Williams-Sonoma Reviews

Right after Christmas the website updated saying that the order would arrive on January 4th. Today is January 4th and the website just changed back to "In Process", so it hasn't been shipped yet... I try to call their customer service line and Verizon says "This call cannot be completed as dialed..." So we call the nearest store and talk to a manager. She calls customer service on her side and no one can seem to be able to (A) Figure out the actual status of this order or (B) Cancel it.

This shipping is one thing but upon reviewing my bank statement, Williams-Sonoma made a $116 withdrawal and then 10 minutes later re-deposited this money. I did not make this charge. Williams-Sonoma just decided to make fraudulent charges against my credit card for no reason at all. This company is out of control and I am very concerned about the theft of my credit card information.

The box was so poorly sealed that the bottom came apart but that was noticed by the UPS driver, who brought it in upside down. The real issue is that the price was left on three of the four items, and in case that wasn't enough, the gift receipt was stapled to a print-out showing the price of all four items. I will never mention this to my friend, but I'm advising her NEVER to shop at that store again. She was furious enough about the incompetence that she may not need my advice. Very bush league for a store that's supposed to be so great.

Original Review: Dec. 30, 2015

On 12/23/15 I ordered several jars of spices through the Williams-Sonoma site. Later that day I received an order confirmation with an estimated delivery date of 12/29/15. My credit card was also charged at that point. I didn't receive any other emails about the order, so on 12/29 I realized I should check the status. The order still showed as "in process," so I called customer service to inquire. The first time I called I was on hold for about 5 minutes before I was disconnected. The second time I was on hold for over 20 minutes before speaking to a customer service rep. She was nice and helpful, but I learned from her that the spices had been out of stock since I placed the order and she didn't know when they would ship. I canceled my order and requested a refund which she processed.

It's unacceptable to me that I was never informed that this item was out of stock. It's not my responsibility to track that information down. It's also unacceptable to me that my credit card was charged before my order was processed. I had ordered the mulling spices to take as gifts for a New Year's party, and now I have to scramble to find something else last minute. Had I been notified immediately that my online order wasn't a go, due to lack of inventory, I would have checked my local store right away, but at this point I was informed by customer service that the item is out of stock everywhere. This whole experience is incredibly frustrating and a huge waste of my time. I'm very unhappy and won't shop at WS again. This company needs to have inventory and customer notification systems in place to match their high end products and prices. Ridiculous.

They were Christmas gifts for crying out loud! It is not the amount of money nor the items that I am not receiving but the business practice and pitiful customer service of Williams-Sonoma that I can not take. Seriously, a business of this magnitude cannot respond to emails or have enough customer service reps to take phone calls where you don't have to sit on the phone for this unacceptable amount of time. Consequently, the rep I spoke with today after all my tries stated she would credit the additional charge and my original charge for items that had not shipped and cancel the order for additional items... We shall see. I told her of my difficulty reaching Williams-Sonoma and my frustration and her response was people had to wait over an hour today so I was lucky I only had to wait twenty minutes plus. WOW! That made me feel so much better about WS.

Also, I asked for an email confirming our conversation and she said they had no way to send me an email regarding our phone call or cancellation confirmation of the order. What??? All I can say is I will never ever order from Williams-Sonoma nor will I step foot in their store. Not that they care. Williams-Sonoma needs an overhaul in their customer service and my suggestion is have your customer reps at least say I'm sorry rather than make excuses for all their unprofessional business practices. Unacceptable customer service for a company who thinks way too highly of themselves.

I've called asking for reimbursement and dealt with a very rude, disrespectful customer service rep who is incompetent and is trying to tell me she needs to intercept the cake and send back to vendor or they will not compensate me. The rudeness of the rep is unbelievable. Completely contrary to deferring to the customer who has had a horrible experience with the company. Absolutely no regard for the customer and penny-pinching on refusing to compensate a customer on an $80 cake which was not delivered as intended due to their own errors. $80 is less than pennies to this company. Utter incompetence and respect for their customers. Never again will I order from them.

However, I didn't get to speak with a customer service representative. I finally clicked the "Let us call you" button online. I got a real person immediately. I was then told the garden beds would not be shipped until Jan 16!!! I find this weird. They didn't know this before today??? I guess they were hoping people wouldn't cancel their orders, which I did quickly. I now ordered the SAME thing from Target and guess what, it's been shipped already! However, since I ordered it late, it will not be here before Christmas! Thank you, WS I won't order something like this again from your company. It would have been nice to know immediately that you could not fill the orders.

Checked the tracking number they gave me, and my package almost got sent back to the warehouse because they put the wrong address on it. (I had put the correct address when making the order.) Lucky I called in time and they were able to pull the package back before it got too far. It's supposed to be at the post office now. I have yet to open the contents. I hope everything is in good condition, and it all there. I am shocked that a story like Williams-Sonoma with such a posh image would be this horrible to work with. This store will never get my business again!

Finally the last 2 reps told me that I could only receive a merchandise credit for $750 and that was it. In the meantime, I bought a new rug for that amount in the store thinking I was getting the other rug credited. Now PB has gained $1500 profit from me and I have no use for the $750 credit. I spoke with reps and managers and they all refused to help me. It was very disheartening and a big financial loss.

The second order I placed was for a jewelry box and leather catchall (both on a 24 hour flash online 40% off sale) as Christmas gifts a week ago. I realized 12 hours after placing the order that my sister wanted a grey jewelry box not ivory color. So I called and asked them to change the color. They sent a message to the warehouse and said they would see. Called daily for 2 days and finally received a "no" from the warehouse. No items shipped, just sitting there in warehouse. No reason given why they can't change the color. So the rep tells me the only way is to cancel the ivory jewelry box and reorder a grey one (which is now $200 instead of $119) and the rest of items will ship as ordered. She tells me once it ships she will credit the price difference.

2 days later I am tracking the order online to see the entire order is cancelled, including the leather catchall that I never cancelled. I call again and they tell me they can't just cancel one item, they have to cancel entire order. Ridiculous. Now I am replacing another order, supposedly getting a credit and then placing a new order. I am on the verge of canceling everything but of course I have the $750 I need to spend and the gift.

It is enough to bring you to tears dealing with these people. Incompetent doesn't even come close. Every rep tells you a different story. There is a huge disconnect between the reps and the warehouse. I won't even mention the wait time to talk to a supervisor (I'm still on hold after 30 minutes as I write this). Nowhere on the website to write a complaint to. And it really seems that they don't care if you do complain. There isn't even an apology for the continual errors on their end. I am beyond fed up. Will not be shopping there ever again.

I was so upset, I didn't look out my return receipt until I got home (I live an hour and a half away from William-Sonoma) and realized I wasn't credited for all the glasses that were returnable. I immediately contact corporate, they sent me a BS letter saying they would look into it and get back to me. That was 4 mos ago!! Do not shop in this store and let's put them out of business for their fraudulent business practices!

