west elm — Local services in San Mateo

Shocking Customer Service Experience — Never Shopping at West Elm Again

I’ve been a loyal West Elm customer for years — I’ve purchased beds, tables, rugs, sheets, and more. While the customer service was never exceptional, my recent experience was so bizarre and unpleasant that I’ve decided never to shop there again.

Me and my wife visited the store to try out a Leesa mattress, which West Elm features through a partnership. When I asked where the mattresses were, the sales associate pointed us to the bed and told us not to remove anything because the store would be closing in an hour. He instructed us to “just lie in the middle of the bed.”

However, the bed was completely covered in layers of pillows and comforters — making it impossible to actually test the mattress. We gently moved the pillows and bedding aside so we could lie down and try it properly. That’s when things took a turn.

The associate saw us and yelled, accusing us of “destroying” the display. We calmly explained that we were just trying to test the mattress and even offered to put everything back exactly as it was. Instead of diffusing the situation, he continued to berate us for not following his vague instructions.

We were stunned, embarrassed, and frankly humiliated by the way we were treated — as if we had done something wrong by trying out a product that’s specifically meant to be tested before purchase.

It was an incredibly unprofessional and unnecessary interaction. This experience erased any goodwill built over years of shopping at West Elm. I won’t be returning, and I would advise others to consider whether the in-store experience is worth the risk of being...

I visited San Francisco with my girlfriend for Christmas during the Pandemic. We were coming from New York where things were quite bad at the time, and during our visit I stumbled into a few West Elm stores in search for some furniture. I was greeted by the manager, Marty, who helped with my order.

When the order arrived in NY, there appeared to be a misnomer with the size of the sectional. It was advertised online as 112" wide, whereas what arrived was only a 90" wide sectional (not his fault). Despite this, he made every single effort to make it right. Every. Single. Effort.

The replacement sectional is to arrive tomorrow and Marty's customer service excellence has encouraged me to make other purchases with him and his staff even while living on the other side of the country! He also provided great advice when helping me furnish my apartment and I have learned a lot from him.

I was, and still am grateful for Marty and his prompt, professional, customer-first attitude. Life does not always go as planned, and there is comfort knowing Marty and his team will be there to make it right when it doesn't.

Thanks again...

I had a frustrating drawn-out unpleasant shopping experience there recently. Two employees made it unpleasant: a sullen young female sales clerk and a do-nothing young man sales clerk, the latter who sat watching 20-30 min as I struggled to get my credit card cleared, only to discover it was West Elm's machine at fault, whereupon Mr Do-Nothing remarked to my sullen sales clerk : Yeah, that machine doesn't work for credit cards, you need to use the other machine." When I got the Customer Survey I explained the above but in more detail (all negative) and noted lack of professionalism. Today I rec'd an email from a K...le Ma...ur telling me "you're a terrible person." I I Googled the name: it was Mr Do-Nothing at West Elm, San Mateo. I am posting this so that "Corporate" can see there is a problem with hiring at this branch. Btw the stock boy was fantastic: five stars for him, the only one who greeted entering customers w/ a friendly greeting, while he was busting his hind end bringing up inventory, unwrapping it, helping load it into customer vehicles, etc. He should be...