World Market — Local services in San Luis Obispo

I usually LOVE World Market and have turned to it for many home decor items when decorating our new home but my recent visit has really left me with a bad taste in my mouth. A month or so ago we bought an Ava Window Curtain mistakingly thinking it would fit our sliding glass door. Well, after taking it out of the package we quickly realized it wouldn't fit. I took it back today without the correct credit card but hoping that I may get store credit or exchange it. The first girl to help me, Alex, was very sweet but needed to ask someone else. Then comes Amy (I believe that was her name, mid-50 year old woman with dirty blonde hair). Amy was very, very short with me and cut me off in several occasions and she proceeded to talk down to me like I was an idiot. She explained that I needed a receipt and the original card, which I totally and utterly understood. However, she then told me I didn't have a standard sized slider (it's a prefabricated house-- if anything it would be smaller) and that, that's why this curtain was too short. She never once tried to listen to me and even when I calmly and conversationally explained that I had taken it out of the package and hung it so I knew it was too short, told me I was wrong. I even found myself apologizing... APOLOGIZING and telling her I wasn't trying to be argumentative. I work as a customer service representative for a rather larger company in SLO and I would have never argued with or belittled a customer like this woman had done. Very poor service...

Been a good place to find random things for over a decade now in town. The furniture rotates often which we've never really bought, but we have some walk art/textiles and a few fake plants that are more unique than your standard offerings. The food section in back has always been my reason to go here when I can't find something at Oriental Market on Monterey or La Suprema in atascadero. World market often doesn't either but I can stock up on canned fish and UK/German sweets that would normally need to be bought online. Their torini syrups and matcha are usyally priced better than other brick and mortar and many online retailers. The kitchenware has never struck our style but they carry a lot of cool things that are occasionally useful like pour over coffee brewers and serving dishes. Go wander around for awhile and buy too much...

Be warned that they sell BYCAST "leather" chairs and sofas. They sell them as LEATHER when it is NOT. - Bycast/bicast leather is a man made material that incorporates real leather leftovers that are ground up and added to these fake sheets of material... that WILL peel, crack and bubble. We bought an expensive "leather" recliner. Only a couple years later of nearly no use, we have to get rid of it. We talked to the manager at the store. She admitted that they sell products as LEATHER knowing that it's essentially a vinyl type material that is FAR less superior. Horrible, false and unfair marketing. When products are made from bicast leather, the price is usually reflected(much lower). This chair was market as leather and priced as such. World Market just washed their hands and moved...