It is surprising in this day and age to find a retailer that is so arrogant that they can pick and choose who they do business with. As a direct result of returning empty handed twice, my employer a gourmet chef, who usually feels obligated to shop and support local merchants, as many do not survive, has ceased doing any business with Williams-Sonoma both in person and online. Guess what Williams-Sonoma, it works both ways - consumers can also pick and choose who they do business with.

I called the support number listed, and the rep immediately started processing my order via telephone (despite me telling her I was trying to login myself). Once it came to payment, she tried getting my credit card number. It was like speaking to a robot who's only concern was to make the sale. When I asked about the 15% and why the email system wasn't working, it was like the rep did not hear me at all and was only interested in the sale. I asked again about the email system and she told me there was no technical support. No assistance for my email problem and the rep was so rude and uninterested. I will not be purchasing this coffee maker from them!

I called and emailed the customer service number on the corporate website and the platinum customer service number (reserved for "special people") that a clerk at our local WS store gave me. No one has responded, guess I'm not "special" enough! In the meantime I went to a competitor and purchased the same glasses which they actually had in their store (imagine that, actual inventory). WS has gone to the dogs! Do not order from them or even call them. They are a bunch of corporate puppets who take your money and provide zero service! Such a shame!

This was the first sign of William Sonoma's terrible service and complete disregard for the customer and their word. If they screwed up and did not bother to send the product out to be delivered on the requested day, why did they not indicate this early in the day so I did not waste my time sitting at home all day for no reason??? Secondly, they did nothing to confirm in advance that the next day would be convenient, merely assumed that I would have nothing better to do on my birthday than sitting around housebound for the second full day in a row waiting for them. Clearly all they are interested in is making a sale.

My husband said that if he had known they were not going to deliver it the day they committed to, he would have picked up the product at the store instead. And I would most certainly would rather have had to spend the 20-30 minutes to pick up the product from the store myself than sit at home for over 18 hours over two days waiting for them to get their act together. Furthermore, if I had been asked about Thursday delivery ahead of time, I would have asked for an alternative as that was the worst day possible.

Apparently, express delivery is available by UPS to ensure your product arrives by noon the next day, so I expected that since the product was on the truck the previous day, at least I would receive the delivery in the AM, and at least have the afternoon free to celebrate. However, Williams-Sonoma did not use this delivery option, despite the fact that they had already failed to honor their agreement to deliver the prior day. As a result, I had to miss my own birthday lunch that friends had planned for me waiting for the package to arrive. My frustration grew exponentially as the day worn on. At 5 o'clock on the SECOND day, the product had still not arrived.

At this point, since the company had failed to meet its prior commitment, both ruining the previous plans I had all day for celebrating my birthday, and the attempts my family had entrusted them with to try to make it a special surprise, I told my husband that unless the company was willing to do something to compensate for their screw-ups, I felt the delivery should be refused if and when it ever arrived, and a replacement purchased elsewhere. Shortly after 5 PM, I left the house as the product was again a no-show. My husband told me to leave a note with instructions to just leave the product on the porch in case for some reason it showed up late, which it finally did. It was supposed to have been gift-wrapped also, but it was not. Just a large cardboard box. Yet another screw-up.

Since Williams-Sonoma screwed up in every way possible, you would think they would be apologetic about the situation and willing to try to make some sort of amends. Nada. As you might imagine, even more drama ensued in the family when I indicated I was therefore not interested in enabling Williams-Sonoma in profiting from ruining my birthday despite my family's attempts to make it extra special, and was not interested in opening the box. My family was further inconvenienced by having to make another trip to return the product to the store, after Williams Sonoma was apparently unwilling to do anything whatsoever to mitigate the situation. AS A RESULT OF THIS EXPERIENCE I WILL NEVER AGAIN SET FOOT IN A WILLIAMS SONOMA STORE, OR PURCHASE anything from them.

So two days pass by and no pick up. So call back on Thursday and talk to a customer service rep named "Jeniece" who informed me that NO RETURN had ever been set up according to our account information. I explain to Jeniece that we had called and set up the return on Tuesday, two days before. She immediately starts giving me attitude, insinuating we had not done that, then starts grilling me like a police interrogator on why I want to return the item. I ask to speak to her supervisor, upset now that we had been basically "punked" on the return, and now upset that Jeniece is giving me attitude and grilling me. She refuses to put me through to her supervisor.

I hang up and call back. Talk to a "Melinda" in Las Vegas this time. Same thing, she's full of attitude, too, and refuses to put me through to her supervisor. Call back 5 more times on Thursday and Friday and wait, wait, wait, wait to reach someone in customer service, and as soon as someone picks up, CLICK, they hang up. This is an outrage. This is the worse customer service I have ever experienced.

For five years I have been doing this with no real problems. Today I was informed that they will charge $5.00 to sharpen the knife and that they only sharpen it for free once after purchase. This information is both contrary to what I have experienced over the years and contrary to what I was told when I purchased the very expensive cutlery that I could have purchase elsewhere for much less money. Take my advise and don't trust the BS they tell you when you are spending the money only to have them renege on their commitments. I will never spend another dime at Williams-Sonoma.

On 9/26/15, the item was shipped. I called on 9/29 to obtain a postage-paid label to return the item, and was told by a rude, condescending representative that it was my fault that I didn't cancel in time, so if I do not want the item, I must pay to return it. I will never purchase an item from Williams-Sonoma again, and recommend that all consumers purchase desired items elsewhere. There are many other places that are glad for the business, will have better shipping process, and will certainly have better customer service representatives and policies.

On Wednesday I had not received confirmation of shipping so I called and was told that they would ship when the truck was full. Of course I did not receive the product when promised. I had bought this as a birthday present and was not able to give it when needed. I wrote to the service department and received no reply. There are too many other companies ready to provide good service and probably with better priced products. I will not buy from Williams Sonoma again.

I tried placing the order again with my gift card but there was no money on it. I called to ask why the funds had not been placed back on my gift card, and the rep said that they could not do that. Instead, they had sent a gift card in the mail that would arrive in 7-10 business days. Issue #3 - WS cannot return funds to gift cards, although every other online retailer I've ever shopped with is somehow able to do this.

Throughout all of this, any normal online retailer would have kept me updated via email. Walmart and other stores I've shopped with would have sent me an email to inform me that my order had indeed been cancelled, and would have communicated that a new gift card had been sent out. If I hadn't been calling in every couple days to ask questions and frequently checking my online account, I would have no idea that any of this was going on. I would have thought my original order was on its way. This isn't exactly a horror story, but WS managed to make a seemingly simple task (canceling an order) a long, drawn-out ordeal. Once I get my new gift card and place the order, I won't be shopping with WS again.

I then contacted my credit card service and notified them I will dispute any charges from WS. Credit card service is appalled by 2/ blatant disregard for the law as well as the customer. Credit card service will place the matter in dispute. I have notified WS of same. Bottom line: WS is an UNETHICAL entity and I will place a complaint against them with the BBB and the FTC. This company is SHODDY and SCURRILOUS. Very poor service!!

