The Container Store — Local services in Pasadena

The worst customer service and installation EVER!!!! We purchased a $3000 Elfa closet system right after the holidays. Today was the scheduled install. The installer arrived 2 hours late (at 10:30 am). At 5 pm he hadn't finished. He left us with our clothes all over our bedroom, dust all over our clothes, and no plan for completion.

We were told at the time we purchased the system that the installer would remove old system, spackle and paint walls, then install new system. We expected a pair of installers. Only one guy arrived. After about 1.5 hours of removing the old system he cut his finger and needed a band-aid. Fortunately my husband has a full first aid kit and we applied gauze and tape around his finger. Near the end of the day he explained that he was only painting over the spackled areas, not the whole closet. He hadn't sanded down the spackling yet, and left before finishing the spackling.

A call to the Pasadena store where we made the purchase resulted in Raga Roberts, the General Manager, being too busy to talk with me, passing me off to Rob Kaplan who after 1.5 hours could only report that the installer division in Dallas had been emailed about the problem and someone would be calling me sometime tomorrow about the problem. I asked again to speak to the general manager to allay my concerns. I was told she had gone home for the day and didn't return customer calls after leaving the store. It was only 7 pm and the store was open for at least another hour. Not sure what can be more pressing than a disappointed customer....

I understand it can be difficult to estimate the time it will take to complete a project. The store should have sent two installers and have them arrive on time to help manage found conditions in the field. But more importantly, the store manager should have taken a personal interest in addressing these missteps and assuring us that the problem would be remedied the next day.

We will go to bed tonight wondering if and when our closet will be completed. You will go to bed tonight knowing that you should look elsewhere for a closet system because Container Store is not up...

Honestly what's not to like about the container store? They have every imaginable item for organizing your life, including things you didn't know you need and will wonder how you lived without!! I'm obviously exaggerating, but only slightly, The Container Store does a great job of finding the most innovative products and offering them for sale all under one roof. The majority of Container Store location are rather large and this location in Pasadena is definitely no different. There are 2 floors at this location, both of which are filled wall to wall with products. With so many items to choose from retail stores of that size can sometimes be disorganized and overwhelming, but this is The Container Store, they sell products for organizing and as one would expect the stores are beautifully organized as well. They also believe in top notch customer service, when in need an employee is always easy to find and happy to help. The most important thing you probably need to know about the Pasadena location is where to park, unfortunately this is the only slight downside to this location. The store is located on the corner of Union and Fair Oaks, the two closest parking structures are located on Union, one of which is directly across from The Container Store. Here's the slight downside, Union is unfortunately a one-way street, and this really only becomes an issue depending on what direction you're coming from, your time of travel and the day of the week. You might have to make a couple extra turns to enter the parking structures depending on where you're coming from and extra turns or not Old Town Pasadena can become swamped with traffic depending on the time and day of the week. If you're unfamiliar with the area I would suggest enabling your GPS to direct you to the closest parking structure and not the store itself. There's also a valet located on Union just steps from the entrance to the store, but why waste your money when it could be better spent on a wall mounted magnetic...

TO THE PASADENA THE CONTAINER STORE CUSTOMERS: I wish I could rate them minus zero. It looks like the City of Pasadena Parking enforcement have a BUSINESS going on at the corner where The Container Store is. They know that there are only two spots to park when online pick up orders are placed; this UNETHICAL "Officers" wait (Seconds) for you to stop while the car in front of you is moving away so you can park on that spot. In top of that they do not give you the citation BUT send you a notice indicating a DRIVE AWAY NOTICE when you have NOT driven away. My suggestion; do not EVER GO TO THE CONTAINER STORE IN PASADENA; when possible instead, order on line for delivery (The employees are aware of this problem and still insist that you park on one of the two spots outside the store) and do not make a living for this opportunistic unprofessional city employees; park at a safe spot as this "officers" make their living out of your needs...