Pottery Barn — Local services in West Windsor

Pottery barn itself is a lovely place to shop and the items sold are beautiful. One particular staff however, is in need of retraining and needs to a reminder on professionalism.

Helene was absolutely rude and unprofessional from the minute we walked in. I've been in and out of Pottery Barn this month and spent over 6k and another 4k on furniture at a few locations including this one. All within a month. Each time everyone seemed happy to assist with the sales part and even helped me bring the items to my car with a cart.

Returning just a few pieces though? Oh the horror and insult apparently. Helene brought a cart out for me and ran back in with an excuse of being busy. Headed in with the items and she was standing around. She saw me coming to the counter and left to busy herself with fluffing a few pillows on the shelf. I stood until she came back to which she requested if I had the receipt (I did not, but it was not a big deal as I had the card and my B2B membership number). She immediately rolled her eyes, sighed and looked VISIBLY upset. This finally irked me. I asked if she was upset about something. She stated I don't have a receipt and she can't do the return. I stated I returned an item earlier this week (It was defective product) and they looked me up with the CC without a problem.

First strike - lying about policy and capability to perform a return.

She stated well it's just more difficult. I stated she should be professional and that she's upset about my lack of a receipt, but I'm annoyed that she claimed she was busy and was standing around. Then preceded to let me wait for the return. She raised her voice at me then stating that, "You don't know what's going on in my life".

What?

Why would a customer care what is happening in a sales persons personal life? I'm talking about her performance at work and since she visibly annoyed at me, I interjected I should be visibly upset but was holding back.

She was arrogant and aggressive. Loud in the middle of the store and rude. She could not do the return. Had to tell her 3x that the items were 5' and 3' trees (2 each). She asked me multiple times what the items were. Had to get a manager since she did not know how to do the return even after being given a digital receipt (I had it off my phone). Did not know how to even look me up by CC or B2B membership.

Helene just stood there while the manager helped me and finally walked away to help another customer. Overall, horrible service. A manager needs to review her behavior and retrain her on professionalism. She represents Pottery Barn and I can't imagine this is what Pottery Barn want their customers to believe is a reflection of their image. Be just as courteous to customers when they purchase and if they opt to return...

Avoid Pottery Barn at all costs. If I could give triple negative stars I would. I wish I had read the reviews before I ordered $15K in furniture from them back in March 2022. It's September and so far half of our order is still outstanding and they just canceled my latest delivery appointment with NO NOTICE. But that didn't stop them from charging me $6,000 in JULY. This company violates Federal Trade Commission rules by charging customers for merchandise and then letting it sit in a warehouse for months at a time....all the while charging interest on an "interest free" credit card. STAY AWAY!! I wouldn't be surprised if they are inches away from bankruptcy. The "white glove" delivery that they charge you up the wazoo for is a total joke. Let's put it this way...I ordered furniture from Raymour & Flanigan on September 3 and it arrived September 5, as promised, delivered by professionals who obviously knew what they were doing. THAT IS WHAT I EXPECT. I will never ever ever buy anything from Pottery Barn ever again. I guess the furniture is nice but honestly I am so disgusted by them that I don't even care anymore. By the way--this is the FIRST negative review I have written in my life. **Update--I took the day off from work for my latest promised delivery...as of 5 am they were still promising. I clicked on "track your delivery" map at about 10:30 and after burrowing through links I saw "Delivery Canceled" So I've been on their SUPER HELPFUL /S "delivery line" for two hours on hold now. Just wasting my day off for NOTHING. Got yelled at by the store manager. Unless you enjoy having your life wasted and money stolen..go...

Recent Pottery Barn experience: 0 out of 5. Purchased discounted open-box living room furniture items from PB back in February for our new house as a way to stay within budget. Only 1 out of 3 items was ever delivered, despite being prepaid. In one case, a delivery day was set up, but the item never arrived. Had to call and find out it had been canceled. No explanation for why. That item did get refunded. PB communication has been extraordinarily poor. Information wrong. Items were not able to be located. Was promised callbacks on status and didn't get them. Was also told by one rep. that the worst-case scenario if the couch could not be located that it would be replaced by a new one at no extra cost... just a long wait time (already been waiting over 2 months). Today I called and was told that they won't offer that option, but will have to cancel it altogether. Still waiting on compensation for the "lost" couch. Now I won't be able to afford to get another one to match it with the other one I did get, intending it to be a set. I did everything possible on my end to resolve the situation calmly and patiently and was treated rudely by one customer service person. Cannot recommend PB. I don't normally post bad reviews, but maybe it will save somebody some frustration. GOOD GRIEF!...