When originally ordering, the salesperson said everything would arrive together. Instead, 2 boxes arrived at our new address before we even moved in. I wanted to be certain that if there was a problem once the furniture arrived, that I could return the accessories. The very arrogant customer service rep said I had 30 days to return the boxes - and no, it didn't matter that the furniture came later. He advised: It was that or I could cancel the order.... and would not budge. Cancel the $7,000 Plus order because of 2 little boxes with pillows. You're kidding. I should have cancelled then.

Not only I am still without furniture, but I spent time and money on a design consultant. Neither of us will ever use WS again. Bottom line - I got a $400 merchandise gift card. WooHoo.... while I find other furniture and have to wait at least 8 week for that. I expected to be hanging pictures at this point and entertaining. Thank you WS.

Even worse, the deliveries that they charge so heavily for are unreliable, and in one case led to an argument over a delivery that was not made even close to the time frame that I was told. Moreover, the item, when finally delivered, was wrong. It cost me an entire day waiting for a truck and additional time having to replace the item in question. When I complained, the company got annoyed. Rather than manning up and accepting responsibility, they refused to replace the couch with the correctly ordered one, and then terminated my trade account. I would never do business with them again.

When I went to check out three clerks knew I was using the "cash" to pay for the filters. No comments. Sales associate handling the register could not get the sale to ring up. Called a Manager. She, too, had difficulty. Finally she said the award "cash" could not be used for the Technivorm filters. I purchased something else, came home, felt annoyed. Called the customer service line but was told that line is for online sales, given number to "Retail Stores Escalation" but that dept is closed on weekend.

I have sent an email message and will call tomorrow. Am complaining of deceptive advertising. Don't call something "as good as cash" if it cannot be used as the customers wishes. I did not note ANY exclusion on the "cash award" slip although I did not look for such, having been (mistakenly, apparently) told the award was as good as cash in stores. Waiting to see if I get a reply from my email.

The more extended version: Day 1: Received a $200 coffee grinder as a gift, purchased online by a family member, shipped directly to me. Day 2: 12pm: Called a local Williams-Sonoma store asking if the same model was in stock, but in a different color. The woman on the phone was by no means polite, but having worked in retail for many years, I could empathize, and I let it go. She was unclear about the model number of the grinder, not being familiar herself, but I knew there were only two from this company on the market, a $200 one and $230. I was fine with both, so I didn't press the issue. She was able to confirm that she had one grinder there in the color I wanted.

12:30 pm: I entered the store with the grinder I had received as a gift. I was not particularly thrilled to be helped by the same woman who had answered the phone, but it was a small store on a weekday, so it was what it was. I explained that I had received the coffee grinder as a gift, and that I would like to exchange it for one of a different color, either the same model or the slightly more expensive model, indicating I would happily pay the difference.

The woman asked if there was a packing list or invoice attached to the box (there was) and then stated that they could issue a merchandise credit, which sounded completely normal to me. As I intended to buy the new grinder immediately, this was not a problem. We did confirm that only the more expensive grinder was in stock, but I had made it clear I would happily pay the difference. She then proceeded to ring us out for the new grinder, and told us the total of something over $240. I gave her the confused sympathy look one might give when he feels a cashier has made an embarrassing mistake. As it turns out, to "issue" a merchandise credit, she meant that Williams-Sonoma would be mailing me, yes mailing me, through the United States Postal Service, a gift card that I could then use in the store.

As realization set in, I began to think I was dealing with, perhaps, a trainee cashier. I could not grasp, that in 2015, a corporate store would need to snail mail a merchandise credit rather than generate it in store. Upon asking to speak to the manager, she informed me she was the manager. Her tone became more rude as she explained that her shipping the package back to the website was "a courtesy" that she would do for us. Through my questioning, she repeatedly stated that doing things this way was their policy. I have read the Williams-Sonoma return policy. It's readily available online. It does not speak to snail mailed merchandise credits. It does, however, state "Regularly-priced items may be returned at any Williams-Sonoma retail store or through the mail."

1pm: I called the corporate customer service number in the hopes of finding a common ground. The lady on the phone was very polite, but she essentially confirmed what the woman in the store was saying. I asked, very clearly, if there was any way that we could arrange for me to achieve my one singular goal, which was to walk back into that store, pay the 30 some odd dollars and cents, and walk out with a coffee grinder. Her answer was no. I will note that she offered to expedite the refund mailing process as much as she could possibly do. Unfortunately, that didn't really shrink the timeline.

I asked her if she personally found it strange that I had walked into a store requesting to spend more money than had originally been spent, but was unable to do so. She was polite but noncommittal on that one. I explained that I had been a Williams-Sonoma customer for years (our wedding registry was there) and spent perhaps thousands of dollars. I made it clear that this policy frustration would be a deal breaker for me, ending my relationship with the company. In a polite way, she apologized and made it clear that her hands were tied.

My final impressions: Williams-Sonoma, as a company, was perfectly willing to let go of a lucrative customer because of an inability to automate the simplest of intra-company communication. A merchandise credit is data. It can be stored on a card, but it's still, fundamentally, data. Because of incompetence, technological constraints, or perhaps other reasons, they are unable or unwilling, even under the threat of losing a customer, to send data from one part of their organization to the other. They impose upon the customer to take care of that data transfer for them through an inconvenient snail mail process.

Yes, the woman in the shop was rude, but every company makes occasional hiring mistakes. The problem here is a fundamental willingness of the company to alienate customers over what should be very simple matters. Other reviews appear to confirm this. Williams-Sonoma employees are simply not empowered to make matters right.

What? This is absurd. I rarely shop stores as shopping online is so much easier and more pleasant. This was a terrible experience and shows that WS/PB does not have any faith in its merchandise. The items that were on sale were only about 25% off. If they were 80% off or simply marked FINAL SALE on the item (use a 2 cent sticky label for goodness sake) and/or there was a sign at the counter in big red letters or the clerk bothered to say something then I could accept the situation. This is deception in my book. A cheap strategy to move a few paltry piece of merchandise and lose a decades-long customer in the process. WS/PB in the world of Nordstroms, Costco, Amazon/Zappos, etc. you are clueless.

Receive call about 8pm can they deliver incomplete order and UPS the base for me to receive approx 4/22. No thank you. I paid $450 for "white glove" delivery and I'm not waiting till 4/22. I have a family and no table because up until the last minute they didn't bother to tell me I wasn't getting one. Long hold while operator checks what they can do. Possibly get one from Atlanta quicker but can't find out till morning but will definitely call me in the morning 4/15/15. Entire day goes by, no call or email. I call around 8pm hold 10 minutes and am disconnected, hold another 5 minutes and decide to hang up. Awake now at 2am aggravated.

When I contacted Williams Sonoma, I learned the letter I received had the wrong order # on it. I was assisted by a very helpful person, who risked getting in trouble because she helped me directly vs. sending me to the "case worker" assigned to my return. This phone call took about an hour on Friday night and she admitted that their software was DOS based. DOS??? In 2015???

