Ken sent a message to Laura J. Alber Director, President, and CEO, Williams-Sonoma – email address that said:
Dear Laura,
This is the first time I have had the occasion to write the CEO of a company and I must tell you, I have always loved Williams-Sonoma and West Elm - I lived in Dallas, Texas thirty-three years prior to relocating to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The reason I'm writing you directly, is I am very frustrated by the lack of customer service I have been getting from West Elm and didn’t know where to turn. My wife, Becky and I purchased a bed, mattress and two nightstands from West Elm and are wanting to purchase a six-drawer dresser to match, when we noticed we were about to be charged $100. for “White Glove Service.”
I decided to call West Elm and inquire as to what we were getting for this $100. charge. On Thursday, April 21, 2016 I spoke with a very nice man named James who let me know this charge would be for the assembly of the dresser upon delivery. When I let James know that the same charge had been made when we purchased the queen bed and that no assembly had taken place upon its delivery (December 15th of 2015) he was very surprised. I then asked if my previous “White Glove Service” charge could be refunded and we not be charged the same fee for the dresser, he said, "I would need to speak with someone in the “Furniture Department” and I would be transferred."
I was then transferred to Charlotte Watson, with whom I explained everything again. Charlotte let me know that despite the fact that there had been no assembly of the previous piece, there could be no refund and that despite what I had been told by James, there was much more that went on than just assembly. Part of the charge was for the actual “holding” of the furniture. I also asked Charlotte if her records showed that I had called their furniture department to let them know I had never received enough parts to assemble my bed when it was delivered. When I told her they had sent the wrong parts and I still didn’t have what I needed, she suggested I photograph the part and send a photo to her personal email address. A very nice gesture, but a little like the “tail wagging the dog” in my opinion.
I would think that the Furniture Department would know exactly what part is missing if I were to reference the model and piece.
It was at this point I decided to ask for a Supervisor. Charlotte let me know that it might take a while and after 25 minutes on hold, I decided to end the call. Believe it or not, I called back on Friday, April 22nd and spoke with a Representative named Sonia, and asked to speak directly with a Supervisor. Sonia informed me that in order to speak with someone in a “Leadership” position I would need to leave my name and phone number and I would be contacted in 24-72 hours, which I questioned. She assured me I would be contacted. I have yet to hear from anyone at West Elm.
I realize this email is very lengthy and I’m sure you have better things to do, but I just hated to “drill this down” to a tweet and put it out on the blogosphere, but didn’t know what else to do.
Sincerely, Ken
