Design Within Reach — Local services in Seattle

I’ve been searching for a dining room light for many months. I fell for some pendants carried by design within reach. I went to the Seattle store to see the pendants in person before purchasing. I was asked three times if I was “finding everything alright” within the 10 minutes of walking into the store. The sales person watched me closely as I walked through the store. The pendants I was there to see change appearance depending on wether they are turned on or turned off. When they are off they are reflective and when they are on they are opaque. When they are on they have a very obvious seam and, after seeing the light in person, I wanted to see how obvious the seam is when the light is off. I said I was there to see the pendants and asked if I could see the pendants turned off. The answer was no, no also to seeing a pendant in a box. The sales person told me I could check the photos online or they have photos of other installations. This was expressly unhelpful. I was asked again if there was anything else they could help me with which was my clear signal to leave. It was embarrassing and...

I came in to see/try the Hay Mags Soft couch that a rep, through their Google chat, told me would be on display in store. I walked around the store, did not see it, and decided to ask a sales rep if they have any more information. Their response was very curt and unfriendly (for anyone wondering, they only carry the fabrics samples in store). I wanted to ask about where I could go see it but was off put by the interaction, so I left, disappointed. Reading the past reviews, my experience seems to align up with others - great items/store but bad vibes.

I ended up being able to try the couch out in the Bay Area in an official Hay store (I believe Hay is in same franchise as DWR). Sales rep there was super friendly and helpful. I ended up ordering the couch through them.

Again, for anyone else wondering, there is a Hay store in Portland and you can order individual pieces through the store to get a specific size/dimension. This option is not...

I had an awful experience with the customer service at the Seattle store. I brought in an item to return and the associate told me they needed to hold onto it and check something with their manager in San Francisco before providing a credit. I asked them if they could give me any record of taking the item, or of their commitment to give me a credit, but they wouldn’t. It was weird. Finally I took a picture of the guy with the lamp, in case I needed it later. I did.

The DWR team never got back in touch. I had to barrage them with emails to get them to provide the credit. This should have been a simple process, but I suspect they were neglectful because I wasn’t a high-dollar customer. I’ve been in this store enough times to know they’re not that busy - they had time to get back to me.

I would recommend shopping elsewhere. All of DWR’s stuff is available in other stores in...