I assumed all was resolved - they canceled my "return" and back ordered my replacement chair to ship sometime this coming summer. I wrote a lengthy email to customer service about their systems and processes and that I was concerned about buying from PB/WS again (I've been a regular customer for years). I received an automated response with no follow-up or other actions. This was Feb 8, 2015. I received another letter via Snail Mail yesterday - 04/14/2015 - about not being able to schedule my return.

Now, not only have I returned an expensive piece of equipment and received no exchange credit, but I look rude for having done so with such a generous gift. If you are ordering something from William Sonoma MAKE SURE YOU ARE GETTING EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT as their return processes are hopelessly convoluted and inefficient.

Eventually after a mountain of effort, I was able to get a hold of someone who said she'd send a furniture medic to my house. It turned out to be two delivery guys from Columbus, Ohio who really knew nothing about fixing furniture. The one who was supposedly the "furniture medic" ended up doing more damage to the table. The men said I would get a new table or my money back. They took the table away in a truck and I immediately called customer service who told me I'd be getting the same table back! WHAT?! I wouldn't have sent my table with them if that were the case! This is not what was agreed upon when I spoke with customer service: ** AND the delivery men from Ohio.

Customer Service still has not deleted my OLD phone number in their system and supposedly a manager was supposed to call me but never did. I've been trying to get a refund with no resolve. They keep giving me the run around and won't let me speak to a manager when I call. They have my $1200 table and they think they are going to send the same table back to me that they did more damage to. This is a complete sham. This is absolutely sickening and horrible that they get away with this. They should be ashamed.

I will also note that Pottery Barn is advertising this Benchwright Table as being of the highest quality materials (**) but when it comes down to it, this table is actually a cheap poplar. No wonder the screws have pulled clean out of it. MADE IN CHINA. The video tries to mislead you to believe this table is made of quality wood. WOW. Where have the great products and service gone? Sad. I'll NEVER IN MY LIFE give this company my money again.

I did not receive a call or email telling me this; I had to find it out myself. I went online to find out if they are telling people who are CURRENTLY purchasing the chairs how long they are back ordered, but they're advising that if purchased, they'd be shipped on March 28th! I have called and been told that there is "nothing we can do" because it's a "furniture item" and it cannot be shipped more quickly. If I had been told when purchasing them in January that I'd be waiting until mid-April (if not LONGER) to get my item, I would never have ordered them... Or even if I had been told the first time I called how unreliable their "estimates" were, I would have cancelled my order and gotten the chairs $100 cheaper from another location.

Unfortunately, I see from this website that even canceling an order doesn't guarantee that I won't be charged for it eventually. I'm appalled and I notice that the Williams-Sonoma website does not allow for customer reviews. I'm completely unsurprised if this is how they manage things. I will be making a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, but frankly I think they should be prosecuted for false advertising since they are clearly misrepresenting to buyers when their expected date of delivery is...or they are treating those of us who bought the items on sale differently which is just as bad.

How much do you think that would cost them? I can guarantee it is more than the $2 replacement bowl. I was NOT looking for something free. I WAS looking to get what I actually paid for. 10 bowls. NOT 9! They lost a very high value customer over a $2 mixing bowl. I sent my niece a replacement from Crate and Barrel. I recommend you inspect anything you carry out of the store because if it isn't right... they could care less!

They lost a ton of business as my own company was considering sending our customers WS gift cards. Not anymore! They also did not care at any point about any of this. Apparently customer service to them means merely responding to an email within 24 hours. I'm disappointed I have spent the amount of money that I have on their products but at least now I know better. For such over priced merchandise, they really need to get themselves together.

The Re-Order we placed came in and was missing all of the pumps for the lotions and soaps we ordered. I spoke with someone there and she was rude, cut me off and eventually hung up on me before we resolved anything. I then called back to get someone worse which I didn't think possible. This person was eating what's sounded like chips chewing and salivating loudly into my ear, cutting me off when I was speaking with loud yawns and laughs. This person said they reordered the soaps and the pumps should be with them. I asked if they were sure and she said, “We will see.” Ugh..

Sure enough the soaps arrived and no pumps. I wrote all of this on their online surfer and received a call from a person name Nicholas and he apologized and promised the pumps would be rushed for Christmas Eve delivery. Here we are 1/5 and nothing has arrived and Nicholas has not returned one of my 2 phone calls over the span of a week. Also have not received our refund for the order we returned.

So what we are left with is lots of soaps and lotions that we cannot give as gifts because we have no pumps to provide our gift receivers. We ordered with a full month to spare and Williams-Sonoma dropped the ball completely and when given the chance to make it right dropped the ball again and is now ignoring my calls. In the past I believed Williams-Sonoma to be a high-end company but have learned through this process that they charge a lot for their products but do not reinvest in their profits in quality and responsive service people. I am done with them for good and have told everyone who will listen of this experience. I do not enjoy being ignored and disrespected.

On the 26th I called and was assured the order was cancelled, that I was even going to receive a $25 gift card for my problems. So imagine my surprise when on the evening of the 29th, while I am in the middle of nowhere, I check my email and W-S says the item was shipped. I walk to a place where I can get cell reception, and deal with yet another customer service representative who again lies to me, telling me my account will be credited and can I just leave a note for UPS? Are you kidding? I'm hundreds of miles away!

Now I am panicking about a package being left on my porch in an urban area that is known for theft...great, thanks W-S. So I call again on the morning of the 30th. By now I see my credit card has been charged. Great. I get dinged and my house is vulnerable. The new customer service representative tells me that, after apparently talking to two supervisors, I will see the credit on my credit card (hmmm, why do I think she was shining me on?) in a few days and oh, guess what, I will get a $25 gift card. Why do they think I would ever want to shop here again? So, if no credit on my credit card, I dispute the charge and go that route.

Meanwhile, eons ago, my family shopped at the original Williams Sonoma hardware and the original store in San Francisco. This division of Pottery Barn is a parody of good service...it's sad. Of course, I am used to Nordstrom, the gold standard of customer service. But what really gets to me are the lies. The lies. Even Amber, the customer service rep today went through this elaborate description of the credit she was "making" to my card. Come on. Just be honest Williams Sonoma, tell me you are lying and are trying to make a fast buck off of me. Of course, the customer service people are contracted, not employees of W-S, which makes this whole charade even worse. Stay away from this company.

I'm sorry that I started shopping at WS again. This was the Hackensack, NJ store. I showed the woman my receipt showing I purchased the cookie cutters and refused a credit. Then she began combing the receipt for the date, "because we don't take returns past a certain date." Don't you think a customer should be told about the 30-day return policy before you purchase not afterwards?

