Complain about a product or service

Williams-Sonoma

John of Stamford, CT April 22, 2009

I received a Taylor Bed in late 2007 - it was broken when we received it. I called Williams Sonoma several times - finally got a Furniture Medic out to my house in NOV 2008! The furniture medic was an excellent worker and did her best to fix the problem. Her report, of which I have a copy, states that the bed is a manufacturer defect! I have been calling Williams Sonoma at LEAST once a week since then trying to get the Furniture Medic back.

Now, WS Customer service said that there are no further actions that can be taken on my bed. The reason was the Furniture medic report said there was no manufacturer defect. I have a copy of the report stating the EXACT opposite! I have in writing from the Customer Service rep from WS that they do not have access to this report - so how can the Furniture Medic report be the reason why they can no longer help me?

I have caught Williams Sonoma customer service Representatives in a web of lies, and it is very disappointing! I just want my bed fixed so I don't lie at night at a 30 degree angle! If I didn't have a Tempurpedic mattress, I wuold fall off the bed! The Corporate Values posted on the Williams Sonoma website states that We are here to please our customers - without them nothing else matters. I sent copies and screenshots of the Corporate Values to Williams Sonoma Customer Service to remind them that they are supposed to exist and not be ignored. The customer service rep can't even really help me - or Nancy seemed like she would have.

I am not well rested as I should be - I am almost falling off my bed since NOV 2008! Why can't they just fix the bed or give me a new one? ZERO to poor customer service!

Jennifer of Centereach, NY June 27, 2007

As per a new company roll-out of policy this week, Pottery Barn has told suspected Ebayers that shop their retail outlets in more than 7 States that they are no longer allowed to shop in their stores. Claiming an existing we do not sell to reseller policy has always been in place, but NEVER enforced, they met the suspected customers at the door without so much as a letter from Williams Sonoma Corporate to detail the reasons and persons under the ban.

Ebayers spend an excess of 20 million dollars per year in these overstocked outlet stores, and pay the full price that is on the ticketed merchandise, not getting any special favors. Paying the same price as every other customer that walks through their door. Also, these same people have been following additional management self imposed rules (that varied from store to store- manager to manager), although there was this existing no-reseller policy regarding them. There were limits of 6 per sku, time limitations for shopping, and a no return policy for anything purchased. Isn't that contradictory to why they are stating they can no longer shop in the stores now? It sounds to me as if there were some managers that simply could not manage high volume buyers.

Williams Sonoma posted a loss in their last fiscal quarter, how will they explain to their shareholders cutting loose 20 mill+ in business from under 100 customers, without a plan to recover it? And why now? What has changed in their overlooking their existing policy? Also, they do actually sell to resellers, as they have a practice set up to not only sell to Interior Decorators, but they give them a 10% discount as well. When asked, a member of their legal department stated Interior Decorators are a legitimate business. Since when is selling hundreds of thousands of dollars of product through Ebay not a legitimate business? Do they assume we do not pay taxs or something? That could not be further from the truth. Many Ebay powersellers have 100% legitimate businesses set up and operate like every other business. Is it the name Ebay? Then someone should let Williams Sonoma know that Ebay is THE LARGEST online source of purchases, outperforming the next top 5 online retailers added all together. Williams Sonoma is nowhere near the top of that list.

In my opinion, Williams Sonoma has created a lose/lose situation for themselves, outing a huge market for their outlet items and creating a problem for their already overstuffed stores. If they think it will not effect them, lets see how their outlets are doing in 6 months to a year. 20 million is a lot of merchandise to not be purchased.

James of Greenwich, CT January 5, 2006

My complaint is several fold against Williams Sonoma.

1. Receipts fade after approxamately 6-months.

2. Difficult returning defective merchandise, despite the fact that they tell the consumer when they make the purchase otherwise.

3. Managers are inconsistant with their exchange/return policy.

We purchased a common item at Williams Sonoma in late 2004. The item was the Professional 6qt. mixer Kitchen Aid unit in Imperial Black, Sku#3848843 for 369.95.

We had admired the unit in their shelf for sometime and ultimately decided to buy the item. What compelled us to buy it from Williams Sonoma was the flexible return policy that the sales representative explained when we were making our buying decision. We were told by a Williams Sonoma representative If for any reason you are not satisfied with the Kitchen Aid mixer, simply return it with or without the receipt, with or without the box and we will exchange it at any time. The representative went on to assert, We have a very flexible return policy.

On December 24 2005, we suspected the unit to be defective. We were concerned because we had used the unit less than a handfull of times and the unit was in like new condition and extreemly clean with no wear at all.

