Crate & Barrel — Local services in San Jose

Tldr; had a department manager, Trevor, accuse us of trying to shop around asssociates to make a return, that they were within their rights to deny us, but an associate had previously assured us that it could be returned if we opened up a credit card with the store and made a large purchase.

My wife and I got married a year and a half prior to moving in to our new house. Our wedding registry had a lot of items from crate and barrel, which we kept boxed up at my parents house, where we were living at the time, until we could move in to make it easier. We asked if we could get a store credit for its return but they said according to the policy the could not. One of the associates (I'll say associate #1, I can't remember her name) was nice enough to replace a chipped plate for us however.

We went upstairs to shop around and were checking out two nightstands. An associate #2, Tamara, started helping us and talked to us about their credit card offering. We talked about it and explained our situation with the return being denied and asked if we opened up a credit card and made a large purchase if they would make an exception for the return, which she said they could do. We opened the card with her and she passed us off to associate #3, Siu, who helped us make the purchase (totaled a little over $2800), with brief help from a department manager name Caroline. Went dowstairs to make the return with Siu who said that we could not make the return due to the store policy. We asked to talk to Tamara again, who had originally said we could (we thought she was a manager who would have been able to make that call, but she was not) and she told us she could talk to Caroline. We talked to Caroline and explained the situation, and she said the returns would have to be approved by a different department manager, as it was not her department. Up until this point everyone had been very pleasant and helpful, even if in the end we were not able to get the return resolved, which at this point seemed unlikely.

Trevor comes to talk to us and says that he cannot make the return in accordance with the store policy, which is fine. But then he told us that he did not appreciate us "shopping around associates" who would make the return for us. We had not looking for different people but had been passed around, and we had been upfront with our situation the whole time. This guy instantly ruined the experience for us. I told him that we had taken the return into consideration when opening the credit card and making the purchase. We had just talked to who we were told to talk to and didn't appreciate the immediate approach and claim that we were shopping around for someone to give us the right answer. He did say I'm sorry but in a way that was the most "can i say something to get out of this situation" rather than "I'm sorry for the miscommunication, I can't do anything for you but I can make sure that this situation doesn't happen again." Completely unprofessional, and this guys clearly needs more training on how to deal with customers. I get that there are customers who do this kind of thing, but at least approach us and listen to what we have to say before making that detetemination, especially since you know we could be return customers who are furnishing a new house. I do not want to shop at this location anymore, just because of the behavior of this one person. Thank you to associate #1, Tamara, and Siu for your help, but this did not make me feel valued or heard...

This place was everything I could have hoped for as a customer. Upon entering, I was immediately greeted by a very friendly and helpful employee named Mary. I needed to stock an entire kitchen from owning zero of what I needed. Having just moved here, I wanted to start fresh. And owned nothing. Mary and I walked around for quite some time, choosing everything from plates to peelers to bathroom towels. She easily entered my selections and changed and updated them as I changed my mind again and again. I took home my quote the first day and went to my hotel to make changes. I returned the next day to finalize and place the order. This is when Megan came from behind the scenes and coordinated every item on my list. To be concise, Megan and Mary choreographed the entire order. Some stuff I packed out in four bags with the rest of the stuff in two weeks. (My needed date) As I awaited the finalization of my order, Megan had employees arriving from all over the store to prepare it. It literally was "all hands on board," making it happen. This was one of, if not the best, shopping experiences I have ever had. I personally want to thank Mary and Megan. I also wanted to acknowledge how so many employees just said, "Hello." I shall return to use the free designer services because of how well I was treated. Since I have been involved in retail work for decades, I must admit I was surprised how meticulously well stocked the entire...

This is a great place to shop for household items. I came to buy flatware and dining sets of bowls, plates, cups. The selection is diverse and the quality is very good. There is special attention to function and beauty in the designs on display. The prices are what you'd expect from mid-high end items. It can get expensive depending on your tastes, however I know plenty of people (myself included) that would pay a little extra for a product that elevates your daily experiences as well as last a long time.

+5 Stars for the store and displayed collections. I also liked being able to feel the items in my hand. The store was air conditioned and a nice place to wander.

-1 Star for experience I had at checkout. I had let an associate know exactly how many sets of each item I wanted, but I was rung out to buy way more of what I had intended. The price became about $250 over what I wanted to actually buy. The items were behind the counter in boxes so I could not verify the amount easily. The associate also failed to go over my quantity before checking out. I'm sure it was a simple mistake since numbers can be confusing and I had a few boxes worth of items.

I did the math myself before checking out so I was able to catch it, but I'm wondering how many other people end up buying more than expected due to this mistake.

If you come here, tally up your order with tax before...