While I was waiting, the lady next to me was returning a Christmas gift, without receipt. I witnessed the manager tell her. "How we do it is, you get a merchandise credit that you must use TODAY only." She also got the return speech. I feel you get punished for returning items. WS closed the only store nearby me, an outlet store @Woodbury Commons Outlet in NY. Then two years ago the store @Palisades Mall in Nyack, NY was closed. Now all other stores are an hour drive each way. When I called Woodcliff Lake NJ store, they told me they were too busy to check. If I'm driving an hour each way to spend money on cookie cutters and baking items, do you think anyone would assist when I first called. Not one bit!

Now when I called Sur La Table for copper cookie cutters, it was pleasant. A gentlemen told me his name over the phone and was willing to place the cookie cutters on hold for me. My mom has always trusted the Williams Sonoma quality, so she had me go the WS way. Never again. I will do an Internet search and look elsewhere. For anyone that wishes to continue shopping at Willams Sonoma, good luck, cuz you're gonna need it!

I right away called W-S re their error to which I was then assured that they would change the shipping address with no problem (again, it had just been minutes this all happened). I then asked them to send us a confirmation with this change. I never received one but I was too busy with the holidays to check my emails, and it never crossed my mind that they made an error. On Christmas Eve, the PACKAGE WAS DELIVERED TO OUR HOME INSTEAD. I called them right away and was told "there is nothing we can do about it, that it was too late to make the change." After the rep said she spoke with her supervisor (I was on hold for a long time) she came back and said that her supervisor said that if we paid another $6.50, they could have it picked up and redelivered to the proper address.

I refused to pay another penny as this was their fault. The rep then said that her supervisor said he would have to call me back which I doubted but she assured me he would. She asked for my home phone number. I asked what is the estimated time he could call back and she said she didn't know, he was very busy. AS I SUSPECTED, I NEVER RECEIVED A CALL BACK. I then received a SURVEY from them which I completed and wrote my letter of complaint. I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THEM except for their advertisements which I have now unsubscribed to......We're very frustrated that our friend did not receive the gift from us and that we were given the run-around. BTW, I could tell that the rep was trying to keep from "laughing" while talking to me and when having me on hold. I was really never on hold as I could hear them talking.. I work for a law firm, I do not need an attorney to contact me. Thank you.

Meanwhile, I looked thoroughly through the website prior to placing the order and even asked the supervisor Shanon at x 716.2220 to show me where the exclusion is noted in the promotion. After fumbling around for 5 minutes on the website, she admitted the exclusion is not listed in the promotion. You would think at that point they would honor their advertisement and quotes and extend the $300 discount I was told I would receive. Shanon apparently could not do that.. I will return $5k of merchandise and never shop at William Sonoma again.

The next morning I checked my email and saw that I had a confirmation of the order but no confirmation of the cancellation. I called the Customer Service dept and got Kelly. She confirmed that the order was not cancelled. She saw the same error messages and informed me that even though it looks like you can ship to multiple addresses, in fact you have to enter each order individually. She said that she would send an email to the vendor requesting cancellation of the order, but that it would take 24-48 hours for the vendor to confirm the cancellation.

I explained to Kelly that they needed to notify the vendor immediately as this was an order for food items that could not be returned. She said there was nothing she could do about that. I then asked for an email confirmation from William Sonoma that I had "requested" the cancellation. Kelly said that she couldn't do that. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told one would get back to me in 24 hours. Kelly seemed completely unconcerned that an erroneous $500 order that could not be returned would possibly be processed, charged to my credit card and shipped.

At this point I became very upset and said that I would not hang up until I spoke with a supervisor. Kelly then put me on hold, came back to the line and said "There is nothing I can do for you and I have to free this line up so I am going to disconnect this call." Obviously William Sonoma's relationship with their drop ship vendors is in the Stone Age and as I can see from other complaints on this website, William Sonoma is unconcerned about how this impacts customers who order on the William Sonoma website.

I called the credit card company and they agreed to remove the authorization for this charge. This will immediately notify William Sonoma that the charge will be disputed but it does not guarantee that the order won't be shipped. I understand that at this point I have no options except to be upset and frustrated. I just want to warn others not to make the same mistake I did. If you want to order holiday gift baskets, order directly on the vendor website, NOT THROUGH WILLIAM SONOMA.

Right away I placed a call to customer service. This department is obviously outsourced and not directly associated with Williams-Sonoma, since I was told that they were unable to change the shipping address and could only "email" a request for the change. There was no guarantee that the change would be made, but if it was, I should receive confirmation within a day. Since this process seemed less than adequate, I took it upon myself to respond to my order confirmation email and made another request to change the address. 2 days later I called customer service and they confirmed that the change still had not been made, but nothing had shipped yet. The outsourced department put in a second email request.

Today I received an email stating that my gift was on its way...to me!!!! (This is confirmed by the UPS tracking.) Since they are perishable food items, it appears that my family will be eating the gift instead of my parents. It is extremely disappointing to find that with the current state of technology Williams-Sonoma does not have the capability to respond to an immediate request. Yes, it was my error, but "customer service" cannot access their own orders?

By the 24th, I still had not received it so I called again. The customer rep, Ron, informed me that it looked like it was back ordered until October 10. I had not been informed! When I asked to speak to a manager, I was told that the managers were all in a staff meeting and that they had just received 80 new employees. I have been a national customer service exec and when a customer calls and asks for a manager, they should be able to reach one. I asked him to have a manager call me and have yet to hear from anyone. Terrible service, terrible communication. I have lost all confidence in WM online.

After I emailed the W-S, store agreed to take it back but that is where horror starts. Manager of the store (Norfolk VA) gave me a lecture about the return policy, how new policy wants email every time, and how the staff was right in denying the return. He treated me as if "a principal is disciplining student who is being reported for misbehaving". And never even once said sorry for the poor quality of the product or the trouble it caused me. He even tried to say, now it is $12.95 each (product was so bad that store reduced price from $29.99 to $12.95 in less than 30 days).

I don't expect $30 spatula to break in one use. No matter how great quality control William-Sonoma has, statistically, it is impossible to say never a product line or a piece of product can't be bad. Also whatever supplier relations and controls W-S has upstream in its supply chain, there is no way they can guarantee that one of upstream supplier will not fail sometime. So there is no harm in accepting for W-S that this product was not as good. I was not there to beg for $60.00. It was more of the issue whether as an organization like William-Sonoma can live up to its own standards. When someone shops at William-Sonoma, they expect quality and service. In this case, neither it was quality or service. And W-S should know that $60 will not change anyone's life but attitude will. Fix this kind of attitude!! DO NOT TRUST THIS STORE.

Needless to say, I immediately called Sonoma to cancel the entire order. The rep I talked to wouldn't let me do that, and transferred me to another rep which wasn't available. The second rep did call me back a few hours later begging me to continue holding on to the order. C'mon, Sonoma, who are you kidding? If you don't have the merchandise on hand, do not allow the customers to order that merchandise online. A customer service department that pretends to be earnest and caring won't help. It's only exasperate the matter further.

