Crate & Barrel — Local services in Nashville-Davidson

All the products I have purchased at Crate & Barrel have been of a good quality, and things are presented nicely in the store, but this review is focused entirely on my most recent customer service experience while trying to purchase something from the store in the Mall of Green Hills. In mid-November, I ordered a knife block to be delivered to the store for pick up. After receiving an email that the item was ready for me to pick up, I went into the store on the evening of Nov. 28 and was told by a store associate that the item was originally there, but another associate had mistakenly sent the item to their warehouse in Smyrna. The gentleman who helped me said he was sorry for the inconvenience and that I would receive a significant discount for my troubles. That sentiment, I appreciated, because I drove a long way in some very heavy traffic to get there that night, only to be told they sent it to the wrong place. He said it would be sent back to their store the following day. I gave it an extra day to be sure, and called the store on Nov. 30 to be sure it was there before I drove to the store again. That resulted in me having to call three times due to a series of being accidentally hung up, the second call ignored, and then the third call in which someone explained that they had now mistakenly cancelled my order, so it was sent back to it's original warehouse. Now they're going to ship it to my house, so we'll see if that happens. This series of phone calls took a total of 31 minutes, in which I had to miss my lunch break at work. I fully understand that we all make mistakes and, despite how this review may come across, I'm actually flexible and easy to get along with. I mostly just expect people to be nice and respectful of others. But at no point during this phone conversation did the store associate I was talking to ever offer any sort of general apology for all the inconvenience this had caused me. She didn't even offer a discount; I had to remind her of the discount promised to me by the other store associate, and only then did I get 20% off for my troubles. To clarify, when I drove 30 miles to the store that night, traffic was awful, there was nowhere to easily park at the mall, and I had recently hurt my back and could hardly walk, and ended up having to walk from one end of the mall to the other. Then another half hour was wasted on the phone, and in the series of having to call back multiple times, no one who answered the phone seemed to think this was unusual, but responded as if that was normal phone etiquette. I think all of this combined is certainly worth at least a 20% discount. Of course, I would have preferred to pay full price and have not had to go through any of this, but mostly just expect a retail store at this level to have more compassion and understanding with customer issues. They don't even acknowledge the mistakes that were made, they just respond as if this is how all transactions are handled. Anyway, based on this experience, I'm not shopping here any more. I can buy the same quality items at Williams-Sonoma or other local gourmet kitchen stores, where customer service is...

Extremely uncomfortable shopping experience both times I’ve visited this store. I buy smaller C&B products occasionally when they have something really striking that goes on sale or isn’t otherwise crazily overpriced (rare), and I’m usually happy with it, but since moving to Nashville, I don’t know if I ever will ever buy in-store again. The last two visits, both to this store, the salesperson helping made it super awkward (which I have an understanding high tolerance for generally, but this was different). I wasn’t sure what exactly it was (felt like subtle shade at the checkout but couldn’t pinpoint), and the last time, it was more clear. I asked for help getting silverware (only the samples are out and available), mentioning that I was there because of a sale they were having and asking to clarify the price on a second set that appeared to be similarly discounted to a set I saw online and came in for because it was so cheap with the discount. I specifically referred to the fact that I’m on a budget and was there for the sale item multiple times, yet the sales rep ignored what I had said (I get wanting to make commissions/etc., but come on, be respectful if someone’s upfront about something like this and only came in the store for this specific item because of its specific price), acted oblivious, outright argued with me about the number of sets I wanted, and threw some weird shade about the fact that I wasn’t buying a large amount ($$$) of stuff. Never shopping at this store again. I get being awkward due to neurodivergence/etc. and tried to give them to a benefit of the doubt initially, but this was so uncomfortable and disrespectful. Proceed with caution, especially if you aren’t there to drop endless cash on...

3/11/24 Final Update: After having to followup because I never got a reply, I can now confirm that everything I wrote below is confirmed. Crate & Barrel customer support is potentially the worst I've ever dealt with in retail. It only took an additional two weeks of C&B bouncing me around, but I can now confirm that they are making me pay to return a defective item that they sent me. I'd suggest buying on a credit card so you can dispute charges if you buy from this store.

3/4/24 Update: Since HR commented on this post suggesting I wait longer, thought I'd give an update almost two weeks later. Crate & Barrel has still not gotten back to me with a resolution to their item. They have bounced me around from person to person on their help line, providing partial answers to questions and not retaining info that was written on prior emails.

I purchased a Miele vacuum cleaner through the website. It came in with a handle where the locking mechanism doesn’t work properly. I was told to go into the store by a representative by email and that if they would take it back in the store, I’d have to send it to Miele.

In the store, they told me they couldn’t help me (thanks for that Crate & Barrel online rep who told me to waste my time by going in), and that I’d have to work it out through the vendor. In addition, they told me they could not help me with getting the item shipped.

Very disappointed in this retail experience. Crate and Barrel does not hold itself accountable for quality control. It makes more sense to buy directly through the vendor and spare yourself the frustration. I’m now spending money to send a defective item...