now we can tell that this company is careless about its customers and it’s customer service is mediocre.

Update: A month have passed since I lodged a complaint. I have not heard back from Sur La Table. This corporation is unethical and cares less about discrimination at their stores. Update: On 01/31/20 I decided to call SLT again and inquire how come no body responded. The customer service person ( Sarah Queen) found my complaint on their system and promised to get back to me since this incident sounded so horrible and awkward that SLT had overlooked the arbitrary unprofessional behavior of The manager Aaron. After 2 weeks of my telephone conversation I decided to email Sarah on her SLT email she provided me - as she encouraged me to do so- to let her know that I haven’t heard from SLT. She...

DO NOT BOOK A COOKING CLASS HERE. I booked a class here for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day, then I went a couple days after to their website to take a screenshot of the class to give him as his physical gift, and the class was no longer there. I checked my email and my phone to make sure I didn't miss any messages about it being cancelled, and I hadn't received any. I called the store to ask if the class was cancelled. I didn't get the name of the lady that answered the phone, but she was rude and condescending right off the bat. When she picked up, I explained that I noticed the class was no longer on their site and just wanted to check in to see if it was still happening. She said, "I don't know, check your email. If it were cancelled you'd get a message. You'd also get a phone call." I said, I did check that and I didn't get anything which is why I thought I'd check in with you over the phone. She then laughs and goes "Well, if it's not on the website then it was cancelled, so you obviously missed a message." I ignored this comment and asked if she knew when I would receive a refund. She seemed confused about me asking this and replied, "No? That's customer service's job, not mine. I can give you their number if you want." I said no I already have it I just thought I'd call the store first, thanks, and then hung up. Fortunately, customer service was helpful—they got me my refund back in a few days. I'd recommend calling them right away with any issues and not the store. To top it all off, not only did I not receive notification that the class was cancelled and then get gaslit by a worker that I missed a message, but for 2 weeks after the class was cancelled and I received my refund, I continued to receive emails reminding me when the class was. The day before the class, I finally received a call letting me know that it was cancelled. Don't book here. They told me they don't have a chef to teach their classes, which is why they keep getting cancelled. Not sure why they are still booking them if they don't have a chef, but would not recommend...

I booked a cooking class for me and my girlfriend for our first anniversary. I was really excited for it and the menu looked great. I was hyping it up to her as a surprise gift and thought I hit a home run. Boy was I wrong

About a week after I booked it I got an email that the class was canceled (this was now 4 days before our anniversary). Disappointed I went in to book another class, this time for a menu I wasn't really pumped about, but it was something. Things happen, people get sick, ect. so I didn't really blame the store too much.

Again a few days later I get a call that this new class is canceled. A bit frustrated now I asked the person on the phone if there was a date that they could tell me wouldn't be canceled so I could book it and be set. He said that they are in the process of changing chefs so there wasn't really a day they could guarantee.

Reluctantly I pick another class almost a month out to book. Surely they would have everything shorted by then.

Jump to the day before this third booked class I get a call it's canceled. They had me call a customer service line to get my refund (the other ones were automatically processed on their end) and when I called this store back to see if they could maybe give me a credit or coupon for a class in the future the women on the phone rudely said "You'll get your refund" and "I don't think there is anything like that".

I understand that the job market is hard right now and everywhere is hurting for workers. But when you advertise a class being open to book there should be some accountability that this class will go on. It's unacceptable to run a business where you cancel your product three different times, especially if you expect people to pay almost $100 per spot.

At the very least they could offer a coupon (I know they have them, there is a section in the order checkout for one) for putting me through the hassle of reordering it so many times and having to move schedules around in anticipation for the class.

Pretty unprofessional...