At approximately 8:00 p.m. that night, I got an e-mail from them saying the item had been shipped. When the item arrived, I refused it and had it sent back. I contacted them several days later when the charge was not credited to my credit card. Then, they said that they would not credit my account but they would give me store credit. Noooo way. This was an expensive item and I had no intention of spending hundreds of dollars at their store. I reiterated that I cancelled the order before it was shipped. They did not relent. I spent about an hour on the phone with the representative who told me repeatedly this was my fault and their store policy did not allow for returns which were not shipped from their warehouse (even though they were notified well in advance of the actual shipping and I was told it would not be shipped for 2-3 weeks after ordering.)

I told them this could affect my other financial obligations; they eventually said they would keep $76.38 dollars of my money. More, I might add, than I was charged for "shipping and handling." Once again, I told the rep that I cancelled well in advance of the actual shipping. His reply was, "We never know when the manufacturer is going to ship something." Not what they said previously. The recurring theme in this protracted conversation was, "Well, that's not our policy." I can definitely state that my revised policy is to never spend a dime in their stores again, no matter what, and hopefully save someone else from repeating my error of doing business with them in the first place. Customer service is non-existent with Williams-Sonoma, and it's a lesson I learned the hard way. And to think I chose them over others that carried the exact same rack because I felt they were a large, established business in my area. HA! Fool me once...

Finally I spoke to a supervisor, who apologized and said they had problems with their order system and that she could see I was actually not going to get it until Feb 4th! She did give me a $50 voucher and 20% off, but even so, I feel I have been misled, lied to and generally messed around when I could have made another choice and got my machine much sooner. Watch out with WS mail order!

I called and the clerk says the 8- and 10-inch are no longer available and have not been for some time. So I go the next day to return the wrong lids, and select another item to expend the ~20 bounce back dollars. The clerk does not credit the bounce back dollars because once they are spent, they are not recoverable!! Albeit it was only $20, I was very angry with this policy. In hindsight, I should have kept the wrong size lids and sold them on eBay. Also, I got the 8- and 10-inch lid set from Amazon, two days later. W-S is off my shopping list!

I proceeded to do as the phone rep asked; I called the store and spoke to the lady that answered my call. I explained to her that I had purchased an ice cream maker at that store about a year or two ago; last week it was working and today it wasn't. I was about to say that it was only the fourth or fifth time that I used it, when she rudely interrupted me and said she could only go back one year and asked if I had an email receipt. I said I didn't think so. I asked, in a friendly tone, if she could look it up and she said in a frustrated voice, "I can only go back 90 days". She further said that I need to contact the manufacturer, I said thank you and she hung up the phone. My impression was that either she was extremely busy, which doesn't excuse her behavior, or she truly had no customer services skills. I was bothered but not quite upset yet. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and brushed it off.

I immediately called Cuisinart's customer service number. I understand it is not your fault, but I did wait about 30 minutes for them to pick up. Once the representative picked up the phone, he was extremely pleasant and professional; he looked up my product registration. He said I had a three year warranty, that my product was still within the warranty period and that he would be glad to send me a replacement. He explained the return process and when I gave him my mailing address, he confirmed that I live in California and said that I did not have to go through this process. That there's a law in California which states that while my product is under warranty, I can walk in to any retailer that carries the item and I can obtain a replacement at no cost. It is printed on the last page of the owner's manual. He asked if I had my owner's manual and I said yes (I even have the box). He said to take the whole unit in to any store and I should have no issues. I explained to him that I had contacted the store where I purchased it and that they refused to assist me. He was surprised and proceeded to give me a list of retailers in my area where I could go. Thanked me for calling and said I could call them back if I had any issues.

After that call and just about an hour later, I called the Manhattan Village Store again and asked to speak to the Manager. After waiting about five minutes, a lady came on the phone and I began to explain my concern with the store representative I spoke to earlier. Her voice sounded familiar so I said I wasn't sure who I spoke to, but she immediately stated that I had spoken to her. In a very condescending voice she said that if that was what Cuisinart said, then to take it in and she would exchange it. I told her that the store is located about 35 minutes from my home and that up until now I had been driving there on to purchase items for my home. That it was upsetting that she had provided such bad customer service. She responded, almost upset and in a frustrated tone that she was sorry and hung up. At this point there was no excuse for her ill-mannered, rude and unprofessional attitude. It was the last thing I expected from a WS employee, specially a manager.

I was so upset. It didn't make sense that she, the manager, was the one with the attitude. I was the one with a broken ice cream maker. I was the one that spent two hours last night preparing the ingredients, washing my bowls, and chopping the toppings to make ice cream this morning and enjoy time with my family; but no, she could not say sorry for the misunderstanding, that she would be glad to assist me if I went in. Instead, I felt like I had done something wrong and I was being punished for having a machine that stopped working. Makes no sense.

I get better customer service from a teenager at Starbucks. I never expected this from such a reputable and respected establishment. I don't mind driving a little extra to visit your store, I love it there, better yet, I loved it there. Macy's & Bed Bath & Beyond are only 10 minutes from my home and I preferred to drive for the quality and warm welcoming feeling. However, after today's experience I can honestly say that I will not be shopping there or on your website any longer.

I wanted call back and inform her that the company she works for has a website that claims the following: "Founded in 1956, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is the premier specialty retailer of home furnishings and gourmet cookware in the United States." "What has never changed is Williams-Sonoma's dedication to customer service and strong commitment to quality." With claims like these, I truly expected better. Or maybe I should have reminded her that under your Returns page, this statement is listed: Defective products may be returned at any time for a replacement or merchandise credit only.

By the way, I went to the Macy's Home Store, walked in and out within seven minutes with my brand new ice cream maker. No questions asked. I'm sorry to say that the young cashier (she's only 19) that assisted me at Macy's has better manners than the person your company management chose to manage a store. Truly upset, frustrated, dissatisfied, and disappointed!

On Sunday, 7/14/2013 I received the following response: "Hello Ady ** (which is the name on my email account and not how I signed the email). We want to thank you for contacting Williams-Sonoma regarding your recent shopping experience. Your concerns involve one of our retail stores; therefore, we are forwarding this information to the attention of our Retail Corporate Customer Relations Department. In turn, they will ensure that this information is forwarded to the appropriate leadership individual, for their review, and follow-up. Please know that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is committed to providing our customers with superior product, and world class service. You can expect to receive response to your concerns, via a telephone call, or email, in a timely manner."

Since I haven't heard back from the Retail Corporate Customer Relations Department, on 7/21/13 I emailed Ms. ** back, as of today (7/30) I haven't heard from anyone at WS.

My charge card was reimbursed for the amount and the charge would be reinstated when the basket was actually shipped. At the time, I was very understanding, but I suggested that it would be better customer relations to have been called and informed of the delay. In my dealings with other companies I have had the experience of being informed if an item did not ship as promised.

