Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design — Local services in Oak Brook

BUYER BEWARE. I regrettably became a customer of Walter E. Smithe on December 18,2020. I had found a bed that I liked on their online website and decided to go into a showroom to look at it in person. I quickly learned that this particular bed was not on any showroom floor but they had a somewhat similar bed made by the same furniture company at the Geneva store so I decided to go ahead and order the bed and a nightstand that day. I was also in the market for a new couch so I looked around for that but I did not purchase a sectional couch that day. Instead I returned to the Oak Brook store on December 21, because I was well aware of the furniture shortage that has been occurring and I wanted to get furniture for my new home. I ordered a sectional based on the promised timeline of the furniture maker, which was still not going to be until February 2021. Upon delivery of the sectional I noticed several spots on the sectional and mentioned it to the delivery guys. They told me the spots were due to the couch sitting on a cold delivery truck and would go away once the couch warmed up. This did not happen, in fact I noticed more spots on the new sectional the next day. I reached out to correct the problem and was offered replacement cushions and a refabricating of the side piece of the damaged sectional. This was NOT an acceptable solution for me as I had purchased a NEW couch, not a used couch that need to be refurbished. After going back and forth with several employees I was finally able to get them to reorder me a new sectional. Never once was an apology really offered and I felt like the management did not care as they had payment in full. I received my reordered sectional in April but awaited delivery of the bed and nightstand that I had ordered. April 24th comes around and I get a call to schedule delivery for the bed and nightstand. I continue to be told that they only deliver in my area on certain days of the week and the days that work for me are not convenient for them. This was incredibly frustrating since I have a job that takes me away from home for 3-4 days a time; but we scheduled delivery for Saturday May 1st. On the Friday before delivery was set as scheduled I received a phone call from their “Customer Service” department that delivery had to be cancelled because the furniture was not in their warehouse. What???? How does a company schedule delivery for something that is not available? Again, they offered to schedule delivery on days that did not work for my schedule and offered no apology no alternate solutions, but they are glad to charge you the delivery fee when you order furniture and do not disclose that they only deliver on certain days of the week. I wake up on the morning of May 1st to a call from the delivery team to tell me they are 5 minutes away. Again, I am confused because they CANCELLED delivery and did not tell the driver. He tells me he just has the nightstand in the truck and I tell him to not even bother to bring an incomplete order to me. I am beyond frustrated dealing with the incompetence and lack of Customer Service from Walter E. Smithe and their associates. For a company who prides themselves on being “Chicago’s Best Furniture” they sure have a lot of nerve. The daughters should focus less on making quirky commercials and start focusing on delivering quality customer service to their customers and developing repeat customers. I will discourage ANYONE from shopping with them in the future as I feel there are much better options for furniture and home décor pieces in the Chicagoland area. C&B I am...

I was disappointed by the unfriendly and unwelcoming behavior of the sales person Karen or Carol, can’t remember her name, at Oakbrook location. My daughter was home from college looking for a new bookshelf and she wanted to go to WE smith because it is less than 3 min from our home. When we arrived Karen and the other salespeople were all sitting down at the front of the store and barely looked up when we walked in. Mind you there were no other customer’s present. We were only people there who were not employees the whole time we were in the store. Next we were asked what we were looking for and then told by Karen to follow her. It was an odd experience as we got the feeling we would not be allowed to view the other furniture without her escort. She showed us 3 dark pieces and when we told her we wanted the furniture to be white she said, “well white is out”, then said there might be something and showed us a catalog with a few white pieces. When we found one that could work, Karen/Carol sat down with her back to us and contacted the manufacturer for a quote. I had to lean against a nearby bed because I was not offered a seat and there were none in the area to sit on. After getting off the 5-10 min phone call she gave us a quote on a piece of paper and left. Long story short we ended up at another furniture store in Yorktown where we were greeted with a smile, encouraged to browse and then kindly sat down and went over the details of the furniture we wanted to purchase. I purchased 2 pieces of furniture that night. I don’t think I’ll be returning to WE Smith. Both my daughter and I got the impression that they salesperson didn’t need or want...

We couldn’t be happier and feel fortunate to have worked with Designer Catherine Piscitelli at the Oak Brook IL store. We built our new home in South Carolina while still living in the Chicago area and needed help with new furnishings as well as reupholstering several favorite family pieces so that they would transition into the new design and color scheme when we moved. Because of the distance involved, much of Catherine’s work was done from blueprints and photos.

Catherine provided expert design advice/services. She is responsive, thoughtful and attentive to detail. We received complete floor plans for each room with creative furnishing choices and fabric selections (often multiple fabric groupings to choose from).

Her recommendations provided us with what we think are the perfect pieces for every room. Our new home is Beautiful, Comfortable and Functional. It fits our style perfectly! We love it. Our family and friends love it! Our old favorites were expertly reupholstered and fit in beautifully. We would not hesitate to highly...