Peter Scaturro sent a message to Laura J. Alber Director, President, and CEO, Williams-Sonoma - email address that said:
Dear Laura,
I have had the most disappointing (perhaps unbelievable) experience in dealing with your West Elm subsidiary yesterday and today. I have been a CEO myself, (CEO of US Trust company) as well as a partner at Goldman Sachs and I always appreciated feedback from customers. So ... here goes ...
I was in your NYC 18th street store yesterday to purchase some furniture for my sons first NYC apartment. He chose a sofa and a table form West Elm which were listed 25% off with large tickets on them. In speaking with the designer we were also told that both items were in stock (in fact, the receipt clearly states BOTH items are in stock and ready to ship . First, upon receiving the bill, we find out that the sale (large signs on all items in the store) were only for in store purchases and that the designer (who was in the store) ordered them on-line and that the sale did not apply. He also told my wife that the 20% discount she received via email was not valid for these items either.
Today, when I called to set up the delivery date, I was transferred to nine (9) different people in shipping eight of whom told me they could not help me but the calls get transferred around the country so people dont sit on hold. The problem is people in other regions apparently cant schedule deliveries outside their region! One person was kind enough to say that my wifes 20% off email could be applied and suggested the designer should have applied it yesterday. I was then told, that the sofa was not in stock, only the legs (this was despite having in stock ready for delivery on the receipt). As such, I could not set up a single delivery because only the table was actually in stock. Finally, on transfer #9, a representative named Jessica seemed competent and was able to schedule a delivery for late May and told me she would track the sofa to make sure it was added to the table delivery if it was possible. Time will tell I guess.
My son also ordered some furniture from Room Board. He was on the phone for less than five minutes earlier today with them to schedule a delivery date. A very different experience.
Anyway, I thought you should know that this experience has been very unsatisfactory to date and that you may have some issues with your West Elm brand. My wife and I have purchased many things from some of your other brands over the year and the experiences have been fine.
Best,
Peter K. Scaturro
1.914.602.4046