I waited. I waited for several weeks. Finally, on May the 29th, I again called Williams-Sonoma to inquire into the status of my order. Imagine my surprise when I was told that my basket had been sent the VERY PREVIOUS DAY via overnight shipping!! Wow! I told the phone rep that the date had come and gone to give the gift and I was no longer interested in the darn basket. I was even more surprised when "Billy", the phone representative from Williams-Sonoma informed me that not only had my credit card already been reimbursed for the second basket order, but that an additional $10 had been credited to my account!! And I could keep the basket when it arrived for FREE!!! What a deal. What an upstanding company!

It will come as no surprise to those that have found their way to this site that the basket never arrived. On the positive side, after checking my bank statements, all of the money that had been charged to my credit card had been reimbursed. You might be wondering about the additional $10 that was so generously applied as I had previously mentioned. Well, it seems that on the second order they had overcharged me that amount - the reasons for it will never be known.

I have concluded this episode with W-S on a better footing than some that I have read about, and have suffered no financial loss. However, I am extremely angry for the lies that I was told by my friendly representative "Billy". Please tell me the truth. Tell me that your company was still unable to fill my order, tell me in a timely manner, and tell me that you are sorry. Do NOT lie to me. I have always considered Williams-Sonoma to be an upstanding company that carried a fine (if not a smite pricy) line of products.

After reading some of the previous stories, I realize that mine was not an isolated case, nor did I suffer the financial loss that others had suffered. I did learn an important lesson. I will never shop at W-S ever again. A company is only as good as its reputation and word. Williams-Sonoma certainly did not live up to the most minimal customer service. Believe me that I will share my story as a precautionary tale to all to avoid dealings with this company. Too bad, as in today's economy, if you do not live up to your agreements and earn a poor reputation, there are others that will be more than happy to fill the void.

So I called Williams-Sonoma today just after I received the letter saying they were canceling my order. I offered that since we had a confirmed order, please send the exact same pan except in a different color (which was available, and confirmed that they had 27 in stock). They said, "Absolutely not. You will not get your red pan; you will not get the blue pan (that they have available). You'll not get any pan that was related to the confirmed order that you may know." Basically, they said tough luck and please go away. I sent a BBB report and called the corporate office. They are betting they can treat customers in this way and still thrive as a business. Maybe, but over time I think it will catch up with them. I used to have quite a good view of Williams-Sonoma. I think that only lasts as long as you don't have any issues. At that point, the facade of good service disappears very quickly. Terrible experience. Thanks!

On 02/01/2013, the order was placed. On 02/03/2013, the order had been processed; status showed, "On back order; available to ship on approx. 2/22/13." On 02/04/2013, the status showed, "Out of Stock; No longer available." If you'd like to order a substitute item, simply go to Williams-sonoma.com and place a new order. On 02/05/2013, I chatted with Customer Service who gave me all sort of excuses. On 02/06/2013, "We are sorry to inform you that due to the popularity of the Le Creuset Red 3 Qt Saucier, we are unable to fill your order, because our supply has completely sold out and will not be available again in the near future."

When I chatted with the representative on the 5th, her official response was that she was sorry and sorry and more sorry, no matter what I said. I demanded that she keep my order in Back Order, but she said she couldn't because she doesn't have inventory to put in back order! Uh? I thought that was the reason the word "back order" exists! It's when you don't have inventory, that's why you leave it in back order. I then asked if Williams-Sonoma no longer carried this product. She said the only information she had at this moment was that the item is sold out.

My last demand to the rep was for her to speak to her manager and see what they can do for me. Either they keep my order in back order or replace me with a different color which I honestly don't mind.

I don't know what really went on with Williams-Sonoma. Was it because they mis-advertised a wrong price and canceled all orders to save their loss and don't want to admit? Or, they did a Bait and Switch asking me to place a new order? Because I don't believe a company like Williams-Sonoma will have a shopping cart system that will accept orders more than what they have in stock. Anyways, I hope this review meant something for other consumers out there, because this was my first time and last time shopping from them.

On 12/27/12, I called Williams-Sonoma customer service and spoke to Janice who told me that the cookware set was now on back order; the earliest available date was 02/16/13. I explained that I would be out of the country for a few months during that time and only then did she transfer me to a Specialist to help locate a set from one of their stores. Donna from the Home Purchase Department found a set in Ohio but could not process the order due to some policy unclear to me. They had to reissue me a Merchandise Credit Card, hold the items for me and I have to call the store to place the order when I receive the Merchandise Credit Card on Monday 12/31/12. I agreed to the arrangement because she said that they would expedite the card and send me a tracking number, pick up the wrong package all in the following day. The worst for me was a phone call and to wait another week to receive the pots!

On 12/29/12, UPS came to pick up the package a day earlier but there was no notice on the Merchandise Credit Card. I spoke to Clara at customer service who apologized that there was a security issue with reissuing me the card for an over the phone order but she was able to straighten the problem after putting me on hold for a long while. Great! And I received a tracking number that evening for the card that was now due to arrive next Tuesday.

On 01/02/13, UPS was unable to deliver, wrong shipping address. Another customer service associate, James, was also apologetic. He straightened out the shipping address with the carrier but offered no assistance when asked if the store would continue to hold the items for me. Instead, he kindly asked that I call the store myself. No big deal, I made the call, explained the whole situation; it was done.

On 01/03/13, finally with the Merchandise Credit Card at hand, I called the store to place the order, confirmed the shipping address, requested that the package be ship 2nd business day and to forward me the tracking number. On 01/05/13, there was no tracking number. I called the store in Ohio again and was given the tracking information, but through the conversation found out the items were shipped via ground shipping! I told myself that it was okay; at least it is on its way.

On 01/10/13, the doorbell rang close to the end of the day. I ran to the door to see the UPS guy through the side light with an uneasy look on his face. I looked down and there was a pot handle sticking out from the side of the carton box! Further examination found that the handle and lid to the pot was damaged. What happened was that the items were loosely packed and they had only used a single wall outer carton box to hold a set with a combined weight of around 40 lbs. I went online to check their return policy for a single item from a set before calling the store when an associate came onto the online chat to offer some help. After I had explained everything in writing, she gave a number to call for further assistance(?). She comforted me by assuring that the issues and instruction has been noted on the order and the customer specialist would know what to do.

I then called the customer specialist, waited for 35 minutes to speak to a condescending agent who took my order number, read the notes and asked, "So, what do you want me to do?" I explained the situation to her again. She then claimed that she would have to speak to her supervisor, put me on hold and 30 seconds later, the line was dropped to the back of the wait line! "Your call is important to us, please wait for the next available agent ..."

Another 55 minutes passed and finally I got to speak to yet another associate, Deborah. She was patient, kind, sympathetic and apologized for everything with limited stock to that particular item, inventory issue of replacing a single item from a set and the time constraint. She got around the problem, found the item in Arkansas, called the store, gave me a name to speak to, offered several solutions to get me the replacement as quickly as possible, ordered a pick-up for the damaged item the next day and even offered to send me a gift card for all the inconveniences. The only catch was that I would have to place a separate order for the item and she assured me that she could pull up the order based on my address, refund me the whole amount thereafter without me having to do anything else. But never mind, I trusted her and was starting to feel confident with customer service again.

