"Terrible experience with Pottery Barn this evening.
When purchasing from a wedding registry online, I ordered 2 of the 3 items requested and entered my personal and credit card information. The website completely skipped over the gift/message option (so the couple would not know who sent the gift) and the confirmation of the final price. When I thought I was entering my credit card information for an $80 total, it charged me for 4 items rather than the 2 I entered and I had a $170 charge. When I tried to correct the mistake, it would not allow me to go back. The e-mail confirmation sent to me did not include my total or the items that were purchased. Instead, the e-mail said " You will receive an order confirmation email with all of your order details shortly." It has been over an hour and I have yet to receive that detailed confirmation.
Within 5 minutes of placing my order, I called customer service. The representative told me she could not change or cancel my order. When I asked to speak to a manager, she put me on hold for 10 minutes and then came back on the line to ask a few more questions. She told me the manager would call me back and took my number. 20 minutes later, the same representative called back telling me that the manager could not cancel or change the order either. How is this possible? I don't even have a detailed confirmation e-mail! And why was I never connected to a manager like I requested?
This was Pottery Barn's solution to my incorrect order: The couple would need to contact me when they received their GIFT and schedule a way for Pottery Barn to collect the extra items... The extra two items that they registered for, but I was not planning on buying. "Sorry guys, I meant to only spend $80 not $170, so you have to return it."
When I explained that I was incredibly disappointed with this solution, the representative told me that she would attempt to fix it and put it on her "to-do list for tomorrow". Of course I wanted a confirmation of this agreement and asked for her name, title and e-mail. The representative sounded shocked that I should ask and replied, "I am a customer service representative, honey. No I don't have an e-mail".
For such an esteemed company with high quality products, I am extremely disappointed. I can say I will never shop at Pottery Barn again and don't recommend others to register with them. "

"Horrible customer service. I have been a loyal customer of PB and its affiliates, William Somona and Rejuvenation, for the past ten years. I have purchased furniture products in the past that did not live up to expectations, but recently I ordered some wine racks that were poorly constructed and difficult to hang on a wall. When I contacted them they informed me that I could only get a store credit for my purchase. I experienced very poor customer service and poor product. Will never do business with any of them again!!!!"

"I ordered a product from a bridal registry online. After adding it to my cart I noticed the website defaulted to my address rather than the brides and because Ive ordered from them in the past and my credit card information was stored in their system, the order went through before I had a chance to enclose a gift card.
I immediately called PB to have the ordered cancelled and they told me they couldnt cancel it for another 24 to 48 hours when they could view on their computers. I called every day until the order showed up in the customer service representatives computers and at that time they told me it had already shipped out!
Then she said the gift wasnt returnable because it was a custom gift and I asked how I was to know that. She looked at the order and admitted it didnt say anywhere about it being non-returnable or a custom order!
I asked if there was anyway the bride would be able to see that the gift came from me and the answer was, No but even if you had ordered a gift card it probably wouldnt have been included anyway. The left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing! "

"I bought a bean bag as a xmass present I was guaranteed delivery 5 days before Christmas. I tracked my order online and I said it will be shipped 1-6-2014. I called CS to complain and then I was told it would be shipped SOMETIME in feb. I immediately canceled the order. I will NEVER EVER shop from them again."

"I am in complete disbelief at Pottery Barns customer service. I purchased an "online only" chandelier from PB, hung it, and am dissatisfied with the look (the chandelier has 8 frosted glass tubes that let off a dim, yellow light). I called customer service and was told that because the wires had been cut to hang on the ceiling, that I could not return the item. NO WHERE in the return policy does it state this. One sales associate advised me to pkg up the item in hopes that the warehouse would not notice the cut wires. After speaking to several managers, I got nowhere. As a working class consumer, I cannot afford to be stuck with a $350 chandelier. I would have never purchased such an expensive item if there return policy has stated that there were no returns on chandeliers that had been hung. After all, how in the world are you supposed to see what the light fixture looks like w/o wiring it and hanging it up? "

"Note to Pottery Barn from me:
Our order was shipped wrong. We got the call our bed was in. We cut our vacation short to meet with the delivery men on Friday 7-30-2010. We got home late on Thursday night & took our old furniture out of our bedroom. We had to get up early for the delivery men. They spent 2 hrs trying to put together a bed with the wrong side rails (chipping/nicking the bed in a few places). We called and spoke with Jill @ ext #2549. She assured us that your company would expedite a replacement bed ASAP.

She also said for our inconvenience that she would refund $150.00 (original delivery fee) after the new bed was installed. However, we are on our 2nd week and Jill appears to be avoiding our calls. On the one occasion we did get a chance to speak with her on 8-05-2010, she said that she would re-contact us on 8-06-2010 with a status on our replacement order. She did not call us back, nor returned our calls.

During this letter, I was on hold to speak with a supervisor & was disconnected from the call. I am now on hold for a second time.

Although we love the look and quality of this bed, the grief & neck and back pains from being displaced from my old bed is beginning to outweigh the benefits of your store's product. We read nothing but good feed back on all the forums when it came to Pottery Barn delivery. For us it has been a nightmare.

