The saga of the West Elm daybed
Over the past few month, I had what was probably the strangest customer service experience of my life. I managed to stay amused the whole time, but finally decided to write the company a letter. We'll see if they do anything :)
How many bed kits from West Elm does it take to make one bed? Two and a half, apparently.
I want to report a rather frustrating experience at your Cincinnati-area store. Last summer, I placed an order for an overlapping squares daybed. The bed arrived at the store several weeks later than expected, but it was not a major issue. I purchased it on August 16.
When I got the kit home, I discovered that 4 small parts were missing. I called the store, and was told that S---, the customer service rep, would call me back. She did so the next day, and told me that the parts would arrive in about a week. 2 weeks later, they had not arrived, and I called the store. S--- promised to investigate the mix-up and call me back. After no call-back, 2 days later, I called again. She apologized and told me that the kit had changed, and that they were freight-shipping new back and front pieces, which would arrive in a week.
2 weeks later, the box arrived. I opened it to discover that, not only were the 4 pieces not built-in as promised, but that using the new pieces would produce a 2-legged bed. After several more phone calls (partly due to a major power outage in the area), S--- promised to order a new kit, which they would ship to the store and then deliver to my home. She called to inform me that it had arrived while I was on vacation.
I called back about a week later, and was told that S--- would return my call. She did not.
After another week, I called again and was informed that S--- no longer worked in the store. The night manager promised to check on whether they still had my replacement bed and return my call. She did not.
2 days later, I called and spoke to another manager, M---. M--- apologized and called me back to tell me that they had the bed and could deliver it in a week. It arrived on schedule, and the delivery people were very professional. By this time it was late November,
None of your associates were rude to me; however, I found them EXTREMELY unresponsive. Your parts department allowed a very minor problem to snowball into a major issue. I wound up with a room filled with bed parts and no bed for over 3 months! I was never offered compensation for this bad experience. I feel that this reflects poorly on West Elm, and the Williams-Sonoma Company. I would be unlikely to purchase furniture from you again (which is too bad, as I enjoy your designs, and have purchased several non-furniture items in the past).
Sincerely,
Amyaz
posted by Amy @ 19:58
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