On December 27, 2005 we contacted the Danbury, CT store #812 and explained that we believed the unit to be defective, at which point the representative instructed us to bring it in. We brought the unit in and were met with complete resistance discourtesy by two managers Mr. Ed Haddad and a manager by the first name of Mary Lee.

We explained that we bought the unit from Wiliams Sonoma and believed it to be defective. We were instructed to bring it in for an exchange, etc. Rather than take it back with ease, we were met with complete resistance and excuses.

1.We were told that they never sold the unit

2. We were told that without the receipt that they don't have to take it back.

3. We were told that the sku# was not in their system.

In return we explained again and again that it was indeed purchased at Williams Sonoma. We explained that when we purchased the unit that we were also sold on their flexible return policy. We asked them to look up our name in their system and they refused. We tried to demonstrate that the unit was in like new condition with no wear and in a box. Fed up with Manager's Mr. Hadadd and Mary Lee's excuses, shenanigans and difficult style we left the store completely dissatisfied and angry after close to 30-minutes of resistance.

We immediate contacted the West Farms Mall store in West Hartford, CT (Store#839). Gave the manager the model number and explained the circumstances that we believed the unit to be defective. The manager replied that she knows the unit well and encouraged us to return it with or without the box or receipt for an exchange. Her service was consistant with the service which we were given when we purchased the unit in late 2004. Well the nightmare continues as we had to drive 60-miles in bumper to bumper traffic in some parts turning a 40-minute drive into close to a 90-minute drive. When we finally arrived to the store, we were finally given an exchange. Our evening had been ruined, we wasted time, gas and energy traveling to another Williams Sonoma store to resolve a customer service issue, which should have and would have had the management, Mr. Haddad and Mary Lee in the Danbury, CT been professional and competent.

I asked the following questions to the District Manager Mary Calder-Ricci during our telephone conversation several days later when I expressed my dismay.

1. Why is it that not one, but two managers in your Danbury,CT store failed to recognize as common of a piece of merchandise as a Kitchen Aid Mixer with specific model number information, while the manager in the West Farms Mall store, the manager immediately recognized it? The WestFarms Store (#839) manager was able to immediately identify the merchandise by entering the sku number.

2. Why did the Danbury, CT managers fail to extend and honor their return policy that is so often recited when a consumer makes a purchase. No hassle return policy, as the West Farms Mall manager to.

After we explained to the Manager at the West Farms Mall William Sonoma, she indicated that they get several complaints from this store. More over, she handed us a copy of the return policy, which states, Merchandise returned without the original purchase receipt, including Gift Registry returns, will be exchanged or refunded at the current selling price in the form of a merchandise credit.

District Manager, Mary Calder Ricci, concluded that our time was not of value and that she condoned the incompetence of Danbury, CT managers Mr. Ed Haddad and Mary Lee when she left us a voice mail asserting that she would not give us a gift card as a token of the inconvenience, resistance and discourtesy that we sustained. She further asserted that Williams Sonoma resolved the matter by exchanging the merchandise.

In closing, District Manager Mary Calder Ricci in our opinion is the foundation of the incompetence in the Danbury, CT store as she has demonstrated to her managers that she condones their incompetence, lack or willingness to follow company policy and approves in managers wasting Williams Sonoma customers time by leading them on a Wild Goose Chase from store to store to resolve a problem.

Sandra of Woodland Hills,, CA October 13, 2005

I HAVE BEEN PURCHASING KITCHENAID MIXERS FOR ALL OF MY FRIENDS CHILDREN FOR WEDDING GIFTS, BOUGHT THEM FOR MY FIVE GIRLS, HAVE THREE OF MY OWN. THIS LAST MACHINE I PURCHASED FOR ;MYSELF AND ONE DAUGHTER WAS THE 400 WATT ARTISIAN. IT MAKES THE WORST WHIRLLING NOISE. WE CANNOT STAND TO USE THE MACHINE. HERS IS AS BAD. I CALLED WILLIAM SONOMA. THEY TOLD ME THAT IS THE NATURE OF THE MACHINE.

Michelle of Los Angeles, CA September 30, 2002

My husband and I registered at Williams Sonoma for our wedding. The day before our reception, my mother in law went in to purchase something off of our registry. She was unable to locate either mine or my husband's names. The sales people had entered in both of our names incorrectly into the computer.

The night of the reception we found that numerous guests had gone in to the store trying to purchase something and were turned away - wouldn't someone think to check in to things when the same couple was repeatedly asked for? When I called the store to find out what happened, nothing was done. I wrote three letters to the manager and her supervisors, again, nothing was done. Not even a note of apology for the inconvenience caused.

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