We just spoke with a supervisor (Gina ***-***-****). She again assured us that they would expedite our delivery once the bed arrived in San Antonio. Unfortunately, the bed is not scheduled to arrive until Friday the 13th of August with a proposed delivery of Saturday the 14th of August.

This is a quick note to reference our above concerns, conversations and commitments with Pottery Barn.
______________________________________________
FROM POTTERY BARN:
Thank you for contacting Pottery Barn.

We have requested that our Furniture Service Department contact you within 2-3 business days. Should you prefer, you may contact Furniture Service directly at ***-***-****, option 2. Their hours of operation are 5:00 AM - 9:00 PM Pacific Time, 7 days a week.
_________________________________________________
FROM ME:
You were as helpful as the furniture department. Who do you think I’ve been talking to? In fact, I called them today. The bed arrived today (an hour early, which had us scrambling) and the drivers first suggested we keep the bed that was slated to be return & receive the side rails only. Next, they suggested they put the new bed in the garage (that is where the defective bed was being stored). When I showed them my bedroom where the bed was to go, the delivery men said that I would have to move the king size mattress out of there way because there hands were to dirty to touch my new bed. I said they could wash there hands or I could provide…they argued their point again & I told them to leave my house.

I called the furniture department to complain. The lady I spoke with assured me that the manager of the delivery company would be calling me back today. We never received another call. I am getting ready to go to bed on my mattress on the floor.

The main reason I am writing you is to continue to document all the grief your company has caused me. You have both my contact numbers below. It does not take 3 days to reply. I am expecting a call from a manager in your department or the furniture department first thing tomorrow 8-12-2010.







"

"AMAZING SERVICE! i have pretty much furnished my entire new place with items from their store! Great deals and awesome service. I will highly recommend this store for anyone who is interest in purchasing great home decor items! My friends love my new decor and I am so happy with my purchases. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"

"We got a Kendall Crib and did not keep the paperwork. At a year the hardware pulled out of the wood in the crib and it fell apart. Pottery Barn refused to repair it or to replace the broken side panel which was caused by a defect in the wood itself. We were unable to use the $599 crib. I phone customer service and asked for a solution. They said there was none. I said if they did not stand behind their products I would not shop there any more. "Jennifer" whose supervisor was Rich Shafer said "we don't want you as a customer any more."

DO NOT SHOP HERE!!!!!!!"

"I ordered two end tables which were on clearance only to find that one had a couple of scratches on them. I called them up (N. American CS) and was surprised to find that they were willing to offer a pen to cover the marks or replace the scratched table outright. I went for the replacement and they just said to put the old one in the new box and give them a call so they could send UPS to pick it up. Fantastic."

"I always thought Pottery Barn was an upscale
retailer dedicated toward providing excellent products and customer service. My recent experience trying to get a bed from your online store proved me very very wrong, and in all likelihood, I will never shop at Pottery Barn again.

I ordered a $2500 bedroom set from
PB.com on 9/11/06 [order 062537607112) and was told that a small part (2 side tables) of the
order would be shipped immediately, while the larger portion, consisting of the dresser and bed, would be shipped by 9/12/06.

Two weeks later, I called in to inquire about the status of delivery, and was told, to my
unpleasant surprise, that the bed/dresser were not in inventory and were not expected until 10/2/06. I never received a single phone or email follow up to tell me of this delay, but ok, I thought, one error (and one PB's customer service rep naturally blamed on their supplier), I can live with.

A few days later, just to be safe, I called again. This time, I was told that the items would not be in inventory until 11/8/06, and even
then, PB could not guaranty that Iwould eventually receive what I had ordered.

Since my 7-month pregnant wife and I did not intend to sleep on the ground at our new house, I asked the Customer Service rep to cancel our
order, and to arrange for the 2 bedstands to be picked up by UPS. The next day, UPS showed up, after inconveniencing me tremendously, with a return authorization for a SINGLE parcel weighing up to 7 pounds. The delivery
person naturally refused to accept TWO boxes, each weighing 27 pounds.

I am truly having a hard time understanding how PB manages to continue in business, with the absolute amateurs they appear to have designing their business processes and managing their
supply chains. I have been severely inconvenienced, and am completely outraged, about being misled and served poorly not once, not twice, but over and over and over. They seem to have a really hard time getting anything right. Yes, I got a call after my first email to them apologizing and promising a follow up on 10/3/06 (about whether the bed set I'd ordered was actually in stock), but luckily for me, I wasn't holding my breath on that promise.

I will be contacting appropriate rating agencies shortly to share my experience with
PB. I can't believe, with the prices they charge and the margins they must have
on product (manufactured in Indonesia!), that they can't spend a few bucks and a few minutes designing and implementing businesses processes that work, and working with reliable
vendors or manufacturers.

Truly one of the worst shopping experiences ever, and a total waste of my time. Shop at potterybarn.com at your own peril.

Lee Cheng
"