Title: Worst Retail Experience of My Life – West Elm Is an Absolute Disaster

I spent $9,539.80 at West Elm on June 7, 2025, and what followed has been an absolute nightmare.

From the beginning, the incompetence was staggering. The sales associate made critical errors, including entering the wrong email address and wrong shipping address. I was also overcharged compared to the price displayed in-store. These are basic mistakes that no reputable company should make.

Then came the delivery disaster. The furniture arrived well before the expected delivery date—without any notice—and was sent to a house I hadn’t even moved into yet. I only found out because the previous homeowner contacted me saying they received my items. No call, no email, no tracking—nothing from West Elm.

But that was just the start of the chaos. The coffee table arrived broken, and the sofa is defective and uneven. I reported the sofa issue on July 3. It’s now July 25, and I’ve received zero response. Absolutely unacceptable.

As for the broken coffee table, I returned it and re-purchased using a gift card. Due to yet another sales mistake—again, the wrong email address—West Elm refunded the gift card to the wrong email. When I contacted customer service, they had the audacity to tell me to create a fake email account to retrieve it. Unbelievable. In the end, I was forced to wait for the gift card by mail, and I am still missing two gift cards as of today.

On top of all this, West Elm miscalculated my sales tax, and instead of refunding the overcharge, a customer service rep told me they owe me nothing. So they make mistakes, and I pay for it.

Let’s talk about the so-called “White Glove” service. They charged me hundreds of dollars for it and yet failed to properly assemble or install anything. I’ve had to explain my situation to dozens of clueless reps. No one takes responsibility, no one follows up, and there’s zero accountability.

I cannot stress this enough: Do NOT order from West Elm, especially any items that require delivery or White Glove service. This company is completely disorganized, unprofessional, and utterly incapable of handling large orders or resolving issues.

Nearly two months later, and I’m still fighting for basic resolutions. West Elm has delivered the worst customer service experience of my life, and I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy. Avoid at all costs.

Customer service is horrible. Dont show up within the last hour of closing or they will remind you of closing time and offer you no help. "Enjoy the last few minutes of shopping" Wow we just wanted to get a look at a furniture set we saw online and instead we had to rush and look for it and also compare the other options in store. We were so turned off by our experience that we not only didn't buy furniture there but we didn't buy any from West Elm online. We even avoided the rest of their their parent company, William Sonoma, to furnish our new home.

I truly LOVE the look of West Elm stuff and everything in this store matches my style. when I walk in the store and look at the catalog, I just want to buy everything.

I own a table from West Elm that I purchased in 2019. it holds up and I love it.

but recently I bought extremely expensive: - Christmas decorations, dishes, flatware, and drinking glasses and I literally feel like SCAMMED. like, not, dissatisfied. but SCAMMED. how can someone with taste and principles sell me something that is so cheap and low quality for such a high price?

West Elm needs to turn around. e.g. here are my expensive flatware that: 1. ostentatiously say "China" on them 2. start chipping after just a moth of use even though they say dishwasher save. one look at this flatware, and one cycle through the dishwasher, should cause these folks to say 'we're too good to sell this' but instead, for their short-term (CERTAINLY, not long term) profit, they sell it to us to SCAM us.

I'll never buy anything from West Elm again, given my recent experiences. no joke, I would rather to go to Ikea to look for some new flatware.

I cannot expressed how much I feel, not dissatisfied, but SCAMMED by this company.

I have a few small furniture items from WE and overall, they have worked well in our space. I wish the website would allow customer reviews on their products - very strange that they don't have that feature. So that you don't go through the ordeal I faced, here's a review of the Otto 9-Drawer Dresser (84"). First one arrived damaged - I couldn't open any of the drawers. Called WE and they sent a technician to look at it. I guess it was too expensive to fix b/c they decided to send a replacement. Second one came with the same problem. It's listed as a best seller but I suggest looking for something else if you want to avoid what I went through.

Long story short, I had a bad experience returning in store, was treated like an idiot by the employee, and I walked out knowing I wasn't going to be receiving my return $$ by the interaction alone.

I called today since my return was not being processed, and that was absolutely the case. They found my returns hidden behind a shipping table in the back. Well, I am absolutely not shocked.

It is not hard to be kind to others, but this store has a poor track record for their service. My partner has also left this store feeling judged or condescended to many times, for no reason.

The person on the phone was nice and helpful, but I really shouldn't have had to call at all.

Bloomsbury Fine Art & Antiques

Rustic Ridge Antique Mall

Great NW Antiques