On 01/12/13, the damaged item was packed and had been sitting near the door for 2 days. I called customer service again. Tom looked up the order and had no idea or record of who Deborah is. He spoke to his superior and was confident that whatever Deborah promised could not be done! He then offered to do me a favor by calling the store in Arkansas to straighten this out. Not much later, an associate from Arkansas left a message asking for me to return her call and to clarify what her colleague was talking about.

Thanks to Rebecca at the Williams-Sonoma store in Roger, Arkansas, I got my refund on 01/14/13 and UPS came to pick up the pot the same day. She even called back to make sure that all was in order. This would seem like a good place to end my little experience with Williams-Sonoma but do you remember the cash-return voucher? I walked into a store here a few days ago and bought a thing based on a wrong decision. The voucher covered for much of the cost but I had to pay the outstanding tax of $7.67 with cash. I took the item back a day later for an exchange. An associate who was helping me approached a floor supervisor to double check the process; she took a look at the receipt, verified that the item was neither a final sale or special order item, looked at us and said, "You can't exchange, you could return the item and we'll give you $7.67 back," turned and walked away ... Enough, and I sincerely hope that I never receive the gift card!

I called the next morning and spoke to the same lady who sold it to me and told her about how it was all scratched up and she said, "Well, I did tell you it was the last one. I will give you ten percent off." Ten percent off? If I wanted to purchase something that looked like that, I would go to a yard sale or a Salvation Army and pay 75% off. I went to Williams-Sonoma because they are supposed to have top quality merchandise. I, at least, expected an apology from the sales clerk, not the feeling like I'm an idiot because I was told it was the last one and I should have known what that meant. If I drive an hour out of my way to shop at a certain store and they sell me something that shouldn't have been sold, I think they should go out of their way to get my replacement to me as quickly as possible. I wasn't surprised when I logged on to this site and saw all the complaints.

Finally, Gina said the manager (who turned out to be the assistant manager) was looking for the item. Yet, the manager was walking around the store asking other customers if she could assist them. Finally, my husband, who grew tired of waiting and me being ignored, tracked down the manager and re-asked her for the item that was to have been on hold. After four fruitless searches by other employees who did not report back to Gina or me, the item was located in the back room and brought out to the front for purchase.

My husband found the actual store manager to cite the poor customer service received. The actual store manager only said, "I am sorry. It is the Christmas season." Okay, the actual store manager said he was sorry, but he didn't want to hear about the poor customer service or do anything about it. Further, shouldn't the store staff be extra attentive during the holidays? Rest assured, we will try never to return to the Woodcliff Lake, NJ Williams-Sonoma store.

My purse was stolen right off of me in their store! I was violated and very emotionally distressed! I told one of the women behind the counter what had happened, all she did was say she was sorry and continued to ring up sales! They never called the police. I had to ask to use their phone (mine was stolen in my purse) to call the police. The customers were more concerned and more compassionate than the Williams-Sonoma employees. You would think they would have some sort of protocol in place for safety and incidents like mine.

When the police officer came, the employees kept on ringing up sales and really didn't care to help me or the police officer in his investigation. The police office was surprised and noted there were no security cameras in the store. I contacted Williams-Sonoma corporate office. No one called me or tried to contact me. I had to call the district manager to get a call from their Williams-Sonoma legal department, who appeared to be concerned and needed my help getting information, the police report, etc.

I am not an attorney nor was I represented by one, but I trusted them to help me and provide some sort of concession. Well, they didn't! After putting me off for weeks during their investigation, I was told that they were sorry but Williams-Sonoma is not liable. This is not about whether I have any legal standing or not in this case. It's about how Williams-Sonoma treats their customers after an incident like mine and how it is handled within their company, that matters in the court of public opinion. It is not right that I get mugged by someone in one of their stores and then I suffer further abuse from corporate and its legal department . To be dismissed without any concession from Williams-Sonoma shows lack of compassion for its customers. This is how they answer the needs of their customers that mean everything?

The next morning, I went online to check my bank account for activity and I saw that Williams-Sonoma had taken $246.00 out of my checking account. So now, I have paid the full amount for the item that we had exchanged the gift for and there was no mention of the $131.00 that was too have been applied to the new purchase. Now, I had an extra $131.00 removed from my account without permission. I called the store and they told me to call their main Customer Service number somewhere in the US. I did so and I was told that was company policy to have the company collect the full purchase price of the item until the gift card gets cleared.

I explained that the gift card was just a transaction the clerk initiated to transfer the funds to the online purchase. Those monies have already been collected by Williams-Sonoma when the original item was purchased. So now, I am left with $131.00 less in my account and hopefully, no checks will bounce because of this. When I called back to the store and spoke with the supervisor, she explained to me that she did not know that was the policy. I only authorized $116.00 to be used for the upgrade purchase, not a whole $246.00. I am sure that the mess will eventually get straightened out, but I will no longer do business with Williams-Sonoma.

Williams-Sonoma return policy states that returns will go back in the form of original payment. This is awful behavior by this associate and I want as a consumer to have action taken. She called security and had my boyfriend escorted from the store. There is no reason that I needed to be present! I made the purchase and simply asked him to return it for me. By no means should he have treated like this, it is appalling! I gave him my card to do a simple return of this gift. What if it were a gift we had received from someone? Is this the behavior we would have put wedding guests through for a simple return? I would appreciate it if someone would follow up with me on this matter.

When we took it out of the china cabinet for Thanksgiving this year, the separation in the crack was over a 1/4" which made it unusable. We contacted Williams Sonoma which responded with a boilerplate message saying they could do nothing and telling us that we "are more than welcome to photocopy any future purchases for our own personal records."

Obviously, they do not want to honor the order for the sale price and lied about being out of stock. They lied about the item not being reordered. Two attempts to be transferred to a supervisor resulted in being on hold for over 30 minutes. I sent two emails and am awaiting a response as promised.

I purchase a lot online, and have been in situations where the customer's web page allowed something to be sold at a sale price after exceeding the offer rules, but has honored the sale price since the customer's website allowed it. This is not my problem. There was once for a $1000 dollar High Definition TV, significantly more cost impact to the retailer than a 100 dollar sale on a mixer.

Williams-Sonoma will not get my money ever again. I see how they value their customer. I was not going to make a big deal about this until I saw the number of complaints about them as a retailer.

Now, WS Customer service said that there are no further actions that can be taken on my bed. The reason was that 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 representative 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 that I don't lie down at night at a 30-degree angle! If I didn't have a Tempur-Pedic mattress, I would 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 representative can't even really help me, or Nancy seemed like she would have. It seems like some kind of internal policy to not help that overshadows the corporate values. I am not well rested as I should be, and I am almost falling off my bed since November 2008! Why can't they just fix the bed or give me a new one? Zero to poor customer service!

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.

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.

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.